Check out this article on surprising Thanksgiving pairings. It includes recipes from myself and others to accompany your holiday meals. See the full article on Salon.com Continue reading

I returned to Madrid for Madrid Fusion 2009 this year, after a year's absence (I had a few things going on last year...). Since 2004 I've been traveling to Spain to participate in these gastronomic congresses. The idea of a diverse group of the world's tops chefs coming together to show their latest discoveries and explain their philosophies is a romantic one, and something that excites everyone interested in cooking. The opportunity to bridge the boundaries of geographic distance, knowledge, and creativity makes these events highly anticipated -- at least it used to. Maybe I am biased. After all I... Continue reading

I returned to Spain once again this past January. At this year's Madrid Fusion, the one slot everyone was looking forward to was a panel discussion between five food heavyweights. The subject they were trying to tackle had personal meaning to me, because I am invested in the genre they were trying to define: label and defend. It was supposed to be an effort to determine what Molecular Gastronomy was, if it really exists, and if so why are people afraid of it. I was certainly intrigued. Finally, the leading practitioners have a platform to define the style, defend it,... Continue reading

Three days later the congress was drawing to a close, and over 50 chefs from all over the world had taken their turn onstage. I couldn't help but feel a bit empty. Where were the culinary fireworks? The introduction to the next ingredient that was going to enable us to turn oil into powder, serve a gelled liquid hot, or thicken an infusion by simply blending in a magical white substance? Where were the explanations of new techniques? Like the ones used to create raviolis with skins made from themselves, making pasta from stock, and aerating food to produce sponge-like... Continue reading

It was apparent to me recently that my creative process was becoming an ossified series of systems, or a thinking template if you will. Every season I have the responsibly to change the Alinea menu virtually in its entirety, and recently I have been actively pursuing the task in a methodical way. I call it the anti-creative way, because it rarely produces something truly original or new. Sure, dishes read differently on paper, ingredients are substituted for one other, and presentations vary slightly. And I might even go so far as to say that most of the guests of the... Continue reading

A large robed man squeezed his way into the corner of a tiny, low-ceilinged room where 10 of us sat on tatami mats, squeezed around two small tables pushed together to form one. His robust stature combined with the fact that we were sitting on mats made for a strange scene. I was hyper-alert, as you would be walking down a shady street in an unfamiliar neighborhood at night, put on edge by the foreign surroundings. I kept trying to predict what was about to happen, even though this was the environment I was most comfortable in. A restaurant. Strangely,... Continue reading

Alinea is not a restaurant that encourages free will. In fact, we take most of it away for the evening to ensure the guests experience the restaurant as we intend. The most obvious example of this level of control is the menu. In most restaurants, this document's purpose is to outline options for the diner to custom-create the experience they desire for the evening. A choose-your-own adventure, if you will. But we want you to experience the adventure we have created, so we offer two progressions of 12 and 27 courses in length, with no choices to be made. The... Continue reading

While the food we create at Alinea falls clearly on the contemporary side, we never forget the importance of classic cookery. My culinary foundation was formed by the education I received at the Culinary Institute of America, and further established at my four years at the French Laundry. Some of my fondest food memories, both on the preparation and consumption sides, involve very classic preparations. My friend Eric Ziebold (today the chef of Citizen in Washington, D.C.) and I would often challenge each other to mental and physical duels in the French Laundry kitchen. Races to tourne all varieties of... Continue reading

I have been collaborating with Martin Kastner of Crucial Detail Design Studio since 2003. Together we have developed over 30 new pieces of service ware in an effort to parallel the innovations of the kitchen with that of the dishes they are served on. In some cases it didn't make sense to me functionally, aesthetically, or conceptually to serve modern gastronomy on the same bowls and plates, and using the forks and knives that have been used for over 300 years. As we began to challenge and refine the aspects of food service with success, ideas of merging Martin's approach... Continue reading

What if a course could change right before your eyes, and your palate, while you were eating it? The interjection of a temperature, texture, aroma, or ingredient would morph the course into two distinctly different ones. With this idea we explore how we can drastically change the identity of a course during mid-consumption. At first thought this seems like an easy concept, and even one that is already common in the world of restaurants. Some traditional practices hint at it. While eating shabu shabu, you apply heat to various proteins right before consumption, changing them from raw to cooked. The... Continue reading

