WHAT Aroma is a plate set collection design to embody the collaboration between a Chinese tea house - La Maison des Trois Thés, and a luxury Parisian hotel - Le Shangri-La Paris.
WHY La Maison des Trois Thés created a unique tea, named 'Précieuse Harmonie' for the hotel so that it would become the hotel’s 'signature perfume'. The flavors are inspired by the Shangri-La myth and evokes a time suspended in a haven of peace. As part of the culinary lab of the ENS AAMA, we were commissioned to imagine a plate that would be used at the hotel to serve the signature tea next to some biscuit and alongside the actual tea pots of the Chinese tea house.
HOW We designed a plate for 1 or 2 persons. It is composed of 3 independent parts. The central piece is for the teapot and the cups whereas the lateral part receive the 3 canapés per person. Our plate is stackable for optimized storage, the pieces are standardised (lateral parts are the same), and the minimalised shape allows for easy cleaning. We also tried to give an ergonomic design to our creation. The curves on the edges aid the grip and influence the set up direction. Finally, we wanted a plate in harmony with the Shangri-La myth and get inspired by the Aroma flower.
WHAT We also designed savory and sweet canapés to be served on the plates alongside the tea.
HOW In order to create those canapés we worked with student chefs. The 'Précieuse Harmonie' tea is composed of chestnut honey, apple flowers and grilled wheat. With the student chefs we invented canapés that would complement the flavors of the tea and will fit with the hostel and tea house's esthetic .Camille and I wanted to create a dynamic between the plates and the canapés. We reappropriated some identifiable aspects of this tea cup collection to create a unity (levitation, cut volumes).
