Interview: Ask Ben Starr About the Future of Food

samzenpus (5) writes "Ben Starr is a chef, travel writer, reality TV star, wine and beer brewer, cheesemaker, and ultimate food geek. Ben traveled all 7 continents in his early 20s, staying with local families and learning to cook the cuisines of the world in home kitchens and local markets. FRANK, his underground Dallas restaurant, has a waitlist of 3,000 and reservations are selected by random lottery. He is a passionate local and sustainable food advocate. Ben is a flag waver for the new generation of chefs who embrace modern technology, and his Camp Potluck feeds hundreds of hungry Burning Man attendees every year. Ben has agreed to put down his chef's knife and answer your questions. As usual, ask as many as you'd like, but please, one question per post."

Comments

Long wait

[Mr D from 63]

his underground Dallas restaurant, has a waitlist of 3,000

Do you get one of those buzzing alarm thingies while you are waiting?

Kitchen Knives

[cphilo]

What knives do you recommend? I use Chicago Cutlery, but I have been told that Wusthof is worth the money.

Re:Kitchen Knives

[wisnoskij]

In my experience in general knives, they do not need to be that expensive. Good quality steel is cheap, and the tools to work it in developed countries or the labour to old school smith it in the undeveloped are also both very reasonable (and shipping does not break the bank).

It does not matter the size, if you are paying over 80-90 bucks, most of that is going for the brand. In my experience if you are looking for a good blade, you are looking for a blade that is between 60-90 bucks, a little less if it is really small. And if I were buying kitchen knives I would look for a company with a proven track record in general hunting/utility knives more than anything else. Those reviewers/critics will really test a knife and you can find out how well a company is known for their quality steel workmanship. A company is just not going to lose their steel forging skills when they produce kitchen knives, and the best metal workers will produce a wide range of blades, not just high end kitchen cutlery.

Re:Kitchen Knives

[Onuma]

The dishwasher will kill quality knives. Handles dry out, the blades are banged around against other knives & dishes or the racks in which they're held...the only thing worse you could do is to utterly neglect them.

I have a $60 Kitchen Aid set which has lasted me for years. Hone the blade on a honing steel every time you use it. Hand wash and dry immediately. Once in a while, maybe 1-2 times a year, get the set sharpened by a local butcher (if you use them regularly). The steel will last a lifetime or more; the handles can even be preserved for generations.

Antarctica Cuisine?

[jellomizer]

It says you went to all 7 continents "staying with local families and learning to cook the cuisines of the world"

Wouldn't Antarctica just be canned food. As the locals are only there temporary. Or is there a really good Penguin Soup?

Re:Antarctica Cuisine?

[necro81]

Wouldn't Antarctica just be canned food. As the locals are only there temporary

It depends a bit on where on the continent you are, and during what time of year. All the (sizable) bases have cooking facilities, mess halls, and full-time cooking staff. There are fridges and freezers, so the cooking can be a lot more sophisticated than opening a can and heating over a flame. During the summer, fresh produce comes in with just about every flight - even to the South Pole station. Some places grow their own greens year-round. Some more details can be found in Werner Herzog's documentary Encounters at the End of the World .

That said, the facilities are run by subcontractors, not restaurateurs. So it's probably a lot like base food you would find anywhere. Hunting the local wildlife (such as it is) is banned, and there isn't local vegetation to speak of.

Re:Antarctica Cuisine?

[geekoid]

But it isn't local food. Maybe shaved ice.

Food?

[GarethIwanFairclough]

[snark]We already know the future of food; it's going to be eaten :P [/snark]

What's your take on the whole "vertical farming" and "hydroponics" thing?

The Presentation Layer

[Dissenter]

As a chef that embraces modern technology, do you think that the 3D printed food technology is something you will have in your kitchen some day or is it just a fad?

I only have one question.

[GoodNewsJimDotCom]

World Hunger is trending towards going away, and a catalyst for eliminating it is for individuals to work hard and donate to the poor.

What are some strategies you have for elimination of World Hunger?

Local gardens and farms?

[mlts]

What do you think of replacing the stereotypical front yard with some type of garden and some home raising of animals (chickens come to mind)? I'm nowhere near a farmer, but having the ability to have food available a few feet away seems like a wise idea, especially with food prices skyrocketing.

