What do the folks at ChefSteps think about this article?

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-men/end-modernist-molecular-cuisine-15724148

In my hunt for blogs similar to this one, I accidentally came across this article, highly critical of modernist cuisine and its practices. Have any of you at ChefSteps read this article, and what did you think about it?

Find more posts tagged with

Everything Else

Comments

Brendan_Lee_56950

The first comment on that article is mine actually. I really didn't like this article, it's too sweeping and general and shows a real lack of understanding of what modernist cooking is supposed to entail.

Adam_Subat_16010

It's interesting because Mariani refers to all of the techniques collectively as a "culinary fad" despite the fact that a majority of these processes are universally applicable and can be integrated into traditional cooking techniques, unlike most past "fads" that have come and gone.

Corey_37766

Mariani is wrong. Here's a really good rebuttal:

http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/07/john-mariani-wrote-a-terrible-story-about-modernist-cuisine.html

Johan_Edstrom_5586

I'd give it a Meh and who cares what you think.

Samuel_68313

Wow, that rebuttal is brutal. Kills him. I don't care for the original article, he's clearly a prick of monumental stature.

DiggingDogFarm_65362

".....he's clearly a prick of monumental stature."

You've got that right....he's always fighting with someone.

Matthew_Snyder_68770

This coming from a guy who put Trois Mec on his Best New Restaurant list this year. It may not be foams and gels and 30-course tasting menus, but they certainly approach their cooking from a modernist perspective. He triumphantly mentions that when Jose Andres opened up a restaurant in Vegas it was a Jaleo, not a mini-bar..... seemingly totally ignorant about the existence of é. (Unless he's being super pedantic by peddling a half-truth; é was not part of Jaleo-Vegas when it opened) Just a couple years ago he said, "Achatz has had no influence on anyone's cooking at all." (Grant Achatz!)

Guy's an utter tool. And I think it's clear that 1) Mariani doesn't really have a conceptual understanding of modernist cooking beyond the bells and whistles (continual references to 'molecular gastronomy'), and as a result 2) he is intimidated by it.

From 2009: Why Does Everyone Hate John Mariani? I suggest also clicking through to the L.A. Times article cited towards the end of that piece.

Nicky_J_17040

Just a stupid statement altogether ( " modernist cooking is coming to an end")

as long as it's now, it'll be modern.

Lennard__34626

"If 'taking the nation by storm' is the metric then McDonald's is the greatest restaurant of all time."

Love this response

Chris_Young_80640

Obviously, I don't agree with a lot of Mariani's assertions, and I think plenty of others have already fed what I believe is just old-school trolling.

I will say that I don't particularly care what he thinks about our cooking. What we, at ChefSteps, do care about a lot is what the folks here enjoy and do not enjoy. So as long as what we're cooking is relevant for all of you—and the many others who are not participants in this forum—then we'll continue to do our thing and ignore critics like John Mariani.