by John Mariani
A brief encapsulation of this article:
Esquires Magazine restaurant features writer, John Mariani states that he finds the new six-volume, 2,438-page, forty-eight-pound, $625 book Modernist Cuisine written by billionaire scientist Nathan Myhrvold, “fascinating, but only in the way I would a manual for building one’s own atomic bomb or sports car from scratch.” There are many anecdotal mentions along the way of what Mariani calls “the insufferable Achatz”, referring to Grant Achatz of Alinea restaurant in Chicago. He does have praise for chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry, where Achatz once worked and, by his own admission, first acquired his pissy arrogance. Mr. Mariani also has a gripe with Achatz’s partner Nick Kokonas, who he calls, a “burnt-out stock trader”, where co-author Kokonas accuses him within the pages of Archatz’s memoir life, on the line of deliberately writing on, and then stealing their expensive stainless steel bound wine list, which has been refuted by a few eye-witnesses privy to the encounter.
Take a look at the link to this article in its entirety below:
