tavola mara
25 september - 8 october
My name is Mara, and growing up as a half Sicilian my first words were ‘pane e olio’ - nowadays I still think of food all day.
Currently I work as a conceptual caterer, food stylist, recipe developer and food writer based in Amsterdam.
I’m happiest with a big, festive set table, full of people sharing beautiful dishes. Just like my Sicilian family: they taught me that food brings people together and creates connection. My food creations are pure and seasonal - always based on vegetables, complemented with surprising ingredients such as pickled veggies or foraged herbs. It is food that needs to be enjoyed.
My residency at Casa Lawa feels extra special to me because Sicily is my second home. Every year I return to the island and it reminds me of the fresh scents of jasmine flowers and rowdy markets with incredible produce. I’m very excited to put all my inspiration into this residency and get the opportunity to cook with the ingredients from Sicily’s fertile soil.
herrlich dining hannah
18 - 25 september
“Herrlich" is something German grandmothers would say when eating cake in the afternoon on their terrace. It's a feeling of delight and easiness that they transport through food, table concepts and service. Herrlich Dining started in Berlin a few years ago, when founders Hannah and Dee worked in hospitality. It was love at first sight when Fee double-checked Hannah’s napkin-folding techniques.
vilda saskia gonzalez
06 - 12 september
I am a chef, recipe developer, and creative human. I love to cook, I love to eat, I love to play, I love to dance, I love to share. My work takes many forms, from cooking private dinners, to feeding big groups on retreat, gathering strangers around the dinner table for long meandering meals, developing recipes and content for brands, teaching cooking classes, and advocating for more sustainable local food systems. The through line is constant: I believe that food should be delicious, flavorful, and indulgent, while also being deeply nourishing and inherently healthful. My mission is to rewire our collective relationship to what eating well truly means, through the lens of seasonality, sensuality, and intuitive home cooking.
My main objective at Casa Lawa is to capture the spirit of convivial play that I find most precious in preparing any meal. There will be fresh hazelnuts, late summer produce, lingering breakfast spreads, flakey flatbread, fingers sticky with honey, belly laughs, and late nights filled with the buzzing energy of new friends and flavors shared around the table.
spela
14-28 august
Since I've realised that cooking is my passion, I have worked in kitchens as well as a bakery. This year I decided to finally get a professional education in this area so I applied for the Diploma in Plant Based Culinary Arts in Le Cordon Bleu London. I have been vegan for the past 7 years, but plant-based food can often be seen as unattractive, flavourless and boring. For me, cooking is an expression of myself and my gratitude for people who sit around the table. Eating can be an incredible communal experience that allows us to connect with each other and slow down in this fast-paced world. By cooking simple but fresh and flavourful meals I want to give people the opportunity to connect with themselves, others and their environment.
I try to cook as seasonally and as locally as possible, but at the same time I enjoy the exploration of foreign cuisines. When I cook, I look for different flavour profiles, textures and colours, but I also believe that a dish eaten from a beautiful bowl or a plate automatically tastes better. Applying for CASA LAWA residency is one of the biggest steps on my culinary path, because it gives me freedom to create beautiful meals in an amazingly abundant environment with creative, like-minded people.
kavita
31 july - 14 august
I’m Kavita, California born but Mediterranean at heart. I started p.aradiso 7 years ago with an infatuation of creating beautiful dinners with elements of design, art and music. I’ve dedicated all my time in bringing people around a table to enjoy simple, seasonal food in unconventional spaces. My cuisine is rooted in the Mediterranean but has strong elements of my Latin heritage. Fusing different cultures and traditional cooking methods with fresh playful eyes is exactly how I love to cook. I love to attend to every detail of a dinner. The linens, candles, music, scents — every element is thought out to create an absolutely wonderful meal.
CASA LAWA brings me back to Sicilia and revisit all of the beautiful produce and landscapes, and have the time to play and enjoy this creative space.
elisabeth wynne
15 july - 31 july
I feel very proud to be able to source and cook with beautiful fresh, seasonal ingredients and create a space for people to feel joy and connection through something so fundamental to all of us.
I am 28 years old and grew up in Sydney, Australia. About the age of 12 I made the decision that I wanted to be a pastry chef, and since then my life has been immersed in the joys of cooking! I began working in bakeries and soon found the wonders of natural fermentation and cooking with fire, which led to cheffing in a few different kitchens where I really learnt the importance of cooking with the seasons and nurturing the produce available to you to create delicious food.
