Underground Kitchen · San Francisco

Dessert painted across a long table on Alinea night

thirty of us · once a month · bigger every time

A cooking club that chased the best restaurants in the world.

Thirty food enthusiasts in San Francisco kitchens, recreating Alinea, The French Laundry, Atelier Crenn, Noma, wd~50, El Bulli, Eleven Madison Park and Momofuku. The kitchen is closed. This is what is left of it.

Watch The Cook II with sound Or just scroll. The films play as you reach them.

Table 30Covers 30

San FranciscoService closed

A culinary cooking club. Thirty food enthusiasts, once a month, cooking meals inspired by the best restaurants in the world.

Alinea · The French Laundry · Atelier Crenn · Noma · wd~50 · El Bulli · Eleven Madison Park · Momofuku

Rule: bigger and better each time.

Living well and eating wellare one and the same

Seared scallop on slate with a swipe of sauce — scallop, slate

Cubes of compressed watermelon with blue cheese and hazelnuts — compressed watermelon, blue cheese

The finished dessert table, painted from above — the table. Alinea night

ticket 01

The Alinea dessert table

Sketching the design onto paper before service — 1. the sketch. every stroke planned on paper first

Sifting a crumble through a sieve onto parchment — 2. the elements, sifted onto parchment

Painting sauces across the table — 3. painting. brushed and flicked across the table

The painted table taking shape with people around it — 4. it takes shape. nobody allowed to touch it

The finished table from above — 5. the finished table

Everyone gathered around the table eating — 6. service. straight off the table

1 / 6

The making of

Alinea ends its tasting menu by painting dessert straight onto the table. We did it for thirty, across the whole table.

The frames advance on their own. Hover to hold one.

Filmed as The Cook II. It plays below.

The Cook II · Alinea · Shot Seeker Media, 2017

ticket 02

Vacuum-compressed watermelon

Glassy cubes of compressed watermelon with blue cheese, hazelnuts and a drizzle — watermelon, compressed. blue cheese, hazelnut

Ticket 02 · Method

1. Cut the melon into even cubes, no rind.

2. Seal in a chamber vacuum. Full vacuum. Let it rest.

3. Cut open. Plate cold.

The vacuum pulls the air out of the fruit and pulls the liquid back in. It comes out glassy, dense, and twice as sweet.

Garnish: blue cheese · toasted hazelnut · olive oil

ticket 03

Paella for thirty

Paella with shrimp, peppers and asparagus in a wide pan — paella, pan one

Paella with mussels — pan two, mussels

A thick tortilla española in a skillet — tortilla, hubcap size

Ticket 03 · Spanish night

Mussels
Tortilla española
Paella, two pans

The one night nobody used tweezers.

Filmed as The Cook I. It plays below.

The Cook I · Spanish Cook · Shot Seeker Media, 2018

the one that started it

Mannequin challenge, December 2016

Mannequin challenge · the whole kitchen, frozen

Fifty-one seconds

The whole kitchen frozen mid-service, mussels in the pan, tweezers in the air.

Shot Seeker Media came back twice after this for the full films.

plates · reference wall

What came off the pass

Rows of chocolate desserts with mint and citrus on white plates — chocolate, mint, citrus

Braised meat on polenta, on slate — on polenta, slate

Gnocchi with asparagus and shaved cheese — gnocchi, asparagus

A chocolate dessert dressed as a forest floor — forest floor

A spiral of ratatouille — ratatouille

Flatbread with prosciutto and arugula — flatbread, prosciutto, arugula

Short rib with sauce and asparagus — short rib

A small tomato tart on a white plate — tomato tart

A dessert served inside a coconut shell — in the coconut

A charlotte ringed with ladyfingers and raspberries — charlotte, raspberry

A bowl of ramen with pork and enoki — ramen

Canapés lined up on slate — canapés, slate

A yellow quenelle with crumble on a white plate — quenelle, crumble

A dark dessert on slate with green dots — on slate

Sushi and sashimi on wooden boards — sushi night

Tasting spoons in a row — tasting spoons

Crostini on a wooden board — crostini

Mussels and clams with lemon — mussels, clams

Green ravioli with shaved garnish — ravioli

A single spoon with citrus and herbs — one bite

Meat with a swoosh of sauce and asparagus — the swoosh

Small cakes on white tiles — petits fours

A round sourdough loaf on a rack — sourdough

Beet and citrus salad — beet, citrus

Fish and chips with lemon — fish and chips

Grilled shrimp with herbs — shrimp

Corn cakes topped with tomato — corn cakes

A line of slate plates ready for service — ready for service

An egg in a red cocotte — egg, cocotte

Plated desserts from above — from above

The full album

197 photographs, every night we have a record of. Open the album

behind the pass

The crew, and the nitrogen

The film crew setting up in a garden — Shot Seeker Media, garden

A camera operator at the dining table — camera at the table

A cloud of liquid nitrogen over the counter — liquid nitrogen

Plating a dish with tweezers — tweezers, not spoons