Eat. Feel. Repeat. Cracky Dining: The Art of Eating Differently

AFFECT caught up with Adrian Parpat and Julian “Juppe” Seitlinger, the duo turning Berlin’s dining scene upside down with Cracky Dining, a surreal mix of gastronomy, art, and absurdity. What began as an underground 14-course dinner club has evolved into a performance agency where chaos meets craft and no night is ever the same. From papier-mâché pyramids to edible illusions, Cracky Dining transforms food into storytelling and dinner into collective theatre.

AFFECT: Who are you, what do you do and how would you describe each other in three words?

Adrian Parapat: We are Cracky Dining. I am Adrian, I just turned 29, I was born in Berlin, but I lived four years in Hamburg and almost three years in Italy, where I studied gastronomic sciences, and also met Juppe there. What we do is relatively extensive. We started as a dinner club two years ago, and the whole thing then somehow developed into what it is now. We used to be a pure dinner club, once a month, at least 14 courses, an interactive fun menu, and the whole thing has somehow now morphed into an international event agency, which is increasingly turning into a performance-art-adventure agency.

Julian Seitlinger: I’m Juppe. I run Cracky together with Adrian, and together we create all kinds of beautifully chaotic stuff. In three words, I’d describe Adrian as genius, madness, and curiosity. I think that sums him up pretty well.

A: What was your dream job as a child?

AP: I never really had a dream job. I always just wanted to have a good time. So, if anything, I wanted to be an adventurer, like Asterix, and somehow experience something new every week.

JS: My dream job as a child was actually to become a film director. It’s funny, because now we’ve made this film, even though I wasn’t the director, it’s the closest I’ve ever been to that. I always thought it was incredible to invent stories and create worlds, especially when you think about how creative you are as a kid. (…)

A: Are there people, characters, or artists who influenced you ?

AP: I can still go back to Asterix. It’s quite funny because about half a year ago, I somehow started reading Asterix comics again, and it totally threw me back into my childhood. They’re always about food and experiences, about different cultures, and something is always happening. Asterix and Obelix almost always have to help someone out of a jam. There’s chaos, there are problems, and it’s fun to solve them. I don’t have a specific character in mind that has inspired me. I actually like to be inspired by people. I find people interesting who do what they feel like doing. Authenticity is everything for me (…).

JS: Three came to mind. Money Boy, Eric Andre, and Meister Eder. Money Boy was somehow very influential during my youth, and through that weird bubble I actually metmany friends. I also always found this persona a bit fascinating. Eric Andre because of his complete absurdism and this kind of humor through absolute exaggeration and the totally unexpected. And this is also the most personal, I would say Meister Eder (…) I’m from Munich, and Meister Eder embodies for me the ideal form of living. That sense of coziness.

A: If Cracky Dining were a feeling, what would it be?

AP: I think positive wonder describes it pretty well.

JS:An exact feeling at least is difficult, I believe. I think the closest what would come closest to it, I would say, is a mixture of confusion and curiosity. An interplay of both. On the one hand, not knowing what is happening to you, but still being excited to see what happens next.

A: How did the idea come about to not just stage food aesthetically, but to create something completely new and turn it into a performance?

AP: At first, the idea was to take people’s phones away so they could be more in the moment. But we quickly abandoned that. We thought, taking something away from someone is never good and doesn’t feel right. So we decided to create so much action that people simply wouldn’t have time to use their phones(…). Our dinner club gradually gained more of an event character, and it was just a fluid development that we hadn’t planned at all.

A: In a world where food is often staged, what sets Cracky Dining apart from“Instagram food”?

AP: I love crazy and very complex combinations of food, and that’s what sets us apart. Instagram food often follows a pretty similar pattern. It’s salad, burrata, and grilled peach, nicely plated, beautifully lit, photographed on colorful ceramics in front of designer furniture. It probably tastes good, but it’s not interesting culinarily. You could whip that up on a Tuesday afternoon. We don’t want to make everyday food; we want to create something that stays in people’s minds, ideally lingering days, weeks, or even a year later.

