Smoked Duck with the notorious Truffle Foam

[TATTRAT]

Willy does some amazing things at WD 50, had the chance to eat at MOTO and it was for sure, over the top. Very impressive.

Looking Great, as always, IC. I am really liking the grapefruit idea w/ the duck. I am sure it cuts the smokiness of the duck in a great way, and the lavender sounds good with the earthiness of the truffle(foam). I would for sure give it a shot.

 

[BrazenAmateur]

I had drinks at "morimoto", or it might've just been "moto", I don't recall. It's over in some dreadfully trendy part of Manhattan with lots of annoying young I-banker analysts sporting bridge-and-tunnel jailbait eye-candy.

I was there with my wife and her friends and aside from the good Indian place we ate at down the street from Morimoto's place (whatever it's called), the evening was by and large forgettable.

I'm sure the food at Morimoto's place is awesome, we didn't know it was there until we walked by it after dinner though.


At any rate, ironchef, where do you live, so I can just follow you around and eat your assorted culinary experiments. You make some truly epic stuff.

 

[ironchef]

Moto is in Chicago. It's a restaurant owned by Homaru Cantu who is one of the top molecular gastronomists in the country along with Dufresne and Achatz. What differentiates Cantu from the other two is that he's more focuses on the science aspect using things like lasers, edible ink, polymer boxes, etc. Dufrese and Achatz aren't as harcore in that regard as Cantu, they're focused more on unique and interesting flavor combinations. I talked with someone who did some time in Moto's kitchen and he said that many of Cantu's recipes are very simple, but it's how they are presented which is the unique aspect.

Tatt, I'm envious of the fact that you were able to eat at Moto. If I ever get to Chi-town I'm going to eat at Moto, as well as Alinea, Charlie Trotter's, and Tru. Of course that will cost a pretty penny, but it's something that I wouldn't be able to pass up. And I'd be getting the grand tasting menus at each one.

In NYC, I would definitely need to eat at WD~50, Le Bernardin, Daniel, Per Se, Perilla, Aureole, Aquavit, Gotham Bar and Grill, Jean Georges, Annisa, and Alain Ducasse. That would be for starters. There's so many places in NYC that I'd want to try I don't even know where to start, not to mention I'd want to take a drive north of the city and eat at Peter Kelly's restaurant Xaviar's.

 

[BBQ Mikey]

No, I haven't been to either of those places although I would love to. The Fat Duck, Moto, and WD~50 would also be on my list of places to go. My exposure to molecular gastronomy has been what I've been able to taste at restaurants in Cali and Vegas, co-workers, and whatever I can scrounge off the net. I absolutely love this website. Guys like Grant Achatz, Ferran Adria, Homaro Cantu, and Wylie Dufresne are on a whole nother level. I like to dabble in molecular gastronomy but I don't know if I'd want to do it on the level that they do. Maybe if I spent some time in their kitchens I would change my mind.

The below pic is another example of molecular gastronomy from a dish on our regular menu. We make a beet "caviar" using a beet juice reduction and the sodium alginate/calcium chloride combination in this dish. I took this pic from a write-up that we had in a local magazine:

That website is too cool. Thanks brosef.

 

[ironchef]

That website is too cool. Thanks brosef.

They do some insane things with food. If I were to compare myself to them, I would be like Dr. Seuss to their Renoir.