Adam Chef

$125 sounds like it is going to be a bargain! I am able to do prices like this as what I do does not concentrate on the more expensive products, it is about taking any product and getting the best out of it through concentrating on highlighting it's strengths and overcoming any weaknesses. But I am also going to use my bar to support a lot of the revenue, I am creating a 120PAX Progressive cocktail bar. Which as well will have some Progressive Tapas available, they will be traditional ideas using some strong new Techniques. To keep the people on the tables we are going to do away with a bit of the formality of the restaurant as the night progresses. During the night in several stages the music tempo will be changed and so will the volume so we can basically guide the peoples moods. This is a concept I have been working on with several Sensory Science departments around the world. I will be encouraging bottle service at the tables when the meal is finished. So with these and other measures put in place I hope we can create this culture which is normal here in Europe. To respond on the doesn't matter what kind of food point. My food is very intrusive and very interactive, the dinner really can't help but have a reaction as it is a personal cuisine with many points of humor. So I hope they will get it ;-) To respond to the "Media Buzz", there is a major project in the pipeline to ensure the market impact will be huge, I am currently negotiating on creating a TV series. Finally on the Beverage pricing.......... The packages will be priced to sell, as this is the Point, it will enhance the total experience so for the guest it will be an obvious up sell. The wines by the bottle will be priced according to market value. Thank you very much for your comments!

Wow, I guess we all agree............ I am amazed! I think one of the best points in this discussion is that when you take a dish from someone else you will never know what t really means or what has gone into it. I give you a very good example: I was living in London many many years ago, and on my way to work every day I would stop at Pret a Manger on park lane and buy a Bacon, Avocado and tomato sandwich. And when I say everyday I mean EVERYDAY! So not only is this one of the greatest sandwiches in the world but the flavor will always take me back to that moment in my life, so what I guess I am saying is that it has sentiment. So I created a new version of this sandwich here in my lab which payed respect to all the elements of the sandwich but yet put them on a level where we can afford to serve them in our Michelin star restaurant, as lets face it, it is not enough for people to be eating sentiment. So for me the best way to eat Avocado is in very thin strips that crush under the weight of your teeth. So I devised a technique on how to take 30cm + strips of Avocado, surprisingly when I laid it down it reminded me of the Vienetta ice cream dessert. So I stuck with this theme but now I needed bread which would not crush the air out of the Avocado, So I made some paper thin toasts from soy bread so it gave a stronger bread flavor for less quantity. So to short story long, I then added some fat from the best Jamón in Spain for the bacon flavor, tomato reduction, Green Tomato pulp and one of the funniest additions was a discovery I made when making a Hellmans Mayonnaise sorbet. As I am the head Chef of the Lab and we have another head Chef of the restaurant, it was simply called "Avocado Sandwich". As they were not so interested in the why, just the techniques involved :-( So I guess what I am trying to say is I agree with you! The person copying will never know the "why" and as such may miss many of the more important points in the dish when preparing there copy and a great dish is all about the small points. If you want to see the final sandwich follow this link to my website: http://www.madridlab.net/melonas/2009/06/final-avocado-tomato-and-jamon-sandwich/

Thanks for your detailed comments David, Wylie is actually a friend of mine and his format is somewhat similar, but the problem is his place is Lower East side and mine is Midtown. This is why I was curious to hear the thoughts of the people. Dear Robert, You are right, I would of been thinking exactly the same thing if I had of re-read my post before I published it. This is a very big project which has been planned for the past 2 years (but has also been a dream for the past 10 years) and I have done all the studies and background work possible. This topic was to merely feel what the people think from a consumer point of view, but more than that from an educated food consumer which is what eGullet is totally made up of. So I thought who better than to bounce the idea off! It is a $10 million project and I want to make sure I have totally crossed all the T's and dotted all the I's, as you are right when you say NY is one of the toughest places in the world. The menus are being priced at $125 without beverages, Then there are 3 different prices for the 3 different beverage packages. I am pricing it lower than the market price as I want people to be able to afford to come as often as they want, the menu will be evolving on a weekly basis and as such the experience will be totally different every time. Plus I want people to feel relaxed when enjoying dinner without worrying about the bill after :-)

