Last night the Sample Circuit gathered in the swank dining room at Cosmos Restaurant and, as has been my habit this year, I was there to document it.

As I’ve reported in these very blog pages, what Executive Chef Hakan Lundberg does with ingredients is unique to Minnesota. Hakan really gets a kick out of opening a window on to the process for his diners, and last night he and his #1 sous chef were in the dining room creating fois gras lolipops and fruit ‘explosions’ for the crowd. Cool for foodies to be able to see the magic in motion and interact with the chefs.

Fruit explosion magic being perpetrated by sous chef Shawn

Team Cosmos’ version of the Sample Circuit was unique in relation to the others so far this year: much higher degree of difficulty on all the dishes, lots more variety, but no banquet table service, only passed trays.

The Cosmos shrimp cocktail

For those in attendance on their first trip to Cosmos, I’m sure the sample they received has them intrigued and definitely wanting more.

Plenty more photos from the night on the Sample Circuit Flicker stream (supplied by yours truly).

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