Local chef fuses food and art

Frances Kroner knows food. She's been working in restaurants since she was 14. While running Picnic and Pantry and revamping the Northside Farmers' Market, Kroner has also been building her in-house dinner party business, Feast. 

 

The idea is simple. Come into someone's home, use their kitchen and create an unforgettable themed meal. Through ideas like "Adventures in Food Cartography" and "Eat My Song," Kroner comes up with ideas that allow her to orchestrate a dining experience from start to finish. 

 

"It's any chefs dream to hear someone say, 'I hated beets until tonight." Kroner says. "Feast was born out the idea that if you tailor not only the food, but the environment, too, you have a lot more to work with and create a memorable experience."

 

Before starting at Picnic and Pantry two years ago, Kroner had created nearly 50 Feasts in people's homes. They became less frequent after working at Picnic and Pantry. People began to ask her when she was going to begin doing more Feasts, so she began to rethink her strategy. After being recommended by a previous SpringBoard graduate, Kroner looked to ArtWork's entrepreneurial classes for a new business plan. 

 

"I went to culinary not business school," says Kroner. "It just became apparent that this was the perfect time to relaunch Feast." 

 

Now, Kroner will be trying to do one of her own Feasts each month in a business or a friend's home as well as going into clients homes' for private dinner parties. Since graduating from the most recent SpringBoard course, Kroner, also a new mother, has created one Feast each week. 

 

Kroner tries to include some sort of performance art in each Feast. A recent meal included a juggler, and "Edible Music Theory" allowed local musician Peter Adams to work with Kroner to create a menu that helped further define 12 elements of music theory -- guests were given a description of the element, then played examples as they tasted each course. 

 

"I want to keep looking for new ways to fuse food and art," Kroner says. 

By Evan Wallis