"What's a 'Culinary Artist'?" Inside Instagram's Hottest "Sculptural" Banquets With Imogen Kwok

Dancing jellos, oyster mosaics, kilometer-long dining tables boasting rigorously silver cutlery, pitchers, and candleholders, swathes of carefully assembled, colorful canapés, soaring cakes, and eccentrically chic, vintage goblets. Is it just me, or does it feel like food is everywhere nowadays? From our culinary holiday treats' photo dumps mixing in with the effortlessly stylish, sun-lit plates of celebrity chefs and food influencers on Instagram, to luxury design and fashion brands like ABASK, Hermès, and Loewe pairing their launches with exclusive, immersive dining experiences, gastronomic and aesthetic taste have never been more intertwined. Events such as WWD's Fashion Loves Food Gala, held at Milan's Palazzo Parigi Hotel at the start of the month, further exemplify the intersection between these worlds. So when did being a chef become "cool"? And why are we suddenly hungry for food activations?

For New York-bred, London-based culinary artist and creative director Imogen Kwok, the mastermind of some of the hottest food installations conceived for the likes of Chanel, ferm LIVING, and Loewe itself among others, the answer lies in our need for long-lasting memories and connection. "We know how distant we can feel from one another through social media, but nothing can replace tasting, touching, and smelling something," she tells me. "Being so multisensory and subjective, none of the events I curate can be replicated, and each strives to be memorable and create an experience that sticks with you afterwards." From raw shellfish and charcuterie to handmade pasta, chocolate, and cheesecakes, everything Kwok's hands touch transforms into sculptural still life artworks that reveal another side to the things we eat. She isn't alone in the pursuit of tangible social gatherings. Speaking on the comeback of the '70s dinner party' with Livingetc's Executive Editor Pip Rich, New York-based designer Sophie Lou Jacobsen, whose nostalgic tableware lends itself to this trend perfectly, explained that, lately, "there's a real desire to play up our hosting, to be extravagant with foods and the performance around them."

Behind Culture's Growing Obsession With Food

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Kwok knows it well. Part of the latest generation of creative innovators to embrace food as art, following in the footsteps of Italian artist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti — founder of the avant-garde Futurist movement, author of The Futurist Cookbook (1932), and arguably the first to herald this union in the 1900s — she found in cuisine the opportunity to experiment across multiple disciplines, letting her spiritedly exuberant personality shine through at all times. Sharing the spotlight with equally inventive names who, like her, thrive at the intersection of gastronomy, design, and wider culture — from NYC's sister duo Gohar World, whose Laila Gohar hosting essentials we love, to London-based stylist and cook Kirthanaa Naidu, and rising Parisian chef Ella Aflalo — the Sydney-born talent is always looking for ways to bring her inspired eye to the kitchen and the table. After graduating with an art history degree from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, Kwok moved back to New York to pursue culinary school before training at Michelin-starred restaurants Eleven Madison Park and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Quickly, though, "I realized that that lifestyle wasn't for me in the end," she explains.

While cutting her teeth at such prestigious food institutions gave her the discipline, precision, and humbleness necessary to make it within this competitive world via hours spent "peeling potatoes, separating quail eggs, meticulously manipulating produce with tweezers, and mopping floors", Kwok points at her early experiences of food styling as the most instrumental chapter for the development of her career. Working on anything from photography and video ads to cookbooks and magazines, "I'd be gluing sesame seeds onto a bun for some big fast-food chain or playing with the composition and lighting of specific shots to ensure every dish looked immaculate," recalls the chef. Among the greatest lessons learned on set was the importance of "respecting organic shapes and ingredients, and using real food" — two essential criteria that continually inform her seasonal and locally sourced, edible installations, which bring great taste and suggestive, minimal table décor to events powered by global style houses, including Nanushka, Miu Miu, and Loro Piana.

Imogen Kwok: Putting Art and Identity Into Cooking

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A desire to curate every aspect of her experiential food practice, from the flavor juxtapositions to the "tablescape, the set design, and the scenography" within which these are presented, pushed her away from world-acclaimed eateries and into her own. "You know, I like to talk a lot," laughs Kwok, hinting at the rigidity of that enviornment. "In the restaurants I was in before, everyone wore the same thing and was a piece of the huge machine that is the kitchen brigade." Eventually, her identity prevailed, as did her interdisciplinary understanding of cuisine. Since settling in London five years ago, Kwok has leaned on her varied background to contribute to culture at large. As a culinary artist, "I could be on set doing food styling, advising houses on how best to approach a creative project, or hosting events like the one where we met," Kwok says of the recent Jo Malone London's The Art of Entertaining, which platformed Head of Fragrance and Lifestyle Celine Roux, Art Director Max Hurd, and Kwok herself in a celebration of all things hosting, held in an exclusive location in the British capital. The only constant in her work, she adds, is that "I am always the face of my own brand."

Stylistically, Kwok's activations will catch your attention for their stripped-back, chic arrangements, exalting nature's textures, color schemes, and silhouettes rather than imposing new ones on it, and incorporating "breathing room" in the end result. "The latest psychic thing is having lots of stuff," the culinary artist tells me. But when it comes to food installations, "negative space is your friend." Moved by timeless design figures such as Isamu Noguchi, the genius behind some of the most iconic table lamps, and modernist Italian artist Enzo Mari, whose whimsical furniture is a best-seller of Mansur Gavriel general store, and a long-term appreciation of Bauhaus interiors, her production is, at once, subtly poetic, playful, and dramatic.

