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Jul 24, 2006 9:27 am US/Eastern
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'Feeding Desire' At Cooper Hewitt
by Maurice DuBois
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
It's a rule of life: Everybody eats. Now there's a great exhibition currently on view at the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum called "Feeding Desire," which shows how food can be consumed and served in truly unique style. Maurice DuBois reports on why you might never look at a fork the same way again.
Restauranteur Drew Nieporent joined me at the exhibition -- Nieporent owns more than a dozen famed dining establishments, including Nobu.
"Having grown up in a world of food, over the years I've seen thousands of different cork screws," he said. "We're always looking for something that's different and unique -- an attention to detail that the customer will see."
Nieporent said the exhibit would be thought provoking, and it certainly was. There are more than 500 items on display here from the intricately carved forks of the 1500s to the modern day whimsical place settings made from recycled road signs.
It all vividly demonstrated how much thought and invention went into the devices we so easily take for granted.
"When I sit down at the table, it's a ritual," said Gastronomica Editor-In-Chief Darra Goldstein, a toss to a ritual that's been done for thousands of years.
She said we should think about what we're eating, how we're eating and the appearance of the table. "Of you make the table beautiful then everything is that much more beautiful, the food tastes better, the company is somehow lifted and I think that is something that has been lost in our harried lives," she said.
The exhibit showcases treasures that have made the mere act of dining a delicacy in itself. I loved one 88-piece dessert service that I saw.
The individual pieces were produced in Paris in the late 19th century and each piece is different. Looking at the details, you realize the pieces are fascinating works of art.
There are also tiny glass beads from the 1700s and highly collectable bake-a-lights from the 1930s. I saw a beautifully carved fork for toasting bread in a fire from the mid-1800s, an era when ice cream was served with "hatcettes," also on display.
Silverware has even been designed to prevent crime. One knife-fork and spoon from the New Mexico Department of Corrections has serrations in it, so if someone tries to stab another person, the knife-fork and spoon would break apart and couldn't be used as a weapon.
"I find this so inspiring," said Nieporent. "For a restaurateur to see how much history, culturally how its evolved, the beauty of it, the ingenuity of it, it's all phenomenal."
'Feeding Desire' is on view at the Cooper Hewitt until October 29. For more information click on the links and numbers section of this page.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)