Dean & DeLuca, the legendary New York gourmet market and leading international purveyor of fine food, today unveiled a prototype for its new chef-led fast food concept at Design Miami. “STAGE” designed by internationally renowned architect Ole Scheeren, is a pristine, magical object that celebrates food as a lively cultural and social experience — its preparation, presentation and the people around it.
With openings planned for 2017 in key north American cities, the introduction of this new format will expand Dean & DeLuca’s offerings beyond the group of existing gourmet markets. STAGE is a rectangular volume of mirrored stainless steel that reflects its environment and thereby assumes an active visual dialogue with its context.
Two horizontal plates, one floating above the other on a cushion of glowing light, contain an undulating topography of white corian that unfolds a dramatic landscape of food and ingredients. The complex functions of kitchen equipment and technology needed to conserve and prepare food are invisibly integrated with this bespoke, high tech display system.
A theatrical platform that allows for the free flow of people around it, STAGE encourages social interaction as customers communicate with staff, watch their food being prepared, collect a salad or sandwich, or order coffee and pastry. Those working behind the counter assume the roles of cast, experts in their respective field of action, thus creating an interactive spectacle of making, offering and consuming.
Scheeren’s contemporary vision remains rooted in the heritage of Dean & DeLuca without allowing that to restrict his creative imagination. He is able to capture the nature and essence of the brand while investing it with a new radical energy.
“We had to think about what we could do with Dean & DeLuca as a whole and how we could expand its mission. We had to understand what it was, what it is now and how we could project it forward into the future. I think food is a very important social and sensual experience and STAGE is a powerful tool to amplify that.”
The mission to recognize design as one of the three cornerstones of the brand’s identity positions Dean & DeLuca as a visionary player in the global food industry. Ole Scheeren has conceptualized this vision and created a powerful design, combining a strong contemporary identity with a diversified strategy of global specificity and relevance. Source and images Courtesy of Büro Ole Scheeren.
