Learn All the Food Science You Can Hold, in Just Three Days
The nation’s most influential food scientist, Harold McGee, is going to be giving a three-day seminar at the French Culinary Institute from March 15 to 17, but we were at first a little hesitant about going. The last time we attended such a talk, by molecular gastronomist Hervé This, the great man’s pronouncements were so profound, and his insights into the nature of matter so complex, that we were stymied and had to be woken up by security guards long after everyone else departed. McGee, though, will be giving practical demonstrations for three days, including six ways of searing a steak, everything you wanted to know about eggs and emulsions, and, on day three, a futuristic tour of enzymes, hydrocolloids, and “equipment such as freeze dryer’s vacuum packaging, and rotary evaporators.” Who could resist such a curriculum? For three days and $1,200, you can be the chef of the future!
Harold McGee Lecture Series [French Culinary Institute]
Related: Molecular Gastronomy Made Complicated via PowerPoint
In the Magazine
It’s All Topsy-Turvy in This Week’s Magazine
The magazine’s content this week, which is copious, compelling, and diverse, is also curious. How in the world did Adam Platt give Primehouse New York the two stars we thought it deserves? Is it possible that the big man is softening? Likewise, we expected Gael Greene to be skeptical about Shelly’s La Tradizionale, a Shelly Fireman restaurant that was Shelly’s New York just a few short months ago — but instead she’s agog over the Italian seafood. Rob and Robin devise a guide to group dinners in the city, an antidote to the annual stress of holiday gatherings. For Hanukkah, they consulted with Julian Medina of Toloache for a Mexican take on latkes. Plus, there’s plenty of news in the openings department: Philoxenia makes a welcome return to Astoria, and Rheon Café brings high-tech Japanese restaurant equipment to New York.
NewsFeed
Sakaya and Its Daily Tastings Just Two Weeks AwayEast Village sake stronghold Sakaya has been on the way for a long time, a process chronicled on various blogs, including Sakaya’s own. Now that we’re less than a couple of weeks (or fewer) away from the place opening up, we spoke to former Food & Wine publisher Rick Smith, who owns Sakaya with his wife, Hiroko Furukawa. “We’re going to be the first store totally dedicated to sake in New York, and we’re going to have sakes that no one has seen before here — artisanal sakes, small-batch stuff, things that have never been imported here before.” Sakaya’s line will range from an ultrapremium Midori Kawa Dai-Ginja for $163 to the “lovely” $18 Yuri Massamune, the George Duboeuf of sake. The only problem, and it’s one Rick can’t fix, is that we can never remember which sake we like since the labels are all written in Japanese. But we’ll get the chance to find out: Sakaya will host daily sake tastings, so you can learn (and get a little looped) whenever you stop in.
Sakaya Blog [Official site]