I am going to be opening a restaurant in Manhattan next Year and I am currently trying to figure out prices for dinner in America in general............ I will be opening a "Sensory Dining" restaurant where I want to be serving mostly tasting menus which are made up of 27 courses. This starts from 8 family style snacks which get taken with your hands, 9 plated starters which are about 2-3 bites each, 4 slightly larger plates, 1 fish and 1 Meat, 1 pre dessert then finally 3 desserts. This menu will be evolving on a weekly basis and our guests will even get the chance to dine in my Lab which doubles as a private dining during the dinner service. There will also be added options of 3 different beverage pairings; Champagne, beer and Sake; Wines; Progressive cocktails and tea. One of the more unique things for NYC will be the fact that I will not be turning tables, so when you book a table it is yours to stay and enjoy all night. Here in Spain this format of menu is available in many places and I am aware of the market prices, but for NY I am totally lost :-( If you could be so kind to let me know your thoughts and opinions I would be very grateful.

Thanks for your comments Paul, I have a very different opinion when it comes to copying, I think it should be the 8th deadly sin. I believe you need to take a broad enough education while you are training and working under other Chefs, as this is your time to learn and really decide which one is for you. I think once you branch out and take your first Head Chef job it is then the time to create your own cuisine as this is how you will be identified. I don't have a problem with Chefs putting the occasional dish of another Chef in there menu as it might fit in perfectly, but in this case they must pay homage to the Chef who's plate it is. I have a big problem with Chefs all over the world miss leading dinners into thinking that certain dishes belong to them and then if one day they eventually eat the dish from the Creator they will say "oh yeah I've had this before, it's a plate from.........". This has happened to me many times when it was actually a plate which I had created before and someone had copied. There is of course the second point which is the most dangerous. This is when a Chef will copy your work and miss some of the points which they think are not needed, so when the guest will eat this dish and not like it then that dish will forever be tarnished purely on name, so the next time they see this dish on a menu they will instantly have the perception it is bad and not order it or eat it with the preconceived notion that it will be bad thus ruining the experience. It sounds harsh, but I say if the Chef is not capable of Creating in a Creative restaurant then they should not be in that position. The exception to this is a Chef in Traditional cuisine restaurants where they are Craftsmen and perfecting classic dishes, whom I have an absolute respect for. Thanks Shalmanese, I couldn't agree more with your comments! Great to hear from another Aussie, We will be neighbors next year as I am moving to NYC to open a restaurant!

The object of this topic is to not conclude on one particular name as this will be impossible. Besides the biggest names in the industry have tried to settle on one name and not even they can. Nor is this topic about labeling simply for the sake of labeling. What I am trying to achieve here is to really start a productive conversation into what we can call what we do without sounding pretentious. This is a question I am asked everyday and there is not one good answer I can give that doesn't require a lengthy explanation. I am just about to open my restaurant in Manhattan and for marketing purposes I am trying to reach a better understanding of how it is perceived. 2 Years ago I started writing a blog, this was due to the fact that I eat all over the world and I started seeing a scary pattern of copycat Chefs doing things they knew nothing about, somewhere dining was starting to loose it's sense. So now I write my blog www.madridlab.net in an attempt to make those Chefs who are just starting out understand what they are doing and try to make them think for themselves. I also do conferences in developed and emerging countries like Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia, In these conferences I of course show new Technique but with less of the Magic show. So I feel an obligation when teaching these things to spend 70% of the time explaining the WHY. I am not sure if I missunderstood the comment of Tri2cook, but understand I am not criticizing the enthusiasm of the new Chefs but instead trying to help them understand that they should be doing things from the heart and not from what they have seen on the internet. This takes me a lot of time but it will ensure I might eat better meals when I travel. Thanks for your Comments Nick, I like your comparison to Music, this is a very good point. Good to hear from another Aussie as after 8 years living abroad I miss Australia. Ciao

