MILAN 2013 SWEET-INSPIRATION

Italians are real artists when it comes to ice-cream! i remember when i first came to Milan many years ago, i was in love with all the special flavors that they make. (basil, rose, blood-orange, cioccolato-pepperoncino etc. etc.)
This trip, CIOCCOLAT-ITALIANI in via San Raffeale was on top of my list. It's a luxurious shop famous for it's pure chocolate ice-cream. Numerous varieties of chocolate bars are piled up like gold in a bank.
In honor of this blog's name i ordered a cone filled with fluid chocolate and blood-orange ice-cream toppings. YAMMIE!

Right at the Naviglio (Alzaia Naviglio Grande 24) you'll find another fine 'gelateria' called AMORINO. They make everything with natural products and without artificial flavoring.

My pear ice-cream came in a beautiful rose shape!

MILAN 2013 DINNER-INSPIRATION

Restaurant & location SOHO in via Tortona is one of my favorite places to have dinner for it is located right in the middle of the busy design area. It's an oasis after a long day with relaxing music and contemporary Italian food.

In via Tortona at no. 34 you'll find GOD SAVE THE FOOD, a restaurant that combines food and lifestyle with selling food & design products. They regularly have young artists exhibiting and organise workshops and lectures.

Going for a good pizza in a modern industrial atmosphere? Visit FABBRICA PIZZERIA con cucina, situated at Alzaia Naviglio Grande 70. A nice down to earth atmosphere and packed every night.

You can even order your pizza made with 'farina integrale'(whole wheat)

MILAN 2013 LUNCH-INSPIRATION

Besides the traditional wonderful osteria's and trattoria's in Milan, you can find some very nice international orientated concepts for lunch. The first one is CALIFORNIA BAKERY for it serves the best bagels, sandwiches, tea's and cakes! And see that interior!, is packed with fun little details..

The second one i'd like to share with you guys is MAMA BURGER.

They cleverly upgraded the regular burger place to a nice concept with worthy burger dishes. One does not feel guilty after eating these....

CHALKBOARD EGGS

photo 1 & 2: eggs from Cynthia Shaffer

photo 3 & 4: eggs from Lisa Tilse

HAPPY EASTER WITH DINARA MIRTALIPOVA !

These fine illustrations are made by DINARA MIRTALIPOVA

CHAPEAU!

Food design nowadays knows many forms and has been an inspiration for lots of brilliant new books, but two of the pure and authentic leading ladies on visual multi-disciplinary design to me are Dietlind Wolf from Germany and Emilie (Griottes) from France. Chapeau!

from Dietlind Wolf blog

from Griottes blog

CLICK, FOLD AND FLATTEN..

As a concept designer i do a lot of research in the market. I roam about in many cities and visit lots of design fairs. During my research for funky and fresh new hardware i came across a great number of interesting kitchen utensils. I feel i must share a few with you. If you go out there this summer renting a vintage camper, a bedouin tent or one of these new 'camouflage' printed tents, you definitely must bring along some of these cool foldable items for your kitchen and outdoor cooking! They will easily fit in the smallest kitchen space imaginable.

HAPPY START OF 2013!

Hello everyone, best wishes to you of course and a happy start of the new year! I'm back after a (working) xmas holiday where i caught up with a long list of things to do! Before all that, i cleared my studio from piles of stuff i gathered throughout the year. I am starting off with a shiny clean desk!!. A terrific feeling i must say :)So....i can't wait, let's get blogging 2013! x x x

picture from pinterest

RAINARAI

This weekend i had dinner at Rainarai. A great place with a warm atmosphere! Rainarai is owned by Laurent Med Khellout, who has written several great cookbooks about the Algerian nomadic kitchen. He showed me one of the books and i learned that for making a good couscous we must take a little time as it should actually be made by hand! (see the front of the cookbook below) He really cooks from the heart and his concept of eating traditional food while listening to the sounds of beautiful Algerian lounge music i can truly recommend..

VINTAGE VERSUS MODERN

The below COCORICO cardboard cooker is a clever modern variation to my childhood kitchen set, designed by Dutch designer couple Romy Boesveldt en Ilya Yashkin =KIDSONROOF.(see model as shown above, ooohps! am i that old?)

Since 2005 they have been creating the most beautiful kids products with an ecological approach to the act of playing in mind. Check out more of the KIDSONROOF products here! 

PET KITCHEN AID

Serenah is a Brisbane-Australia based photographer. Now just watch these quirky pet pictures.. Of course! i was taken personally by these fine looking shots because of my love for cooking, food and dachshunds. Only yesterday my first born had his own 'Mini backseat picnic experience'. Stealing my grilled chicken wings, that i had just bought for the evening, from the shopping bag!It all happened while i hopped out of the car for no longer than 1 second. As a result of this incident, my car has now chicken BBQ flavour!

HANDS IN SOIL

After cycling & shopping through Paris for a few days the vegetable garden needed full attention. Weeds DO grow up to your knee if you're not careful! (i am not showing you the weeds, as they were too many and they need a chapter of their own :-)

So the weekend and the early evening hours were well spent and just see the beautiful result of the late summer harvest..! 

I'm already planning for next spring to start planting again.

bobje & rubber chicken