Moto Restaurant - Chicago

[molto e]

Here are the rest of the pics

Maki in the 4th dimension

Lobster and orange(carbonated)

Beef

Edible literature Explorateur

Freeze Dried Pina Colada

Doughnut Soup

[reuvens]

Lobster and orange(carbonated)

And soon for the rest of the U.S. as well......

Carbonated Fruits

[Lactic Solar Dust]

I think I understand where the staff at Moto is coming from in there approach to the style of cuisine they are undertaking: pushing the envelope, setting new standards, enlightening us with new ways to cook, present, and eat our food. However, their comes a point in which you have to reevaluate what you are doing and assess if the quality of your product is suffering from your desire to search for new frontiers.

I have never eaten at Moto and probably never will, but I am sure that the food tastes pretty damn good. However, with all the pictures I have seen from the people who have dined there and posted them here the food looks downright disgusting. Some dishes look so bare with a few items on a huge plate or a pile of mess smeared on a plate.

I am sure I will get ripped by a lot of people because of my opinion, but to me food has to look good as well as taste good. Alinea, although some of the combinations seem a little gross to me, makes their plates look appetizing and beautiful. Moto is charging a heck of a lot of money, too much, for what looks like a pile of slop on a big white plate.

I am prepared to take my lashings now,

[docsconz]

I think I understand where the staff at Moto is coming from in there approach to the style of cuisine they are undertaking: pushing the envelope, setting new standards, enlightening us with new ways to cook, present, and eat our food.  However, their comes a point in which you have to reevaluate what you are doing and assess if the quality of your product is suffering from your desire to search for new frontiers.

I have never eaten at Moto and probably never will, but I am sure that the food tastes pretty damn good.  However, with all the pictures I have seen from the people who have dined there and posted them here the food looks downright disgusting.  Some dishes look so bare with a few items on a huge plate or a pile of mess smeared on a plate.

I am sure I will get ripped by a lot of people because of my opinion, but to me food has to look good as well as taste good.  Alinea, although some of the combinations seem a little gross to me, makes their plates look appetizing and beautiful.  Moto is charging a heck of a lot of money, too much, for what looks like a pile of slop on a big white plate.

I am prepared to take my lashings now, 

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In fairness to Chef Cantu and his staff the food is much more visually appealing than amateur photos can ever make it out to be. That is the case even though the above photos are really quite good. The presentations are generally minimalist and spare, in a techno way consistant with the cuisine. The biggest problem photographically, however, is the lighting. It is relatively dark in the restaurant and very difficult to take good flash-less photos. I tried when I was there, but gave up. My photos did not turn out well.

[molto e]

My apologies to Chef Cantu if my photos did not capture his dishes. Frankly, to say they look like a pile of slop on a big white plate is not accurate. I think that you should reconsider that judgement and I would like to see your ability to plate. I also think that to make statements like that without dining at the restaurant is ridiculous. If you have the passion to post that opinion then go to Moto to prove yourself right or NOT. I have eaten there with 6 other diners and everyone liked it and would return. Moto is a great dining experience and you need to give it a try and then make your judgements.

Good Eating,

Molto E

p.s. Your post on March 16, 2004-I thought you said that you had never eaten at Moto? You also have said many other complimentary remarks concerning Cantu in other posts?

Trotter "scrapped" plans for London WAY before 2002, so just wondering where you're getting your info.

When I read people saying they know so much or worked in some places it seems so obviously not true and since this is a site where no names are used you could say just about anything!

I think that in this case inventolux does know what he is talking about being that he was Trotter's sous chef for 5 years or so. By the way inventolux, I had dinner at Moto the other day and it was awesome. I really believe you and chefg are going to push dining into a new realm whether people like it or not. I really like your approach to wine, when I walk into a place I want to put my trust in the chef's hands and let them guide me as they wish. It was an experience!

