i'd give it another chance. i'm still intrigued by it.

To be fair, jazz, you'd give it a chance, not another chance, since you haven't really dined there.

(And personally, I think you both made mistakes on the first visit. Your party should have pre-notified them, especially given the less open format at Moto, of the dietary issues. And they should have been more accomodating.)

This is a side issue for me personally, but I mention it because it ties in to another subthread here --

homaro cantu wrote:

Bob S. wrote:Since I'm allergic to seafood anyway, I have a dream of getting the little rice-paper picture of sushi, igniting it with a lighter, and explaining to the waitron that "I prefer my seafood blackened."

A) The maki is vegan. [ ... ]

After rereading the thread from the beginning just now, I have to note that the vegan maki would still cause concern; it's minerals that cause the problem, and I'm allergic to seaweed and sea salt along with everything else watery. While I'd certainly warn the restaurant of my allergy were I to make a reservation, there's a disconnect between my saying I'm allergic to seafood and the chef's assumption that the maki is safe because it's vegan.

Bob S. wrote:Nick, I'm always open to the prospect of being wrong -- it softens the blow the frequent times it actually happens -- but I just don't feel the need to eat a picture of food to think it's a silly idea. (Though I do appreciate Cantu's followups. But the recursion of printing an edible picture of me burning the previous edible picture quickly spirals into no one ever eating anything as the ashes slowly engulf me.) If in your view I must eat the paper to be able to say I think it sounds weird, we have a friendly disagreement, and the next time you're in town, we'll split a box of Twinkies and I hope you enjoy the wrappers.

Thats funny, but this is serious stuff........

I never want moto to be pretentious. Youre not eating your jacket and tie tonight, at least not yet.

When you charge large sums of money for food that is of high quality and is designed to make fun of everything including the guy who spearheads this rambling bunch of outcast line cooks that disguise themselves as servers and go on and on about why this dish is supposed to get this description or why that is called deja vu, you strike a difficult balance between "over the top" (no relation to sly stallones amazing movie), and some really funny shit you would never see in a high end restaurant. But you gotta have sense of humor about nearly everything relating to this area. I will be the first to say this is not rocket science.....yet. But if you want to create a restaurant of employees that all would be considered geniuses in any other restauarant, they have to love what they do more than any other "executive chef" or gastronomic professional. This what I believe the new gastronomic professional to be.........a true genius. We may never get there, but we will be relentless in our persuit. So whats my point? (My adhd kicks in right about now) The elimination of pretention while charging 160.00 for food only on the GTM takes time. Some guests live on pretention (can you believe it?) We are beginning on a new and very exciting amuse that will surely amuse and remove the pretention. I wont give it away and spoil the surprise.

homaro cantu wrote:Thats funny, but this is serious stuff........

I never want moto to be pretentious. Youre not eating your jacket and tie tonight, at least not yet.

We are beginning on a new and very exciting amuse that will surely amuse and remove the pretention. I wont give it away and spoil the surprise.

As someone who others consider to be a sophisticated foodie (although I have yet to make it to Moto) all I can say is

Kewl dude - nice quote in Gourmet mag (usually horriibly east-west coast centric).

GAF wrote:Would there be any interest in organizing a LTH visit to Moto?

GAF,

Yes, excellent idea. I'd be very happy to participate in and/or organize an LTHForum Moto dinner.

I've not been to Moto, but my wife has, and was favorably impressed. She went with RevrendAndy, I was out of town, and if I remember correctly, Andy was enthused as well.

Chef Cantu, is there an optimal group size and does a particular day of the week work best?

Enjoy,
Gary

You can count me in for a trip to Moto...as long as I am in town.

G Wiv wrote:

GAF wrote:Would there be any interest in organizing a LTH visit to Moto?

GAF,

Yes, excellent idea. I'd be very happy to participate in and/or organize an LTHForum Moto dinner.

I've not been to Moto, but my wife has, and was favorably impressed. She went with RevrendAndy, I was out of town, and if I remember correctly, Andy was enthused as well.

Chef Cantu, is there an optimal group size and does a particular day of the week work best?

