Flavor Five Studio LLC is a New York-based, multimedia creative studio and tech development firm exploring the intersection of food and mixed reality. The studio specializes in producing multidimensional, immersive gastronomy experiences. Using proprietary software, Flavor Five Studio has created a unique way to enhance the sensory experience of mixed-reality storytelling by incorporating taste.
The 2022 James Beard Best Chef: NYC award and a Michelin star make Chintan Pandya one of the the most decorated Indian chefs in America. The restaurants he and his Unapologetic Foods partner Roni Mazumdar have created have been included in Food & Wine’s Top 10 in America and the New York Times’ Top 10. Pandya has been featured in major television spots on NBC. CBS, and Food Network. And he continues to gain global recognition for his bold, creative, and personal style of cooking.
Named one of the “New Guard of Power Dining in New York” by Eater.com in 2020, Roni Mazumdar is Founder and CEO of Unapologetic Foods. He was included in the “40 Under 40” by Crain’s New York in 2021, and his restaurants with partner Chintan Pandya have received global attention, including a James Beard Award and a Michelin star.
Founder and principle of the consultancy Kitchen Sense, Mitchell Davis, Ph.D., helped steer the James Beard Foundation for almost 30 years. Davis created the award-winning USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015, which received special commendation from Michelle Obama. His clients and collaborators have included the United Nations, U.S. Dept. of State, Cornell University, Aspen Institute, Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and MIT Media Lab
Founder of Mother Mayes LLC, Tony Mayes has engineered, developed, and led creative, theatrical and technical teams for more than 20 years, winning several awards from Biz-Bash and the Sheffield International Documentary Festival. In addition, Mayes has collaborated with other nonprofits and NGOs, including the U.N. General Assembly, the Leukemia Lymphoma Society of America, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and the Women’s Sports Foundation.
Inspired by Italian futurists Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and L.C. Fillia's 1932 work The Futurist Cookbook—a surreal text of politics, food, technology, and farce—Aerobanquets RMX is an immersive, multisensorial, multicourse meal in mixed reality. Part art installation, part dining experience, in Aerobanquets RMX guests explore, eat, and engage with a whimsical world that alternates between dystopia and hope.
“Marinetti and his coterie made Futurism edible,” wrote professor Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblet. “They used their ideas about food to extend the physiology of esthetic response to the deep interior recesses of the body.” Casalegno’s work brings that response to life. “A far cry from the optimistic and utopian vision of the Futurists,” Casalegno responds, “We currently live in a world where industrial farming, overfishing, chemical pollution, and soil degradation are jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions by depleting the environment. We live in a culture where speed and economics come before health and quality. With this work I want to put a spotlight on our endangering practices and at the same time relish the joy of eating.”
A pioneer of live media and interactive arts, Italian born, New York based artist Mattia Casalegno has shown his work in more than 100 exhibitions and festivals worldwide, including Electronica Animation festival, SIGGRAPH Asia, ISEA - International Society of Electronic Artists in S.Korea, Mutek festival, Update Biennial, Lumen Festival, Cimatics festival, Festival de la Imagem, Untilted Art Fair, RomaEuropa Festival. Casalegno has been featured in the New York Times, Artforum, Washington Post, and Bloomberg, as well as on, CNBC and CNN. He currently serves as co-founder and creative director of Flavor Five Studio LLC.