Why you need a selfie with Katy Perry’s favourite explosion cake and a pink peppercorn latte on your Instagram this summer
Pantone and LG Electronics is expecting an explosion of Instagram interest – under the hashtag #SeeExtraordinaryColor – when their pop-up cafe opens in New York
Get ready to see a lot of pink peppercorn lattes this summer.
The Pantone Color Institute, arbiter of hues around the world, will open the doors of Cafe Oled in collaboration with LG Electronics USA in Soho on July 12. The three-day pop-up cafe is the perfect spot for everyone who has grown tired of the Museum of Ice Cream selfies.
The project is designed to highlight four colours from the Pantone Institute’s summer 2019 colour trend report: yellow-green “pepper stem”, “turmeric”, “Aspen gold” and “pink peacock”.
The colours weren’t just picked because they’re (mostly) food-focused; they reflect the public’s increasing interest in the environment.
“Trends in colour reflect what is taking place in the culture,” said Laurie Pressman, vice-president of the Pantone Color Institute. “This is the first time we have illustrated the relationship between colour trends we are seeing in fashion with colour trends being shown for food.”
The cafe will have 16 seats, but isn’t designed for customers to hang out on their laptops. There will be four separate interactive “vignettes”, one for each of the featured colours. There will, of course, be a photo booth.
Coffee drinks have been designed to give the colours a corresponding culinary profile. The hard-to-ignore pink peacock will feature an unorthodox combination of beets and maple; Aspen gold is comprised of lemon and vanilla; pepper stem gets its green hue from matcha mixed with honey; and turmeric is a mix of the ubiquitous spice with ginger and chilli powder.
Colourful pastries will be provided by the Flour Shop’s Amirah Kassem. The baker’s flamboyant desserts, such as the candy-filled “explosion cake” have earned her 245 000 Instagram followers, and clients such as Beyoncé and Katy Perry.
For Cafe Oled Kassem is creating treats that “colour outside the lines”. Specifically, cake pops and balls in the featured colours and flavours. Fingers crossed that a pink peppercorn exploding cake will make an appearance at some point.