Imogen Kwok is a chef and food stylist who spins sugar into clouds for the art world and translates scents into edible installations for the coolest perfume brands. Her playful and compelling way with ingredients sees her jet from Hong Kong (for Art Basel) to Paris to do much more than just cater; with Kwok in the kitchen, the food becomes an art form.
Her flat in Notting Hill moonlights as a laboratory. She has rented in W2 since 2019 and was drawn to the duplex apartment on an elegant, stucco-lined street not just for its roof terrace but for its gas cooker. “That’s kind of a deal-breaker for me,” she says, laughing.
“I don’t love induction. I’m very tactile in that I like to see the flame as it helps me concentrate and understand the heat. I much prefer the old-school way,” she adds.
The simple domestic kitchen on the lower floor is regularly put through its paces by Kwok. Trestle tables will be put up for extra counter space and portable hobs — induction this time, for plug-in practicality — will be laid out. “It transforms a lot and it can get messy,” she says. Always within close reach is her Vitamix blender — “you can’t get that silky, restaurant-quality purée without it” — and a selection of the sharpest knives from Victorinox and Japan.
When we meet, she is about to use the space to crystallise 300 locally-grown snapdragons, dahlias, calendulas and roses for an event at Christie’s auction house.
The process involves brushing each petal with meringue powder whisked with water, then dusting with a fine sugar. Still attached to their stems, the edible flowers will be displayed Ikebana-style in a dining room surrounded by paintings by Old Masters commanding seven-figure sums.
“I’m curious to see how people will approach it. Often with my food, I make something that is a little surprising, and part of the fun is me watching everyone being like, ‘Oh, what is this?’” she says.
“Surprising” has become Kwok’s calling card in a time when anyone with a TikTok profile can call themselves a chef. She has joyfully carved out a unique role that no careers advisor could have signposted her towards. Born in Sydney to Chinese and Korean parents, she was raised in New York and enjoyed a taste of the British way of life while studying art history at the University of St Andrews. On returning to the US she craved a more practical outlet and trained at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, then honed her craft at a Michelin-starred restaurant upstate.
She eventually switched from back-of-house to sets, styling food for editorial shoots, videos and adverts. On moving to London, Kwok’s desire was to explore food in the same realm as art and fashion, and the pandemic gave her time to experiment and build up her portfolio. Reaching out to brands for collaborations, she landed her first project with luxury Spanish brand Loewe — under the creative direction of Jonathan Anderson at the time — and projects have flowed ever since.
“It’s a pretty weird job. Obviously I’m a chef, I get to do so much more than develop recipes. My work is all about opening up this dialogue between food and different genres like art and design, and recontextualising it. It’s exciting to take something that we already know and reframe it in an edible way,” she says.
When cooking for friends, what’s on the table tends to be less conceptual. Her current summer menu involves charring lemongrass fish on the barbecue and skews Thai “because it’s fresh and spicy”. And because the Tawana Oriental Supermarket on nearby Chepstow Road is a goldmine for all the ingredients required.
Despite being spoilt for choice in the neighbourhood — Dove and The Pelican are on her doorstep — eating in is always her preference. “Feeding people is how I express myself. And I love having friends over because you can have whatever music you want playing, people can smoke inside or open a bottle of wine when they feel like it… I just want everyone to feel super comfortable.”
‘I’m not a pattern person’
She and Sebastian, her fiancé, are in decorating limbo until they find a more permanent home: “It’s tricky because I’d want to change a lot of things, but I haven’t got that much freedom.”
Simmering away in her imagination is what her ultimate kitchen would look like. “Because I’m short — I’m 5 ft 1 — I’d need to be able to access things easily. Right now, I’m always getting a step stool for climbing on the countertops. I’d want a special outlet for the compost and foot pedals to control the faucet… and a big, crazy walk-in fridge. I want a lot of things!” she chuckles.
In the meantime, she is enjoying acquiring a handful of considered, easily transposable pieces. A pair of rugs from Nordic Knots’ funkis-inspired Modernist collection channels her minimal style: “I’m not a pattern person. I’m about one colour and no floral things.”
Poised to join them is a huge mirror by Canadian artist Willo Perron, whose creative path she crossed while at design showcase Matter and Shape in Paris earlier this year (curated by award-winning We Are Ona, Perron conceived the pop-up restaurant and Kwok was the guest chef). “It’s like a spaceship,” she says of her new purchase.
Fighting for space behind her, in the kitchen cabinets and on open shelves, are smaller cherished pieces such as a tableware set by Serax and ceramics by Mud Australia. “My job comes with lots of baggage — literally! I’ve accumulated so many different pots and pans and sheet trays and special things that I’ve gathered and got attached to,” she says.
There is also a new gadget in the bedroom which she won’t be parted from. She got a good deal on a second-hand steam closet which has proved a godsend for refreshing and sanitising clothes. “I’m always doing tons of laundry and it has saved me so much money on dry-cleaning — I’m obsessed with it,” she says. She jokes: “I’m just a bag lady with my blenders and my steam closet and my million ceramic things.”