Forum: The Heartland · Post Preview: #546854 · Replies: 22 · Views: 811

Edited August 4, 2005 by molto e (log)

[hel313]

My apologies to Chef Cantu if my photos did not capture his dishes. Frankly, to say they look like a pile of slop on a big white plate is not accurate. I think that you should reconsider that judgement and I would like  to see your ability to plate. I also think that to make statements like that without dining at the restaurant is ridiculous. If you have the passion to post that opinion then go to Moto to prove yourself right or NOT. I have eaten there with 6 other diners and everyone liked it and would return. Moto is a great dining experience and you need to give it a try and then make your judgements.

Good Eating,

Molto E

p.s. Your post on March 16, 2004-I thought you said that you had never eaten at Moto? You also have said many other complimentary remarks concerning Cantu in other posts?

Trotter "scrapped" plans for London WAY before 2002, so just wondering where you're getting your info.

When I read people saying they know so much or worked in some places it seems so obviously not true and since this is a site where no names are used you could say just about anything!

I think that in this case inventolux does know what he is talking about being that he was Trotter's sous chef for 5 years or so. By the way inventolux, I had dinner at Moto the other day and it was awesome. I really believe you and chefg are going to push dining into a new realm whether people like it or not. I really like your approach to wine, when I walk into a place I want to put my trust in the chef's hands and let them guide me as they wish. It was an experience! 

  Forum: The Heartland · Post Preview: #546854 · Replies: 22 · Views: 811

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Lactic-way to go! I guess you forgot how much you liked Moto. Did inventolux turn you down for a job or stage?

[LoveToEatATL]

I had the same menu as Molto when I ate there a few weeks ago. Chef Cantu came out to say hello and we loved the food and the service - very professional but upbeat.

The cocktails beforehand at the bar were incredible, too!

[bunny]

so what ever devloped of the floating foams and such

[gaf]

Moto 3.0

To visit a visionary restaurant three times in six months might seem like an instance of American excess, but in visiting Moto again I have watched Homero Cantu grow from a (remarkable) enfant terrible to a more confident and mature gustatory stylist. To what to attribute such a salutary change, I can not state with confidence, but perhaps one can only have so many food fights before tiring of the cleanup.

Our party selected Moto's ten course menu ($100 plus $60 for the wine progression). (We had fifteen dishes in slightly over four hours). The food was recognizably Homero's creations, but for most of the dishes the tricks and experiments were no longer the point - but contributed to the overall seductive delight of the dish. With but a single exception the versions of those dishes that I had eaten before were markedly improved. Moto now seems firmly about the food, and less about deconstruction theory. I hope that the chef will not take it ill that I was quite pleased not to be served any "dipping dots" - a few iced goes a long way. At times Moto August 2005 seems a more traditional restaurant than Alinea, as often as not to its credit. (Chef Cantu has not reached the same level of confidence in flavors and savors of Chef Achatz, but, as I wrote previously, Cantu is a work in progress).

Matthew McCammon is no longer Moto's general manager and wine director, and I miss his presence. He was uniquely able to select both appropriate and memorable wines for the chefs creations. He has been replaced by Matthew Gundlach, who does an admirable job. One of the nine wines (a luscious, off-sweet Vignalta "Alpianae" Coli Euganei Fior d'arancio, Veneto 2002) was superb. It was filled with lichi and honey notes without the sticky, too-honeyed tastes of lesser Sauternes. The Kesselstatt Mosel Riesling, an Australian Two Hands Shiraz, and a Domaine Schoffit Gewurtztraminer were also very pleasurable for a summer dinner. A Movia, Ribolla from Brda (Slovenia) was worth trying, assertive and full of spice. I missed the Warwick Pinotage (from Stellenbosch, South Africa), promised on the website and one of the very best of the post-Apartheid South African wines, which was replaced by a good, but not terribly special Paulliac, Chateau Behere (it is supposed to have an aroma of pencil lead, but I couldn't taste that as much as the berries that are also characteristic). The big bust of the evening was a harsh and flat Spanish Bodegas Pucho, Bierzo 2003, served with the bass course. The pairing was linked to the bacon in the sauce, but this was not a wine that attracts me (I am not enamored by Spanish reds, other than, sigh, Sangria).

