Designers and design educators Ranee Lee (Toronto) and Amanda Huynh (Brooklyn) are collaborating with the first winner of MasterChef Canada Chef Eric Chong and his team at R&D Restaurant, a recent recipient of MICHELIN Bib Gourmand, in Toronto’s Chinatown for a one-night dining experience. Through food and design, we are addressing the urgently relevant topic of the need for better long-term care, an area that the pandemic has brought to the surface. The combination of our design backgrounds with Chef Chong’s expertise in food and hospitality can make an impact through highlighting the need for ‘One Lovely Hour’ — a meal time each day that can elicit joy, comfort, and memory for our elders. We see an appetite in the public for these conversations towards positive social change.

Over two seatings, these dinners will bring together like-minded people to critically challenge the perception and affordances of foods for older adults. The designers have worked to design and produce a series of limited-edition ceramic pieces to accompany the food that Chef Chong and the R&D team create for the event. Join us for cocktails, a 3-course meal, and conversation. All participants take home a custom designed ceramic plate.

Seatings at 5pm and 8pm.