Culinary delights
- Gabi and Alex create custom ceramic tableware
- They left Brazil to start a new life in Portugal
- Studioneves supplies ceramics to top chefs
Gabi and Alex met working crazy hours in an advertising firm in Brazil. Searching for a more meaningful life, they moved to Barcelona to study. The discovery of Catalan culture, nouvelle cuisine and a ceramics course opened the way. Back in Brazil, they opened their studio and realised, after an order for 200 plates from a caterer, that they could merge their passion for design, ceramics and gastronomy by creating tableware for chefs. Business boomed but in 2018 the couple, now with young children, moved to Portugal leaving behind their success but not their skills and passion. They opened Studio Neves and work with European restaurants listed in the World’s 50 best. Soon the creative couple will launch their signature tableware for end consumers.
Interview
- How different is making tableware from other pieces?
- Alongside beauty, our pieces need firstly to be food safe and resistant to acidic ingredients, alkaline environments, water absorption, knife marks, thermal shocks etc. We constantly test our clays, glazes and techniques to guarantee the highest quality.
- Do you enjoy creating pieces for top chefs?
- Delivering pieces to top restaurants is amazing but only a small part of our accomplishment. Our motivation comes from our daily devotion to the craft. Opening the kiln each day and the excitement of discovering what is inside feels like Christmas every day.
- Is territory important for your work?
- Yes. Clay is found everywhere but each country has a different composition making it unique. In Portugal, the quality of the clay is really high as it has an old ceramic tradition. We had to adapt our work to use the local clay and this really makes us feel integrated.
- What has been an important moment?
- A renowned French restaurant asked to see our pieces but our excitement turned to distress as they described our work as "course". We tried to change, but thankfully a famous restaurant in Spain chose our original pieces teaching us to stay true to ourselves.
Gabi Neves & Alex Hell are expert artisans: they began their career in 2011
Where
Gabi Neves & Alex Hell