We settled in to consume Chef Cantu's edible menu, swimming in a cream risotto of puffed rice. We can gave our chef little extravagance, an idea that overwhelmed its pleasant taste. No chef treats his Amuse Bouche more amusingly than Homero.

The dinner began with what may be the finest of the forty or so dishes that I have had at Moto: Champagne & King Crab. What made it definitive was that it was a riff on traditional haute cuisine. It was a dish that would only barely have been out of place at Everest or even Lutece. The chef presents small piles of perfectly sweet and delicate king crab in pools of sweet pea puree, precisely flavored with a touch of jalapeno. Nestled under our serving implements (a fork and a spoon, to be clear) was a dollop of exuberant citrus cream. Every bite was a delight. The delight was in part the glorious taste and in part that Chef Cantu didn't feel that he needed to strain to stick a finger in the eye of the culinary establishment. This was a transcendent dish. (Perhaps it is significant that my preferred dish from my five course April menu was also the first: white elf mushrooms with pearl onions).

The second course - a Lesson in Cuitlacoche (huitlacoche by another name) - may become a superb course. Now it suffers from a certain pretension, a work in progress. On the bowl's side is a cuitloche smear (an unappealing brown daub). In the center of the bowl servers pour a nitrogenated saffron foam over popcorn (?!). Perhaps I am not a honors student at Moto U. but I require remedial assistance. The dish seemed, like some earlier attempts, to be done for its own sake. Cuitlacoche has such a distinctive taste and texture that pureeing it was a shame, but perhaps we should be grateful that the chef didn't retreat to his inkjet and create an edible image inspired by a dish of "corn smut." Don't even think it.

One of the most striking dishes of the February Little Three Happiness 21 course extravaganza (the "raccoon-athon," forever memoralized by Time) was Cantu's "Lobster with Freshly Squeezed Orange Soda." This latest version was far more satisfying and demonstrated that the rough edges of Moto are smoothed. As I recall the earlier version, the Lobster and the carbonated orange were given equal stature, but why? We hope for lobster dreams. This lobster was given top billing with the tingly orange comic relief. The poached lobster (again, precisely fresh) was enrobed in a velvety celery root (buerre blanc?) sauce, with a tight scoop of brown butter ice cream. Perhaps ice cream and lobster can't work, but it did this warm weekend. The orange was homage, not sabotage. As in the opening preparation, Cantu creatively rethought haute cuisine, rather than discovering victuals on some other planet. It is cheering to see that dishes are critically rethought.

Because of the passion of one of our party - "Sweetbreads & Cheese Grits", a dish on the grand menu - was added to our menu and it was a jewel. The sweetbreads were prepared in a tempura batter and nestled with cheese grits. Cheese grits and sweetbreads belong together, not at all offal (yes, I'm deeply ashamed). With the presence of collards, sweet potato, and Krispy Kreme Soup on the menu one wonders whether Chef Cantu is pursing a southern strategy.

We turned to "Artichoke, Balsamic and Macadamia" - one bite wonder. Some at the table didn't find the artichoke flavor sufficiently intense, but with vinegar this good, who would notice. We did, but it didn't prevent a highly satisfying bite.

The next course, "French Fry (Sweet) Potato Chain Links, Sweet Potato Pie and Veal Breast," was another revision from the first menu, and, again, a far superior version. (I had found that earlier version, more curiosity than culinary). This was much better realized, and the chef is coming to reveal his attention to core ingredients, in this case veal breast. If the chain carving lacked the intricacy of winter, but the dining satisfaction was higher. Veal goes well with sweet potatoes in a pairing that might otherwise be startling.

