Two French masters. One Cambodian evening. On April 30, 2026, Eric Stocker and chef Eric Berrigaud transformed the lobby of Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra into a one-night gallery — where natural lacquer met haute cuisine, and each canapé became a small work of art served on a piece made by hand in Siem Reap.
The collaboration was simple in idea, complex in execution. Eric Stocker would design and produce the serviceware for the evening — trays, bowls, plates, presentation stands, all in natural Cambodian lacquer with eggshell, copper leaf, and goat skin finishes. Chef Berrigaud would compose the menu around what each piece could carry. The food and the lacquer would tell one story.
The pieces
Stocker Studio brought eleven serving pieces to the evening, each finished in a different technique:
- Two large eggshell-mosaic trays for the canapé service
- A red lacquer rectangular plate for cucumber-and-olive bites
- Three goat-skin and stingray-skin rectangular boards for terrines
- A pair of crackled black-and-white bowls for crisps
- A dark lacquer pedestal stand with snake-pattern surface
- Two small copper saucepans for accompaniments
Each piece had been produced in the atelier over the previous three months, layered in natural lacquer with cure times that no event budget could shorten. By the morning of the dinner, the surfaces were ready: hard, water-resistant, food-safe — antique technique meeting modern hospitality.
"The plates are where the eye lands first. If they are right, everything that comes after is easier."
— Eric Berrigaud, on choosing the lacquer pieces before designing the menu
An evening, not a product launch
The Two Erics evening was, deliberately, not a sale. No prices were posted, no order forms placed beside the trays. Guests — designers, hoteliers, journalists, friends of the studio — were free to taste, photograph, and ask. The point was to show what Stocker Studio's hospitality work looks like in the only place it makes complete sense: inside an actual hotel, surrounded by service, food, light, and conversation.
The Two Erics in the kitchen
Earlier in the day, the two men met in the Sofitel kitchen — Berrigaud whisking the base of a velouté, Eric Stocker in chef whites checking how each piece would sit beneath each course. The decision to set certain canapés on the eggshell trays and others on the snake-pattern boards was made there, in front of the stoves, over coffee.
It is the kind of working partnership the studio is more often asked to take on now: not a single piece for a lobby, but a complete hospitality language — tableware, lighting, wall art, sometimes furniture — designed for one specific room, one specific clientele.
What we make for hotels
For hospitality groups, Stocker Studio's commissions typically include lobby and reception sculptures, custom suite décor, restaurant wall art, bespoke tableware sets, and permanent installations — produced in batches of one, twenty, or a hundred depending on the brief. Lead times run three to six months, occasionally longer for monumental pieces. Lacquer cure time cannot be rushed.
If you are working on a hotel, restaurant, or hospitality space and want to discuss what a similar evening — or a permanent commission — would look like for your project, you can read about our commission process here or write directly to Eric.
The Two Erics evening was held at Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort, Siem Reap, on April 30, 2026.
Continue exploring:
Stocker Studio's permanent installation at the same hotel — read about our hospitality commissions. Or learn the techniques used to make every piece on display that evening — Eggshell, a Grain at a Time.
For trade enquiries — Wholesale & Trade. The longer arc behind the workshop is on Our Story.