Chemistry is bringing chefs ‘a new revolution of cooking’ — here’s what the food of tomorrow looks like

Cotton Candy Cake
Minibar's cotton candy 'cake.' Greg Powers/Minibar

Molecular gastronomy is a modernist style of cuisine that combines science and cooking. These chefs (who are also physicists) will freeze ingredients with liquid nitrogen or turn them into foam with pressurized gas, yielding crazy dishes, like cotton candy "cakes" and burgers with whipped meringue "buns." Their dishes are scientific works of art.

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The 12-seat Minibar in Washington, DC pioneered molecular gastronomy in the US, and continues to receive glowing reviews and awards.

"It's a new revolution of cooking. Chefs are thinking differently, not following recipes, and questioning everything that was available," Minibar's Head of Research and Development Rubén García tells Tech Insider. "We're re-thinking cooking, and we're not worried about breaking boundaries." He works directly with head chef José Andres to design new dishes for the restaurant.

Take a look at how Minibar is shaping the future of modernist cuisine.

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Minibar features two bars (each with only six seats) near the open kitchen, so that diners can watch their food being prepared by the chef.

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Ken Wyner/Minibar
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Each seating is more of a tasting extravaganza than a traditional a la carte experience. Most of the time, Minibar doesn't even print a menu, since the dishes constantly change. Below there's: Quail with dark chocolate and rose water; charred monkfish and lemon yolks; fusilli injected with pesto; thai rabbit; potato gnocchi with ibérico broth; white chocolate asparagus; piña colada tablet; cherry bombs; chocolate eclairs; pumpkin seed tarts.

A photo posted by Monty Papa (@winebrat320)

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Diners are served whatever Chefs García and Andres choose for the evening, like this slider — which isn't what it seems. The patty is made from minced raw beef, and the "bun" is made from piped egg whites and strategically-placed poppy seeds.

Bahn Mi Burger
Greg Powers/Minibar

An evening at Minibar features a parade of about 30 bite-sized dishes, starting with an appetizer like this Waldorf salad. Like the slider, the white 'bun' is made from whipped merengue, apple juice, and egg white powder.

Waldorf Salad
Greg Powers/Minibar
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Many of Minibar's dishes feature wild taste and texture combinations. Others are playful takes on classics, like these buffalo chicken skins.

Barmini_Buffalo Chicken
Greg Powers/Minibar

One of García and Andres' most recent dessert creation is their "cauliflower with caviar." It looks a tiny cauliflower, but it's actually a molding filled with a cauliflower-flavored mousse and ice cream. "That moment when you touch it and realize it's not a cauliflower, it breaks your reality," García says. "It's going to change the way you see cauliflower for the rest of you life."

Parmesean canale
Greg Powers/Minibar
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After dessert, diners finish with a drink, like this Ramon Fizz ...

Ramos Fizz
Greg Powers/Minibar

... or a foamy clover club, made with gin, egg whites, and raspberry syrup.

Clover Club
Greg Powers/Minibar
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Barmini, a bar attached to the restaurant that serves modernist cocktails, serves its own version of the smoky paloma: a "Smokey Gonzaléz."

Smokey Gonzalez
Greg Powers/Minibar

García says modernist dishes are meant to intrigue and create some element of surprise and spontaneity. For example, his "squab with rose petals" was inspired by the Spanish novel, "Like Water for Chocolate." The dish combines a quail breast, a squab sauce (from a young pigeon), and a black berry gelatin in the shape of rose petals. Guests are given a real rose, which they are asked to shake its petals over the dish while rose water is sprinkled by the chef.

Squab
Greg Powers/Minibar
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"The dishes are there to make you feel something — to feed the stomach and the soul," García says. "Every dish should have a story, something that makes you never forget about its taste and presentation."

Cotton Candy Cake
Minibar's cotton candy 'cake.' Greg Powers/Minibar
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He attributes the rise of modernist cuisine to the fact that chefs know more about the science of cooking now than at any other point in history. "Humans have been cooking for more than 3,000 years, but it was different than what we have today," García says. "Every day, we discover more new techniques. Having control of the techniques gives us the freedom to grow."

A photo posted by Jose Andres (@chefjoseandres)

 

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Reservations are only offered seasonally on the first of March, June, September, and December. Spots for Valentine's Day, one of its busiest days of the year, filled up within minutes on December 1. Diners who are lucky enough to score a seat are in for an array of memorable treats.

A photo posted by Megan Vu (@_miss__megan_)

 

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