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Anderson Cooper Interviews Chef Jose Andres on “60 Minutes”


May 03, 2010 12:44 AM EDT

by Christine Zibas
Member since: July 14, 2006


Most of the nation was tuned to "60 Minutes" this evening to see what Conan O’Brien would have to say about the "Tonight Show" debacle. It was the first time he was allowed to express his (very guarded) opinion since leaving NBC. However, for my money, the most interesting story on the show this week was on Spanish chef Jose Andres, who introduced the idea of molecular gastronomy to the world of US dining.

What that means to the average restaurant patron is that a new trend is sweeping the country at some of our finer restaurants, where chemistry and the maximization of taste is what it’s all about. In Chicago, a follower of this style is super-star chef Grant Achatz of Alinea, who is another de-constructionist chef, who is a James Beard Award winner.

When I dined at Trio in Evanston, Illinois, where Achatz was executive chef before opening Alinea, the food was quite amazing. While other chefs have done the foam thing to death, Achatz was serving up dishes for the complete senses. I remember one course where the food came surrounded by a steaming bowl of rosemary water and another with hot stones sizzling with spices, effects that heightened the sense of smell without adding extra ingredients to the actual dishes.

Interviewed by Anderson Cooper on "60 Minutes," Andres did similar and perhaps even more amazing feats of magic, all in tiny tastes. From using liquid nitrogen to whirling food like cotton candy, his tricks are legendary. He created a tiny gel-like blob that tasted like a Mojito for Cooper; Cooper was enthralled. Andres then explained how he made the dish, in the end bursting the tiny blob to show that it was mostly liquid. Cooper’s response, "I have to stop myself from licking that dish."

Andres and the Spanish school of cooking have made their impact on US restaurants, and Andres’s success is so apparent that he is opening new restaurants all over the country and teaching classes at the university level, where the chemistry of food is all important. The future of food has arrived, and this is it.