Food Talk & Tasting: Neo-plasticism & Nouvelle Cuisine

Food, as a cultural product, is worthy of scholarly inquiry and analysis. There is no singular academic discipline fully equipped to dissect cuisine; therefore, multidisciplinary modes of thinking are required. This event will showcase an experimental and interdisciplinary approach to the history of art, gastronomy, and modernist studies. We'll see how the application of art-historical methodologies to forms of cultural expression typically considered outside the realm of visual culture is a fruitful and worthwhile endeavor. By analyzing artist manifestos in tandem with recipes and chefs’ statements, and conducting visual analysis of paintings alongside gustatory analysis of composed dishes, new forms of innovative scholarship can be generated. In this participatory talk and tasting, through an examination of art-theoretical writings, visual analysis of Piet Mondrian’s paintings, the critical musings of twentieth-century chefs and critics, and stylistic analysis of archival Nouvelle Cuisine recipes, we'll see how some of the chief modernist values, beliefs, and ideals espoused by Mondrian and found in his paintings later came to be distilled and translated in the composed dishes of Nouvelle Cuisine chefs of the 1970s, such as Jean and Pierre Troisgros. Part of this investigation involves the re-staging of a quintessential Nouvelle Cuisine dish (l’escalope de saumon à l’oseille) in order to engage in heuristic modes of gustatorial analysis to draw multi-sensory conclusions about the similarities and differences between De Stijl painting and Nouvelle Cuisine cooking.

What's Included?: Tasting portion of main dish, l’escalope de saumon à l’oseille (salmon in sorrel cream sauce) + 1 glass of Sancerre

Anthony Huffman is an art historian, curator, cultural critic, and adjunct lecturer based in Brooklyn. His research interests encompass the social history of art; links between the history of the decorative, murals, ornamentation, and abstraction; expansionist histories of modern European art; craft traditions in contemporary art; debates about the boundary and relationship between media; objecthood, context, and the circulation of meaning; public art, architecture, and spatial politics; semiotics; art theory and historiography; critical theory; sensory studies; and the hierarchy of the senses, which includes exploring food as a cultural product and vehicle for preserving the heritage of communities in collaboration with artists and chefs. To varying degrees, he has probed these topics in relation to diverse works in discursive formats, such as exhibitions, catalogue texts, public programs, reviews, and critical essays. His research has been presented at interdisciplinary academic conferences across the United States, and been supported through grants and residencies from the Knight Foundation, the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities, Phi Beta Kappa, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Brad Watson is an empathy-driven researcher, founder & CEO of Spinach Records and chef with an inquisitive mind, leveraging years of generative and evaluative research experience. He is passionate in understanding human behavior and easily translating actionable insights to executive- and director-level stakeholders. His experience spans ideating novel internal enterprise products and processes while prioritizing the privacy and efficiency of employees and customers within a large corporation. Watson brings a high level of congruence critical to enhancing human-centered design and is a strong advocate for equity and inclusion in the culinary space as it intersects with user research. Watson tries to incorporate wellness into his daily routine by doing fun things like visiting Black art exhibitions and unpacking hidden flavor profiles, or simply cooking with his partner. When he is not working, Watson can be found hosting dinners, sailing, or mentoring early career entrepreneurs.