Enjoy,
Gary

Any day is fine, generally 4 or smaller is the preferred way to go. However if you are discussing a larger group, we may be looking at our private dining room. But we can work that out if some of us are on a budget. Large groups can be a lot of fun. The PDR is located closer to the kitchen which adds some extra creative possibilities to your experience.

in all fairness, i knew nothing of the format or the restaurant for that matter. i've been gone quite a while and just moved back. it was highly recommended to me though. also, didn't know the people in my group that had dietary restrictions. friends of friends. truthfully, i just wanted an interesting dinner.


i'm not accustomed to needing to research where or with whom i eat more than nominally, besides which, dealing with what i felt was less than wonderful and/or professional behavior. my issue was more over how it was handled than how much i'd probably have enjoyed the food. once again, i was in a group that decided it was handled poorly, and they preferred to leave.


that said, i'd give it "another" chance. i want to like it. i'm very open to being impressed and shown something new that i'm not aware of or that i
don't do often.



by the way, on another note, i finally got round to little three happiness last p.m.. what am i missing here? a secret handshake or menu for non gui-los ... was i in the right place? my entire meal was mediocre @ best. maybe i was in the wrong place? s side of cermack just off of wentworth. i hope that's it.

Since my meal description from eGullet was referenced here, I decided to chime in with a few reflections.

(1) I completely understand the skepticism about Moto expressed by some in this forum. I understand it because I also felt it, before eating there. I felt the same way when I first heard about Achatz's work at Trio, before eating there. Most diners have some degree of risk aversion. The fear of getting burned often increases commensurately with a meal's price tag. That's a reasonable reaction. But, if taken to extremes, it's paralyzing. When credible voices step out in support of a place, it's easier to suspend that skepticism long enough to get a reservation. For me, that credible voice was an experienced diner from London who'd had multiple meals at El Bulli, The Fat Duck, Trio (under Achatz), and Moto and assured me that Cantu was not playing in the Little Leagues. That gave me enough confidence to lock in the reservation on my last Chicago trip.

(2) I'm glad I went to Moto, as it remains one of my most interesting and memorable meals of 2004. And that's up against some stiff competition (e.g., Trotter's, Chez Panisse, Gary Danko, Ritz-Carlton San Francisco, Inn at Little Washington, The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Gordon Ramsay RHR, et al.). Moreover, some of the items I had at Moto (particularly caramelized cucumber sorbet and red beans & rice) were among the finest, most memorable courses I had this year. If you're spending more than ten bucks on a meal, you're not just trying to fill your belly--you're looking for an experience. Chef Cantu and Moto delivered an experience worthy of the price tag the night I dined there. And, since I retain vivid, pleasant memories of many of those dishes months after consumption, I feel even better about the value today.

(3) Context is everything. As I said in my meal description, the "low-carb maki" wasn't noteworthy for flavor. Standing alone, it wouldn't make my top 200 courses of 2004. But it made me smile. It was intended to make me smile. It served its purpose in providing a change of pace, an interlude of pure levity, in a nearly twenty-course meal. I don't doubt that a nicely grilled lamb chop topped with anchovy butter and plated with some baby haricot vert would taste better than the paper sushi, when considered on its own. But would the lamb chop substitution have made this a better meal? Would it have made me laugh? No way. Context is everything in a tasting menu. One of the most common problems with the format arises when the chef doesn't know how to link courses, to vary the pace, to respect the customer's finite amount of stomach space. A good chef can make 20 great dishes, but not have the perspective to fashion them into a manageable, enjoyable single meal. Chef Cantu showed considerable taste in how he assembled the "GTM." And, yes, the paper sushi--while not much on its own--played a valuable role in the overall impact of the meal.

(4) I've been to many restaurants that I considered pretentious, but Moto isn't one of them. I was there as a solo diner, wearing jeans, sandals, and a pullover shirt and was treated with respect and attention by the waitstaff/chefs. On the surface, the restaurant had the "Temple of Food" look, where you expect to see customers nodding appreciatively, furrowing their brows, and discoursing on the food in hushed tones. But that wasn't the vibe at all. How could it be with paper sushi, Kentucky-fried ice cream, onion cotton candy, "sour cream & onion potato chip" sauce, "black box" bass, squirtable salads, etc.? The outre dishes were too tongue-in-cheek to generate the kind of austere babble one overhears in modern art galleries. At most tables, people were laughing while they enjoyed their food. I can understand (though not necessarily agree with) claims that Moto is too clever for its own good, too focused on novelty at the sacrifice of flavor, too studiedly ironic. But pretentious? I didn't see anything like that in my experience there.

