The art of food styling
PEOPLE
Words by Bak Se-hwan Photos by Bae Soo-kyung
T
o food stylist and researcher Roh Young-hee, cooking
Krafts What is your idea of an ideal kitchen?
is a performance. Communicating and sharing the
Roh Young-hee I think a good kitchen is one that faces
cooking process with the diner amplify the pleasure.
the dining room or the living room, one with short lines of
Perhaps because of this, the table and the cooking area
movement and plenty of storage.
share the same space at the Roh Young-hee food studio. Handmade crockery are lined up against the wall behind
Krafts The open storage unit that fills an entire wall is very
the table.
impactful. Are they all expensive crockery?
“The pleasure of dining while seeing the cooking process
Roh Young-hee An expensive plate is not necessarily a
with your own eyes, and the ability to communicate with
useful plate. There are cheap but useful plates, just like
the diners, they are one of a big appeal of this place,” she
expensive but useless plates.
said.
I choose my plates based on their uses and design, rather
The wooden table and the square pieces further give the
than the price, but they were all made by ceramic artists.
space a feel reminiscent of a neatly folded blanket.
They weren’t collected over night. I began this line of work
And here, Roh Young-hee was giving a lecture to the
in 1993, so that collection has been building up since then.
ceramic artists of Icheon City when Krafts arrived. Krafts Do you have a preferred product line? Krafts Wood is a major theme in the interior design.
Roh Young-hee Simple is best. I prefer simple designs. I’m
Roh Young-hee A space is a reflection of the person who
not a collector. I buy plates to use them, and if a design is
occupies it. I favor wood and metals, and ceramics and
too elaborate it is difficult to make the food stand out. Of
wood are inseparable. Also I like the natural look.
course there are trends, but these days I really appreciate the moon jar designs. Both the food and the plate stands
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