Today was a really important day for me. It was the first time I could really put into action one of my food design projects. It was my first Food Experience Installation.

I just realized, now, seated in the chair of my room, looking at the pictures, of magical was it. How exciting and scaring at the same time was to think and create something like that.

After one year, after a full online course of ten weeks, and after four online lessons at the university, finally I met the guru of the Eating Design. I’m talking about Marije Vogelzang. She is one of the most important food designers in the world, but above all she is the one that most inspired me in that pathway.

Thanks to her, one year ago, I started knowing the food and design world, taking my first steps, and if I look back to what I did at that time, I can see how much I learnt, how much I changed.

The road is still long, but, now, I’m almost ready.

I met her on Tuesday, and trust me if I tell you that it was a FULL week. Full of commitments, full of emotions, positive and negative. I met her and I felt like a teenager in front of her favourite singer, but then I started talking with her, about me, what I want to be, what I did and what I want to do in my future.

She began the class saying: “No more theory for this Art &Craft class, you will all set up an experience on Thursday”. We choose one food that most represents us, and I was pretty surprised how I picked up something very different from the first time she asked me that question, one year ago. So, apparently, now I’m a delicious, smelly and fruity fig, with a slice of sweet prosciutto crudo on top. My favourite lunch during summer, but also a good balance of flavours and textures, that I think can really represents me.

We brainstormed and tried to take out all the interesting, funniest, emotional ideas. It should have been simple, affective, related with food and with the pandemic. UNLOCK is the title we choose all together for our food experience parade, and then we split in groups, each one created a different installation.

One day and, Isabel, Eleonora and I, came out with an idea: “BREATH and butter”. Take a breath, maybe eat some butter, and come and visit our installation.

“Going into isolation with the disturbing sound of sirens, getting ‘sneezed at’ with a spray bottle of water and then gently being eased into social life again through touching dough and bread, creates an intuitive journey that we can all relate to.” is how our teacher Vogelzang described our experience.

Re-found connections is what we wanted you to do during this experience. We all felt alone and disoriented during the lockdown, but nevertheless everyone had the opportunity to think more about themselves, to cook homemade and maybe traditional food, to understand the real connections with the people we love, even if it was not allowed to see each others.

The lockdown closed us in our houses, alone, but in the meanwhile it let us to understand the value of the small things, and to re-find the connection with ourselves, with food and with the others. The five senses were stimulated during the experience, you were guided into that itinerary towards the real life.

We wanted you to go out of the room feeling strongly your emotions. We wanted to UNLOCK YOUR CONNECTIONS.