If we were more handy with Adobe Illustrator, there’d be a massive “MAKES A GREAT GIFT” gizmo flashing atop this post, because if Food Landscapes — English photographer Carl Warner’s new book of natural landscapes made out of chocolate, cheese, broccoli and bacon (among other groceries) is anything, it’s totally delightful: A children’s book for big kids who like to play with their food. We were smitten when we first saw a copy — with its ocean swells made of radicchio; a tiny house in the forest of salamis; literal mountains of cheese, specifically English Cheddar; a hovering hot air balloon made of ravioli and pasta — a few weeks back, but seeing as we’re dedicated to the local and Warner is a Londoner, we just kept our joy to ourselves.
Apparently that was exactly the same feeling of one our favorite food video production artists — Liza de Guia, whose site Food.Curated was nominated for a Beard Award this year. And when Warner paid a visit to the Brooklyn Kitchen at 100 Frost Street in Williamsburg, to develop a landscape using, among other foods, Meat Hook meats, Liza was smart enough to film the work in progress. It’s below, and once you see it, you’ll likely want to pick up a few copies of Warner’s book at the Kitchen. Warner himself was also impressed with us, it seems, or more accurately, with his temporary studio at Brooklyn Kitchen/Meat Hook.
“The love of food and passion for cooking was oozing out of the walls,” he said, “and it was great to use their kitchen to do some filming there and feel a part of the scene, be it only briefly. Accessibility, sustainability and affordability are the three things I felt were at the heart of the Brooklyn scene, which showed clearly that you don’t have to pay Manhattan prices to enjoy dining out at great eateries, plus the genuine shabby chic environments are home to the real artists and artisans who bring a vibrancy to the atmospheres that thrive in the edgier parts of town.”
We just wish he’d stuck around to be part of the panel on Food Porn moderated by Frank Bruni at the party hosted by the cooking site Food52 on Tuesday night.
Carl Warner’s Foodscapes: A Lesson on Playing w/your Food from SkeeterNYC on Vimeo.
