eek, sorry jaymc i think i confused you with Anton...
Graham Elliot Bowles:"Molecular gastronomy is like the culinary version of Emo…"
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Monday, 27 September 2010 20:38 (thirteen years ago) link
Didn't care for the Ruhlman book, which I started to read directly after Heat. Thought it was overly dry - as I don't want to learn to cook, I'm more interested in the social exploration of Bourdain and Buford's books.
― a cross between lily allen and fetal alcohol syndrome (milo z), Monday, 27 September 2010 20:44 (thirteen years ago) link
(xp after glancing at that thread again) ...although from that thread I think both of you have this real hero-worship for Achatz (midwestern pride?) which while I think he's a great dude and a great chef, he often gets mentioned in the same breath as far-greater talents. imho, nn: i have never eaten at Alinea, but I ate plenty of his cooking at previous gigs.
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Monday, 27 September 2010 20:44 (thirteen years ago) link
Genuine question: who were the pioneers of molecular gastronomy in the USA? How far behind was Achatz / Alinea?
― Tim, Monday, 27 September 2010 20:47 (thirteen years ago) link
Hostess? Actually, I'm curious what the interplay is between giant processed snack company food science culture and haute cuisine. Do they respect each other from afar, or do they draft and trade personnel pretty frequently?
― Philip Nunez, Monday, 27 September 2010 20:54 (thirteen years ago) link
Wiley had a James Beard while Achatz was still working the line at TFL.
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Monday, 27 September 2010 21:01 (thirteen years ago) link
Haha I guess I'll need a wikipedia to understand that answer.
― Tim, Monday, 27 September 2010 21:03 (thirteen years ago) link
Ok my lovely American wife has explained "Wiley" "James Beard" and I've figured out The French laundry ( unless you mean Transport for London ....)
― Tim, Monday, 27 September 2010 21:07 (thirteen years ago) link
Sorry:
Wiley Dufresne (sp? America's best known Molecular Gastronomy chef) had a James Beard award for best rising chef while Grant Achatz was still working on the line (saucier? protein station?) at The French Laundry.
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Monday, 27 September 2010 21:08 (thirteen years ago) link
...although from that thread I think both of you have this real hero-worship for Achatz (midwestern pride?)
?
I've never eaten at Alinea, either, so there's no hero-worship on my part. I do really want to eat there, though, which shouldn't be too surprising since it's widely considered the best restaurant in the city in which I live.
It's also possible that over the years I have also misjudged Achatz's relative importance in the culinary scene, given all the attention that he has received in Chicago (but also elsewhere, e.g. the New Yorker profile). But that's because I didn't really become interested in this stuff until fairly recently. I had never heard of Wylie Dufresne until I watched the first season of Top Chef Masters last summer.
― jaymc, Monday, 27 September 2010 21:21 (thirteen years ago) link
I have eaten there, it was v good. I was under the impression that Achatz was at the leading edge of the molecular thing in the US (if not the actual first), which is why I asked the question. Not that it makes any difference to the quality of the food, of course.
― Tim, Monday, 27 September 2010 21:30 (thirteen years ago) link
wd~50 in NYC opened a few years (03?) before Alinea to much higher fanfare (maybe due to east coast media bias lol). dufresne is much more visible, infamous for running around like a chicken with its head cut off during quickfire challenges on reality cooking program(me)s.
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Monday, 27 September 2010 21:37 (thirteen years ago) link
shasta recommend some food (culture/crit not how to/cook) books. not bothered if writer comes off as 'mean' or 'a douchebag' or if some of the people in it are 'assholes'.
― balls, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 02:45 (thirteen years ago) link
for example zola's 'belly of paris' - should i read that? not a zola fan but who knows. anyone doing contemporary aj liebling or joseph mitchell writing about oysters and steak dinners type stuff?
― balls, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 02:48 (thirteen years ago) link
i don't think i've ever read a food culture book other than kitchen confidential or fast food nation. i'm an eater not a reader.
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 02:58 (thirteen years ago) link
Botany of Desire is Michael Pollan's lesser known book, but maybe his most engrossing.
― schwantz, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 03:22 (thirteen years ago) link
i'm probably the only person whose response to omnivore's dilemma was a desire to take up hunting
― balls, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 03:31 (thirteen years ago) link
That was the best bit... Mmmmmm wild boar.
― schwantz, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 03:55 (thirteen years ago) link
where does your wife work again sr. schwantz? pastry chef no?
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 04:00 (thirteen years ago) link
She now works as a mom, and is working toward a degree in family therapy. Pre-kids, she was executive chef at Bar Tartine, and she was sous chef at Incanto for a while. We should have dinner some time...
― schwantz, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 04:13 (thirteen years ago) link
whoa! had no idea...
― Fartbritz Sootzveti (Steve Shasta), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 04:17 (thirteen years ago) link
So wait, do you work in the business, or just love to eat?
― schwantz, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 04:30 (thirteen years ago) link
I know someone who had a similar reaction from watching the movie Babe. She'd been a vegetarian for 10 or so years, but the movie's "it's just the way things are" speech resonated with her to quite the opposite effect - it *is* the way things are, so she got a hamburger right afterwards and has been a meat-eater ever since.