Thanks once again for your comments Tri2cook, I think you are a person I could debate and discuss food with all day long as you have a very acute way of putting things. I think we agree pretty much on the overall concept but I think we will always define it differently, this is the wonderful thing about opinions. I believe very strongly what I am doing (as well as friends of mine all over the world who are the top in our cuisine) and I follow a very strict set of self imposed guidelines in everything which I create. My food has a very strong concept in every plate, I use technique which I have researched and discovered through trial and error to achieve the end result. This is a debate which will still be going in years to come as there is no easy way to resolve it, it was attempted last year in Madridfusion but as a result it left more people scratching there head in frustration as they came nowhere even close to a conclusion. But I still think it is good to debate it, just reading the above link confirms that to me. Be careful with your menu suggestions for McDonalds, I would not be surprised if there was a Chef with your burger suggestion on their menu next week, it has just the right amount of foam and spheres :-) Thanks Timm, Heston is a smart man and equally tired of the label "Molecular Gastronomy"

This is the classic example of what I am talking about.............

Thanks for your comments, I really like to discuss and debate this topic. But I will have to respectfully disagree with the idea that what we are doing now is not a "cuisine" as such. But this is a 2 part thing where I agree and I disagree with you, let's first look at how Cuisine is defined (according to Wikipedia) Cuisine (from French cuisine, "cooking; culinary art; kitchen"; ultimately from Latin coquere, "to cook") is a specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often associated with a specific culture. It is often named after the region or place where its underlining culture is present. A cuisine is primarily influenced by the ingredients that are available locally or through trade. Religious food laws can also exercise a strong influence on cuisine. 1. I agree with you whole heartedly when we are talking about the Chefs who are cooking what THEY call "Molecular Gastronomy" as generally they are doing it with no theories or concept, it is a simple copy and paste of the work of others. This does not represent a Cuisine as it does not follow a format nor does it have a continuing theme. In cases like these the Chefs will piggy-back the new techniques onto something that they already know from the cuisine they are already cooking. In other words it will be a ............. Cuisine using new technique. Generally this is where Chefs go wrong when trying to use technique as they do not know why they are doing it so they also don't know how. Some very good examples of this are when a Chef who can normally cook very well, will prepare a soup which they have always been preparing and try to put it into a sphere where it doesn't balance or make any sense at all. Whereas if they had of prepared it the way they always have then it would still be that amazing soup. This second category is where I disagree with you (respectfully). 2. Here is where and why I believe it is a Cuisine by every definition............ I like to think what we are doing now is Understanding food. I know this sounds a little bit romantic but let me explain why: Throughout the history of cooking things have been grouped into their category and cooked as such, a classic example is Fish! For a long time fish has always been cooked the same because it is fish, the consideration was not really ever taken that maybe they all need to be cooked at a different temperature as they are different species. Now we look at every type of fish as an individual and as such they all get prepared very differently. Take the example of Turbot and Sole, they are both flat fish but yet they both have 2 totally different temperatures where the 2 fillets will fuse back together naturally when you remove the bones. We can only know this through careful studies which take a long time. This can be said for every ingredient that you can imagine. For me cooking is about overcoming any weakness an ingredient may have and enhancing the strengths. So what do we serve with this fish............... Whatever matches the profile of the flavor, so the plates will not be constructed according to tradition but what is best for the ingredients. Think about an Oyster which emulsifies itself into a self setting custard which is served with a Natural air of Cucumber, Fried peanuts and sesame oil........... Which cuisine do you think this will fit into? In both cases you must have a strong knowledge of traditional cuisine as it really is the backbone of any food, it represents hundreds of years of discoveries and theories from some of the most amazing Chefs the world has ever seen. But we also can't take these theories as the hard and fast true or else we will never question if it is right or wrong, everything must be tested like when your mother told you the iron was hot but you still had to go ahead and stick your hand on it to know that it is hot (or am I the only one who was stupid enough to do that?). So in my opinion, this is why we need a name for our cuisine, not to label it but to give people a way to understand it. Sorry for such a long comment :-)