JS: Basically everything. We don’t post any photos of our food. That’s completely absurd, if you look at how this industry currently works. In this gastro–food–studio bubble, partly because of Instagram, it isn’t really about the tongue as an organ anymore. When cooking, it’s no longer about what the tongue feels afterwards, but about what the eye feels afterwards. And that is totally absurd and boring. There is so much in our world that is only about aesthetics and no longer about feeling or experiences. And that’s why we want to bring that a bit back into focus.

A: You don’t post pictures of your food – why not?

AP: We want to create real experiences, not an Instagram photo opportunity. People should experience something like children do, not just take pictures. It’s like being at aconcert and watching the whole thing through your phone instead of experiencing it with your own eyes.

A: Would you say Cracky Dining is more of a culinary experience or a social experience?

AP: A mix of everything. It depends on how you want to see it. Is the piglet in the stroller a provocation or just funny? We don’t want to rebel; we’re simply bringing a new offering to the table.

JS: I would say our answer is: to be both at the same time. Adrian and I are also kind of little spoiled gourmets, and the whole Cracky project started with a dinner club. Over time, the experiential part became bigger(…). It always had both aspects in it, but over time the direction shifted a bit. In the beginning, it was more like 80 % culinary experience, 20 % social experience.The social part was always important too, having a happening at the table, having some kind of action, bringing people together. But that part has increased significantly by now, and I’d say we’re at 50/50. And that’s also why we eventually stopped seating people at a table, and started doing it more in public spaces (…) and without the classic dinner format.

A: To what extent do you see Cracky Dining as an art project, and to what extent as a rebellion against classic gastronomy?

AP: Yes, people have to figure that out for themselves. I don’t actually want to criticize anything. The world is already bad enough, and I just want people to have a good time.

JS: We get asked this a lot somehow, but we have absolutely no problem with classical gastronomy. We both love going out to eat, a lot, and we’re also good friends with many Berlin restaurants. What we’re doing with Cracky is not meant to replace anything or be against anything or ruin anything in any way. It’s about adding something a new perspective and a new form of entertainment.

A: In what ways is Cracky Dining also a critique on consumerism or certain lifestyle trends?

JS: That’s for the guests to decide (…). So whether this is a critique of consumerism, I don’t think so.

A: Are there societal topics you reflect on through your work?

JS: Everything we do is in a way a processing of societal themes, but not in an intrusive way, like often happens, and not so blatant. What we do a lot, for example, is work with symbols as a representative medium from our childhood, images that don’t really exist in real life, but that we somehow know and that feel familiar to us. So if we now observe our own performance through two holes in a newspaper, like spies in The Pink Panther, or have our guests welcomed by doppelganger, and then we fan them with togas and palm leaves, like in Asterix and Obelix or in James Bond a mix of all that, then of course it’s partly about being funny, but on a sub-level it’s also about twisting power structures and re-contextualizing them. But basically, I’m not really a fan of presenting myself as an artistand saying, ‘This is supposed to be that and that.’ I just want to do it, express myself, and the notions and implications of it, should rather be decoded by the audience.

A: Do you see yourselves more as chefs, artists, performers, or something entirely different?

AP: It’s everything and nothing. If I look at a day with us, I sit at home in the morning and build a Mayan pyramid out of papier-mâché, from which guacamole will be served. At midday, we plan the transformation of a huge office, cover 500 square meters with plush, and have remote-controlled cars drive along the walls. In the evening, we serve snack platters in a mountain hut (…) The structure is simple: we do everything necessary to do our job properly. There’s no clear job title.

JS: Somehow it’s hard to fit into a category there. What we do is somehow in between. And in the end, chefs and performers are also somehow artists, and artists are also like performers and chefs, at least in a metaphorical sense, the part with the chefs. I mean, they also create, if you do it, a consumable product with their own hands. So somehow in between, I would say

A: How does your creative dynamic as a duo work? Who takes on which role, or is it all an organic flow between you?

AP: In the creative area, we are aligned. Both of us contribute ideas in food and performance. Adrian is more focused on sales and networking, bringing in new contacts and projects. Juppe handles presentations(…), is stronger in the creative side, and keeps everything administratively together.

