REST and Oficina came together for a dining experience in the countryside of southwest Friesland – a site where geological time, agricultural history, and artistic research converge. REST is a transdisciplinary project located on a one-and-a-half-century-old farm in Mirns. Initiated by artist Saskia Noor van Imhoff and designer Arnout Meijer, it serves as both a living archive and a project zone, with the summer exhibition Two Hectare showcasing the work of, among others, Giulia Cenci, Lennart Lahuis and Kinke Kooi.

Through situated and embodied research, REST explores how materials – shaped by ecological, social and political forces – carry the memory of landscape, labour and time. The project questions the systems and paradigms that shape our perception, using material remnants to reflect on the past, make sense of the present and imagine possible futures. Inspired by the project’s themes, we created a dinner that responded to the exhibition’s spatial layout and the character of its environment. It offered an immersive way for guests to engage with the artworks while adding a new layer to the place through taste, smell and touch. For example, throughout the day, yoghurt sourced from the local organic farm Graasboerderij was left to hang and strain in cheesecloth, suspended inside the old barn of REST – once home to cows, now transformed into the dining space. By evening, it had thickened into hangop and was served in the same place where it had quietly changed.

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We served the local specialities of moist, dense Friesian rye bread and smoked eel from ninth-generation fisherman Freerk Visserman in Heeg, to further honour the landscape and traditions of the region. The meal featured ingredients grown by Van Imhoff and Meijer on the land at REST – pickled kohlrabi, white cabbage kimchi, garden leaves and flowers such as fig leaves and nasturtium. We also sourced produce from Dorpstuin Griene Poarte, a community garden in the neighbouring town. The garden is a place for locals to learn and gather, where anyone can join in the work and share the harvest. Their organically grown vegetables, fruits and herbs added to the freshness and variety of the menu.

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Guests were welcomed by passing through Henge of Meijer, where they began with a ball of ancient grains wrapped in a nasturtium leaf and a glass of cold-brewed Taiping, a Chinese green tea. Gathered under Luminous Ground of Aliki van der Kruijs, they were served a chilled white gazpacho in a work by Van Imhoff – a vessel that once contained salt, referring to conservation and value. From there, guests made their way into the barn, seated under Boris Acket’s site-specific installation Aesthetics of Decay, to collect their plates and approach the buffet, set over Sander Wassink’s Land, Labor, Love – a raised platform built from recycled Friese geeltjes (yellow clay bricks from Friesland). Dessert was served in the same spot: a fig-leaf panna cotta with Japanese wineberries, closing the evening in a balance of fragrance and sweetness.

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