dine&design: black-and-white-and-cool-all-over

stylist AnoukB (photo: Marjon Hoogervorst)

Welcome to this week’s edition of dine&design with a look at black&white in food and home decor.  What exactly is black? What is white? Are they shades? Colors? Pigments? The result of absorbed/reflected light?  For the sake of today’s entry, let’s just call them pretty darn cool.  In the world of interior design, the use of black and white can be both dramatic and understated, modern and classic, organic and refined.  And in the world of food (as you shall see) black and white is just downright yummy. 

 

And speaking of yummy food… Before we dig into some black&white nibbles you must try this weekend, I want to give a huge shout-out to a friend (and occasional culinary advisor, when I have the nerve to ask), Bruce Sherman (of North Pond Restaurant, Chicago) for his 2012 James Beard Foundation award:  Best Chef in the Great Lakes region. I am so thrilled for him…and my offer still stands: I am more than happy to serve as his sous chef, just waiting for the “thumbs up.”

photo: sarah shatz

And lucky, lucky me because I recently dined at the newly opened Ada Street Restaurant in Chicago with Jodi Morton, interior designer for the space and spouse of co-owner David Morton.  And let me tell you–it’s a very cool space! What fun it was to hear about Jodi’s design inspiration for the restaurant (LOVE the vintage RAAK smoked globe pendants she found at Amsterdam Modern in L.A.) while nibbling on chef Zoe Schor’s battered and fried black-eyed peas–the perfect cocktail nibble (that was just the beginning…I think we ordered about 1/2 the menu and everything was divine).  If you’re in the area, make sure to put Ada Street on your “must try NOW” list.  If you’re not local (or even if you are), I strongly suggest frying up a batch of these crispy yummies yourself as a t.g.i.f. reward.

Ada Street dining area and bar (can’t wait to sit out in that patio area in the warmer summer months!)

And while you’re in the kitchen, whip up these morel crostini from Food52, another great black&white nibble for a relaxing weekend cocktail hour (or two):

photo: sarah shatz

What’s perfect about using black & white in your own home design is that the feel of the space is up to you depending of which color is chosen to dominate and which color is used to ground and/or accent: light&airy, dark&moody, or anywhere in between.  Take a look:

Light & Airy

by dutch stylist Anouk B

angelika taschen

Dark & Moody:

 Anywhere in Between…

please cut and paste this room into my house

the ultimate vignette

Mies van der Rohe inspired renovation

And it wouldn’t be dine&design Friday without a vintage tub…

…in which to enjoy the ultimate black & white delicacy:

Oh, and don’t think I’m “done” with the black&white theme in design…not by a longshot.  We didn’t even get to graphics, accessories, art, rugs, walls, and (yet more) wallpaper…

And for my dear husband who will be leaving sunny and warm Chicago to travel back to his (currently rainy) homeland of Belgium for work this weekend, I present these black & white (dutch) words of inspiration:

Until the next time…

love where you live.