“I am eating a s’more cheesecake from Morris East. It is just as awesome as it sounds.”
Drew takes a break from working the perimeter of the room at The Olympic Gardens to show off his finds. He has a mini, half-eaten cheesecake in his hands. The look on his face is nothing short of gleeful.
The Olympic Gardens have been transformed for Dine by Design East – filled (literally) to the rafters with local designs, art, and appys that are, themselves, nothing short of artwork.
He is trying all the food. And I’m not far behind. I stop chewing long enough to gawk at the themed rooms and daydream about how my home might look if I was any good at any element of creativity and design.
Dine by Design pairs 10 Nova Scotia designers with 10 local chefs who work together to provide a multi-sensory experience. My favourite room (and, coincidentally favorite food) was this beach-themed space by D.H Designs paired with chicken chops and Rockafeller oysters dreamed up by chef Tahir Salamat of Onyx (click the images to enter a slideshow for a better look).
I’m handed a beer cocktail and continue to work the room, stopping every 2 minutes, dropping my purse, cocktail, plate, and phone to the ground for a picture I need to take.
Drew finds his room soul mate in a cozy compilation by Land Studio East paired with those comfort food s’mores from Morris East.
The event is a fundraiser for NSCAD. Funds raised are for the Amber Harkins Memorial Scholarship Fund and will support design education. Last year was the first year for the event. It raised over $20,000.
We loved exploring all the rooms, and eating all the food. There was pop-up art with pop-up inspired food (that’s powdered bacon in photo 4)…
There were minimalist designs mixed with performance art…
There were jewel-toned designs paired with jewel-toned desserts…
Harvest-inspired rooms…
And rooms we could both move into right now…
We finished our adult trick-or-treat with one final loop around the room for a second taste of our favourites, and one last hit of design inspiration, before heading home to rip our house apart, and discuss how my beach paradise can meet Drew’s cozy cabin in the middle.
The 2015 event runs October 1st – 4th. There are a number of events lined up as part of DBD East, we attended the gala. You can see the full list of events and purchase tickets here: http://eastcoastliving.ca/dine-by-design-east/events/
Follow our adventures live:
@GillianWesleyNS
@DrewMooreNS
Facebook
Instagram
