MILWAUKEE — What started as a love for making furniture has turned into something much bigger. Now, an artistic couple is creating a unique dinner experience involving local art, local produce, and local friends.
It’s going to sound obvious, but the key to finding joy is doing what you love.
“I just love making things," Michael Gerlach said.
He's a maker of many things, but his specialty is furniture - specifically chairs.
“And I just hope that some of the things that I make inspire someone 80 years from now," Gerlach said.
But Michael decided to take his simple pleasure and add a more complex layer, creating a place for people to gather.
“More so than making any particular thing, I like making spaces," he said.
In the past, he has worked on restaurant interiors and built window displays. Now, he is trying to curate a more intimate experience and space. So it was a good thing he met his partner Nika Nemirovsky, a chef and artist, who can help him pull off this grand idea.
“Okay, we met on Hinge, and one of Michael’s things that was written on his profile was, I really want to start - host more dinners and make more weird furniture," Nemirovsky said.
She and Michael decided to combine their talents, making furniture, curating spaces, and culinary arts, to host a dinner series they call Chef Baby and King Courteen Present.
“There’s something very gratifying and immediate about people consuming the food that you just made and enjoying it," Nemirovsky said.
Attendees get a meal and can walk away with the chair they sat on - a custom chair made by Gerlach.
“This is the second dinner that I’ve done, and both times it’s been the most gratifying night of my life. As an artist, it’s a culmination of everything that I’m interested in, and it’s just so beautiful to see 20 strangers come together in one place," Gerlach said.
Their next one is Sept. 11th and 12th. There are 20 spots available each night. A lot of the food will come from their garden that is just steps away from Gerlach's woodshop.
“Right now we have okra and tomatoes, herbs, cucumbers, beets, carrots, peppers," Gerlach said as he looked over his garden.
The dinner price is on a sliding scale from $100 to $200, depending on whether you want to take the chair home. To sign up, click here, or go to their Instagram pages, KingCourteen or n.ii.k.a. Find the post about the dinner series, follow the link, and fill out the RSVP form.
“It really does look like art when you’re, like, making these composed dishes with many different elements and deciding how to present them," Nemirovsky said.
The dinner is a way to create an experiential space surrounded by art, chairs, food, even the presentation itself.
“It’s not about selling a piece of furniture or selling a dinner. It’s about just a whole experience," Gerlach said.
Pulling this off is complex, but the idea, gathering with friends to eat and talk about art, is so simple. Who wouldn’t find joy in that?
Watch the story to see more of Gerlach's custom chairs...
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