Located at the historic Auckland Winter Gardens, Common Ground is a food event that highlights plants in the gardens’ collection.
A meal is organised around six stations, divided into two stages. Each station will be focused around a specific plant that is shown in the Winter Gardens. A specially curated dish made by a well-known chef will be created in front of guests, showcasing one of the plants being used in the dish. Visually this will allow for the guests to understand how to recreate the meal which will help find a common ground between cooking at home and cooking with a chef in front of them.
After being welcomed by the host, attendees can walk around and visit the stations in whichever order they like. For the main course, the three stations are Nikau, Eggplant, and Cacao; and for the dessert Chili, Vanilla, and European Fan Palm. In between each station, visitors will be offered a cocktail that also features plants from the garden.
I wanted to find a way where people could connect and find a common ground between plants and people. We all eat, and cooking is a social activity. In Common Ground, cooking and eating is also a way to become more connected to the flora that underpin our social lives.
Completed: February 2019 - June 2019