At the moment that the artichoke bite was served, our servers revealed Cantu's Magic Boxes. Tonight he slow cooked sea bass: "Bass With a Grilled Tomatillo Broth." Again it was a remarkably improved version of "Bouillabaisse Deconstructed then Reconstructed Tableside." Even the titles reveals a shift from technology to cuisine. The bass was sited in a subtle broth with the happy addition of chantrelles, paprika, jalapeno, and bacon. It rivaled the king crab for its elegance, and it, too, was a dish of which any chef would be proud.

Following this highpoint came the meat dish - "Beef with collards." This was a new dish, and it rather modest. I wished for a more assertive hunk of flesh, but it was not to be. This was a good dish, but would have been better if it hadn't come after the masterful fish in a box. Admittedly in a ten course meal, this is the point that some diners are slowing down, but the presentation seemed designed to display the corkscrew silverware rather than the meat.

As we slide towards dessert, we were presented with "Spanish Strofoam, Manchego & Chorizo," one of the two least successful dishes of the evening. When visiting Moto in February, I was agape at the presentation of butter flavored packing peanuts. What seemed inspired in February seemed annoying in a larger dish that should be about taste. Diners might appreciate these startling snacks at the start or end, but let us be semi-serious. When mixed in a complex dish with cheese, sausage, bayleaf jelly, apple butter, the dish - despite astonishing visual appeal - didn't work in its own terms or as a means of presented Cantu's unique signature, which at the consumption had become somewhat soggy. If this is eye candy, I might diet.

Our palate cleanser was a surprising drink of watermelon and cilanto essences, as processed through a centrifuge to purify it. Some chefs might have been satisfied with a strainer, but perhaps Argonne National Laboratory was free. However achieved, the combination of strong fruit with herbal flavors was a stunning success. In its glass, one was recalled the shimmering light of absinthe, making this green fairy magical.

"Doughnut soup" is a Moto signature: essence of Krispy Kreme. If this won't gain Moto a James Beard award, it is a rich pleasures of dining at Moto.

The first dessert was my least favorite dish. Honesty demands that I confess that I find desserts at Moto generally less compelling than the main courses. And so it was with "Strawberry, Rice Pudding, Peanut & Soy Ice Cream." I might have dodged the bullet had I announced that I am not supposed to eat soy (Nobody should eat soy, but that is a rant for another day). The crisp topping was soggy and the flavors seemed neither bright or compelling.

We were blessed by a more compelling dessert - "Fettuccine Alla Dolce" - slightly sweetened pasta with a light basil thyme sauce, and milk chocolate ice cream. If it was not the most satisfying dessert, it was delightful, again with a proper herbal note to cut the sweetness.

The final touch was a lovely take on a white chocolate truffle, filled with a liquid mango-ginger center. Delicious. The ginger recast the otherwise mundane mango liqueur.

A recognition of the defensible boundaries of haute cuisine is transforming the Cantu style. This was the first moment that I felt ready recommend Moto to any friend who enjoys fine dining, even if they lack a background in Jacques Derrida's mischievous deconstruction. It is satisfying to see that Chef Cantu can paint within the lines, only straying when he must, and not when he wants. I edge Moto 3.0 to 3.5 stars; yet I suspect that I may never award four stars. If I do I would enjoy the experience measurably less.

Moto

945 West Fulton Market

Chicago, IL 60607

312-491-0058

Cross-posted on LTHforum, eGullet

Soon to be dangerously outfitted with digital camera. Can the blogosphere be far behind?

Edited August 22, 2005 by gaf (log)

[docsconz]

Very nice, honest, well-written post. I can relate to most of what you had to say except for your opinion of Spanish reds. Oh well, diversity is what keeps the world interesting!

[Pallee]

I had the pleasure of dining at Moto last week on a visit to Chicago from Oregon. What a delight! Had the 10 course dinner with wine pairings that included several of the items in the photos above. I'd read this thread before we went, so was a bit more prepared for what was in store than the couple seated next to us. It was fun to watch their reactions.