JS: So it’s really surprising, because everything between us always develops very organically. There’s little that we explicitly discuss or say, like, ‘You do this, I do that,’ and it’s actually always relatively clear who takes which part. Of course, Adrian is somehow more outward-oriented and makes sure there’s always something in the pipeline, while I look inward and make sure everything runs smoothly. And we do the creative part together. But actually, the dynamic is far, far more complex than that. That’s what always seems most obvious, but it goes much deeper. And the way we complement each other is really amazing, and I find it fascinating again and again.

A: How do you deal with the chaos that often comes with creative work, or is chaos even part of your recipe?

AP: It remains a secret recipe. But yes, chaos is very important. Chaos is fun and brings forth new things.

JS: Absolutely part of the recipe. Without chaos, I don’t think we could work, and the constant creating and dissolving of chaos is also how we develop further.

A: What role do irony, humor, or provocation play in your concepts?

JS: Without irony, humor, and provocation, I don’t think we would exist. If Cracky is anything, then it is ironic, funny, and provocative.

A: What feeling should your guests leave a dinner with?

AP: I think amazement, wonder, and positive enchantment

JS: That’s kind of like what I said at the beginning, with a blur of confusion and curiosity(…). Like when you’ve watched a film and in the end it somehow all makes sense, maybe in a confusing way and you feel pleasantly stimulated, thinking about it afterwards, and you definitely have a sense of closure, a rounded feeling of completion. It’s not that we want to raise a ton of questions, but it’s more about making sure people have a good time (…).

A: What still surprises you about your own work?

AP: Every project is completely new. Sometimes you think you’ve done something similar before, but in the end, everything turns out differently. I have ADHD and get bored quickly. It’s important that everything happens only once, or with as few repetitions as possible.

JS: On the one hand, like I just mentioned, how well we fit together, but also, when you see the work itself, how versatile everything is and how well it works to not confine yourself to such narrow categories, because so much can come out of that. Nothing is static that’s one of our most important maxims. Our number one rule is that we never want to open a restaurant and always stay in motion. But how versatile everything is continues to amaze me. And what also constantly surprises me is how enthusiastic people are about what we do.

A: You’ve now also made a short film, how did the idea to translate your concept to the screen come about?

AP: I’ve always wanted to make a film. When I was younger, I worked in film, and that was always a part of me. Originally, we wanted to send our clients a video message, since we don’t take photos of our food and many clients want to know who we are and what we do(…) Then we thought, let’s make a short film that gives people an impression without revealing too much.

JS: That’s very funny. Originally, we actually wanted to record the film on videotape and then, instead of sending around pitch decks, send this videotape by mail with a cassette player and a Tube TV with a return label to our client. At that time, we didn’t have as many requests as we do now. So that would be a bit too much now and would go beyond the scope. But we had the idea in mind and then carried it out.

A: What story or mood did you want to convey in the film?

AP: The film is meant to give guests an insight into what they can expect, but within a fictional framework that gives us creative freedom while also setting expectations.

JS: That’s also a bit like what I mentioned earlier. It’s somehow also about raising thequestion of how far you can actually take it and creating a sense of complete cluelessness about what happens next. That element of surprise, I think that is a really important part.

A: Is there a “dream project” you’d like to realize someday, no matter how big or experimental?

AP: The funniest thing we always mention is building a roller coaster on a yacht. I’d also love to do a zero-gravity dinner or a haunted house dinner experience.

JS: What we’ve had in mind for a long time is to build a roller coaster on a yacht. That’s been on our minds for a very long time. And on our website, in our online shop, we have a Cracky oil tanker. I’d actually like to sell that sometime.

A: If you could create a dinner experience for one person (living or dead), who would it be?

AP: I would love to serve the Last Supper. I think that would have been a pretty interesting experience.

JS: Jesus Christ. I would love to do a dinner experience for Jesus Christ and ask him what he thinks about small plates.

A: If you could ask your future self one question and get an immediate answer, what would it be?

AP: Will it continue to stay wonderfully insane?

JS: What’s up?

Interview by Noémi Zak