Nice insight Matty, I agree whole heartedly! It is human nature to label things, generally if people cannot put it in a category they don't know how to understand it. I would love to just call it cooking and for the people to want to go to the restaurant for the particular cooking of the Chef, but this is a dream. The people must know what they are going to eat and this will come from the style. Imagine saying to your friends, "Let's go to that restaurant where the Chef is just cooking", you could imagine the first question would be "What kind of food is it?". This is not to even mention the Media! When they get involved it all has to fit into certain boxes in order for there readers to understand. I have had this same problem in every country I have ever lived, there is always a period of time that it takes for the people to understand what you are doing due to the fact they do not have a local label for it. I guess what I am trying to say is that you need to label your food so you get the people in your door, once they are there I agree with you that your food should keep them coming back.

I had a very good response on my blog www.madridlab.net from a Great Chef and Friend of mine in Singapore, I thought I would share it with you as he has added some more very good points. Hi Adam, Great post .. a perfect example is that i was doing a food tasting yesterday and they all thought that my interpretation of progressive cuisine was with the “foams” and “liquid bubbles” … however they were surprised or if i may say shocked to find neither of the mentioned. however a very well cooked portion of seabass from the (to me at least) the best cut of the 450gm fish. delicate in flavors whihc looked simple on the plates i presented however a real task in the prep and cooking. there was no need to “show off” much, as i explained (what i gathered from you) there is no need to do things for the sake of doing things. The “chefs” today which dumps a sphere here, throws in a foam there and writes the menu with the origin of the product and how long he cooked it for at what temp have in a big way condemned what we all have been working towards i guess.. even before i dared to even start a practical cooking i toiled (and still do) many long hours of reading researching and busting brain cells (what ever little ones i have .. lol) trying to understand the facts of cooking.. (as you knew when we first met) … however this is an uphill task .. hell the debate of where certain Chinese foods came from is still be questioned! great post again …

Hi Aidan, I think this whole problem you are speaking of is an issue we have in society, if someone tells us it's good than there is a good chance that we will also think it's good, this is generally true with most things and particularly things like fashion and food. This is just another reason why the new Chef in any city has to work that much harder than the rest. But then again being the "Under-dog" has it's advantages as well, you can do new things without any regard for what has been done before in the city. This allows you to be more honest to your cuisine and much more adventurous without the backlash. As far as the "Ferran Factor" is concerned, all Chefs cooking Progressive cuisine will always be in his shadow as he is just so dominating and with a team like he has there are so many discoveries being made everyday. Even things which do not belong to Ferran will be perceived as his to the untrained dinner, as this is the Chef they hear about the most. I should know, I work with him.

Thanks for your reply Peter, Some of the many names used are; "New Cuisine", "Progressive Cuisine", "Nueva Cocina", "Culinary Constructivism", "Modern Cuisine", "Avant-Garde Cuisine", "Experimental Cuisine", “Techno-Emotional Cuisine”, “Molecular Cuisine” not to mention many many others! But you are right about not worrying about it, it is just a little frustrating as I used to call my style Avant Garde before I had to change it (the name that is) due to people dirtying the name and over use. Unfortunately People are always looking to label things in society and if they don't understand it you will scare them away. This is especially important in the media as the people need to know what they are coming to your restaurant for.

Congratulations on your fundraising efforts Mr Delicious! For me the best compliment by far has also been the strangest. I have had people 3 times now cry in the restaurant when trying to explain to me how much they enjoyed it. It was because they could not find the right words to describe how the food moved them. The first time I was actually embarrassed as I was not sure how to take it, then the more I thought about it I figured there could not be a more expressive way to say they enjoyed it as it is true that words are simply lost as soon as they are said. Tears would not be the way I would express myself but to have them shed over your cooking is the ultimate compliment, unless they are being shed in disgust!