The nitro popcorn in the soup was so much fun and so good to eat. The popcorn was even perfectly seasoned! Didn't care too much for the donut soup - but enjoyed the whimsey of it anyway.

I was impressed by the quality and downright beauty of the service.

I'd love to go back and go for the 20 course next time!

[KendallCollege]

The new website...moody. very moody. I love it. Immensely. Its a much better/clearer representation of what the restaurant and chef Homaro are achieving. Its just fantastic. Check it out.

motorestaurant.com

Trevor Williams.

-Kendall College-

[noambenami]

Interesting. Speaking as a software and user-interface design professional, that site is one of the worst restaurant websites I have ever seen. It violates just about every rule of good interface design that has been painstakingly developed over the past few years.

I like the restaurant and admire Mr. Cantu very much, mind you.

The new website...moody.  very moody.  I love it.  Immensely.  Its a much better/clearer representation of what the restaurant and chef Homaro are achieving.  Its just fantastic.  Check it out.

motorestaurant.com

Trevor Williams.

-Kendall College-

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[docsconz]

I like it. I would have liked more food pictures, however.

[tetsujustin]

I like it. I would have liked more food pictures, however.

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If you click on the either three of the "five course" "ten course" or "GTM" buttons under the cuisine heading over and over again, it rotates the pictures. Impressive photography, btw.

And noambenami, speaking as a user, I had no problem navigating the site and I found it pretty much representitive of what I exerienced at Moto. Almost futuristic in presentation. Then again, I am no expert. I don't think many people who go to restaurant websites are though.

[noambenami]

And noambenami, speaking as a user, I had no problem navigating the site and I found it pretty much representitive of what I exerienced at Moto. Almost futuristic in presentation. Then again, I am no expert. I don't think many people who go to restaurant websites are though.

Ok, as a professional let me point out a few things about the site:

1. Its huge - anyone with a screen smaller than 1024x768 won't be able to see the whole thing. I ran into this problem showing the site to an artist friend.

2. It has a completely pointless splashscreen. Countless usability studies have confirmed that splashscreens are annoying to users.

3. When you initially enter the site, the navigation goes completely bonkers, with huge amounts of pointless scrolling of the menus at left. Confusing and jarring.

4. If you go to the GTM section and then click on cuisine at bottom, the photograph doesn't update to the correct five course photo.

5. Navigation doesn't work in a consistent way. For example, clicking anywhere in the main window will sometimes take you to the highlighted section, but sometimes it won't. Furthermore, the approach of making the entire window a navigation bar is unusual, confusing, and prevents further drill-down for information.

As far as I can tell, what happened here is that the "clickable" area for, for example, the cuisine section, extends only to the middle of the main window. So, if I'm in the techniques section, it looks like I can click on a "technique" section, but I actually end up in "cuisine"! This is, frankly, completely fu**ed. No navigation system I have ever seen on the internet works like this, it simply makes no sense at all.

6. Following up on #5, when there is text in the main window, its in a font size that is way too small on a high resolution screen and there is often simply too much verbiage. The clumsy navigation system prevents the site from having a clean paging system...or perhaps a paging system was incorrectly deemed unnecessary.

7. The site navigation is plastered all over the place, at bottom right, at top left, at middle left. Just inelegant. Furthermore, the site is 3-levels deep in places and there is no way to hit the back button! If I click on something in the main window, thinking it'll take me somewhere, and I get sent to, for example, the "cuisine" section, that bumps me up two levels and over one. It'd be a hassle to get back to where I was before.

The photos are nice...though, all of us here are equally into food porn.

The site is certainly not hard to navigate, its just very clumsily built, at least from a professional's point of view. To draw a food analogy, its like looking at a badly thought-out course that has potential. Someone without a knowledge of food would say "oh, I like it fine", where I would respond "oh, but it could have been so much better."

