Untitled

[antdina]

Two brothers fight over innovation

Two brothers fight over innovation. And they both miss the third rail of invention.

Tom and Terry live in an unforgotten corner of Arizona. Most days, their parents are away from home working. It doesn’t bother them. They unlock their 5th and 4th grade imagination to evenly divide the world.

Tom dislikes strawberries. It’s bitter and tart. However chocolate sings to his soul. To Terry, chocolate tastes more like dirt than the dusty field across from the house. He prefers to…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

You've peached my interest

You've peached my interest. And now tacos will never taste the same.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Three.

Yes, three is the answer. At least according to Eric Silverstein and his wandering intellect for tasty things. This reformed lawyer, now chef-inventor from The Peached Tortilla, marries the unlikely to the irresistible.

Peached Tortilla – Tres Cauliflower grilled cauliflower, nori cauliflower puree, peach pickled cauliflower, nori butter

He plays…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

Before the experience, there is a promise

Before the experience, there is a promise. Bringing the science of branding to the art of cooking.

Branding is an art form and a science. It’s a way of evoking an emotional response by a seller through a queue to associative memory of a buyer. (Think Pavlov and his dog). The signal can be musical (e.g. the Intel chime). Or it can be odoriferous (e.g. the melded perfume from Lush). It might be lyrical (e.g. “we’ll leave the light on for ya” from Motel 6). And it might be visual (e.g. Nike’s swo…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

Some concepts are best re-washed and re-folded

Some concepts are best re-washed & re-folded. How 2 chefs & 1 faded laundromat create more than static electricity.

Opposites argue. They yell at each other without truly listening. It’s the point and counterpoint comedy of Saturday Night Live’s classic Weekend Update. We laugh at Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd because the lampoon reveals satire in our own lives. However complements don’t yell.

Crab, avocado, radish toast from Laundrette

Complements are improvisational theater. A ridiculous claim by one player is…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

The opposite of cinnamon is not frog

The opposite of cinnamon is not frog. It is however worth exploring. And the answer might even be surprising.

The right brain doesn’t understand rules. It makes no value judgments or waits for a polite moment to ask a question. It simply looks for patterns. Certainly that must be the reason why some ask “what is the opposite of cinnamon?”

Waffle iron cinnamon roll

A simple question with no defensible answer. Sure. Sugar is the automatic response. And why not. Those two flavors are paired up in nearly…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

Food pyramid for the modern mind

Food pyramid for the modern mind: how what Maslow taught us can feed the soul. Literally.

A lizard, a monkey and Socrates walk into a bar. The lizard orders a Tecate beer to which he adds salt and a squeeze of lime. The monkey looks at the beautiful woman in a tight red dress, then back to the bartender says, “I’ll have what she’s having.” Socrates slowly inhales the room then asks, “Where is the rabbi in this joke?”

Photo courtesy of Wikia.com

Abraham likes to study successful…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

The shape of stories and the re-invention of dinner

How to make the story your own

Authors know a secret. It was first written in Ecclesiastes so long. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”

Fig Leaf, an updated version of a Manhattan from RDG, Houston, TX

The plots. The characters. The scenery. All in some composition or another. The true invention of the artist is in the selection of what to include and what…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

Happy mistakes

Happy mistakes. Not everything has to end with a negative outcome.

Playtime is dangerous. It breaks convention to imagine a world that doesn’t exist. We think about it as the stuff of recess time and children. Behavior adults tolerate because psychologists explain it’s importance for development. But really it’s dynamite waiting to go off.

Brie and fig quesadilla at Border Grill, Las Vegas

Yet, when those same adults are stuck, bricked up by the rules they…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

Breakout ideas come from broken rules

A canopy of yellow tulips smiles at diners from above. Like Chihuly except real petals and not spun glass. We are awed because it defies convention. In this fantasy land, flowers lean over and inhale our perfume.

