Science: On The Menu At One Seattle Restaurant. - KCPQ

The chefs are interviewed by FOX TV that reports, "At Spur in Belltown, Brian McCracken and Dana Tough are on the cutting edge of this new cuisine. "We play with things, and try things out," said McCracken. "We try new techniques to see what we can come up with."

The chefs say they're dedicated to traditional food and techniques, but with a twist. Sometimes that twist includes utilizing a tub of liquid nitrogen. They drop in powdered peanut butter for just a few seconds, and what comes out tastes like a Reese's treat, but when you bite into it, smoke comes billowing out of your mouth.

Tough says they use familiar ingredients that, "end up exciting and different when they come out on the plate."

Some in the culinary world call molecular gastronomy a gimmick, but the chefs at Spur say it's just another way to enhance a dish, and it's helped create a buzz around their restaurant.

"We have restraint," said Tough, "but we're not afraid to try something new here.""

Watch the story here and special thanks to John Hopperstad of Q13.

Science: On The Menu At One Seattle Restaurant. - KCPQ

Seattle magazine's Lorna Yee on "Kitchen Chemistry" and Spur Chefs McCracken and Tough

Curious about molecular gastronomy? Yee's unleashed a lively debate on the subject with her excellent article written after a visit with Spur's chefs and other Seattle kitchens. It reads in part,

"Seattle chefs Brian McCracken and Dana Tough are the two most exuberant local expounders of a type of food preparation some say has more in common with chemistry than cooking. At Spur, their popular Belltown gastropub, they experiment with molecular gastronomy—a way of creating dishes that eschews the limitations of traditional cooking methods, often by using hydrocolloids, centrifuges and various high-tech apparatuses that would not be out of place in a science lab—and they are convinced these tactics help them turn out food that’s not just more creative, but better tasting.

During a recent visit to their Belltown kitchen, they demonstrated a flurry of techniques."

To read the entire article and hear about creating Spur's cauliflower and delicata squash “egg”—puréed cauliflower encapsulating a runny, delicata squash “yolk.” please visit here: http://www.seattlemag.com/0p38a1965/restaurant-review-kitchen-chemistry/

Thank you Lorna for including Spur in your story.