These are 4 riffs of traditional dishes worked into the last Paradigm menu. It's a natural reaction to want to build dishes around existing flavor combinations. We do it because it gives reference to ourselves as well as the guests. They also give psycological stability to a diner's experience by constantly bringing them to a comfort zone or giving them a reference point.
chicken & waffles- chicken confit, waffle gelato, maple crumble, candied orange, arugula, chocolate bacon vinaigrette This was one of Ben's dishes on the menu. It worked together well, and the components were solid in the comfort zone.
taco yaki- corn batter, ground beef, pepperjack, 'taco sauce,' cholula crèma, iceberg flakes, salsa furikake powder A play on tako/taco (Japanese for octopus/a mexican tortilla dish popularized in fast food). Not as good as the original Japanese takoyaki, but pretty good... like a taco flavored hush puppy.
tropical muesli- oat pudding, freeze-dried mango and pineapple, coconut powder, honey crystals, shaved pistachio, yoghurt orb, burnt cinnamon lime meringue, vanilla orange gel Ben's replication of muesli with tropical flavors
lamprais- sous-vide lamb, 63º egg, banana leaf aromatic tea, mango chutney, 7 minute basmati, spinach infused 83º potato, watercress coconut gremolata, pappadum Although I couldn't get a good shot of the plate due to the fact that things gained pace within the restaurant, I still wanted to represent Marianne's version of an Indian lamprais. She had made a traditional version of the dish a couple of weeks before, and wanted to recreate it by separating the elements. The banana leaf tea was there for aroma alone to signify the olifactory sensation of unwrapping a dish encased in banana leaf. We wondered whether the leaf's importance in these preparations was more for aroma or flavor... or since the two influence each other very much, maybe those lines are blurred beyond discern.