Who is sick of the going back and forth debate regarding the name of our new cuisine? For me it is getting pretty boring because depending on which Chef from which area of the world you talk to you will get a different response. The worst part is, with my job I cook all over the world and also speak at conferences. You would be surprised how many times I have had to explain what kind of food that I do as there is not just one name for our new Cuisine. I am the Head Chef of a Lab here in Spain, it belongs to my business partner Paco and we are also contracted with El Bulli. So I am creating new food and techniques everyday, but what do we call it? I have had many discussions and debates all over the world as to what we should be calling it, in fact the closest we came was when the topic was discussed in Madrid Fusion last year and I thought we came to the conclusion of "Progressive Cuisine". But apparently not as I am hearing new names everyday! The reason we had to change from Molecular Gastronomy to another name is for 2 points: 1. It was intimidating and scaring clients away due to it's overly scientific name, which when you really look at food it has always been a science but it's just that it has never been made as precise and measurable as it is today. 2. This point for me is the strongest and saddest one........... Once Molecular Gastronomy became fashionable many Chefs saw this as a quick way to become famous. This is when we started getting copy cats all over the world just simply copying directly from the latest El Bulli book or a simple search on the internet. So at this point people were doing something which they didn't understand and changing it slightly to say that is there "Creation", well for those of you who are not sure of the difference this is a clear case of interpretation and a very bad one at that. So then we were left with the situation of many restaurants doing something like Spherification but they were repeating it 8 times in one menu, all just so they could say they were "Molecular Gastronomy" Chefs. I have had some pretty bad examples of this all over the world, and most of it does not make sense. Whatever the cuisine is that you are cooking the basic principles of constructing a plate has to remain the same; Balance of flavors and textures, temperature and a concept which people can relate to. Putting a liquid ravioli on a spoon was a great dish of Ferrán because it was a new technique in kitchens but today it does not make sense as there is no balance or reason. Generally you will find that any Chef or restaurant today that claims they are doing Molecular Gastronomy, will be an experience that doesn't make any sense and you are sure to see food from another chef in the menu. I will give you one of the most ridiculous examples of this; I was in a restaurant in Dubai which claims it is a Molecular Gastronomy restaurant, The first cocktail arrives and it is a martini glass full of cotton candy, we were told that there is a special chemical reaction when the liquid is poured over the top which makes the cotton candy melt into the drink........ Well I can give you the same chemical reaction if you change the special liquid for water, it's called melting. I guess what I am trying to say (before I got on my soapbox) is why can't we find one name and stick to it, the effort to explain 10 times per week is better spent in the kitchen cooking. As an industry we have to be responsible enough to encourage people to cook honest food and not copy from others in search of quick fame, or else the next name that we agree on will become as dirty as the first and we will find ourselves in the same situation.

Hey Judiu, I am actually based in Madrid at the moment, please feel free to stop by and spend some time here in Lab with me if you are in the area. Thanks for your in depth reply Dave, The title of "Mystery Chef" is a good one, maybe I might add this to my business card. I agree with you very much on the expectations of where you are eating and how they cannot be compared. Unfortunately there are still many people who will always sit in your restaurant with there virtual Calculator and add up how much it should of cost, they don't however factor in the time it takes to conceive such dishes. Everything I do and have ever done in my restaurants are pure creations by every sense of the word and have not been inspired or re-interpreted by anything I have seen or tasted, therefore there are some of my dishes which have taken up to 4 years or longer to create and a lot of money. I am trying to start a TV show when I open my new restaurant in New York which will be based in my lab to document and educate people on what actually goes into Creating new cuisine. I am sure when people start to understand they will be more accepting of the price which will seem cheap in comparison to the effort! I hope!

