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Blueoculus is a product and furniture design company based in San Diego, California. Jungbae E is the company’s principal for whom design is about exploring ideas on multiple dimensions to create solutions that bring joy and a bit of transcendence to the everyday.
Blueoculus worked closely with Benu on a series of service pieces that meet needs specific to the cuisine, style of service and overall design of the restaurant.
KwangJuYo is an iconic porcelain manufacturer in Korea. While traditional methods and glazes are the foundation for their work, owner Tae Kwon Cho and his company dedicate themselves to the recreation and modernization of Korean pottery. At the heart of their design is the interplay between pottery and cuisine. “Ceramics cannot develop without the development of food,” explains Cho.
Sharing many similar views on cuisine and design, Cho and his team agreed to collaborate with Corey to create a line of custom porcelain. Together, they designed over 30 unique pieces that are featured at Benu.
andrea lenardin madden is the principal of a l m project, a multi-disciplinary Los Angeles based design studio, with a body of work including site specific art interventions, architecture, brand identity, graphics and packaging design. Her award winning work has been exhibited and published in US and Europe.
a l m project created Benu’s identity to artfully reflect Corey’s belief that cooking involves new and dynamic combinations while maintaining the integrity of the individual elements, appreciating both the end result and the process itself.
Richard Bloch is the principal of RBA, a James Beard Award-winning architectural and interior design firm in New York City. In addition, Richard was a Fulbright Scholar in Turkey, a city planner in Iran and a design consultant for U.S. Government cultural centers in Italy, Germany, Mexico, Great Britain, Belgium and Japan.
Richard worked closely with Corey during the pre-opening stages of Benu. Together, they visited and studied over two dozen locations before finding the home for Benu at 22 Hawthorne Street in San Francisco. The result of their collaboration is a cleanly-designed space that is unique, contemporary and subtly elegant. Purposely devoid of unnecessary elements, each design feature thoughtfully balances aesthetics and function to tie together the overall dining experience.
