Artist’s palate

Katharina Grosse’s squid ink pasta

One beautiful evening in Venice, German artist Katharina Grosse came across a small restaurant called Alla Vedova (at the widow’s). Thinking immediately of Emilio Vedova, the late Venetian painter who had seen abstraction as a gateway to political freedom, Grosse imagined being invited to his table. ‘We had a lot of Venetian specialities that night, but nothing was like the dark purpleblack inky, velvety linguine.’ The aftermath bore a delightful resemblance to Vedova’s work – energetic, expressive brushstrokes on largely monochrome canvases. The linguine ‘left traces everywhere on the plate, the paper tablecloth, my tongue and my teeth,’ recalls Grosse. ‘Eating squid ink pasta is as if biting into the sea at night.’

For stockists, see page 184 ‘Aarne’ cocktail glass, £29, by Göran Hongell, for Iittala, from Skandium. ‘Tourron’ dinner plate, £25, by Jars; ‘Broadway’ fork, £10, by A for Amara, both from Amara photography: philippe Fragnière interiors: olly mason entertaining director: melina keays writer: tf chan