Being a Chef, Coffee is one of the most important elements of the day, it is generally the relaxed time at the beginning of the day where ideas are discussed and the time in the middle of the day when you need that boost get you to the end of the day. There are times when I have been so busy, stressed and exhausted that I have been known to consume up to 20 double shot coffees in a day! One of my most fond memories of living in Shanghai and generally of my career is arriving in the mornings and discussing Food, Chefs and life in general with Paul Pairet (who is still one of the most knowledgeable Chefs I have ever known (I would say Genius but I am sure it would go to his head)), during this time we would plan the days testing and production plus I would soak in his wealth of experience. We would be talking and drinking coffee until we realized how much time had passed then we would get back in the kitchen, but in this time we could drink many double espressos without a problem. I guess what I am trying to say is Coffee is an important part of any Chefs daily routine. Now back to the topic of “The technique of Coffee”. Many years ago when I was living in London I was fortunate enough to recieve an invitation from the owner of the only Organic Coffee company in London to come and learn the art of coffee roasting. So we spent the day going through every process of history, growing, harvesting, shipping, roasting, grinding, and brewing. So basically everything! As a Chef it is interesting to know where it comes from etc. but for me the most interest was in the different types of beans and even the variance of flavor of the same bean which has been produced in a different climate. When it comes time for roasting there are many things to look or even listen for to see when the beans are ready. The roaster reminded me of a fancy cement mixer as it is a copper drum which is heated from the outside and is constantly spinning, when it is almost done the roaster will remove a few beans every 20 seconds to see if it is done, what they are looking for is a line of white to appear on the split in the bean, if you listen carefully you can actually hear them pop when the white appears. The first reason I wanted to write about this is because Baristas seem to have a very strong passion for there product as do Chefs. There are a very few elements involved in making a coffee so bad technique cannot be hidden like a plate which has only a few ingredients. Starting from the grind of the coffee each step has its Critical control point, if the grind is too fine it will be too hard for the water to pass through therefore the coffee will be bitter and burnt. on the flip side if the grind is too coarse the water will pass through too fast and not allow enough time to extract the Crema (oil). Next we have how much coffee to put in the group head and how tight to pack it with the same results as point 1. The milk is a very interesting topic, I have been taught by many people in Australia (where I still claim you can get one of the best cups of coffee in the world from almost everywhere and it is purely down to how silky the milk froth is), on my last trip to Copenhagen I met with a man who was conducting a 6 month study all the aspects of milk foaming for coffee in the University of Copenhagen. The best kind of milk to use is Homogenized and it should be started from around 2-4 degrees, the smaller the bubbles in milk makes it appear silky on your tongue and ensure you coffee does not drop an inch like when you have big bubbles. To get the best bubble pattern you need a vertical rotation so the bubbles are constantly being split into smaller bubbles. My last point is one I hope you share with others, you do not need to boil the milk for coffee. I cant tell you how many times I have burnt my mouth trying to drink a coffee, any good barista will tell you the milk should only reach a maximum of 65 - 70 degrees as it will hold the air better and it also blends with the coffee without disturbing the beautiful crema on top. You may be asking (if you didnt give up reading before this point)why has he got so much to say about coffee? A bad coffee at the end of a meal can leave a bad taste in your mouth and over shadow the experience of your dinner. The most ironic point of this whole story is I am sitting here writing this drinking a camomile tea as I am on a 3 week detox diet (maybe thats why I am dreaming of coffee).

I use breakfast cereals sometimes in my dishes as they can give you crunch to a dish that needs it....... But not as they are: Fry Rice Krispies in Extra Virgin olive oil until golden. Fry Corn flakes in Extra Virgin olive oil then season with truffle oil and sea salt when cold Fry Fruit loops in Burnt butter To all of the above processes always start with cold oil when you add the cereals this way the oil penetrates the cereal better and flavors it, you want to cook it slowly until golden. You can add a totally new flavor by adding any powdered flavors to the cereals after cooking like Porcini mushroom, Matcha green tea, citric acid gives a nice kick, etc. By frying the cereals you also make them more resistant to liquids But don't be caught in the trap of using them as a gimmick as this is when people will not understand and rightfully criticize what you are doing, remember everything on the plate has to earn it's place and make sense. Adam

I wish there were more people dining in my restaurants who think like you Judiu :-) But for me the best point of the whole thing is that it tastes exactly like Heinz Ketchup and brings back so many vivid memories, yet it is so different due to the texture (not to mention the 3 days it takes to prepare it) Adam

