Culinary/Design Collaboration Creates Menu Designs for Student Pop-Ups

Every term, Chefs Delle Donne and Wesen’s Conscious Cuisine classes run what they call Chef’s Tables, where student teams collaborate, “Top Chef” Restaurant Wars-style, on a thematically-unified 6-course tasting menu.

Students from Deana Marzocchi’s Design Solutions class — 24 in all — worked with 8 culinary teams to create menu designs that fit their pop-up restaurant concepts.

The students had just one week to discuss concepts, mock up logos, design menus and work out the table settings to match.

Projects ranged from Journey, which traced food through its life cycle (a major theme of Conscious Cuisine) to Taj, which borrowed the colors and iconography of India.

The student designers talked briefly about their concepts and process before turning things over to the student chefs and their amazing dishes.

The collaboration went so well that it is on track to become a class project each term.

Like what you see? Learn about JWU’s School of Engineering and Design and College of Culinary Arts.

PHOTOS, TOP-BOTTOM: JOURNEY FROM DESIGN TO EXECUTION. / GAZPACHO SHOOTERS WITH LOCAL OYSTERS. PHOTO: DARREN WALLS / TABLE SETTING AND STUDENTS PRESENTING THEIR WORK. / TAJ AND ANTHEA TABLE SETTINGS.