A 16-Course Modernist Cuisine Lunch

Centrifuges? Ultra-sonic baths? What most would classify as lab work, two of the world's best modernist chefs consider a way to make lunch.

Such was the case recently at a meal held at Modernist Cuisine headquarters, home to a high-tech kitchen and think tank helmed by chef Nathan Myhrvold. The guest of honor: Italian chef Massimo Bottura, who just published his first English language book, Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef, and was on a tour across the United States.

The menu was a stunner: 16 intricate courses that utilized an array of machinery and techniques to render straightforward ingredients such as peas and zucchini somehow... exotic and entrancing. At Myhrvold's side was Francisco Migoya, head chef at Modernist Cuisine's Cooking Lab, who walked us through what went into each dish.

Hold on to your hats, because some seriously inventive food is just ahead.

All photos by Amy Johnson.