Designed by New York City-based Savvy Studio and printed at Narayana Press in Denmark, the three titles – Quarter Past Noon, Table Cloth and Lille Petra – celebrate food and community
Photography courtesy of &Tradition
Words by Jessica-Christin Hametner
Capturing the essence of Scandinavian living, Danish design label &Tradition knows a thing or two about how to balance aesthetics and functionality to create pared-back designs that bring people together. From the clean lines of Jørn Utzon’s classic 1947 lamp to the brand’s popular Lille Petra café and the scintillating hues of Verner Panton’s Flowerpot, &Tradition designs for human connectedness by blending liveability with modern style.
Underpinning this holistic philosophy is Quarter Past Noon, a compendium of three volumes of recipes and storytelling, where each dish transcends the table and taps into the power of food. Designed by New York-based Savvy Studio and printed at Narayana Press in Denmark, the three titles – Quarter Past Noon, Table Cloth and Lille Petra – are delivered through rich visuals and celebrate the collaboration between Danish chef and culinary innovator Søren Westh and &Tradition.
Westh first collaborated with &Tradition on the menu at Lille Petra, where meals are locally sourced and lovingly prepared by hand. It’s the sort of hidden gem that reveals itself through happenstance and insider tips, as the café is tucked away down a little alleyway. With a unique blend of creativity and compassion, Westh’s approach is informed by his diverse experiences working at the forefront of fine-dining, sustainability and care, including eight years at noma, a season at El Bulli, and today at &Tradition.
Photography courtesy of &Tradition featuring Quarter Past Noon books
He’s shared his expertise with care homes and interdisciplinary research organisation Nordic Food Lab before co-founding the sustainably focused culinary lab .506 in 2018. Since then, the Danish chef became an integral part of the &Tradition team and now serves up hearty, seasonal staff lunches at quarter past noon every day, where each dish tells a story of how to care for people and the planet.
Travelling alongside &Tradition from Copenhagen to cities like Stockholm, Los Angeles and Mexico City, Westh meticulously crafts unforgettable culinary events that bring together local creative communities to eat together and connect around the dinner table. Quarter Past Noon celebrates this ethos and showcases homegrown, seasonal food alongside captivating photography and wholesome recipes brimming with flavour.
At the heart of it all is sharing ideas through human-to-human connection. Exploring the development of recipes, Quarter Past Noon highlights the simple beauty of mealtime rituals like sharing bread around the dinner table and how these can create a sense of community. Packed with nourishing dishes – think cashew nut baba ganoush and avocado on rye, Danish Øllebrød (rye bread porridge) and cold-pressed clover juice – the books demonstrate how food acts as an agent for social change.
Photography courtesy of &Tradition featuring Quarter Past Noon, Danish Øllebrød
The first title, Quarter Past Noon, combines personal essays from the likes of &Tradition’s Head of Design Els Van Hoorebeeck and Zem Joaquin, founder of Near Future Summit, with recipes that reimagine all the favourites of those seated at the &Tradition table using sustainably sourced and local ingredients: steaming Shanghainese soup dumplings, comforting risotto with frozen green apple and sweet treats like Belgian waffles and chocolate.
Meanwhile, The Table Cloth takes readers on a journey far beyond Copenhagen. From Mexico City to Munich, the second volume depicts the sensorial dinners &Tradition hosts for creative communities, where the tablecloth, a symbol of unity, connects the Danish design label to people and places around the globe. From a picnic lunch inspired by the botanic prints of Arne Jacobsen to a forest floor lunch box, each dish provides a glimpse into how the brand envisages our future dishes and how we might create a more nourishing, regenerative tomorrow.
Finally, Lille Petra draws from the sustainable menu Westh created for &Tradition’s verdant courtyard café in Copenhagen. Here, guests dine amongst the same fruit trees, herbs, and vegetable patches that fill their plates. The dishes are playfully illustrated by Dalston-based artist Isabella Cotier and range from savoury to sweet, including Petra’s house cultured butter and rye bread to indulgent vanilla soft serve with wild Swedish blueberries and milk crumbs.
Photography courtesy of &Tradition featuring Søren Westh
Each recipe from the books has been captured on cards that sit separately in a red envelope in the box; the collection is designed to grow over time with the addition of new recipes. These are dishes to be shared with friends or pinned on the wall in the kitchen, all while keeping each book intact. The Quarter Past Noon initiative – and the newly-published titles – are a holistic extension of &Tradition’s vision to create exceptional objects that will be lovingly used for years to come.
Weaving a rich visual tale, Quarter Past Noon brings together sensational photography and illustrations alongside uplifting stories and crowd-pleasing recipes for all occasions. Whether laid-back gathering, relaxed entertaining or weekend brunch, these are the recipes we’ll turn to again and again for everyday inspiration. Celebrating the joy of gathering around the table for a delicious meal, these beautifully illustrated books remind us to savour life’s simple pleasures.
Quarter Past Noon is available for purchase through new-mags.com
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