Over the last 4-8 weeks the technical genius & creative talent that is Nathan Myhrvold and Maxime Bilet have been cooking a variety of dishes from their remarkable new book
Modernist Cuisine. I had the pleasure of being invited to eat a 29 course dinner at the Intellectual Ventures laboratory last night….and its safe to say that my head is still spinning.
Although there were definitive elements of modern techniques with almost all of the dishes, the dishes all had excellent depth and presence. I’m not a chef, but I’ve eaten at enough new and cutting edge restaurants to know that a lot of modernist techniques used by chefs in recent days are more about the selling of a story…..rather than the pursuit of “perfection” through innovative technique & craft. I can without a doubt confirm that my experience last night was un like any other I’ve ever experienced in the realm of food & cooking be it Modernist or Classic, and I have no doubt that some, if not a large part of the “perfection” I experienced was a result of embracing Modernist technique and equipment. There is no way the depth of flavor, diversity of texture, & perfection of execution would have been possible without such tools as the combi oven, centrifuge, pressure cooker & thermal circulator used to prepare the epic meal. What this means for the future of restaurants we will, I suppose, have to wait and see, but one thing is for sure… Nathan, Maxime & their talented team of dedicated chefs cooked remarkably flavorful & creatively ingenious food with flawless execution..I won’t soon forget the experience, many thanks to you all.
The Menu:
Asian Pear, Watermelon and Spicy Pickle Chips
Description: Deep fried Asian Pear, Watermelon and Spicy Pickle Chips
Roasted Corn Elote
Description: Based on a Mexican street food, Freeze Dried Yellow Corn Kernels with Brown Butter Powder, Spicy Mayonnaise, Cilantro, Lime and Ash Powder
Taco de Asador
Description: Dehydrated corn juice tortilla with achiote flavored crispy beef jerky, pico de gallo juice fluid gel, smoked queso fresco, flash pickled onions and avocado puree
Crispy Chicken Skin, Peking Flavors
Description: Sous vide cooked and puffed chicken skin, served with hoisin, scallion oil emulsion, cucumber and shaved scallions.
Aperitif de Veau
Description: Warm emulsified soup of veal fat and veal juice garnished with an infused aromatic milk foam and an intense demi-glace spiked with sherry. It is the essence of Blanquette de Veau.
Apple and Wasabi Snow Ball (wasabi supplied by Mikuni)
Description: Aerated green apple juice sorbet, Frozen Fresh wasabi Powder
Spring Tajine (chickpeas supplied by Mikuni)
Description: Sous vide green chickpeas, pressure cooked pine nuts braised and sesame seeds in a tajine spice infused oil. The chickpea mixture sits on top of a green chickpea and sesame puree. It is garnished with a salad of pickled dry apricots, green olives, argan oil, orange blossom gelee and mint and finished with a yoghurt granita.
Ankimo, Citrus, Chamomile (fingerlimes supplied by Mikuni)
Description: Ankimo torchon, centrifuged honey tangerine and oro blanco grapefruit juice seasoned with honey vinegar, pomelo and finger lime juice droplets, chamomile and flash candied young ginger.
Spaghetti Vongole-Geoduck, Bagna Cauda, Sea Beans (sea beans & maitake supplied by Mikuni)
Description: Geduck noodles dressed with garlic confit oil, bagna cauda broth, sea beans, geoduck belly, maitake and walnut marmalade, dried miso powder
Beef Stew (tiny root vegetables supplied by Mikuni)
Description: Rare beef broth, sous vide cooked small root vegetables, cured marrow, pressure cooked barley, chard leaves
Baked Potato Soup
Description: Thin potato ravioli filled with shallots melted in bacon fat. Dressed with an intense broth of pressure cooked potato juice infused with roasted potato skins.
France in a bowl! (Basil fed snails, ramps, green almonds & borage blossoms supplied by Mikuni)
Description: Foie gras custard garnished with ramp leaf jus, glazed ramps, sous vide snails, frogs legs, green almonds and lime.