Madeliene’s tulip canopy. Photo by Jennifer Myers

We live by simple rules. They provide structure and quite the chaos. In language we call this grammar. An orderly sequencing of words in…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

Frida's trip to Japan

Frida's trip to Japan. What might it taste to have Central Mexico mixed with Japanese sensibilities

Jennifer calls us into her small studio. The garden outside colors the temperature of the room. She points to a nearly complete collage. Her annual labor of love for Valentines. “How do I resolve this corner? Do you think this? or that?”

Frida’s self portrait with hummingbird on Japanese panel (photo composition by this author)

We suggest an idea and smile emerges. The bird is free to fly once…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

Taste portals

Yes, it's possible to transition from one space to another through a portal. Even with Taste.

Our minds speak many languages. Because our body’s very design is multi-lingual. Consider the diversity of information we receive through our senses. The smell of a room. The color of a dress. The feel of mahogany. They all inform beyond what our ears discern.

Portal to Jennifer & Fred’s garden paradise

Part of the mystery of these languages is how we move the narrative forward from place to…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

A color not even an Italian would use

A color not even an Italian would use... ok maybe. But it's going to turn heads when it comes from the kitchen.

They are a people rooted in design. From early frescoes of Padua to pointed Prada wingtips, Italians are born into fluency with line, shape and color.

Unafraid to exploit pigments from the earth. And dream them into patterns. To adorn the world. To tell stories through pictures. To refine the art of dining.

So what might be a color so exotic, so profane that would halt the Sicilian stylist? Or…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

The Vatican 500

The Vatican 500. Or how stealing a page from art rivalry can bring out the best of the evening.

Walk the halls of Rome’s most sacred museum. You might feel small under the ceiling of the Sistine. Or humbled by craftsmanship it holds. But what you are actually experiencing is NASCAR played out over centuries.

Asparagus and crab pizza with meyer lemon buerre blanc

Daring, imaginative and experimental. Icons like Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo show us the extraordinary in the ordinary.…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

Go small or go home

Go small or go home. It's one way to make every piece of the Detroit red-top a favorite.

Chicago is deep and round. New York, wide and leathery. Naples, bubbly and scantly dressed. But Detroit is a city of red tops. An ear-deafening crunch. Sharp edges and sharp cheddar. Oreganoed and oiled with garlic. This pizza bakes in a 500 degree oven not far from where iron was smelted, steel stamped and vehicles rolled off the factory line.

Mini-sized, Detroit-style Red Top

This is the hidden…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

Treasures of the dark enlighten the mind

Treasures of the dark can enlighten the mind. It's what a deft cooks knows about fruits of the forest.

Her smile can only be seen at night. It lights up the sky. Yet her attention is fickle. She saunters into the month. Just when hearts relax under the warmth of her beams, she snails an exit. We are powerless to retain her. Behind the veil she disappears. And in the solemn darkness we stand empty. But not empty handed. She leaves gifts.

Pesto mushroom pizza at Cipollina

From her garden we eat…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

When in doubt, toss an egg into the mix

When in doubt, toss an egg into the mix. It's the perfect non-ingredient ingredient.

The leap to extraordinary is elusive. It’s beyond a careful juxtaposition of luxury ingredients with profane techniques. Or profane ingredients and luxurious stylings. It’s beyond turning the crank of success from yesterday’s inventive moment. Rather it’s a study in delight.

Gouda pizza with egg

That which is remarkable surprises us. It’s a union of the convergent and the divergent. It catches…

View On WordPress

[antdina]

Cooking through the fourth wall

Cooking through the fourth wall. Where the kitchen and the theater meet.

Ferris Bueller tells us to “go home, it’s over.” The stage manager explains what is about to happen in Our Town. Hamlet acknowledges that we’re watching. All examples when the fourth wall is broken: when a character in a show speaks directly to us. Their eyes meet ours and we are no longer pious spectators. We participate. Our reaction speaks back to them.

Cooking is performance art. And yet…

View On WordPress