Qui | ideas that taste good

Treasures of the dark enlighten the mind

January 25, 2015 by antdina

Her smile can only be seen at night. It lights up the sky. Yet her attention is fickle. She saunters into the month. Just when hearts relax under the warmth of her beams, she snails an exit. We are powerless to retain her. Behind the veil she disappears. And in the solemn darkness we stand empty. But not empty handed. She leaves gifts. From her garden we eat mystery. Small fruits of the earth. Silky sponge with enough tooth to masquerade as meat. […]

Categories: Communication • Tags: A16, Cipollina, Dahlia's Lounge, Easy Tiger, Goodalls, mushroom, Qui, RDG

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

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

Forget the taco salad. And remember the salad taco.

July 15, 2014 by antdina

The year is 1999. Federal courts declare Microsoft a monopoly. George “double-yah” rises as the top Republican hopeful. Brittnay Spears is still a child and not having children. And Bud Light captures our attention with Real Men of Genius on the radio. In that advertising campaign, agency DDB Worldwide to took careful aim to lampoon our obsession with indulgence. In this radio spot they expose irony of a 1200 calorie taco salad. Complete with an edible, deep-fried tortilla shell. The music overlay […]

Categories: Design • Tags: 11 Plates, Elizabeth Street Cafe, fritters, larb, lettuce, Qui, Real Men of Genius, red fish, salad, taco

Dining from the garden of an artist

June 16, 2014 by antdina

Can’t see the forest for the trees. Consonance and dissonance. “Let there be spaces in your togetherness….” (Khalil Gibran, The Prophet). An expression. The mechanics of music. And recommendation by a poet. These all signal the duality which forms the human experience. They speak to perspective. From the ground, people of the sky lack context. From the heavens people of the earth lack context. Both are true. Hieronymus Bosch painted with a symbolic hand. The Garden of Earthly Delights show fantastical […]

Categories: Storytelling • Tags: Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch, Michael Bras, painting, Qui, salad, vegetables, Willem deKooning

A taste for ambiguity

June 8, 2014 by antdina

The human mind favors twists. It admires obscurity. It delights in the denaturing of categories. It is the gasoline which ignites the imagination. Artists know how to sing this song. They bust classifications as fervently as the mainstream endures to preserve them. Doubt this fact? Consider Rockabilly. Ask Lyle Lovett for his rationale of both a brass section and a steel guitar. Talk to Bo Jackson. Will he be remembered for the 1987 record breaking rushing or the 1989 MVP in the Allstars? Is he a football […]

Categories: Food Finds, The Taste Lab • Tags: ambiguity, cajeta, Cheddar cheese ice cream, David Bowie, Elvis, ice cream sandwich, Mario Batali, olive oil ice cream, peanut butter, Pizza, Qui, Thai food, William Shakespeare

In his hands, it’s no longer tacky

April 6, 2014 by antdina

What if Zorro worked at Benihana? Or maybe Mario Andretti operated a taxi cab? How about Steinbeck writing personal ads? That’s pretty much what cheese and crackers at Paul Qui’s self-named restaurant is like. The idea of elevated kitsch cooking is not new. The minute that Barclay’s Prime put a hundred dollar philly cheesesteak on the menu… or Ina Garten topped meatloaf with caramelized, rosemary-infused onions… or someone plumped up mac and cheese with lobster meat, we crossed the chasm from red-neck […]

Categories: Food Finds • Tags: aerosol cheese, cheese and crackers, Easy Cheese, Elvis, parmesan, Paul Qui, Qui, Ritz cracker, squeeze cheese, Velvet Elvis

ideas that taste good

storytelling through food

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