From Eating to Cooking: A Case Study of the Development of the TiMAMA Deli & Café and the Creative Reproduction of Taste Based on the Mother’s Menu

Due to the fast pace of work, people are often unable to eat at home. While eating out is convenient, it does entail some health hazards, and it is easy to make eating a formality, simply a means of filling the stomach. It is advisable to turn eating a good meal into a ritual, or to lend it a sense of ceremony. More importantly, good food can inspire people’s love for their parents and homes. A restaurant named the TiMAMA Deli and Café in Taipei is used as an example in this study. By communicating with the restaurant’s founders, we were able to obtain first-hand information, and then use concepts such as design psychology and communication theory to develop a theoretical framework. Employing a qualitative research method, this study addresses two issues: i) the creation of a feasible model for design thinking in order to intervene in cuisine regarding the relation between form and ritual; ii) overcoming consumers’ inherent prejudice against frozen food in order to adapt to the new restaurant business model that emerged during the pandemic period. The results show that the operating model of this restaurant will spread to its peers. Moreover, we wish to draw increased attention to the connotations surrounding eating, which can be summarized as feelings of warmth towards, and love of, home.