It’s a definite trend / school of modern cooking: vegetable-forward, fermentation, minimal / no waste, careful sourcing, foraging, unexpected combinations of ingredients, unexpected ingredients, modernist techniques in service of flavor rather than novelty or the chef’s ego …
AL’s Place in SF epitomizes the approach, but I’ve heard of places with the same ethis/ aesthetic all over the country, e.g. Nonesuch in Oklahoma City.
https://www.kansascity.com/news/nation-world/article216732325.html
the future
Yeah Als Place is one of my favorites when I visit the city
Reminds me of the original Superba snack bar i just called it modern California cuisine. Small kitchen farmers market and foraged ingredients, fermentation (fermented corn in a pasta for example) patas that were Italian inspired but def not traditional.
That style sure had speed though maybe it’s time for a better name
Six years out of.date!
I’ve always put it in my “Californian” bucket, though I know that label probably isn’t right as I don’t think the state can lay claim to this style of cooking since really its more of an ethos that’s applied to many different cuisines.
What I normally end us saying to people to describe the restaurant is “you know it’s like Californian, farm to table, insert whatever world cuisine it closely exhibits, type stuff”
Farm to table is a broader and older category, without such a focus on fermentation and unexpected ingredients and combinations. Rustic Canyon vs. Destroyer.
I don’t think it’s been named, but it’s proliferating. Rustic Canyon under Doubrava is another example.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVd3j9mPnrR/
I’d call it post nordic or post Noma, something like that.
Certainly Noma was a spark for the site-specific, foraging, and fermentation aspects, though except for fermentation you can also trace a straight line back to Chez Panisse.
Was Chez Panisse as technique forward? Given what equipment was available and contextualizing it for its time? Asking genuinely, cause I’m pretty sure you know more about Chez than I do.
Feel like the Destroyer ish focus on technique, layers of technique, is very Noma or maybe better understood as modernist
Chez Panisse was the place where the locavore and foraging trends started in the US. I think it’s reactionary as regards modernist techniques.
Destroyer is definitely doing whatever this is. They served me a whole cauliflower including some inedible parts.