Chef Eva Hurtigkarl and the Colorful Meals at Ganni HQ
Fueling the creative process, literally
Last week, T Magazine published an article, The Case for Eating Lunch With Your Colleagues, by Michael Snyder. The piece points out the extensive changes that have been made to the workplace in the last decade, and yet it’s no surprise that the people most eager to collaborate in person are those in artistic fields. Snyder interviewed an architecture firm in Mexico City, the West End cast of Stranger Things, and a Los Angeles-based production company, among others, to discuss what they chat about at lunch.
At restaurants, the so-called family meal has long been an essential tradition: employees feeding one another between moments of chaos. But the ritual isn’t just limited to the food industry. — Michael Snyder
While some days I choose to read a book or peruse Substack on my break, I find a lot of solace in eating lunch with my co-workers. On Fridays, when the office is quiet, my company caters lunch, and sometimes we can find sandwiches in the conference room with the Olympics or something fun on screen. If one person is elevating corporate culture more than the rest, it’s Eva Hurtigkarl, the Chef of Copenhagen’s it-girl brand Ganni.
A few years ago, I purchased one of my most coveted closet staples from Ganni, a perfectly slouched wool trench coat. I abandoned my Pad Thai and raced after a woman leaving Night + Market to ask where her coat was from and spent months scouring the internet for it. When I was producing music videos, T-Pain complimented this coat, and I sent him a link so he could purchase it for his wife. Ganni is special, and Eva, along with her colleague, Mia Verson, have managed to translate that ethos onto the plate of 100+ employees daily.
Incorporating Ganni’s broader sustainability initiatives, Eva focuses on fresh, organic produce from local farmers; each dish is centric to a plant-based philosophy and filled with colorful vegetables, pasta, eggs, rye bread, and legumes. Similar to the design team, Eva also repurposes leftovers into entirely reimagined dishes, no piece of food goes to waste. Recently, employees enjoyed corn chowder with black garlic and dirty rice, smoked mackerel with mushroom salad, and a stunning noodle salad bar. Another week, pavlovas, shakshuka with couscous and tahini, and dukkah green salad were served on custom Ganni dishware. Eva and Mia are also responsible for several dinners during Copenhagen Fashion Week each year and events like the Global Fashion Agenda Summit. There is no question that Eva and Mia are fueling (literally) the creative process at Ganni, encapsulating the #GanniGirl (a global tribe that worships at the altar of the Danish fashion brand) style through cooking.
