How is the art in Ando – from your interiors up to the menus important to you? What made you select the artist who painted the watercolors on your menu?
I am very lucky that the husband of my partner in Andō is a big Art Collector and because of that we have 3 beautiful pieces of art that give Andō a very special ambiance.
For me any form of art and fine dining of a high level come very close to each other and for me getting inspiration for other forms of art is very important to me and to my craft.
We like to extend art further than the paintings or sculptures that decorated the walls of the restaurant. We collaborate with a local artist who paints our menu with drawings inspired by my story as our menu is not conventional as we look into the act of dining from an artistic perspective. At Andō our menu is not written in a traditional way where all the ingredients are listed and described actually we don’t name any ingredient, we present the menu as Carta blanca or omakase where we aim to generate a complete trust between chef and guests just naming how many courses and its price that is all. And later on every dish is presented with its story painted by Vanessa.
How and why do you think certain restaurants choose to incorporate art so vividly within their restaurants?
I think it depends on the chef’s personality and the restaurant. Usually when a restaurant has no natural light or windows it is best to replace them with art. Usually people who come to this kind of restaurant also appreciate different forms of art and because of this it almost goes hand to hand.
In my particular case, I love art in any form so it is very nice to have some pieces that will not only make the guests feel better but also the team, when you work in a place that is visually nice affects positively in your mood, people may not feel it but it is there and has an effect for sure.
What purpose can seeing emerging art serve outside of food, service, and the experience of dining?
It has a very big impact in the mood of the dining room and the people as well, also the kind of art you choose to put in the restaurant can give our guests a sense of what is to come if they have an eye for detail, and there (in the details) is where the most beautiful art can shine the best.
For example, at Andō we have a big center piece that goes with the brutalism design and it is placed in the middle of the restaurant just in front of the door, As soon as you open the restaurant door it will be the first thing you see.
It is a very beautiful shell of an imaginary shellfish made of glass and porcelain by a Japanese artist, it represents my journey as a chef. If you imagine the first person who tried an oyster for example, if you don’t know an oyster is an oyster. It really looks just like a small rock so this person must have an outside the box and very curious way of thinking for them to explore the possibilities of this “rock”. Well it is the same with my journeys as a chef and how I approach my cooking with an outside the box mentality, and always curious to explore for new delicious opportunities.
Do you collect art yourself? What kind of art do you look for?
I really appreciate and like art in any forms and love to collect it, I think the way you like art it moves and evolves as you evolve as a human being too at this very moment I really like Modern Abstract art where imagination is dancing with the no identifiable images, free of any constraint and up to your imagination based in your experiences and memories. It has infinite way to appreciate it and it is for me, right now, my favorite form of art.
I love art in any form so it is very nice to have some pieces that will not only make the guests feel better, but also the team. When you work in a place that is visually nice, it affects positively in your mood, people may not feel it but it is there and has an effect for sure.
I love art in any form so it is very nice to have some pieces that will not only make the guests feel better, but also the team. When you work in a place that is visually nice, it affects positively in your mood, people may not feel it but it is there and has an effect for sure.
Lily Alice Baker
Reaching Out, In Vain, 2022
£2,200
The vivid colors are able to trespass the canvas, sending a very strong message.
Beautiful combinations of colours with shapes that seem to be in eternal movement, complimenting each other.
Grace Bromley
Phoenix or Fowl, 2023
£2,200
Grace Bromley
Phoenix or Fowl, 2023
£2,200
Beautiful combinations of colours with shapes that seem to be in eternal movement, complimenting each other.
