(1) Gastronomy is the study of food. (2) A restaurant is a reflection of democracy on a local and cultural level. (3) We utilize our dexterous talents to minimally transform foodstuffs into a symphony of flavors, textures, and experience.
The purpose of these writings is to share the creative process involved with food, wine, and drink. It’s not that we just wake up on any random morning and come up with creative ideas, but we continuously study how food has evolved over the millennia. Not to be too serious, it is just food. We have a sense of humor and like vegetable gardens.
We study how man began to eat and discovered fire. Through history and anthropology we gain perspective of hunter-gatherers arising into an agrarian society domesticating crops and livestock. We then begin to understand how cooks, servants, and sommeliers came to be in the feudal and guild systems.
A restaurant, as we know them today, have only been around a few hundred years. With the onset of the French Revolution, many of the top cooks, sommeliers, and vineyard owners were taken to the guillotine! They were not viewed favorably by the commoners. They fled their masters, started cooking for the peasants (especially pheasant) and started the first restaurants. They served mostly stews and table wine, printing the first a la carte menus. They served regional foodstuffs that could only be procured within the local community--mostly within a day’s walking distance. (There wasn’t much refrigeration back then and fresh apples were not available in the spring!)
With an Aristotelian view of where restaurants, food, and drink come from, our foundations are set. With strong edifice we begin to cook with the dexterity of all five senses. The bounty from the fields is manipulated minimally to express the true essence of nature. We observe the optimum-instant of when products are at their best, serving them with sincerity, respect, and passion.
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