(5) Cantu's talk of abandoning tradition and reinventing food from the ground up is...well, philosophically untenable. Though he and other avant-garde chefs might be, in some respects, working on the fringes of culinary tradition, they are still within it and cannot escape it. ExtraMSG is correct to point out that much of postmodern philosophy argues for the inescapability of our situatedness in history, power structures, culture, language, etc. (Wittgenstein's argument against a "private language" could be easily extended to "private cuisine.") And, as a practical matter, Cantu isn't abandoning culinary tradition. His menus are composed of traditional ingredients. His techniques are, for the most part, traditional. While some (though definitely not all) of his flavor combinations seem unusual, they work, which means he's still anchoring his cooking in a very traditional sense of taste. (Moto was one of the most interesting meals I had this year. But it was far from the most challenging, vis-a-vis an educated American palate.) So take all of Chef Cantu's entertaining, gee-whiz, Buck Rogers rhapsodies with a grain of salt. The guy's an ambitious, talented, forward-thinking chef, not a philosopher. And his talent shows itself in delicious and generally accessible (though sometimes unfamiliar) dishes.

Chicago is lucky to have such talents working in unconventional directions.

Scott

Although I agree with the basic principle of not pulling the knives out on somebody just because they go avant-garde, at least if you want a more vibrant dining scene than Enid, OK...

I don't doubt that a nicely grilled lamb chop topped with anchovy butter and plated with some baby haricot vert would taste better than the paper sushi, when considered on its own. But would the lamb chop substitution have made this a better meal?

YES!

Actually, you raise an interesting point. Does the hushed temple of cuisine look of the place and the art gallery attendant waitstaff talking of "chef's vision" set the wrong tone for a meal that is this playful? Does it, in fact, set Moto up as a stuffed shirt? (I heard people laughing around me, but it tended to be mockery.) If Moto's about to evolve, resolving that dissonance might be a smart step.

Mike G wrote:Actually, you raise an interesting point. Does the hushed temple of cuisine look of the place and the art gallery attendant waitstaff talking of "chef's vision" set the wrong tone for a meal that is this playful? Does it, in fact, set Moto up as a stuffed shirt? (I heard people laughing around me, but it tended to be mockery.) If Moto's about to evolve, resolving that dissonance might be a smart step.

Mike,

An excellent point. I think it is a function of the attitude you bring to the table (literally and figuratively). I have not yet gone to Moto, but I can say generally that if you build a rapport with the waitstaff and they see where you are coming from, you will get the same in return. For example, how many times have you seen GWiv charm his way into a kitchen?

extramsg wrote:It's amazing this topic has made two pages with only two people (and one only by proxy) who have actually eaten there. It's also amazing to me how ready people are to discount it who haven't eaten there, especially considering that the only two who did eat there, liked it.

I apologize for my abrupt entry into this discussion, but I am very much under the weather and I have been slow to catch up...

I suspect that I am in the distinct minority here, Nick, but I am one of those folks that has been to Moto (and Trio, Tru, etc.), and yet cannot be sufficiently moved to discuss my impressions (at any length) in a forum such as this. To be perfectly blunt about it, tasting menus and the discussion thereof makes all of my parts go limp, if you catch my drift. At any rate, I find myself gravitating towards realms where--while the "problems" seem mostly to be over- and not underdetermined-- the dialogue is decidedly under- and not overwrought.

This may go some way towards explaining why I have so little use for sites like EGullet, etc.

Erik M.

I will start a new topic on Events about dinner at Moto. So far as I can tell we have four diners:

GAF
jazzfood
GWiv
stevez

If there are others add your name to the new threat on Events, and after a week or so (after New Years) we will choose a date in consultation with chef Cantu.

I have not added my voice to this really fascinating thread because I haven't eaten at Moto (although it is at the top of my list along with Green Zebra and going to TAC with Erik). However, one of the most memorable meals that I have eaten was at Larry Forgione's An American Place in New York in the late 70s. He and others were exploring the New American Cuisine (nouvelle American) and was mixing various ingrediants in novel and sometimes odd ways. I recall ordering a tortilla torta that was a mix of BBQ, corn, salsa, papaya and various and sundry other ingrediants. Frankly I didn't find the taste appealing. But then I asked myself why when I go to a restaurant should I find the food to be pleasing. When I went to MOMA I would see a Richard Serra rusted steel piece and would recognize the Artistic Theory and power in it. It is surely not pretty. Indeed, many art critics downplay what they consider "decorative" art. It made me stop and think. Why should chefs/culinary artists be treated less serioiusly than visual artists (of course, it doesn't cost $150 to go to MOMA - close, but not $150! and we don't spend an hour looking at pieces that make us squirm).

I look forward to Cantu's canvas and hope that something will make me squirm or at least will allow me to recount it in a quarter century.