My passion for food and cooking has been pointing me in the direction to spend some time in Italy.When I saw what Casa Lawa was creating in Sicily for chefs, artists and guests I knew I wanted to be part of it. To be in a place where people from all over the world can share their culture and culinary roots will be a very special experience.
rebecca & fawz
10-24 july
We’re Fawz and Rebeca, we met in Vienna and immediately connected over our shared love of food and cooking. We share a common vision of food as a way to bring people together and an act of care.
I am Rebecca and I'm a bread baker, home cook and a student. At Casa Lawa I am excited to bake sourdough bread using local grains and to cook seasonally. I think that this residency is a beautiful opportunity to immerse myself in Sicily's rich food culture and to do what makes me happiest: cook for people.
I am Fawz, cooking, baking and wandering through farmers markets is what I enjoy doing the most. I was born in Tunisia where hosting and nurturing others through food is at the very center of the culture. Whenever I was nostalgic for home I cooked something that would remind me of the warmth of the Mediterranean. Eventually cooking became an important part of my identity and since then I’ve worked in various cafes and a farm to table restaurant here in Vienna. I am very excited about cooking at Casa Lawa and having access to the fresh local produce that reminds me of the flavours of home.
evan hamilton from lucky you studios
27 june - 10 july
Simply put, I work with food because I love food. I have loved both eating and cooking for as longas I can remember. Like the chicken and the egg I could not tell you which love came first, but some of my earliest memories are of wanting to be a chef. The kitchen is the centre of my parent’s house, and where I remember spending the most time as a kid. I definitely owe a lot of my love for both eating and cooking to them. They taught me to cherish the of communality stemming from cooking and eating together.
Getting to focus this year on cultivating an art practice around food has been a real pleasure, and what draws me to Casa Lawa. Two summers ago I was in Sicily visiting different agricultural co-operatives, and left feeling incredibly inspired by people’s relationship with the land. This is absolutely missing in Berlin, and something I am looking forward to diving into during my residency.
gabriela tom
12 june - 26 june
I think it's beautiful to share food made the artisanal way and enjoy the nature of Sicily. Italian cuisine always had a huge impact on my way of thinking about food culture. I try to keep my food chain as short as possible. A space where people have direct contact with local ingredients, with a producer and a cook is something I want to support and be a part of.
julia kołodziej
12 june - 26 june
My adventure with food started three years ago while doing an internship at one of Warsaw's confectioneries, Odette. There I learned the basics of confectionery and after, I became a full-fledged confectioner. I lived abroad for a while but I missed polish greens and I came back to Bakery Daj where I get to do the best job of my life; baking.
At CASA LAWA I’d love to make laminated cakes, brioches and croissants with my own twist on precious Sicilian ingredients. I love savory pastries just as much as sweet ones, so I can’t wait to see what will be in-season to make pies with. I would like to take Sicilian abundance into the kitchen and share with guests at CASA LAWA.
lou
19 may - 04 june
I think when it comes to cooking, the place where I grew up has a big impact on me, how I do things and what I like to see. I like things to be simple. I eat plant based. I’m very inspired by the old recipes of my grandmother, who was a chef.
I love to rethink and rebuild the idea of a dish and jazz it up with something special. I don’t like a lot of ingredients, but I love the dish when it has something unexpected. My aim is to create something that’s new, unusually shaped or plated, but still rich in flavor. CASA LAWA has a very calming atmosphere and I think my residency is a nice opportunity to create new dishes inspired by the idea of Sicilian abundance.
georgia lahiff
24 april - 8 may
I love the connection between nourishing food, seasonal ingredients and simplicity. I enjoy large platters shared with friends, dessert trolleys and creating a playfulness in the way food can be cooked, plated, and enjoyed.
The residency at CASA LAWA is the perfect opportunity to come together at the peak of spring and to catch a glimpse of Sicilian summer. I’m looking forward to experimenting with a small-scale project in the making, and the creative freedom that comes from discovering what the garden and land can offer.
fermentation residency
2022 ⏤ Wild foraging walks, stopping to taste the peculiar plants. Creating black ink from a walnut husk. Feeding scooby and making lots of kombucha. Romantic evenings spent preserving for the winter.
baking residency
2022 ⏤ One week of baking, kneading, growing, and laughing. The warm feeling floods over you when you peek inside the oven to see your mulberry focaccia turning perfectly golden.
watercolor residency
2022 ⏤ Over the course of summer 2022, Weronika Anna Marianna depicted our casa through her paintings. Her beautiful watercolor book became the foundation for our brand identity.