In Paris, We Are Ona is bringing new meaning to "dinner and a show."
While design salon Matter and Shape takes over Paris for the second time, the culinary initiative will be hosting a pop-up at the Jardin des Tuileries, a sprawling garden situated between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde. The four-day event is a dreamy collaboration between food and design creatives, fitting for a makers' fair in a city known for its authority in both categories.
The pop-up space was conceived by Perron-Roettinger Studio Co-Founder Willo Perron, who has staged shows for the likes of Rihanna and Jay-Z, and who is also overseeing the fair's direction. It will be tucked within the fair's two pavilions, spanning a decadent 5,000 square feet. Here, Perron has guests seated in a moody, curvillinear space, lights hung low overhead. Mirrored panels will surround diners, poised to reflect the waitstaff who come rushing in to circle them.
The menu will be overseen by We Are Ona Founder Luca Pronzato, a former sommelier and Noma alum, alongside London chef and food stylist Imogen Kwok, who has found her niche in thoughtfully arranged, geometric plates. Each course will be staged as a performance: ingredients revealed, dishes plated, and... Well, you'll see.
"We think about what people see, where people eat from, where they put the table, and what the general interior design is," Pronzato told CULTURED last year of his studio, which has put on events with the likes of Chanel, Saint Laurent, and Harry Nuriev. "This is a conversation chefs and waiters should have more often."
This latest collaboration pulls some of the most in-demand creatives in Pronzato's orbit to Paris for a multi-sensory evening that will linger in the minds of attendees long after plates are cleared. After all, in a city rife with good dishes, the drama has to transcend taste.
