OK, I’ve got to apologize in advance: this is the post where I reveal the full extent of my ability to geek out over food. Be forewarned.

Food is fascinating for so many reasons. It’s an art form, a vast sector of the economy, a focus of many communal experiences, a basic human need. Cooking is a broad spectrum from the most simple to the extremely complex, and each point on along the way has its own distinct kind of deliciousness.

One of the newer points on the food complexity spectrum is on the high end – it’s molecular gastronomy, and it’s a worldwide trend in cutting edge cheffing. What is this molecular gastronomy? It’s post-modernism on a plate. Familiar dishes deconstructed and presented in small, surprisingly presented, multi-sensory, highly distilled packages. Here in Minneapolis, our representative on the cutting edge is Hakan Lundberg Chef de Cuisine at Cosmos Restaurant. The dude is kind of a magician.

Here’s his fois gras plate:

Served with dried fruit compote, pistachio pickled watermelon radish, and. . . more fois gras mousse frozen in liquid nitrogen. The frozen bits look crunchy and jagged on the plate, but get them in your mouth and they melt and transform in seconds. Here are a couple shots of the making of the plate:

Breaking up the frozen mousse:

Another example: fruit ‘explosions,’ served between courses as a palette cleanser. Now I’m blanking on the exact flavors involved (strawberry and melon?), but the juice is frozen in to semi-circular forms, then dropped in to a warm solution that forms a thin gelatin layer as the juice thaws. The globe of juice is floated in another juice and served as a shooter:

And as you bite the globe, it explodes and the flavors merge. Pretty fun.

For entree-style fun, here’s a photo of the lamb chop as served.

Before being brought to the table, wood charcoal is fired, the smoke is caught in the glass globe and placed over a cut of lamb belly. Like the highest-end smoked bacon. And such a cool effect when the globe is lifted – like a micro camp fire in the middle of this beautiful dining room.

It’s fun to encounter a style of cooking that hits you in such different and unexpected ways. Obviously I’m only touching a small (and probably not the most representative) tip of what Hakan’s cuisine is all about – we only had a couple hours to hang out – but it’s the kind of experience that opens up new possibilities. Hakan is himself a blogger, so definitely check it out and see what kind of tricks he comes up with on a regular basis. And, of course, get yourself to the Sample Circuit to get your ticket to the event hosted at Cosmos Wednesday, June 3. It’ll be a party.

More at chrisbohnhoff.com

Yesterday afternoon I had the chance to spend a little time with Randy Zarecki as part of my ongoing work photographing the sponsors of the Sample Circuit series of culinary spectaculars.

As someone who’s written books about – and built a successful business around – personal training, Randy has been featured in all the papers in town, and each piece is hung around the Minneapolis studio where we met. When given the opportunity to photograph a person who’s gone through photo shoots in the past, as a photographer I always want to make images that are different than what’s been done before. In everything I saw, Randy was posed on the machines, talking with a client. These days, because of the success of Randy’s business, he doesn’t take clients; he runs the show. So I decided to take him out of the gym and keep the suit coat, but still give a feel to the light that you might find in fitness magazines. Kind of a Men’s Health meets Fast Company kind of vibe.

I set up in a hallway against a splash of color, and here’s a little of what we got.

More at chrisbohnhoff.com

Food is kind of like the weather; it’s one of those common denominator things in life that everyone can relate to and everyone needs to experience.

Which makes it kind of funny that before photographing Diana and Kaitlin at the Birchwood we hardly talked about food at all. This actually says more about the way I think about Birchwood employees than anything – they’re all interesting people with goals and aspirations that reach beyond the food service industry. They’re just drawn to the Birchwood as a collecting place for people who think about things like community, sustainability, creativity. . . and really really good turkey burgers, preferably with brie and bacon.

Anyway, here are a few photos of the February and March Employee(s) of the Month at the Birchwood: Diana and Kaitlin. Congrats!

More at chrisbohnhoff.com

Last night was the second in the 2009 Sample Circuit series, held at Seven in downtown Minneapolis.

Looking back, and editing through the photos, the thing that stands out to me about Seven is how well their decor complements the food. The palette is simultaneously subdued and vibrant – the browns and reds of the seating, the soft blue lighting on the columns and walls, the back lit yellow table tops – which makes for some really nice photo backgrounds. The sushi in particular looked great in that setting, which makes sense because the event took place upstairs, not in the steakhouse space downstairs.

You can check out the entire set from the evening here, but I thought I’d put a few of my favorites here as well.

More at chrisbohnhoff.com

Walking in to Solera you get a small taste of Barcelona – like Antoni Gaudi briefly reincarnated and collaborated on a bar design. Organic and curving forms, tiled in glass and ceramic, blown glass, and twisted metal adorn the space, and the dining room is deep blues, rusts, and greens. It’s a place that prepares you for creativity and daring, which will now be supplied by executive chef JP Samuelson.

JP Samuelson in his new space at Solera

Talking to JP it’s clear that, after three weeks on board, he’s excited to be starting a run at Solera. It’s a chance to incorporate a style of cooking and set of ingredients that he’s never focused on professionally in to his already-wide range of influences, and to collaborate with a new set of creative minds on new challenges. Should be a blast to see what the Solera crew comes up with – definitely make your way to the Sample Circuit event if you can for what I’ve got to think will be one of the season’s highlights.