Thursday, Dec. 09, 2010
The New Naturalism
Chefs have returned to nature in ways ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. The former would be the sudden rise in seasonal cooking, heritage breeds, rooftop gardens and pared-down, elegant cooking that focuses on food in an almost puritanical way. (Figs on a plate, anyone?). It gets ridiculous, however, when a chef like Michael Mina has ocean water flown in to a Las Vegas seafood restaurant to poach his fish in. At that point, we're talking Marie Antoinette and her dress-up milkmaids.