ideas that taste good

Two brothers fight over innovation

August 30, 2015 by antdina

Tom and Terry live in an unforgotten corner of Arizona. Most days, their parents are away from home. It doesn’t bother them. They unlock their 5th and 4th grade imagination to evenly divide the world. Tom dislikes strawberries. It’s bitter and tart. However chocolate sings to his soul. To Terry, chocolate tastes more like dirt than the dusty field across from the house. He prefers to slide on sweet strawberry silk. This friendly categorization continues with everything. Even in joint play. Tom is Captain […]

Categories: Food Finds, Meaning • Tags: brothers, Chicago, hot air ballon, innovation, Nonna, ravioli, Trattoria 10

You’ve peached my interest

August 2, 2015 by antdina

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Three. Yes, three is the answer. At least according to Eric Silverstein and his wandering intellect for tasty things. This reformed lawyer, now chef-inventor from The Peached Tortilla, marries the unlikely to the irresistible. He plays the fiddle of American border cuisine with an Asian accent. And in the process, lays out a passion for distinct tastes. Like a set of domino blocks which form an intricate pattern. A road from […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: bahn mi, BBQ, cauliflower, Eric Silverstein, Peached Tortilla, pickles, tacos

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Before the experience, there is a promise

July 26, 2015 by antdina

Branding is an art form and a science. It’s a way of evoking an emotional response by a seller through a queue to associative memory of a buyer. (Think Pavlov and his dog). The signal can be musical (e.g. the Intel chime). Or it can be odoriferous (e.g. the melded perfume from Lush). It might be lyrical (e.g. “we’ll leave the light on for ya” from Motel 6). And it might be visual (e.g. Nike’s swoosh). Building connections between these symbols and […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: branding, Kuala Lampur, plastic food, promise

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Some concepts are best re-washed and re-folded

June 28, 2015 by antdina

Opposites argue. They yell at each other without truly listening. It’s the point and counterpoint comedy of Saturday Night Live’s classic Weekend Update. We laugh at Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd because the lampoon reveals satire in our own lives. However complements don’t yell. Complements are improvisational theater. A ridiculous claim by one player is the launching pad for the next. The audience moves through the unfolding narrative because the actors know that to sustain attention, they must work together. […]

Categories: Food Finds • Tags: brick chicken, crab, ice cream sandwich, lamb, Launderette, Laura Sawicki, Rene Ortiz, toast

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http://saurian.net/Cinnamon-Tree-Frog.html

The opposite of cinnamon is not frog

June 21, 2015 by antdina

The right brain doesn’t understand rules. It makes no value judgments or waits for a polite moment to ask a question. It simply looks for patterns. Certainly that must be the reason why some ask “what is the opposite of cinnamon?” A simple question with no defensible answer. Sure. Sugar is the automatic response. And why not. Those two flavors are paired up in nearly every recipe. Need an apple to pie? A cookie to dust? Chocolate to enhance? The Fred Astaire […]

Categories: Meaning • Tags: cinnamon, citrus, contrast, cream, cucumber, cucumber raita, foil, fugue, Jurafsky, lamb tagine, opposite, spice, Taste Buds and Molecules, The Flavor Bible, The Flavor Thesaurus, The Language of Food

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Food pyramid for the modern mind

May 31, 2015 by antdina

A lizard, a monkey and Socrates walk into a bar. The lizard orders a Tecate beer to which he adds salt and a squeeze of lime. The monkey looks at the beautiful woman in a tight red dress, then back to the bartender says, “I’ll have what she’s having.” Socrates slowly inhales the room then asks, “Where is the rabbi in this joke?” Abraham likes to study successful people. This is an odd choice. His peers act on the belief that to truly know the […]

Categories: Storytelling • Tags: 1313 Main, BBQ, Blackfinn, Culinary Bro-Down, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, poke

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The shape of stories and the re-invention of dinner

May 17, 2015 by antdina

Authors know a secret. It was first written in Ecclesiastes so long. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” The plots. The characters. The scenery. All in some composition or another. The true invention of the artist is in the selection of what to include and what not to include. And the really crafty ones know how to bend history to their favor. Even when the […]

Categories: Storytelling • Tags: Boudin Bistro, cocktail, Fig Leaf, manhattan, panaanini, RDG, Sherlock Holmes, sourdough, taco, Whip In

Happy mistakes

April 19, 2015 by antdina

Playtime is dangerous. It breaks convention to imagine a world that doesn’t exist. We think about it as the stuff of recess time and children. Behavior adults tolerate because psychologists explain it’s importance for development. But really it’s dynamite waiting to go off. Yet, when those same adults are stuck, bricked up by the rules they built, play never comes to mind. We name the songbird of invention “Creativity.” However we forget the forest in which she sings. We look for experts in ideation. […]

Categories: Pioneer • Tags: beagle, Border Grill, cheese, chocolate, Flow, happy mistake, Paula Dean, Paula Deen, play, playtime, special sauce

Breakout ideas come from broken rules

April 12, 2015 by antdina

A canopy of yellow tulips smiles at diners from above. Like Chihuly except real petals and not spun glass. We are awed because it defies convention. In this fantasy land, flowers lean over and inhale our perfume. We live by simple rules. They provide structure and quite the chaos. In language we call this grammar. An orderly sequencing of words in predictable patterns. Noun-verb-object. With flourishes of adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases to add context and color. Our dining experience […]

Categories: Design • Tags: Chihuly, Dan Jurafsky, Goodalls, Posey Events, The Language of Food, Zushi Puzzle

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Frida’s trip to Japan

April 5, 2015 by antdina

Jennifer calls us into her small studio. The garden outside colors the temperature of the room. She points to a nearly complete collage. Her annual labor of love for Valentines. “How do I resolve this corner? Do you think this? or that?” We suggest an idea and smile emerges. The bird is free to fly once again. “I’m just so influenced by Japanese art.” “Seriously, Jennifer! Look around you. This is all about Central Mexico. You and Fred live like […]

Categories: Pioneer • Tags: Frida, Japanese, Mexican, soy, tempura

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