Re:Local gardens and farms?

[vux984]

What do you think of replacing the stereotypical front yard with some type of garden and some home raising of animals (chickens come to mind)?

I seem to recall reading that a potential drawback of this would be the difficulty in containing the spread disease. Thousands of 'farms' just a few 10s of feet from the next one over, each managed by a total amateur during evenings and weekends who already has a real day job.

Writing this I think the article I specifically read was in reference to running bee hives, but it seems that the issues would apply here as well.

What do you do if your neighbors chickens start getting sick...and they aren't swift enough to address the problem... hell even if they are swift its probably too late.

I'm nowhere near a farmer,

Exactly. To turn this into an IT analogy it would be like proposing each home run their own mail servers. In theory this would be good for a lot of reasons... but most people aren't server admins; and dealing with spam, viruses, server updates, relay issues, security, etc, etc is just setting things up to fail. A chicken coop in every front yard is a biological (biohazard) equivalent.

Re:Local gardens and farms?

[serbanp]

Chickens a make noise, all the time. They poop FAR more then you think, they're are stupid and do stupid things. They get diseases, there are predators, they die, they can fly over fences

.
I usually appreciate your comments but you're dead wrong about this subject.

In my block of SFH there are 4 people keeping chicken (myself included) and there is hardly any noise related to the chicken. The only noise they make is after they've laid an egg. No rooster allowed though.

If you keep the run dry (roof against rain and covered with absorbent things, such as straw), there is no smell at all from their poop, which anyway is not an issue.

Chicken are not stupid, especially if they live in decent conditions (not crowded, clean environment, fresh water, nutritious food, gentle handling etc). Some breeds are quite smart for a bird (Ameraucana comes to mind). Almost all will protect themselves from day predators (hawks etc), especially in a backyard context. At night, you keep the coop closed, so there's no risk.

If they're well fed, chicken will not be able to fly over a 8' fence once they're reaching adulthood (but maybe the bantam do).

As for diseases, they almost never get sick if properly cared for. Good food, enough room and clean coop/run go a long way in keeping the (vet.) doctor away.

Re:After seeing the Republicans

[jellomizer]

I know I am feeding the troll, but I need a break from work.
The Republicans are not Anti-Science, they are food "Good News" Science, say GMO Foods, and new technologies, stuff they can say look how much money science is making us.
What they don't like is Bad news science, where it means a company will need to change their production and loose money. As well if a particular science seems to clash with a religion of a voter base.

That said, If say the Evangelicals started to vote Democrat, you will see a new set of democrats fighting against putting evolution in schools.

Politicians are not for and against science. They are just going to have a position that gets them their most votes.

Sustainable beef?

[Iamthecheese]

How can mass farming of cattle be made sustainable?

How do I (slowly) assemble my own awesome kitchen

[krotscheck]

What is the most efficient, and ordered, way to assemble a world-class kitchen?

Many of us don't have the budget (especially when coming out of college) to buy all the crazy-awesome tools that make for a world class kitchen in one go, so we have to slowly purchase items as our budget allows and/or old cheaper items get used up. Do you have a recommended order, from a batchelor/ette's first egg pan to elaborate computerized sous-vide, in which someone can build their own world-class kitchen over several years?

scalability

[globaljustin]

Mr. Starr, thanks for taking questions.

My question: When will we see a scalable local/organic logistics solution for delivering food to a large metro area? Ex: The size of Denver...we see stories of "innovative tech solutions" all the time here on /., but usually they are limited to one "green" building, one research team's "urban farm" concept, one restaurant chef applying these in one restaurant in Brooklyn... I'm asking when will we see one of those solutions applied at scale? I ask because in my mind that is the threshold or 'tipping point' in the industrial food situation.

Re:Random lottery vs Supply and Demand?

[geekoid]

NO, that is a common misunderstanding of economics. one free market crazies often make.

Lets say you can seat 200, and 300 show up every night. So you say, lets go from 49 dollars a plate, to 50. You could loose 200 or more customers, over a dollar.
Add to that he uses it to accelerate a hip persona, it make sense.

This is more of a service where he comes to the home, and not an actual restaurant per se. I just used a restaurant as an example.

Re:Is technology making restaurants obsolete?

[HornWumpus]

Micheline gave my 3d food printer 1 star!