This ingenious art-and-food incubation is a must-try
Rice was the unifying thread that tied together all the disparate ingredients and bundled them all into an unforgettable experience at Now Now Canteen. For the second edition of Renown, their cultural incubation program that brings together culinary arts and contemporary art, the canteen invited visual artist Celine Lee as artist-in-residence, working alongside the curatorial team of Bryan Kong, Maxine Kong, Patrick de Veyra, and Zoilo “Chino” Recto.
Also at the helm were Mateusz Łuczaj, Now Now’s executive chef specializing in molecular gastronomy; Lisane Łuczaj, executive pastry chef; Kelvin Pundavela of the Renown gastronomy team; and Keona Liuson, sous chef.
This collaboration extended Now Now’s ongoing explorations in fermentation but in ways that were more cerebral, sometimes philosophical, and socially aware. Yet for all its layers of meaning, the evening remained light, playful, and above all, delicious.
Staging rice
As we enter, we are confronted with a floor-to-ceiling depiction of rice in Lee’s artwork, “A Mass.” Off to the side is a microscope, which broke down the molecular structure of rice, a micro view as opposed to the macro depicted by the artwork. Kōji splatters, aligned with the fermentation practice of Now Now, appear under the microscope.
“I used rice as both subject and metaphor for ‘A Mass,’” shares artist-in-residence Lee. “Since the central ethos of Now Now is democratizing the kind of food that they serve, I had this idea of showing how power dynamics work, especially in terms of the idea of ‘consumption’ in both the food and art industry.”
“Rice is a modest staple… but every fragment contributes to a bigger picture.” She asks, “As consumers, how do we all fit in this big picture?”
Once seated, a plastic film is slapped down in front of us on the shiny metal table, printed with what we later discovered to be a rice molecule, doubling as the menu. As each course is brought out, a corresponding piece of the molecule on the acetate is formed until the last course of dessert.
Recto, Now Now Canteen’s systems designer, recalls, “Originally, [the menu] was meant to be printed on simple board paper… But when we saw it, the curatorial team felt it wasn’t quite there aesthetically—it didn’t feel ‘Celine’ enough. In a brainstorming session, we landed on the idea of printing it on acetate.” They then pushed it further, layering it like one might recall doing so on overhead projectors in school.
“This is just one of the many moments of creative back-and-forth I experienced working with Celine and this incredible team. If every edition of Renown pushes us to think and create at this level, I’m truly excited about how Now Now Canteen’s Renown series can help shape Manila’s F&B scene moving forward.”
First dimension (height)
To start, the aperitif featured aged tapuey from Proudly Promdi. A rice wine from the Cordilleras, this edition was made of three different kinds of brown rice. It was served cold, fruity at first sip, followed by an unmistakable taste of starchy rice. Meanwhile, the non-alcoholic options featured ginger amazake, also made from fermented rice.
The first course was charmingly dubbed “snacks” and played on the concept of height. Intentionally teetering off-center on top of a narrow metal block was shrimp ceviche, sandwiched between rice wafers that echoed the grids of Lee’s artwork. It was mixed with elderflower, fermented tepache, made tart with preserved lemon, balanced with basil, with a spicy kick from the Tajin. On a lower block, a mellow taro puff balanced the bites on purpose, with earthy flavors in a rice noodle cannelloni, alongside black garlic, molasses, tahini, pomegranate, and baba ganoush mousse.
This first dish gave a preview of Renown as a “sensory exhibition,” as Maxine, Now Now Canteen’s CEO, remarks, “art takes shape through taste, touch, and texture, creating a shared language—food as the canvas, art as something to savor.”
Second dimension (time)
Playing with the dimension of time, then came the sea floor risotto. A literal visual feast, the risotto had just the right amount of Grana Padano cheese that was buttery, but not too heavy. Sprinkled across the plate were local sea bass and perfectly confited Hokkaido scallops on either side.
Squid rice crackers, flattened and dehydrated, represented the fish bones of the sea, linking to the death and decomposition of sea life or life in general. Now Now’s signature XO sauce tied it all together, with baby cucumbers adding crunch and freshness.
