smitten with whitney smith
October 29, 2008
Whitney Smith’s organic inspired items to adorn the table and home are warm and modern, which is no small design challenge. I first discovered this ceramic artist’s beautiful vessels and platters at Miette in San Francisco at the Ferry Building location and wanted to learn more about her. They have hints of Bauer and Japanese ceramics but are also completely unique with a cool antique vibe.
A couple years ago I was obsessed with hunting for vintage Indiana milk glass cake platters on ebay. They come in the common white, not-so-common black, and a few other milky colors, like light green and pink. These are borderline kitschy and part of a sensibility that is quite “grandma chic”.
Whitney Smith’s cake stands are anything but, though you could gift one to a grandma and she would be the coolest grandma ever.
Cake stands and domes have definitely increased in popularity in the last few years. Though the downside to owning several is that they are hard to store (trust me), they go beyond the norm for beautifully displaying cakes and sweets, tarts, cookies, pastries, and savories. Adding different levels to a large food spread is an age old trick for entertaining and adds depth and drama. I love stacking cake stands of two different sizes. I have been known to pile these up with bacon wrapped dates for parties.
Since wallFlour is about the seamless melding of food with design and design with food, I have been honing in on designers and products that share that same philosophy.
Please read on to get a deeper insight into the mind that dreams up these beautiful creations and how food is definitely an inspirational element of her creative life. The care and depth in which she responded to WF’s food and entertaining related questions is refreshing, welcoming and completely inspiring and makes me want to run out and fish for salmon in Alaska, make my own honey, and curl up with a new book.
***************************
wallFlour: What’s your favorite restaurant where you can eat for under 10 bucks?
WS: Cam Huong in Oakland Chinatown (920 Webster St Oakland, CA, 94607). I always order their pork Vietnamese sandwiches, which is a french roll stuffed with roasted pork, picked onions, sliced jalapenos, and chopped cilantro. They are under $3 each so I usually get two– they are so delicious that just thinking bout them makes my mouth water.
wallFlour: Since the inspiration for your designs is heavily influenced by nature and naturally occurring patterns, what plant or flower do you find the most fascinating?
WS: I love poppies, especially when they are really big and colorful with a big poppy seed pod. And I will never get over the datura tree, with it’s big, lush, scented blossoms. They are simply magical.
wallFlour: What’s the most memorable thing a host / hostess has impressed you with when welcoming you into their home for a meal or a stay?
WS: I have one girlfriend who always makes the most wonderful, yet simple things from her garden. She always goes out on a limb when she entertains, so I’m always trying to angle for an invitation. One time she served for dessert some black mission figs from her garden, with a local honey that another friend raised drizzled over it. The flavors of that honey was out of this world, and I licked my plate clean, then drizzled more honey on the plate and licked it again.
wallFlour: What food did you hate as a child but now love?
WS: The food I hated as a child I still hate now. I really hated my mother’s tuna casserole, and I think I still would if she still made it, which she fortunately does not! I always loved the things kids typically dislike, such as spinach and brussel sprouts. My parents always encouraged me to just try everything at least once, and I developed a taste for all kinds of flavors.
wallFlour: How often do you prepare meals at home and do you have a signature dish that you make for family and friends?
WS: I cook dinner for myself and my husband just about every night. I go through phases with dishes, and right now what I really enjoy making is lamb curry. I love all the different spices and their wonderful scents.
wallFlour: How does living in the Bay Area influence and inform your design?
WS: Since we live in such a mild climate here, I’m outside a lot at all times of the year and checking out all the things that are growing, looking at the water in the bay, enjoying the scenery. I think that influences me to create work that incorporates elements from the natural world, and gives my work a certain ease and grace. I hope anyway.
wallFlour: What is your ultimate comfort food?
WS: Pasta and tomato sauce with lots of cheese.
wallFlour: What is your fondest food memory?
WS: When I was a kid my sister and I would visit our dad over the summers, and we would always participate in the Grant County Fair in Moses Lake, Washington with my dad and stepmother. My dad once won “Best of Show” for his blueberry pie. One year we decided to get ambitious and make candy for our entries, and we tried to make taffy and peanut brittle. We didn’t really have the right equipment and ended up with something not resembling either taffy or peanut brittle. We simply renamed the candy something else, like “Peanut Crunch” and “Gooey Fruit Drops” and won blue ribbons for both entries. We laughed so hard over that.
wallFlour: Who is your favorite potter of all time and why?
WS: Christa Assad, because her forms are so wonderful, and made with incredible craftmanship and precision. I have a pretty good collection of her work and I always want to add more.
wallFlour: Would you describe yourself as a wallflower or a social butterfly?
WS: I’m definitely a social butterfly, though I am known to attach myself to a wall every now and then.
wallFlour: This is a 2 part question: What was the last supper you just ate? AND describe your “last supper”.