― Stockhausen's Helicopter Quartet (Elvis Telecom), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 04:40 (thirteen years ago) link
balls - new yorker food book has some good stuff in it?
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/140006547X.01._SX220_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
― just sayin, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 07:52 (thirteen years ago) link
― balls
Have I got a book for you! The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine.
― I've got ten bucks. SURPRISE ME. (Laurel), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 13:53 (thirteen years ago) link
Maine episode
― truly blunted rhyme fiend (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, 19 October 2010 02:19 (thirteen years ago) link
Haiti episode was solid
― reggaeton for the painfully alone (polyphonic), Tuesday, 1 March 2011 07:05 (thirteen years ago) link
saw sean penn on the preview & decided to skip it
― pop the s1ock (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, 1 March 2011 07:09 (thirteen years ago) link
recent naples episode was awesome
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 27 July 2011 05:11 (twelve years ago) link
I dunno, I heard the Haiti episode wasn't that good. Bourdain got in a taxi and the guy didn't even really speak English or French and they ended up in fucking Rosemont.
― fields of salmon, Wednesday, 27 July 2011 07:00 (twelve years ago) link
i liked the el bulli send off episode.
― Aerosol, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 18:39 (twelve years ago) link
I didn't like the naples episode. :/
― polyphonic, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 18:41 (twelve years ago) link
I liked the Cuba episode, as well as the El Bulli episode. Made me want to go spend a paycheck (or more) on dinner. I had leftovers instead, and am able to pay my mortgage. Yay!
― Sauvignon Blanc Mange (B.L.A.M.), Wednesday, 3 August 2011 19:34 (twelve years ago) link
Recent Bourdain quotes:http://eater.com/archives/2011/08/29/anthony-bourdain-on-leonard-lopate-the-ten-best-quotes.php
http://eater.com/archives/2011/08/30/bourdain-louisiana.php
― Stockhausen's Ekranoplan Quartet (Elvis Telecom), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 00:06 (twelve years ago) link
I liked the Louisiana episode--humor and music (cajun group Red Stick Ramblers were playing fiddles and singing when not cooking)too. Yep, the killing of the pig was pretty graphic. David Simon (Wire, Treme) was there.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 19:16 (twelve years ago) link
that party looked like lots of fun imo- wkiw
― Aerosol, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 19:21 (twelve years ago) link
He has a new show - The Layover, I think it's called? Seems like a less-prepped 24-48 hour visit to a city where they just try to throw together a show.
― unwarranted display names of ilx (mh), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 19:27 (twelve years ago) link
josh homme desert episode was kind of horrible. they should have shown the mountains of cocaine they went through instead.
― strongly recommend. unless you're a bitch (mayor jingleberries), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 19:36 (twelve years ago) link
Finally got around to watching the Kurdistan episode. Very interesting.
― polyphonic, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 19:39 (twelve years ago) link
Anthony Bourdain and Jerry Stahl . . . separated at birth?
http://www.citylights.com/html/WYSIWYGfiles/image/jerry_l.jpg
― thirdalternative, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 20:00 (twelve years ago) link
I like when Bourdain hangs out with Josh Homme in Palm Springs.
― thirdalternative, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 20:01 (twelve years ago) link
On Alice Waters: "She's not a particularly good spokes model for her cause. She comes from an area rich in delicious things. She's comfortable, she has very elitist tastes that she has a very had time concealing. Actually, that's the part of Alice Waters I like. Her love of Provence and the Mediterranean sensibility is both charming and not helpful."
― buzza, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 20:04 (twelve years ago) link
kinda liking the No Reservation reboot The Layover
― Aerosol, Wednesday, 18 January 2012 17:35 (twelve years ago) link
I keep meaning to watch it
― Janet Snakehole (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 18 January 2012 17:37 (twelve years ago) link
Anthony Bourdain already said it best: “When your signature dish is hamburger in between a doughnut, and you’ve been cheerfully selling this stuff knowing all along that you’ve got type 2 diabetes… It’s in bad taste if nothing else.”
(w/r/t Paula Deen)
― It means why you gotta be a montague? (Laurel), Wednesday, 18 January 2012 17:41 (twelve years ago) link
I'm finding the Layover a lot more enjoyable than the average No Res episode. Thought SF in particular was way better
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Wednesday, 18 January 2012 17:44 (twelve years ago) link
NYC, Rome and Montreal have been my favourite eps so far. Haven't seen San Fran or London yet though.
― smash williams, Wednesday, 18 January 2012 17:53 (twelve years ago) link
He definitely seems more into it. More drinking, less eating things he doesn't appear to love and saying "oh, that's good. yep, that's good."
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Wednesday, 18 January 2012 17:55 (twelve years ago) link
he seemed drunk out of his mind in sf.. seemed like a pretty representative trip to me.
― strongly recommend. unless you're a bitch (mayor jingleberries), Wednesday, 18 January 2012 18:43 (twelve years ago) link
the beginning of this thread makes no sense
― the most astonishing writer on ilx (roxymuzak), Wednesday, 18 January 2012 19:17 (twelve years ago) link