Monday, April 4, 2011
Restaurants Paul Luna questions the 'wow-factor'
Posted by Cliff Bostock @cliffbostock on Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 1:24 PM
- beckystein.com
- Paul Luna and partner Cynthia Thomet
"So, you wanted to know about my philosophy in presentation. What I've noticed in food presentation is that what is simple is made complicated. Food or food presentation is about the product — whether local, organic, street food. It is not to be other than what it is, or what it's intended to be. A tomato should taste like a tomato, pork belly should taste like pork belly.
"For example, you'll find several restaurants serving a pork belly sandwich with mayonnaise. There's enough fat in the pork belly where adding a layer of mayo is excessive.
"Also, while I'm a fan of creativity for chefs, I'm not sure this is something that is fully understood among many chefs here in Atlanta. More ingredients on a plate does not translate to creativity. Also, wow-factor alone doesn't translate to creativity either.
"Sometimes, I wonder if some of the confusion came from the "fusion" fad that started in the 90s. Fusion was an excuse for a chef to try to get a hard-on selling something with a wow-factor to the media. I'll make an example to illustrate my point. Say I love vanilla ice-cream, but I feel like it's too dull for a restaurant critic to write about. As a chef who is trying to blow a critic's mind, I'll try to serve it on kim-chi.
"I've gotten your attention, but have I really created a pleasurable experience for the diner? Have I shown, as a chef, that I know the product(s) that I'm working with? Have I translated to the diner that I understand what they are experiencing when they taste the flavors of vanilla ice cream and kim-chi, separately and together? Or have I created a wow-factor that blew the critic's mind and earned myself ink in the paper?
"Customers and critics think that presentation or a wow-factor is what's needed on a plate. In essence, what's needed on the plate is the core ingredient and an accompaniment. It's not about giving the customers more food or a song and dance. Take the hamburger, for instance, a hamburger is a piece of meat cooked to a specification. That's it. To add lobster, collard greens, foie gras and mayonnaise is moving to excess. When you de-compose the hamburger, you go back to its essence: ground beef cooked to specification in a bun. Why introduce a ton of shit to a perfectly good dish?
"Creativity and food presentation are about understanding the product and its core function. Unfortunately, television and media have managed to confuse customers, chefs and critics. But truly, traditional and rustic cooking will never go out of style. If you can stay true to the classics, there's no need to move into excess.
"Fernán Adriá, on the other hand, has created a movement towards minimalism in food presentation, which I truly believe is wonderful. He has been pushing the envelope to take food to its core flavor, its essence. It's wonderful, and as a purist, I enjoy it. But it won't feed my customers here in Atlanta, and a restaurant wouldn't survive here in Atlanta if there isn't a perceived value on the plate (food that feeds people's hungers). People here in Atlanta might travel to Spain for the experience, but they won't dine in their own Atlanta for the same experience."
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