WS: Last night we ate at a friend’s house. We brought over some salmon a friend caught in Alaska that I grilled the night before, along with a mash of toasted pine nuts, salt, and basil. It was a lazy Sunday dinner so we boiled up some garlic-lemon pasta and sprinkled chunks of the salmon over it, along with the mash and some parm. It was delicious. Realistically, I would need 7 or 8 last suppers to be satisfied, but if I had to choose just one I would probably ask for a coconut and chicken curry with lots of vegetables and chapati on the side.
Miette exterior, Hayes Valley location, SF
wallFlour: Where do your favorite sweets and pastries come from that would be worthy of resting on your beautiful cake stands?
WS: My favorite bakery is Miette Patisserie in the San Francisco Ferry building, and they do buy a lot of my cake stands for their awesome cakes and tarts. My favorite item of theirs is the hazelnut macaroons. And their graham crackers. But bottom line, nobody make better cake or cookies than my husband, and he was the whole reason why I started making my cake stands in the first place. (see chocolate cake recipe below)
wallFlour: Tell us, in detail, about your favorite restaurant to enjoy a meal at and why it has won you over.
WS: My favorite restaurant in Oakland is Mezze on Lakeshore. I love them because they simply never turn out a bad meal. They know how to walk the fine line of paying attention to what’s happening with the contemporary food scene, but they are never fussy with how they prepare the food or get bogged down with silly or passing trends. They have a lovely bar where I love to get a glass of wine with a friend and order some of their small plates. They also just started serving brunch, which I expected would be on the higher end of pricing because they have such exquisite food, but it is not any more than most breakfast/brunch places, and the food is out of this world. This adore their biscuits and gravy. Their biscuits float off the plate and their gravy is not too heavy and filled with chunks of sausage. They also make their own jams and fruit butters, which I like to eat it with just a spoon.
wallFlour: What are you reading these days?
WS: I’m almost done with “Nature Girl” by Carl Hiaasen. I also just finished “The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz which was one of the best books I have read this year.
Andrew’s Chocolate Cake:
Mix into a bowl:
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup boiling water
1 cup heavy cream
Sift together:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Cream together:
1 cup butter
2 1/2 cup sugar
then add:
6 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix together dry and wet ingredients. Pour into greased cake pans and
bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until done.
******************
A huge thank you to Whitney Smith for taking the time to participate in this virtual interview and to her husband, Andrew, for sharing his cake recipe. I can’t wait to try it myself. Enjoy!
More of her pieces can be viewed and purchased at her website. I’m sure you will be as smitten as I was with her choices of color and form.
Ceramic product photos used in this article are courtesy of the artist.
Whitney Smith’s organic inspired items to adorn the table and home are warm and modern, which is no small design challenge. I first discovered this ceramic artist’s beautiful vessels and platters at Miette in San Francisco at the Ferry Building location and wanted to learn more about her. They have hints of Bauer and Japanese ceramics but are also completely unique with a cool antique vibe.
A couple years ago I was obsessed with hunting for vintage Indiana milk glass cake platters on ebay. They come in the common white, not-so-common black, and a few other milky colors, like light green and pink. These are borderline kitschy and part of a sensibility that is quite “grandma chic”.
Whitney Smith’s cake stands are anything but, though you could gift one to a grandma and she would be the coolest grandma ever.
Cake stands and domes have definitely increased in popularity in the last few years. Though the downside to owning several is that they are hard to store (trust me), they go beyond the norm for beautifully displaying cakes and sweets, tarts, cookies, pastries, and savories. Adding different levels to a large food spread is an age old trick for entertaining and adds depth and drama. I love stacking cake stands of two different sizes. I have been known to pile these up with bacon wrapped dates for parties.
Since wallFlour is about the seamless melding of food with design and design with food, I have been honing in on designers and products that share that same philosophy.
Please read on to get a deeper insight into the mind that dreams up these beautiful creations and how food is definitely an inspirational element of her creative life. The care and depth in which she responded to WF’s food and entertaining related questions is refreshing, welcoming and completely inspiring and makes me want to run out and fish for salmon in Alaska, make my own honey, and curl up with a new book.
***************************
wallFlour: What’s your favorite restaurant where you can eat for under 10 bucks?
WS: Cam Huong in Oakland Chinatown (920 Webster St Oakland, CA, 94607). I always order their pork Vietnamese sandwiches, which is a french roll stuffed with roasted pork, picked onions, sliced jalapenos, and chopped cilantro. They are under $3 each so I usually get two– they are so delicious that just thinking bout them makes my mouth water.
wallFlour: Since the inspiration for your designs is heavily influenced by nature and naturally occurring patterns, what plant or flower do you find the most fascinating?
WS: I love poppies, especially when they are really big and colorful with a big poppy seed pod. And I will never get over the datura tree, with it’s big, lush, scented blossoms. They are simply magical.
wallFlour: What’s the most memorable thing a host / hostess has impressed you with when welcoming you into their home for a meal or a stay?
