When the pursuit of high culinary art comes into the picture, where should ego reside? News regarding some of the world’s haute-est restaurants is the perfect sample for such discourse. Are these places haughty fortresses where imperious head chefs flex their innovative and technical chops to the extreme, while guests (and staff) relegate themselves to the humble roles of subjects genuflecting to genius? When does experimental ambition start to impede upon the comfort of the diner, and should we let it?
Mémoire in George Town, Penang, combines molecular gastronomy, local flavours and inventive presentation into an unforgettably novel experience
The French philosopher Roland Barthes suggested in his famous 1967 essay, The Death of the Author, that a creator’s intentions must be sacrificed for a reader’s free interpretation to be born. His argument was literary, but the recent state of fine dining makes us ponder how fittingly the idea applies to food. We all have to eat after all, and that inevitability turns the common meal into a complicated site where maker and recipient negotiate their perspectives.
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