Foodpairing is a site that maps complimentary flavors. Blueberries apparently get along with cinnamon and sage.

This is just a tool to inspire you. You still need as a chef the craftsmanship, the experience,…to translate this inspiration into a good recipe. It is not only mixing two components together. The balance between the two is important.

The point being, all of us have access to the same ingredients. What makes the end product different is the person who puts them together. If time is a luxury, sometimes it works out ok by instinct. If not, the experience of practice can deliver a much more efficient, fitting, and pleasing solution. That’s why designers (a group inclusive of chefs, graphic artists, interior space designers, choreographers, etc) matter.

The tricky part is that the best designers make it look so easy to do. Anyone can go out and get new cabinets and countertops from Home Depot. But if they’re unfamiliar with nuances in style, color, circulation space, or how height changes can feel, it won’t look or be anything like that picture of what they wanted. And chances are it will bug them at some level every time they see it, use it, move through it. Some folks may even start over. Which translates to more time & money & inconvenience.

Designers are hired for that accumulation of experience - because time is valuable, and learning to do it yourself may not even get you where you want to go. Sure, you can get the strawberries and rhubarb, but will it be the same as Ashley Christensen’s dessert specialty? Isn’t the whole point of going to a place like Vin because of Ashley’s creative menu? Isn’t that what makes it worth it?

So if you’d trust a talented chef and spend a special night out at dinner for a couple of hours, doesn’t it make sense to also trust a designer with creating spaces in which you spend much more time?

Awesome. If you’re ready to get rid of Oriental Trading Cards monthly, or Brogans for Bimbos, this is the place to kill them both. Straightforward, easy to use, the way a good tool should be.