➤ The Craft of Fusion | bulthaup Sensory Laboratory
Curating for Life — The Craft of Fusion | bulthaup Sensory Laboratory
As the clear fragrance of oolong tea spreads across the palate, it immediately offsets the slight richness left by the melon, ham, tomato, shiso and olive oil. Countless molecules stimulate the senses at once, breaking down an otherwise familiar dish into layers of flavour. At this moment, “tasting” moves beyond being simply a verb and becomes a conscious act of recognition. We begin to notice and remember the collision between different ingredients, the way one flavour sets off another, much like understanding the role of individual instruments within a symphony. This does not require the discernment of a gastronome, nor does it necessarily belong to a special occasion. Perception is an innate human capacity; yet amid the clutter of everyday life, it is often crowded out, waiting for a moment to be awakened again.
➤ Right | Chef Kedy of Jai Mi Ba, a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant; left | Andy Chen, sixth-generation tea maker at Yoshan Tea.
➤ Jai Mi Ba, recognised with a Michelin Bib Gourmand for four consecutive years, offers a creative interpretation of Taiwan’s local flavours.
The kitchen, meanwhile, is often treated as a familiar, static backdrop to everyday life. We use it, pass through it, take something from it, put something away, yet rarely remain there long enough to regard it as a stage upon which life unfolds. It was from this observation that Lafon Group conceived a summer experiment in the senses. As the official distributor of bulthaup in Taiwan, the group has long believed that the value of design is realised through deeper connections between people, everyday life and culture. For The Craft of Fusion | bulthaup Sensory Laboratory, it invited Yoshan Tea, a tea brand with more than a century of history, now carried forward by its sixth generation; Jai Mi Ba, a Bib Gourmand-recognised restaurant for four consecutive years; and S.C Lab, whose work centres on Taiwanese tea, to come together. Across its spaces in northern, central and southern Taiwan, the annual programme transformed the showroom into an exploration of everyday aesthetics through the senses, prompting a simple yet essential question: how does design shape the way we live?
➤ Exploring aromas through nosing, tasting and hands-on blending, with a selection of tea-based spirits featuring woody, fruity and herbal notes.
From the Local, Back to the Centre of Shared Life
The programme began in Tainan, a city deeply rooted in Taiwan’s food culture. Chef Kedy of Jai Mi Ba approached local flavours through French culinary techniques, refining familiar dishes such as chicken soup and wontons through clarification, or pairing them with foie gras to create a precise yet unexpected interplay of flavours. In doing so, the central idea of Fusion became something experienced on the palate rather than simply articulated as a curatorial concept. When speaking of “the aesthetics of living”, an excessive reliance on imported European and American brands or transplanted cultural references can easily reduce objects to decoration and symbols, detached from the warmth of everyday use. Architecture, much like food, is shaped by its relationship to place: while buildings emerge from landscapes and climates, cuisine carries the histories and cultures of the communities that make it. Nothing exists entirely on its own; each element is formed through exchange and convergence.
➤ Andy Chen, sixth-generation tea maker at Yoshan Tea
This openness to experimentation allowed the encounter between Western and Taiwanese culinary traditions to unfold directly on the palate. The roasted-tea craft of Andy Chen, sixth-generation tea maker at Yoshan Tea, then brought another layer to the experience, pairing each dish with tea selected for its ability to complement and balance. Differences in texture and intensity, as well as the interplay between sweetness and savouriness, were carefully calibrated. Through the changing colour, aroma and lingering character of tea, guests were gradually led into a deeper appreciation of tea as part of the meal. The second stop was Taipei, where S.C Lab, likewise grounded in Taiwan’s tea culture, provided the accompanying drinks. Moving beyond conventional tea-making practices, S.C Lab approaches Taiwanese tea with an experimental spirit, combining its own tea cultivation with herbs and fruits sourced from local farmers to create distinctive tea-based spirits and sparkling teas. Here, Taiwanese tea remains the protagonist of the drink rather than a secondary ingredient, while the familiar boundaries of flavour are shifted through a more wine-like approach to tasting, bringing its aroma and gentle intoxication into focus and opening up a more unfamiliar sensory experience.
➤ Mikey, founder of S.C Lab
The sense of pleasure that emerges from such exchanges speaks directly to a philosophy long articulated by bulthaup: “Kitchen is not a space. It is the centre of living.” By reconsidering the relationship between living and space through the kitchen, the flavours of food, the warmth of hands and the passing moments of conversation become part of a place where people gather, share and form connections. After forty-five years of working in Taiwan, Lafon Group has come to recognise that what can truly transform everyday life is never simply the kitchenware of a particular brand. Rather, it lies in the craftsmanship that quietly sustains quality after the crowd has departed, the heated cookware has returned to stillness and the scattered tableware has been put back in place; in the care given to materials, proportions and tactility; and in a thoughtful approach to design that gives people back a sense of freedom and ease in everyday life.
