“The Rooms - A Design and Food Experience”, success at the FAB Berlin

On the eve of the 2017 Berlin Food Week, the FAB Berlin in Kreuzberg really hit the mark with its invitation-only event called “The Rooms - A Design and Food Experience”. An innovative combination of design materials, music and food accompanied guests on a multisensory exploration of the architectural context


The founder of Berlin Food Week, Alexander van Hessen with Christian von Manteuffel and Ken Schluchtmann came up with the concept of the “The Rooms - A Design and Food Experience” evening, in collaboration with the team from Floornature and the gallery manager, Dorota Wisniewsk. The event mission was to showcase the multifunctional and versatile reality of Berlin's FAB Fiandre Architectural Bureau in Bergmannkiez, Kreuzberg in the world of Sarotti-Höfe.
Some of the top names in architecture like the founders of Berlin-based Player & Franz, and the actress Marielle Ahrens Solène Wolff from the Plane-Site agency, friends and another 80 invited guests were welcomed by renowned moderator, Jean Bork who elegantly introduced the evening - a real voyage of the senses, where the location, the culinary delights crafted by chef Marcus Herbicht from Schmelzwerk, lights and sounds all blended together for an experience that we can only call immersive. 
From the entrance with the kitchen where cocktails and appetisers were served to mingling guests, you entered the central space of the showroom, the room with the “flying carpet”, as the long sculptural table is known. The final output of three design workshops held in 2016, which involved a makeover of the corporate spaces on the first floor of the Sarotti-Höfe, on this occasion, it was used to showcase the second part of the dinner. From here, Jean Bork and Dorota Wisniewska accompanied guests to the “magic cube”, a large display case in the form of a white cube whose drawers hid the materials of Fiandre, referencing a giant jewellery box. On display, in this case, weren't just the floor and wall coverings, but also the main courses of the evening, when they weren't being served by Schmelzwerk staff.
The concept of “drink and sound pairing” added colour to the evening in harmony with all the courses, with a drink and a sound matching each course on the journey through the FAB.
The quest ended where it began, in the kitchen, with dessert and deep house music by DJ Marco Riedel. A very different evening that showed off the eclectic spaces of the Fiandre Architectual Bureau to a very interested public, and that we hope to rediscover in the upcoming events already scheduled for the Berlin showroom.

Christiane Bürklein

“The Rooms - A Design and Food Experience”.
Concept by Alexander van Hessen with Christian von Manteuffel and Ken Schluchtmann, in collaboration with the team from Floornature and the gallery manager, Dorota Wisniewska
13 October 2017
Berlin, Germany
Chef: Marcus Herbicht, Schmelzwerk
Photography: Dirk Daehmlow
Berlin Food Week