Cutting-edge in his designs, Jono Pandolfi’s work reflects a delicate balance between bold, spontaneous design and meticulous craftsmanship – both counter-balanced with an understanding of the practical world of restaurant dining and the need to provide a unique culinary experience to the dining guest.
Pandolfi is known for his high-profile dinnerware collaborations with chefs like Daniel Humm (Eleven Madison Park, NoMad), Matt Lightner (Atera), and Wylie Dufresne wd~50), as well as his custom tabletop and lighting products for restaurant design firms like AvroKo and Parts and Labor Design. Pandolfi also designs and manufactures for retail clients like Calvin Klein Collection, Anthropologie, and Crate & Barrel.
Maintaining his studio and production facility in Union City, New Jersey, Jono Pandolfi is a faculty member in the Product Design department of the Parsons the New School for Design.
We visited with Jono recently and had the opportunity to ask him about his dinnerware for restaurants and his overall vision for tabletop: How did you get started in the ceramic dinnerware business for restaurants?
It goes back to 2004 when the MoMA was renovated. A close friend, Will Guidara, was working on terrace 5 and cafe 2, two of the resto’s there operated by Danny Meyer. I had recently landed in the city and was working at a ceramics studio in chelsea. Sensing an opportunity, I offered to provide some bud vases or small porcelain pieces to the restaurant, free of charge. They of course paid me but in the end I got what I wanted- my pieces in the MoMA.
Making dinnerware and serving pieces for restaurants is tough. Usually, artisans are ok with supplying a few pieces here and there….how do you supply whole restaurants?
I have truly worked my way up in terms of growing my production capacity slowly, and in different ways. Some production is done here in my studio, and I also work with some larger plants here in the US for bigger projects. It’s really been a matter of looking at how I produce ware, and really streamlining that as much as possible. Looking at it not only from the side of the potter, but also the side of the product designer.
What I am really excited about for 2013 is a new collection that I am developing for a broader range of customers. It will be centered around a few basic shapes- dinner plate, salad plate, a couple sizes of bowl, good versatile pieces. From there I can add in a few custom accent pieces whether it be the coffee and espresso cup, a special charger of some kind, you get the idea. By keeping the staples in stock in bisque form, I can make a custom, accented dinnerware line in my customer’s choice of clay body and glaze, in a relatively short turnaround time and with lower minimum quantities. When that is ready to go we will definitely be looking to expand beyond the NYC market.
Your pieces are very creative – either through their shape design or the textured glazes that you use. How well do your pieces hold up to the rigors of a hospitality dining setting?
So far the NoMad hotel has been very very happy with the durability of the product. That’s a really good thing. I am always focused on making dinnerware that not only heightens a customer’s experience, but also serves all the other needs of the restaurant, such as holding up under daily use. I am always looking for ways to improve what I have already figured out, as well.
What can hospitality customers expect next from Jono Pandolfi?
Well, I am really excited about launching my new studio collection and taking that to a wider audience while maintaining the quality and feel of what I have done for NoMad and Eleven Madison Park. Today’s whole emphasis on local ingredients, and farm-to-table cuisine makes it, I think, a really appealing option for restauranteurs. My whole aesthetic is based around simplicity and letting the beauty of the materials speak for themselves, much in the same way that many chefs work. I call it rustic-modern. It’s definitely a subtle yet enduring style.
Ok…now the important stuff. You told us that not long ago you were in a rock band. What was that like and how does that influence your dinnerware designs?
Well, that’s actually how I met Will Guidara (of EMP and NoMad), so you could argue that if it weren’t for that summer, things could have turned out differently for NoMad and Eleven Madison Park’s dinnerware. But for the record, that was a Ska band, one of a few rock bands I played with back during my college years. These days I am much more into bluegrass. It’s always a treat to play music with my brother Christopher around the holidays, he’s in a touring band – The Infamous Stringdusters – they are complete source of inspiration to me.
http://www.jonopandolfi.com/
