Pioneer | ideas that taste good

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

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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When in doubt, toss an egg into the mix

December 28, 2014 by antdina

The leap to extraordinary is elusive. It’s beyond a careful juxtaposition of luxury ingredients with profane techniques. Or profane ingredients and luxurious stylings. It’s beyond turning the crank of success from yesterday’s inventive moment. Rather it’s a study in delight. That which is remarkable surprises us. It’s a union of the convergent and the divergent. It catches our attention in one move of the pendulum, then disappears in the next. Astrophysicists refer to this dynamic as a Third Gravitating Body. Roy calls it […]

Categories: Pioneer • Tags: Century Egg, cocktail, egg, Eggs Benedict, gin, gouda, Herb Farm, nutmeg, olive oil, Oliveto, Pip Hanson, Pizza, Qui, The Bachelor Farmer

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Cooking through the fourth wall

November 30, 2014 by antdina

Ferris Bueller tells us to “go home, it’s over.” The stage manager explains what is about to happen in Our Town. Hamlet acknowledges that we’re watching. All examples when the fourth wall is broken: when a character in a show speaks directly to us. Their eyes meet ours and we are no longer pious spectators. We participate. Our reaction speaks back to them. Cooking is performance art. And yet it’s a hidden drama. For unless you have the chef’s table, the […]

Categories: Pioneer • Tags: fourth wall, grill, Pieous, Qui, Salty Sow, sea bream, Shakespeare, smoke, tableside, theater, white oak

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When the soprano kissed the coalman

November 24, 2014 by antdina

She steps through theater air. Her hair, a radiant gold, swaying like an Tupelo porch swing. Her voice piercing and melodic. Notes of apricot and honeydew hang like ornaments. She smells of honeysuckle and wears a glycerin smile. Her name Tokaj (“toe-kye”). She is born from northeastern Hungary. Her audience often summoned by royal degree. He is a man of the inner mountain with large, thick hands. The mere sight of them a humbles us with thoughts of heavy work […]

Categories: Pioneer • Tags: coalman, kiss, pastrami, Pieous, Princess Bride, soprano, storytelling, Tokaj, wine

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If cooking was like comedy, this would be stand up

September 7, 2014 by antdina

According Jonah Weiner, Jerry Seinfeld’s success stems from audience intimacy. It’s about making small things appear big. And it’s about obsessing over details like building a Japanese cricket cage. Jonah is not defending the architecture of Seinfeld, the popular nineties sitcom. He’s talking about dying while standing up. Because to live is to stand up to failure. The NY Times Magazine profile showcases Jerry’s obsession with joke refinement. An exercise which might take years to accomplish. Akin to the mastery of a violin. An intricate process […]

Categories: Food Finds, Pioneer • Tags: Dinner Lab, Ek Timrek, hamachi, Jerry Seinfield, Jonah Weiner, Kao Soi, NY Times Magazine, Seinfeld, shrimp and grits, stand up, Thai, Tom Kah, tom kha gai

Pandora’s kitchen

November 24, 2013 by antdina

In 2005, Tim Westergren introduced the online world to the music genome project. Little known then, this ad-subsidized radio station would play music in tune with your mood and taste. Simply key in a single song or single artist into to field and the next thing you might say is “Wow. I did not know I liked Boy George. Or Celine Dion. Who knew?” The emotional power behind this work lies in careful analytics. Hundreds of thousands of songs are decomposed into […]

Categories: Pioneer • Tags: foie gras, Kandisnky, kitchen, music genome project, Pandora, Pandora radio, Pizza, Second, umami

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ideas that taste good

storytelling through food

Category Archives: Pioneer

Happy mistakes

Frida’s trip to Japan

When in doubt, toss an egg into the mix

Cooking through the fourth wall

When the soprano kissed the coalman

If cooking was like comedy, this would be stand up

Pandora’s kitchen