Menu
This has been one of our most special projects because it stripped us of our creative facet and, instead, positioned us as observers. For us it was an adventure and a privilege to be able to dissect and honor the work of another creator whom we deeply admire: the chef awarded with 3 Michelin stars, Quique Dacosta.
ORGANISATION IN 5 BLOCKS
LOCATION MUVIM. VALENCIA
YEAR Julio 2015/enero 2016
Upon accessing it, visitors begin a journey through the evolution in the treatment of the landscape in the chef’s dishes.
Seven of his iconic dishes are displayed along the way, like delicate works of art on a blank canvas.
Each dish is associated with concepts that go beyond mere food. We talk about the dream world, about geometry in nature, the diffuse limits of perception, the dynamism of natural elements, moments of transition such as source of life, the recreation of a mineral’s flavor or respect for original flavors. The spiral is also interpreted as the constant and endless transformation and growth of Dacosta, who understands his work as a continuous learning process.
This block reproduces the everyday landscape of action: Quique Dacosta’s kitchen. We wanted to represent the theatrical character that Quique gives to his menus; understood as a play divided into acts. To do this, we staged the hustle and bustle that his team experiences every day in the restaurant’s kitchen. In this audiovisual montage we wanted to make it clear that it is a hustle and bustle under control. Everything is millimetrically measured and supervised by Quique, who adopts a role similar to that of an orchestra conductor.
In this block we show the physical and geographical landscapes that are part of Quique Dacosta’s daily life and that have shaped his gastronomic identity.
Its protagonists are the Montgó Natural Park in Denia and the Pego marsh.
The Montgó represents for Quique his conceptual pantry and absolute respect for nature. For its part, the marsh plays a role as gastronomic foundation, with rice as the undisputed king of the Valencian kitchen and always present in its menus.
This third block shows a photographic exhibition by Sergio Coimbra where he exhibits the landscapes created by Quique.
Landscapes that are none other than his own dishes presented as contemporary landscapes. Landscapes that portray his vanguard, technique and extraordinary creativity.
In this last block, we analyze the menu that he created during the period when this exhibition took place (2015-2016).
At that time, Dacosta had set aside his geographical references, and after an exercise of introspection, captured his concerns, obsessions and most intimate landscapes,
presenting his most personal menu to date.
The idea of this exhibition arose from a common place: both he and we felt greatly influenced by the effect of the landscape in our creations. This presence of the landscape as a predominant element encouraged us to evaluate Quique’s gastronomy from a more academic than culinary perspective. And we did it because, regardless of the type of food one likes, it is indisputable that his dishes are small ephemeral works of art: conceptual in their ideation, plastic in their preparation, and highly impressive on a sensory level.
“We create your new landscape, where you would like to be”