What is Value for money and how does it relate to food? I have traveled the world and Worked in many countries but I must say the country which is the most fixated on the concept “Value for money” is Spain. Please understand that I am not saying that this is a bad thing but merely discussing the different concepts people have when it comes to dining. Whenever you move to a new country you must adapt what you do to suit the people you are cooking for, this generally takes some time (usually up to 6 months). I have changed pretty much everything that I do since I arrived in Spain, but the concept I am still struggling with is the theory of Value for money. Let me explain before you come to your conclusion and judge me as the bad guy who wants to make you part with your hard earned money and give you nothing in return. So let me pose this question again……….. “What is value for Money?” Let’s see how the business dictionary define it? Utility derived from every purchase or every sum of moneyspent. VFM is based not only on the minimum purchaseprice (economy) but also on the maximum efficiency andeffectiveness of the purchase. Pay special attention to the second part of the definition, as the first part is very obvious. Why is it that some people will keep a running tally in there head of how much the products would of cost and they compare this to the eventual bill at the end? There is a large amount of people who have this misconception of “Fine Dining” and think you should be eating only; Lobster, Caviar, Truffles, Foie Gras, Etc. This in turn makes the Chefs cook to these expectations and start “Value adding” to dishes just so they are perceived as luxurious. I love these products just as much as the next guy but you do not need to eat them in every dish nor do you need to eat them in a dish where they are clearly added as an after thought to give value. I call these products the west’s version of MSG, as they are added to give the perception of a good dish. I still don’t think I am being very clear! My idea of cuisine is giving people an experience which they cannot compare to any other, I achieve this through the menu structure, my cuisine which is very personal and of course the whole ambiance and technique of service. If you cannot compare what you have eaten or experienced to anything you have ever had before how can you put a monetary figure on this? The answer is you cannot. But the responsibility is still on the Chef to be reasonable and not over charge for the sake of it, you would be surprised if you saw the figures of a restaurant as the average profit is only around 10-15%. Compare that to the effort which is put into every one of your mouthfuls and I am sure you will agree there are easier ways to earn a living (thats because it is not what we do, but who we are). Let me put this into a literal example just in case you are still thinking us Chefs are like modern day bank robbers. How many times in your life have you eaten Heinz ketchup and what were you eating it with? Chances are you have been eating it all your life with things like french fries, hotdogs, hamburgers, etc. Now think about 3 very basic ingredients but yet almost the backbone of Italian cuisine……. Tomato, Mozzarella and fresh Basil. Lets see what happens when we combine the 2 The ketchup you have been eating all of your life is now in the form of a cone which is totally transparent and shatters like glass when you bite into it, this technique took years to perfect and only uses what’s already within the sauce you know so well. To finish this little pre-dessert I made a sweetened mozzarella mousse with the addition of vanilla then added a fresh basil leaf. So what you get are all the basic ingredients for a Caprese salad but in the sweetened form. I can give you a thousand other examples of things which fall into the concept of “Supermarket cooking”, but I think you get the idea. The other thing to keep in mind is that you are not eating a whole meal of these things, but imagine when you are eating a 27 course menu, I always love to put several courses within the meal to make people outwardly laugh. Society seems to of forgotten the concept that food is meant to be enjoyed, more and more these days restaurants are subjecting people to a tense and uncomfortable environment all in the name of “Fine Dining”. In actual fact when people are tense and uncomfortable they will not enjoy what you have worked so hard to give them as they are not relaxed and open to enjoy. What would you think when eating this? Would you be in the group of people who say “You can’t serve ketchup in a Fine Dining restaurant” or one of the people who can look past the cost of the item and allow yourself to enjoy cuisine for what it is?

I am a huge fan of Watermelon! But unfortunately it only seems to find itself eaten on a hot day as a way to refresh yourself. I am the Head Chef of a Food Creation lab in Spain and I have made many plates for our Michelin Star restaurant using watermelon as the main focus. See my blog posting of one of my favorite watermelon creations. http://www.madridlab.net/melonas/?p=325 Adam