[inventolux]

Those are all interesting points. The ones I feel should be taken care of will be and I thank you for your input. However I feel the site represents moto as whole. We arent here to follow "countless studies". We are here to move against that. From a cooks perspective, (home, professional etc.) that come to moto, I feel we are taking care of their needs first. And the site has been created with a lot of input from the chef driven team at moto, so if they think its groovy, then I think its groovy.

Remember. its supposed to represent us, not the mass public. If we wanted to tap into the mass public I would open 20 other restaurants, put a drive thru in the back of the restaurant and then create a site that looks like this.

But I like most of your suggestions. If you are looking to do some web design, shoot me an email, I have some friends you can chat with.

I like it. I would have liked more food pictures, however.

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If you click on the either three of the "five course" "ten course" or "GTM" buttons under the cuisine heading over and over again, it rotates the pictures. Impressive photography, btw.

And noambenami, speaking as a user, I had no problem navigating the site and I found it pretty much representitive of what I exerienced at Moto. Almost futuristic in presentation. Then again, I am no expert. I don't think many people who go to restaurant websites are though.

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Edited December 8, 2005 by inventolux (log)

[JWest]

Can anyone say what they think Moto ranks up with other restaurants such as Alinea, Trotter's, Tru, Avenues, etc etc. ?

[KendallCollege]

what is YOUR gauge for ranking? The answer to that question will answer your question.

Trevor Williams

-Kendall College-

[ronnie_suburban]

. . . If we wanted to tap into the mass public I would open 20 other restaurants, put a drive thru in the back of the restaurant and then create a site that looks like this . . .

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LOL!

Thanks, chef, for taking the time to explain to us the emotional forces which have affected the creation and evolution of your site.

=R=

[ulterior epicure]

Can anyone say what they think Moto ranks up with other restaurants such as Alinea, Trotter's, Tru, Avenues, etc etc. ?

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Well, in terms of a "special/unique" experience - certainly. I don't think the service or the food is as refined... but I think as a whole, it's of comparable culinary significance as the others. Of the ones you listed, Avenues is my favorite... by far... my experiences at Trotter and Tru round out the bottom of the quartet. (Here, I am speaking in terms of total package).

As for Moto's new website - whoever made the comment about it being enormous and unwieldly - I AGREE - just like the restaurant's food portioning...

U.E.

[babern38]

I briefly caught a glimpse of an add on the food channel about a new show or some already existing show that would be talking about new technological ways of cooking and I thought I caught glimpses of Cantu from Moto in Chicago. I overheard the add talking about edible menus out of risotto. I have not seen this add again. Does anyone know what i'm talking about or have any more info?

[ronnie_suburban]

I briefly caught a glimpse of an add on the food channel about a new show or some already existing show that would be talking about new technological ways of cooking and I thought I caught glimpses of Cantu from Moto in Chicago.  I overheard the add talking about edible menus out of risotto.  I have not seen this add again.  Does anyone know what i'm talking about or have any more info?

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Not sure, but it may have been Eat This with David Lieberman. Perhaps this is the episode in question. The recipe for Strawberries and Brown Butter is credited to Moto. On the actual episode guide for the show, I cannot find this episode, which I'm guessing means it hasn't aired yet . . . not sure, though.

=R=

[babern38]

it was that episode. It was part of the first week's episodes. I think it was episode 1 or 2. It was cool, but the buffering was way off and it sucks to watch a 4 minute clip in 5 second intervals.

[Judith Gebhart]

Can anyone say what they think Moto ranks up with other restaurants such as Alinea, Trotter's, Tru, Avenues, etc etc. ?

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Of course Moto is one of Chicago's finest, innovative chefs. If you haven't figured this out, you are not tasting nor noticing. Homaro is a unique talent that has comparisons with the best talents in Spain today. We are both enduring supporters. Moto excites the palate and offers an unusual dining experience. Judith Gebhart