Imbued with the same attention to anatomical form as Dutch Renaissance paintings, and as enigmatic as the "silent perfection" of 20th-century painter Giorgio Morandi, the chef's ephemeral creations move beyond gastronomy to unleash the performativity of life. An example? During her Jo Malone London outing, she asked attendees to crack her rock salt-crusted pears open with the most delicate, stylish hammers I have ever seen. "Gosh, the hammers!", Kwok exclaims when I remind her of the number. "When I wrote the word 'hammer', I knew everyone would freak out, but I promised they'd be 'teeny tiny.'" Complete with a sweet, walnut-ty dip and a zingy gremolata one, the fruit dish was an unexpected and impressive as its visual presentation (much like the melt-in-your-mouth caviar canapés and raspberry cheesecake that followed). If most of the food trailblazer's efforts focus on getting her audience "to interact with something that they haven't seen, or eaten before", she isn't short on everyday — and festivity — hosting advice, either. So what are the ingredients for a well-executed, truly unforgettable dinner party?

How to Host like a Culinary Artist in 4 Steps

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1. Please the Senses

For Kwok, it starts with pleasing all the senses. "If you're cooking at home, there's a few things you can do," she says. "First, lighting has to be perfect: the last thing you want when you go to someone's house is being exposed to harsh, bright light, which takes away from the look of the food and makes everyone insane," the chef adds with a laugh. This can be achieved by playing with the best home fragrance options fit for the job, such as candles and the best essential oil diffusers with built-in, customizable light, dimming things, or turning on warmly hued side lamps. You can include flowers in your tablescape for a natural scenting touch, and play some good, "filler music guests don't have to battle with" as another enjoyable atmosphere addition.

2. Leave Nothing to Chance

Next up on the perfect host's agenda are... good manners. "I have been to a lot of dinner parties where they don't give me napkins and I find myself struggling to know what to do with my hands," Kwok says. "Shall I wipe them onto the chair? Or on the tablecloth? It's exactly in moments like these you realize that even small things can make a huge difference." And every self-respecting party-giver shouldn't be caught unprepared, so bring out your best dinnerware sets.

3. Be Mindful of Guests' Needs and Preferences

Another key to success comes from being hyper aware of individual guests' dietary requirements and preferences. "If someone doesn't drink alcohol, I always remember to have an alternative laid out for them, be that a fizzy drink or any other non-alcoholic beverage I can mix with soda water into a virgin cocktail," explains the culinary artist. "Similarly, if someone doesn't eat meat, cheese, or gluten, I ensure there's a separate, special course ready for them on the side — something that will make them feel good and welcome, and also show them that you have thought about them when setting up the menu."

4. Expect the Unexpected

If the above three steps are enough to grant you and your guests a pleasant dining experience, there's a final one on Kwok's hosting must-dos: expect the unexpected. "If you plan on drinking or think that more people are likely to show up throughout the night than the initial number of guests, it is always good to try and predict what could go wrong," she says. "Perhaps you'll want to prep some extra, emergency snacks, or get more ice and limes — to put it shortly, do anything that means you won't have to lose any moments of the evening to last-minute drink and food runs."

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While there are rules to crafting the perfect dining experience, Kwok's rapid, globe-trotting rise as a culinary artist, creative director, and all-around aesthete is better attributed to her ability to transcend fleeting trends and seamlessly explore diverse stylistic and gastronomic expressions than to any fixation on norms. Never confined to a specific flavor, ingredient, or plate — except when it comes to comfort food, which, due to her Korean-Chinese roots, "has to be noodles or rice" — her taste investigations take her from grocery store to grocery store and farmers' market to farmers' market. "I was just in Norfolk, actually, and I went to this tiny seafood shack that serves cockles with just salt and vinegar on top," she says of her latest obsession. "They go well with anything like dry white wine or a cocktail, and I like to eat them using these little stainless steel pins that are very chic." Where dishes and their presentations are eternally morphing in Kwok's work, reflecting her mercurial vision and that of her clients, one thing remains the same: her stunning jewelry.

"I am an emotional dresser," she confesses, meaning her clothing choices shift with her mood. "But my only solid right now are the jewels I am wearing all the time: there are countless pictures of me touching, plating, and cooking food with my mom's golden bracelet on — which is there whatever the outfit — although the DiPetsa 'Wetness Draped' T-shirt I wore at the Jo Malone London dinner is another one of my favorites at the minute." Just like her personal sense of style, which made Kwok one of the most prominent chefs within the haute couture scene, balances spectacle and understated elegance, her food installations, too, are a play of contradictions. "I always think about them like theater," she says. "You have to bring people in first, which you do by telling them about the choices that went into their concept. Then, you have to stimulate attendees visually, through food and décor styling. Lastly, you need to make them feel like they haven't just been taken care of, but that behind the precious, small, weird thing they have got to try, there was something as beautiful and mysterious as tasty. It's only when I manage to pleasantly surprise someone that I know I have done a good job."