I should add that my wife's fish with sorrel sauce was delicious and I ate most of hers - but perhaps the point still holds.

GAF wrote:If there are others add your name to the new threat on Events

I have the utmost respect for the way you categorized this event. I'm a maybe at this point.

I get what you're saying Erik. And honestly, haute cuisine would rarely, if ever, be my choice for my last meal or my first meal. Since a large part of it is about the experience, as Scott says, I think there's a certain degree to which you have to become bored with traditional foods.

But I don't know that you're as far removed from that as you may think you are. I think the desire that many, including you, have for finding rare or interesting ethnic dishes is a desire akin to that of the person who look to haute cuisine for an experience that transcends just the pure pleasure of eating. Both are looking for an element in the dining experience that goes beyond just the tongue and belly.

as in, the sum is greater than the whole...

JeffB wrote:HC, thanks for participating. As for the others in this "dialog", it seems some folks here have been duped. A propos of the season, it's like you are trying to have a discussion with Santa Claus at Fields about the commercialization of Christmas and its antecedents in Simonism. Or maybe you guys just did that to fool me. Anyway, Dali gave silly interviews and he certainly accepted Visa. HC seems to be in the same artistic tradition; that's supposed to be a compliment.

Another thread I meant to get back to...

Well, I'd like to hear Chef Cantu participate. Yes, it's interesting to to hear about is place and his reasoning or thinking behind his creations, but I'd also like to know what kinda foodie he really is. Why was HE not on the beefathon

Where's he go for Chicago hot dogs

A Cantu must have a favorite taqueria or two, no?

Where do you like to drink and why?

What do you think is appropriate to drink with Thai food ( )

Etc.

Rob

Vital Information wrote:

JeffB wrote:HC, thanks for participating. As for the others in this "dialog", it seems some folks here have been duped. A propos of the season, it's like you are trying to have a discussion with Santa Claus at Fields about the commercialization of Christmas and its antecedents in Simonism. Or maybe you guys just did that to fool me. Anyway, Dali gave silly interviews and he certainly accepted Visa. HC seems to be in the same artistic tradition; that's supposed to be a compliment.

Another thread I meant to get back to...

Well, I'd like to hear Chef Cantu participate. Yes, it's interesting to to hear about is place and his reasoning or thinking behind his creations, but I'd also like to know what kinda foodie he really is. Why was HE not on the beefathon

Where's he go for Chicago hot dogs

A Cantu must have a favorite taqueria or two, no?

Where do you like to drink and why?

What do you think is appropriate to drink with Thai food ( )

Etc.

Rob

Beefathon? Nobody told me. Im so there if I have the time. Nothing like a bovine tasting to stimulate PETA.

Chicago dogs - Hot Dougs, there is no other.

Al Pastors are quite delicious at los comales #11 on milwaukee ave. I particularly enjoy their exhibition kitchen (its always kept immaculate and adds an element of exictement.) Though I have never sampled the pickeled spicy vegetables on each table I have always wondered what they must be like.

A more traditional approach could be one of the three la pasaditas.

Finally, the taco burrito palace #2 - with a name like that, accept no imitators.

As far as a beverage goes, what kind of beverage? Hala Kahiki is quite a drive for me but has been a top notch beverage destination for quite some time. I would like to take my crew there on a field trip one of these days. Other great options are the green mill on sunday nights for the poetry slam then live jazz, or at the kingston mines which always forgets to give you utensils with your food (which is the best part).

Thai food? Whos thai food? Thai super chef in uptown ....... I might have to go with a gewurtztraminer with some fruit and sugar or an old style out of the can just to kick it.

homaro cantu wrote:Beefathon? Nobody told me. Im so there if I have the time. Nothing like a bovine tasting to stimulate PETA.

Chef Cantu. For your beefy reading pleasure. I'll see you in Feb.

Chef Cantu,

Dare you forget the great Windy City Gyros on Broadway and Irving Park? The double bacon cheeseburgers are life changing!

Whaaattt?!

ChefGEB

ChefGEB wrote:Chef Cantu,

Dare you forget the great Windy City Gyros on Broadway and Irving Park? The double bacon cheeseburgers are life changing!

Whaaattt?!

ChefGEB

I saw something there that made me never want to go back. Thats all im typing about it. Hey, the entire moto team will be taking a field trip to hot dougs next week. It will be oh so glorious.

yoYoYO.....this is crazy, but we gotta do it.

homaro cantu wrote:[ Hey, the entire moto team will be taking a field trip to hot dougs next week. It will be oh so glorious.

yoYoYO.....this is crazy, but we gotta do it.