This clearly created “an entirely new dialogue and environment,” as Bryan, director of Now Now Canteen’s fermentation, reflects. “I’m excited that we are able to bring a sensory language [that] is shared not just on a wall or a plate… I think we’re creating history as we speak.”
It paired very well with a Californian McManis chardonnay, or rice tea for those who chose the non-alcoholic route.
Third dimension (width)
For comfort, the third course featured a heavy, hearty lu rou fan bowl, with pork braised in tapuey and paired with golden fried rice that gave a distinctly Chinese flavor. On top of it was a unique mochi tamago, dashes of tapuey sauce, and fermented mustard leaves with sesame seeds.
The pork was balanced with fruity, spicy, yet light Chilean Syrah wine. There was also the kombucha option, an aid for digestion for this substantial dish. Rice was also notably woven through every element, through golden fried rice, glutinous mochi, and crisp rice crackers.
Interlude
For a palate cleanser, guests were presented with a fortune cookie. Inside was either a real fortune on a slip of paper, or a code that responded to one of the lenticular prints magnetized to “A Mass.”
The cookie itself was dusted with kiamoy powder, berries preserved in brine and vinegar as well as kamias and cheong, a Korean ferment made entirely of sugar. Another nod to rice aesthetics, all these added dimensions to otherwise tasteless fortune cookies.
For those who came for the visual art, this interlude was one of the most exciting, as the code meant you were to receive your part of the mosaic of lenticular prints.
“At the core of Renown lies an acknowledgment: countless possibilities can emerge from cross-disciplinary collaboration,” says de Veyra, head of the curatorial team. “We took that leap over the edge of the ravine, set aside our egos, truly listened to one another, and placed front and center the visual language and conceptual framework of Celine Lee.”
The finale
Dessert pushed rice into new terrain. Occasionally used as a substitute for breast milk, rice milk was used to enrich a white chocolate champorado. Capped by a hardened milk disk designed to be broken, it released a puff of smoke made from burnt rice husks.
The champorado itself took the form of puffed red rice soil mixed into a flan made of buro (catfish or mudfish) that added distinctly savory flavors. But the sweet flavors were present too, with good ol’ chocolate and caramelized burnt rice molasses that emphasized the depth that rice can go.
More than a degustation
From setting the air-conditioning to just the right temperature for guests’ comfort to choosing gray checkered napkins that echoed Lee’s grid artwork, Now Now’s attention to detail was palpable.
With food and art balanced at equal measures, the grand finale of this edition of Renown was the uncovering of the rice field in “A Mass.” Piece by piece, it was laid bare of its upper layer to reveal Lee’s single photographic artwork of the rice landscape itself.
Diners received a piece of the mosaic of lenticular prints, thus participating in the final act of the theater, art piece, and meal. Each print was made by Lee through photogrammetry to generate 3D-rendered images of the rice in wireframe and shaded versions. Using advanced technologies, the physical manifestation changed shape, shadow, and depth, according to the angle at which you viewed the print.
Now Now’s residency of Celine Lee was ingenious. Cerebral and beyond intellectual, the team behind it blended gastronomy and art in a way that was certainly unique and original.
It was an arduous process, as De Veyra recounts how the project was made over months. “The sheer number of edits, reworked and discarded dishes, and long meetings—all in the name of creating something that has never been done before—attest to the rigor behind this endeavor,” he states.
“From the very beginning until today, we have received messages of affirmation, praise, and tremendous support, along with raised eyebrows and criticism from all around. But what can we do?”
He answers himself, “When you and your team believe in your gut that something must be explored—that curiosity and conviction might lead to a breakthrough—and you’re willing to go the distance and put some skin in the game, then everything is worth it.”
Cross-disciplinary collaborations seem to still be in the early stages in the Philippines. But with Renown, the conceptual frameworks from the artist and curatorial team seemed to make a social commentary on its core subject of rice as segmented vs. unsegmented, visual and conceptual, yet unified.
It was theater, art, and gastronomy, all in one.
