The legendary Homaro Cantu of Moto restaurant in Chicago talks about his plans for edible advertising and “multitools” like pans that can change shape. He covers sustainability, how we need to think differently about food as the population balloons, the difference between organic and local, and more.
He also discusses patents (he patents a lot of his food inventions) and later open-sourcing these patents:
Yes. I’m very big on open-source and that’s a contradiction for me, because I patent everything. But why do I patent everything? Because I want to be first to market. Most importantly, I want to take those patents one day and make them open-source.
He also talks about the benefits of their paperless kitchen:
Right now, downstairs my cooks are looking at a giant 60-inch screen projection and they follow their prep lists on this. We don’t use paper. And when they’re done, it knocks those things off the prep list. It can also speak with dishwashers who might not speak English.
Next time you’re in Chicago get a reservation at Moto. It’s fascinating, educational, experimental, multi-dimensional, mind-expanding, and most of all, really fucking tasty.
Moto is the best dining experience I’ve ever had by a factor of 10x. If you can swing it go for the 20 course Grand Tasting Menu and you might even get to don a pair of laser-proof safety goggles for a trip into the kitchen. And don’t forget to ask the bartender for a Bacon Martini.
Mike
on 04 Apr 07Moto may want to talk to his web designer, the site made zero sense until I dragged it from my 15” laptop screen to my 19” dual monitor. Definitely in need of some resizing!
Dara
on 04 Apr 07You had me a bacon martini.
Did you catch Chef Cantu on Iron Chef America? My favorite part was when he and his kitchen staff posed for a photo, printed it on edible paper, and served it to the judges. Take that Iron Chef Morimoto!
He is one of the chefs keeping Chicago in the forefront of the culinary world and pushing as many buttons and boundaries as possible. And I agree – the food is also really tasty.
Todd
on 05 Apr 07Have you been to Alinea, and if so how does the experience compare? I’m going to be in Chicago in a few weeks and am trying to decide between Moto and Alinea. The city is definitely a hotbed for food right now between those two, Tru, Topolobampo and others. If I lived there I would be broke.
matt
on 05 Apr 07“most of all, really fucking tasty”
I disagree. I wanted to love it. I love alot of the concepts around his approach to foods, etc. but when it boils down to it, I didn’t find his food really fucking tasty. Out of the 16 or so courses, I would say 3 or 4 I would write home about (the frozen reconstituting pancakes for example). Comparing that to Tru or Alinea, where 75% of the courses were outstanding, I was very disappointed…especially for that amount of cash.
I’m all for pushing the culinary envelope and trying new things. Also, I should point out that I feel that texturally, a lot of the food at Moto was outstanding. For my money, though I can find a more consistent experience. Also, for a lot less money, I can find better (frontera, hot doug’s, etc.).
matt
on 05 Apr 07@Todd:
I would say go for alinea or tru. Topolobampo is good, but you can get similar (probably better) food @ the other side of the restaurant (frontera) for less. I’d suggest hitting it for sat brunch as it’s not busy then (a little secret). The tortilla soup is awesome…the cazuela specials are usually pretty good as well.
I’m looking forward to avenues and schwa. As to alinea vs tru…well…tru is more formal and probably not quite as “pushing the envelope”; however, the food is damned tasty and service is excellent. I think overall Tru had better food; however, Alinea had 1 or 2 dishes that kicked Tru’s ass (the squab with beef tenderloin was ridiculous).
Todd
on 05 Apr 07Thanks for the tips Matt. I kinda had that feeling about Moto after watching the Cantu Iron Chef episode – props for the process/experimentalism/experience but was unsure that it would be amazing tastewise. I’ve been to Topolbampo before and thought it was great, I assume they have the same tortilla soup that Frontera does which is the recipe I use for mine.
JF
on 05 Apr 07Todd, Moto is amazing tastewise. Try it out. Don’t let a comment on a blog deter you from experiencing it yourself.
matt
on 05 Apr 07@todd:
yeah..same tortilla soup:)
@jf:
true…palates differ…menus change all the time…could’ve been a fluke (which was incidentally one of the tastier dishes).
Mersmann
on 05 Apr 07I agree with Matt – moto is really fun and tries really hard, but I felt that Alinea is much more successful with what they bring to the table.
Of course, full disclosure, I went to Alinea while they were offering their anniversary menu, so naturally, the best 16 courses from the first year would be a bit more perfected than I suppose the menu might have been during the rest of the year.
Schwa was by far the most amazing meal I had last year though.
Adam Michela
on 05 Apr 07I’m jealous.
Todd
on 05 Apr 07@ JF, the conundrum is deciding which of the conflicting impressions is “right” ;) But it will probably be Moto because I’m in town on Tuesday and Alinea is closed.
I remember reading somewhere (maybe Fast Company?) that when Cantu perfects a technique he ditches that item from the menu and moves on to the next idea. On one hand it’s cool because it keeps the envelope expanding, but on the other it could lead to inconsistent experiences.
Dara
on 05 Apr 07@ Todd
Alinea is also great. Both Moto and Alinea (and Avenues) are pretty out there, but I think Moto takes the “molecular gastronomy” aspect a bit further. As a result, I find it more interesting, but it is also more controversial than the others. As far as which is more tasty, it probably varies from week-to-week as the menus change. Plus, what is your idea of tasty? Some people drool over foie gras, caviar and truffle oil (all of which I find rancid).
Please let us know which one you choose and how it turns out!
Kenn Christ
on 05 Apr 07The experience is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum, but I think I’ll stick with the Double Down Saloon in Las Vegas for my bacon martinis. (If I weren’t a vegetarian, that is.)
Michael
on 08 Apr 07I too wanted to love Moto. We went all out, ordered the largest set of courses and paired wines. The presentation was spectacular, but the food left a lot to be desired. It was akin to eating the food from a children’s chemistry set. As a doctoral student in Chemistry, I was less than amused by Cantu’s experiments in food.
One course consisted of seasoned Styrofoam. I don’t care how you prepare it, it was sick and made us nauseous. Do you really want soup that tastes like Krispy Kreme? I don’t like Krispy Kreme and I don’t want my soup to be a play on texture of fast food. The “paired” wines came out randomly with no seeming correlation to the food courses. They were good, quite good, but often conflicted with the food. I left Moto with my stomach spinning and my wallet $500 emptier.
Amongst the copious fine dining options in Chicago, Moto was quite a disappointment. Cantu is famous because of his unique creativity, but I truly believe Moto is over the top.
Grant Hutchins
on 09 Apr 07Patents by their very nature are already open source. But they are not free. I think this is an important distinction, because if I use something that is patented, I can see in great detail how it works and use this information to my own personal benefit, even if I cannot make one myself to sell.
Not to be a sticker here, but he would want to make his patents free to use and products free to make for sale, and that’s what he means in using the term “open source”.
This discussion is closed.