How 'bout taking the whole team to Gene and Judes?

I happened to be looking at the Gourmet Restaurant issue (October 2006) and noted the fine print on the Moto menu: it reads "Moto is a cell-phone free restaurant, unless we issue one to you."

Just curious: has anyone encountered this issuing of cell phones? Is it part of one of the dishes? I can just imagine a course where someone describes the dish they are eating to you over the phone while you eat nothing, or maybe something where the phone rings at a carefully choreographed point in your eating of the course or something...

I've had "the cell phone course" while dining at moto for the first time.

A silver platter with a silver bowl comes to you and there is a cell phone rining - the phone has a sticker that says Answer Me Now. I answer it and it is Homaro. He says he would like to see me in the kitchen - and then he gives you a personalized tour - it's pretty cool!

I looked back in my pics and found it - it's not a silver platter but you get the idea...

Snark wrote:I've had "the cell phone course" while dining at moto for the first time.

Cool -- and thanks for the picture!

I can't compare in expressing myself in writing or in any means for that matter to many of the posts on this thread, but I thought since I actually ate there, I would just put out there that when I went for my birthday in January, I thouroughly enjoyed my experience. I also agree with a previous post that mentioned that there isn't really anything to compare it to. I think you have to eat there and perticipate in the whole experience personally.

I can't afford endulgences like that often, so I haven't had to many other dining experiences that were similar in price. However, if that's the closest factor one can come up with when searching for other dining experiences for comparison, I think that's a weak connection. I'll make it to Trotters or Alinea someday, but I hope for something different and unique.

If you don't find some amusement in a paper course, you are probably going to be disappointed. I did have the wine pairings and I still think about some of the wines and how much I enjoyed them.

Go with an open mind, blank slate, and I would honestly be surpried if you don't have a good time.

Two and a half years after Mike G's post, I finally made it to Moto. Given how much avant-garde food is written about in the popular press these days, neither my boyfriend nor I were surprised by very much last night. We had never had a meal prepared using so much liquid nitrogen before, but our experiences with Trio, Alinea and Schwa sufficiently prepared us so that last night wasn't an especially "weird" meal.

We decided on the GTM, mainly because neither of us had done a full tour anywhere. My previous record was about 13 courses with a lot of discomfort by #11 or so. Last night was a physical endurance test for me. What was new and surprisingly enjoyable, since we had the first seating of the evening, was looking around the restaurant as it filled up, thinking, “I’ve had that and that and THAT…” (i.e. looking around a restaurant on a first visit and having tried everything that everyone else was eating). I also felt kind of smug whenever I’d hear a table order only the 10-course. “Wimps,” I thought. Of course, I was totally out of line. I started to wimp out at #12.

WARNING: no award-winning photos here…

The menu:

So this was my first encounter with Cantu edible paper. I was disappointed. The paper just seemed adhered to the Italian flat bread (which was amazingly fragrant; I’ve never loved the smell of parmesan so much). I guess I would have been more impressed if there was more an illusion that the words were printed directly on the flatbread.

The menu transcribed, illustrated and selectively (but not necessarily briefly) annotated:

NITRO sushi roll


ITALIAN food

The red part was a pizza soup. The right side was a Caesar salad soup with brioche croutons. One thing I didn’t feel that Moto got exactly right for our meal was the hot/cold contrast within individual courses. For the ITALIAN food, I just didn’t think the pizza soup—despite its very laudable intensity of fennel—was warm enough. I loved the Caesar salad; it was sufficiently cold and refreshing. The contrast in temperatures simply wasn’t there. As Achatz said bluntly at the Steppenwolf talk (I think, about an audience member's disappointing experience with a dish at the world's best El Bulli), “[if the effect was not clear] they [the kitchen] messed it up.” Alinea's hot potato/cold potato is my standard.

RED/YELLOW beet cake

I loved the fresh-snow-like texture of the beet cake, but after having the beet-bacon amuse at Schwa in February, the combination of flavors seemed old hat.

GIN & TONIC fizz


BASIL CHEESE snow


TOMBO & grilled tuna


CARAMEL APPLE with bacon

This was like eating on Battleship consoles! Initially I thought such a set-up would feel gimmicky, but it didn’t. It’s was surprisingly disorienting not to be able see how much Dan had eaten or manipulated the food on his plate (especially since the mirror effect of a tasting menu is exaggerated with a table of just two people). Because of the fresh sage in the handles of the utensils, I felt compelled to use my fork and spoon simultaneously even though it wasn’t necessary. I fumbled a lot. The smell of sage lingered on my palms through the next course (until I had to go to the bathroom and thus wash my hands). The sage effect wasn’t as divine as the eucalyptus leaves and orange pillow at my Alinea dinner last year, but it was still a wonderful olfactory experience.