Carrot Soup
Description: Caramelized carrot soup, coconut ice cream, chaat masala, young coconut noodles
Cream of Mushroom
Description: Intense mushroom broth with Warm Bacon Chantilly
Raw egg shooter
A touch of protein to re-invigorate the appetite
Description: Raw quail egg of passion fruit yolk, lemongrass white and a few drops of chili oil
Goat Milk Ricotta Gnocchi, Pea Juice, Pea Butter Toast
Description: Flourless ricotta gnocchi with pea juice, fresh peas, walnut and pea butter toast
Polenta Marinara (basil blossoms & strawberries supplied by Mikuni) )
Description: Grits cooked in corn juice with a strawberry marinara, toasted corn oil, ricotta salata and basil
Cocoa Pasta with Sea Urchin
Description: Cocoa pasta dressed in cocoa butter, sea urchin tongues, sea urchin butter, salted candied grapefruit, tarragon and a shaving of sea urchin bottarga. Garnished with a fennel and grapefruit oil salad.
Mushroom Omelet(morel mushrooms supplied by Mikuni)
Description: Striped black trumpet and morel mushroom omelet with aerated scrambled eggs, morel mushroom marmalade.
Quillyute Spring Salmon and Meyer Lemon(Quillyute Salmon, Meyer Lemon, wild spring onion supplied by Mikuni)
Description: Sous Vide Salmon with a Spiced Butter composed of coriander seed, sesame seed, roasted hazelnut, white poppy, ginger and chamomile. It is served with wild onions dressed in smoked butter, roasted lemon jus and a condiment of roasted lemons and fermented garlic.
Roast Chicken, Jus Gras
Description: Roasted Chicken with a rich emulsified gravy of dark chicken jus and pressure rendered chicken fat. It is accompanied by vegetables that are pressure cooked in mason jars with the same chicken fat. These are garnished with an herb salad dressed with quince vinegar vinaigrette.
“BBQ”
Description: Hot Smoked Spareribs, Kansas City, South Carolina and MC Barbecue Sauces served with Ultrasonic Fries
Pastrami and Sauerkraut
Description: Short Rib Pastrami, Housemade sauerkraut with sweet onions, Brussels sprout leaves with fish sauce butter, cognac mustard with pickled mustard seeds, black bread crisps
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Fruit Minestra (kumquat& basil blossoms provided by Mikuni)
Description: Strawberry broth garnished with fresh compressed rhubarb, confit rhubarb, candied white beans, nitro shattered blackberries, cucumber, blueberries, kumquat slices and blossoms. It is finished with a quenelle of lychee sorbet.
Pistachio and Hazelnut Gelatos
Description: Dairyless/ Eggless Hazelnut Gelato with Coffee Granita and Candied Mandarin Tuile, Dairyless/ Eggless Pistachio Gelato with Arlette and Candied Olives
Pots de Crème
Description: Two pots de crème. The first is a cold infused coffee egg custard finished with a maple, porcini sable.. The second is a cold infused earl grey posset garnished with sous vide lemon curd.
Caramel Mou
Description: Gruyere cheese caramel, cheese water film
Gummy Worms
Description: Olive oil, vanilla, and thyme gummy worms.
Banana Truffle
Description: Banana juice encapsulated in cocoa butter and praline ganache shell.
The fish are raised in the remote mountains of the Sunshine Coast. It is in this pristine and un-polluted environment where the fish thrive. Northern Divine is the only company in North American who raise Sturgeon in Natural Spring Water. They are also one of the only companies to implement a 99.9% water recirculation system & a waste recovery program, meaning that the farm is operating at the highest level of sustainability for the environment. While other fish farms are destroying eco-systems, Northern Divine truly offer a sustainable approach, their practices don’t deplete wild populations, pollute local waters or harm sensitive habitats.
