The film is many things. It is a testament to the restaurant, immortalizing it on celluloid. It’s also a requiem for the restaurant, which you see as it is closing. It’s a manifesto for culinary invention. It’s a tribute to chef Ferran Adrià and what he has wrought, how he has transformed thinking about food. Screens at the MFA tonight through December 30.
Food Muse
Food Muse: A WRAP FOR A RAJ — Scenes From The Life Of The Dosa
In India, dosas are cooked on a griddle in the street, as well as in restaurants and homes. As street food goes, the dosa gets high marks. It’s not junk, and it tastes great. The Dosa Factory in Central Square, subtitled “Indian Street Food,” is a hole-in-the-wall–not for an evening of food and talk. But that’s not what street food is. It’s a quick fix, and for these purposes, it’s about as good as it gets.
Judicial Review #4: What Is This Thing Called Food?
What is a Judicial Review? It is a fresh approach to creating a conversational, critical space about the arts and culture. This is our fourth session, this time deliberating on the relationship between science and food. It could be foam or gel, popcorn cloud or liquid ham, in the hands of the chefs of avant-garde […]
Food Muse: Boston Cream Pie, The Pie That Takes The Cake
As stated in the General Laws of Massachusetts, “Arms, Great Seal and Other Emblems of the Commonwealth – The Boston Cream Pie shall be the official dessert or dessert emblem of the commonwealth.” Winning against Indian Pudding, easy as pie, it became the Official Mass. Dessert in 1996. Boston Cream Pie day was October 23, […]
Food Muse: Breaking Bread, Breaking the Ice
If you want to know what’s for dinner in the Middle East or Africa, look no further than this marvelous book. Here a Persian dish of eggplant with saffron and yogurt, there a Ghanaian soup of chicken and ground nuts scooped up with a dumpling called fufu, there a Lebanese stuffed grape leaf from Arnold […]
Food Muse: Happy National Donut Day!
Musings on the history, shapes, and ubiquity of donuts on the occasion of the holiday. By Sally Levitt Steinberg National Donut Day (the first friday in June) falls under the sign of Gemini, the sign of divided souls, and so it is not surprising that the donut leads its own divided life. We love ‘em, […]
Food Muse: Pictures At An Exhibition, Exhibitionist Food–Luis Melendez At The MFA and Tapas At Toro
What is the food that Luis Melendez paints? Is it food? More than food? Less than perfect food? Food stand-ins for something else? What is this stuff called “every species of food produced by the Spanish climate”? Is it about the food or something beyond, beyond the canvas? by Sally Levitt Steinberg What fruits! What […]
Food Muse: Resplendent Romanesco Rhapsody
It’s not every day you meet a new food, one you’ve never seen or tasted, one you can’t identify. You can never know everything about food. It’s humbling, just when you thought you were getting a handle on things. There’s always a new ingredient from somewhere on the planet. One year Szechuan pepper, another year […]
Food Muse: WHAT’S FOR DINNER IN THE AFTERLIFE? ORYX ANYONE?
Food was front and center in the here and hereafter. A sumptuous feast was in the offing. But what was for dinner in the afterlife? Chasing the whim of what food went with funerary art, after several blind alleys I landed at Oleana, the Inman Square restaurant invented by Ana Sortun, a Norwegian Seattle native. […]
Food Muse: Rendezvous in Central Square
by Sally Steinberg American chef Steve Johnson knows what he’s doing. A rendezvous in Central Square is a rendezvous with well-being. What’s in a name? When it comes to the restaurant Rendezvous in Central Square, a lot. There’s location, the crossroads thing. There’s social resonance, the people thing. There’s the history of Steve Johnson, chef/owner […]