LEMON, basil & pickled cucumber


BOUILLABAISSE

I just like to be able to say that I ate cockles last night.

JALAPENO & cilantro

For me, the addition of cream and sugar translates almost any flavor to utter comfort. The jalapeño was perfect.

BBQ pork with the fixin's

The pork was fantastic. I know it was cheek. My notes are incomplete about the orange sauce. The relatively large portion size really threw off my pacing for the remaining courses.

CHICKEN FRIED mac-n-cheese

Probably my favorite dish of the evening. The crunchiness of the dehydrated macaroni complimented perfectly the fatty smoothness of the quail meat. I normally don’t like smoked cheeses, like the smoked cheddar that topped this course, but I could have eaten an entire casserole of this stuff for dinner and still have been wowed.

*At this point in the meal, Dan and I were taken downstairs for our “field trip.” We got to see the laser coat our wine glasses with an orange-flavored film. I had seen many pictures of the laser and read too much about it. I wish, during our visit to the kitchen, they had showed us something else, maybe a centrifuge or two. Ah well. Dan bore an eerie resemblance to the cartoon character Dexter with his Moto goggles.


STEAK & eggs

The texture and taste of beef tartare usually makes me uneasy, but this steak felt smooth while tasting much more cooked than it’s very light braising. The egg was just an egg, but Dan and I both loved the hash brown block. It was perfectly crispy on the outside, and the interior, surprisingly, had the consistency, almost, of mashed potatoes.

FRUIT & pasta

My memory of this course is strangely blurry given that I listed it as a favorite to one of the Moto staff as we were waiting for our cab after dinner. The "pasta" was made from cheese and plated atop a sweet, milky sauce. That's all I can remember.

3 COTTON candy stages

The truffle lacked nuance (though I guess cotton candy isn't a very nuanced flavor), and the paper was boring. Again, I think I had just read too much about Cantu paper before my visit.

FLAPJACKS prepared tableside
I don’t think the tableside service added anything to this course. The mini flapjacks, cooked with liquid nitrogen on top of a metal box (see below) were served atop syrup that had been stored in bourbon barrels. I liked the idea of that, but the syrup was too strong in flavor for me.





CARROT CAKE planet

It was somewhat fun to have the cake planets delivered two or so courses before we were allowed to touch them, but the cake—like eating an extra buttery piece of toasted carrot cake surrounded by melted carrot sorbet—was so delicious, in the end, I don’t think the experience of watching it melt added anything extra.

*NOTE: By this point in the meal, I felt like I was going to lose consciousness because I was so full. Intent on making it to the nachos, I ate far into both the CHERRY bomb and DOUGHNUT soup before I realized I hadn’t taken pictures! I'm still learning. I don't have the discipline.

CHERRY bomb


DOUGHNUT SOUP & pancake


CHILI-CHEESE nachos

I had read a lot about Cantu’s nachos. I like conceptual food for the most part, but it turns out that I’m more interested in the idea of conceptual food rather than the experience of it. I reached my sugar limit with the truffle in the cotton candy course, so the nachos weren’t palatable at all. I’m glad I experienced the trompe l’oeil effect first hand, the “ooooh…it looks like I’m eating shredded cheddar cheese but it’s really shaved mango sorbet!” But the nachos were still corn chips! This seemed like a big flaw in the nachos-as-dessert effect. Granted, the chips were made of sweet corn, but it was too close to regular tortilla chips, which hover at the middle of the savory-sweet spectrum. Part of me agrees with what Dan said. Maybe Cantu should have just given us real nachos and a beer to end the meal.

In summary, I usually don't mind some showmanship, but I think much of this food tasted good enough to do away with some of the gestures. Knowing a fair amount about canonical/20th-century performance art, I wouldn't make the cynical comparison to Moto's food, but I am sympathetic to the cynics. There's too much food in the world that I haven't tried to justify a return to Moto, and I have no interest in moving on to, say, wd-50, but I'm grateful for the experience. And, I hope making it through 20 courses earns me some "street cred." I'm building my endurance.

great post, thanks for sharing.


I've never seen a menu that prohibits flash photography before.