The kitchen table--not the one you eat at in your dining room but the showpiece table right in the kitchen, which became popular in high-end restaurants during the 1990s--was the result of guests wanting to see, smell, feel, and hear the action of the professional kitchen. People wanted to embellish dinner with elements of adrenaline, artistry...and in some cases drama, when the infamous egotistical tyrant chef belittled his minions in an act of showmanship. But most, I hope, wanted to pull back the curtain on the "magic show" and gain an understanding of the how, why, and what of occupational... Continue reading

This idea we evolved after years of intermittent and months of intensive thinking posed some unique challenges. Starting with the original thought of an oversized plate, Martin and I explored many types of rigid materials. To mentally test the concepts functionality we tore the experience apart from a service perspective. How do we physically carry a four-foot square "plate" through a busy dining room in an elegant fashion? How can we place it on the table with guests seated around it without smacking someone in the head? How do we wash this giant slab of material, as it doesn't fit... Continue reading

It happened on course eight of the woman's 25-course meal. Two courses prior she had enjoyed a "conventionally" plated version of a Maryland soft shell crab dish. As she and her husband continued on the progression of their Tour menu, she observed something happening at a nearby table that upset her. Read the rest of my article on The Atlantic Continue reading

When I accepted the job as a chef de commis at the French Laundry, in 1996, I had the unrealistic notion that I would be able to find the free time outside of cooking to learn the wine trade. Surrounded by vineyards and the core of the American wine industry, there was no escaping that Napa meant wine, and that my culinary education should include the wine education that only immersion at a vineyard could provide. They felt like they went hand in hand. However, the transition into reality was abrupt: I found myself working 15-hour days with the goal... Continue reading

My time cooking at the French Laundry and being mentored by Thomas Keller instilled in me the satisfaction of preparing and eating offal. I willingly joined the team as a commis, yet in relatively short order began to grow impatient as I watched the chef de parties do the "glamorous" job of working the line during a busy service. That is where I wanted to be, that is where the action was. Read the rest of my article on The Atlantic Continue reading

When composing a dish I have to decide if I am going to focus on contrast or similarity of flavors. In some cases a ying and yang-like collision can be refreshingly startling and exciting, and opposite textures consumed simultaneously are always pleasant. But what about weight? I think this aspect of food and wine is overlooked. Read the rest of my article on The Atlantic Continue reading

More often than not the creative impulses that lead us to unusual flavor combinations are the result of experience, an association game of like ingredients and study. But sometimes we draw on intuition and a more cerebral aspect of life experiences and memory. Read the rest of my article on The Atlantic Continue reading

We like adding a touch of whimsy to the Alinea experience to make it fun and in some cases thought-provoking. It can also be a useful creative tool in helping us transform ingredients or compose dishes in a playful way, heading the dish in a direction we wouldn't find if we took the process too seriously. Read the rest of my article on The Atlantic Continue reading

At Trio in late 2001, when we first started what would eventually become Alinea's tour menu, I questioned why the progression of dishes had to follow the typical mountain peak: the long journey of savory dishes working their way to the tip of the mountain, then abruptly plummeting while picking up sugar as they ran down the backside. Read the rest of my article on The Atlantic Continue reading

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the small size of La Jota required me to be involved in every aspect of the wine-making process. Upon taking the job I expected the winery to be technologically advanced, with the most modern machines for pressing, pumping, and bottling the wine. After two years in the Napa Valley I had been on a quite a few winery tours, and I assumed La Jota would be similar in their proficiencies. The reality was, it was as far from my expectation as possible...in the best way. Read the rest of my article on The... Continue reading

Check out this slideshow summarizing my eight-part series on wine pairings for The Atlantic. Continue reading

In the fall of 2007 I lost all sense of taste perception due to radiation therapy I was undergoing for stage four tongue cancer. I was told from the beginning by everyone on the medical team that they were going to take me low, almost kill me, while trying to rid the cancer. This included weeks of intensive targeted radiation treatment on my tongue, jaw, and neck that would burn the inside of my mouth and throat like a scorching sunburn. The skin covering my tongue and throat peeled off like sheets of wrapping paper, taking with it my taste... Continue reading

You have requested the night off work, lined up a babysitter, thrown down the money to secure the good seats. You have waited a couple months for this night and the performance about to go on. You are amped up. The curtain pulls back and the stage explodes. The first lyrics penetrate the stadium. But wait...that's not Bono? Huh...well he sounds good, maybe even better. After all, this guy has something to prove. But you were expecting the man behind the seminal rock band U2. The genius, the icon, the celebrity. Disappointed? Of course you are. Is it the same... Continue reading

More cocktail inspired courses....http://alineamosaic.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=838 Continue reading