One Way I've Changed

I don't know how it happened, but for some reason over the past couple years somehow my tastes have changed quite a bit.  I used to scoff at really artsy things thinking that people like eccentric art just because some dude (or girl) says it's cool.  I didn't like having some rich or famous person tell me what to appreciate.

Now I find myself drawn to various forms of art that I used to think was way too weird or ridiculous.  The other day, I further came to this realization of how much I like strange art.  Though I haven't really previously viewed food as an art form, I found one man I praise as an artist.

I came across an article in Time magazine about a chef named Grant Achatz and his award-winning restaurant Alinea.  This article is one of the few magazine articles I have actually read all the way through (so I recommend checking it out in order to understand a little more about what I'm trying to say here).  Achatz's work intrigues me because he pushes the envelope a bit when it comes to your traditional dining experience.  Take this dish for example:

This dish is called Fried Pheasant, Burning Leaves and the caption to this picture reads: "Juxtaposition and aroma are key ingredients at Alinea, where a bite of tempura-dipped pheasant is served on a branch of burning oak leaves to evoke memories of fall."  I think this is pure genius and can only imagine how the sight, smell and taste of this dish would be to experience.  Needless to say, after reading about the restaurant Alinea, I decided that is one place I am going to visit in the future.  I don't care that having that experience costs $195; I'm going to see what such a restaurant is like.  Since I'm a poor college student, I don't see myself going anytime soon, but if anyone else wants to accompany me I might consider taking a few more shifts at work and making an awesome road trip out of it.  

Here's another great photo of a dish simply called Bacon:

It would almost be a shame to eat something that is so cleverly and beautifully made.  

Not only is his work beautiful, but Achatz's story is rather poetic.  He is a man who has worked most of his life developing his culinary talents but recently discovered he has tongue cancer.  Though he hasn't smoked or exposed his mouth to anything that would normally cause this kind of cancer, he ironically now has to deal with working at his career without one of his most important tools.  Thankfully he still has his sense of smell and can use others to taste test.  

Thank you Grant and I look forward to seeing your work one of these days.