WS: I have one girlfriend who always makes the most wonderful, yet simple things from her garden. She always goes out on a limb when she entertains, so I’m always trying to angle for an invitation. One time she served for dessert some black mission figs from her garden, with a local honey that another friend raised drizzled over it. The flavors of that honey was out of this world, and I licked my plate clean, then drizzled more honey on the plate and licked it again.
wallFlour: What food did you hate as a child but now love?
WS: The food I hated as a child I still hate now. I really hated my mother’s tuna casserole, and I think I still would if she still made it, which she fortunately does not! I always loved the things kids typically dislike, such as spinach and brussel sprouts. My parents always encouraged me to just try everything at least once, and I developed a taste for all kinds of flavors.
wallFlour: How often do you prepare meals at home and do you have a signature dish that you make for family and friends?
WS: I cook dinner for myself and my husband just about every night. I go through phases with dishes, and right now what I really enjoy making is lamb curry. I love all the different spices and their wonderful scents.
wallFlour: How does living in the Bay Area influence and inform your design?
WS: Since we live in such a mild climate here, I’m outside a lot at all times of the year and checking out all the things that are growing, looking at the water in the bay, enjoying the scenery. I think that influences me to create work that incorporates elements from the natural world, and gives my work a certain ease and grace. I hope anyway.
wallFlour: What is your ultimate comfort food?
WS: Pasta and tomato sauce with lots of cheese.
wallFlour: What is your fondest food memory?
WS: When I was a kid my sister and I would visit our dad over the summers, and we would always participate in the Grant County Fair in Moses Lake, Washington with my dad and stepmother. My dad once won “Best of Show” for his blueberry pie. One year we decided to get ambitious and make candy for our entries, and we tried to make taffy and peanut brittle. We didn’t really have the right equipment and ended up with something not resembling either taffy or peanut brittle. We simply renamed the candy something else, like “Peanut Crunch” and “Gooey Fruit Drops” and won blue ribbons for both entries. We laughed so hard over that.
wallFlour: Who is your favorite potter of all time and why?
WS: Christa Assad, because her forms are so wonderful, and made with incredible craftmanship and precision. I have a pretty good collection of her work and I always want to add more.
wallFlour: Would you describe yourself as a wallflower or a social butterfly?
WS: I’m definitely a social butterfly, though I am known to attach myself to a wall every now and then.
wallFlour: This is a 2 part question: What was the last supper you just ate? AND describe your “last supper”.
WS: Last night we ate at a friend’s house. We brought over some salmon a friend caught in Alaska that I grilled the night before, along with a mash of toasted pine nuts, salt, and basil. It was a lazy Sunday dinner so we boiled up some garlic-lemon pasta and sprinkled chunks of the salmon over it, along with the mash and some parm. It was delicious. Realistically, I would need 7 or 8 last suppers to be satisfied, but if I had to choose just one I would probably ask for a coconut and chicken curry with lots of vegetables and chapati on the side.
Miette exterior, Hayes Valley location, SF
wallFlour: Where do your favorite sweets and pastries come from that would be worthy of resting on your beautiful cake stands?
WS: My favorite bakery is Miette Patisserie in the San Francisco Ferry building, and they do buy a lot of my cake stands for their awesome cakes and tarts. My favorite item of theirs is the hazelnut macaroons. And their graham crackers. But bottom line, nobody make better cake or cookies than my husband, and he was the whole reason why I started making my cake stands in the first place. (see chocolate cake recipe below)
wallFlour: Tell us, in detail, about your favorite restaurant to enjoy a meal at and why it has won you over.
WS: My favorite restaurant in Oakland is Mezze on Lakeshore. I love them because they simply never turn out a bad meal. They know how to walk the fine line of paying attention to what’s happening with the contemporary food scene, but they are never fussy with how they prepare the food or get bogged down with silly or passing trends. They have a lovely bar where I love to get a glass of wine with a friend and order some of their small plates. They also just started serving brunch, which I expected would be on the higher end of pricing because they have such exquisite food, but it is not any more than most breakfast/brunch places, and the food is out of this world. This adore their biscuits and gravy. Their biscuits float off the plate and their gravy is not too heavy and filled with chunks of sausage. They also make their own jams and fruit butters, which I like to eat it with just a spoon.
wallFlour: What are you reading these days?
WS: I’m almost done with “Nature Girl” by Carl Hiaasen. I also just finished “The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz which was one of the best books I have read this year.
Andrew’s Chocolate Cake:
Mix into a bowl:
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup boiling water
1 cup heavy cream
Sift together:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
Cream together:
1 cup butter
2 1/2 cup sugar
then add:
6 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix together dry and wet ingredients. Pour into greased cake pans and
bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until done.
******************
A huge thank you to Whitney Smith for taking the time to participate in this virtual interview and to her husband, Andrew, for sharing his cake recipe. I can’t wait to try it myself. Enjoy!
More of her pieces can be viewed and purchased at her website. I’m sure you will be as smitten as I was with her choices of color and form.
Ceramic product photos used in this article are courtesy of the artist.
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