Creativity Isn't Dead

By JULIETTE ROSSANT The San Francisco Chronicle's restaurant critic Michael Bauer takes criticism to heart, especially when it comes from a local chef: Last year, chef Daniel Patterson unleashed a coast-to-coast controversy when he wrote in a national publication that the Bay Area's insistence on fresh, seasonal cooking was suffocating creativity in restaurant kitchens. He pointed to Chez Panisse's Alice Waters, the mother of the farm-to-table movement, as the main culprit for what he perceived as sameness in Bay Area menus. Daniel Patterson knows innovation well. His cookbook, Aroma, written with perfumer Mandy Aftel, explored the relationship of aroma in food and perfumes (see previous article). Taking a stab at Patterson's own passion and the experimental food of Ferran Adria and his American pupils, Bauer acknowledges that ingredients are key to West Coast cuisine but argues strongly that innovation is continuing to improve cuisine in his pick of the top 100 restaurants: As you begin to check out the 2006 selections, I think you'll agree that creativity isn't dead. It might not be the perfume of lilacs wafting over a fillet of red snapper topped with bacon ice cream, but it's still darn good eating. To read the complete article, click here. Previous articles: Aroma: Daniel Patterson and Mandy Aftel [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to superchefblog