u/BostonBestEats

ILMU, a Singaporean street food/French fusion restaurant in Bothell Washington, near Seattle ($125/pp)

Sounds like a fascinating, tiny tasting menu restaurant, that serves dishes "...teetering on the precipice of absurdity," without "tumbl[ing] from the heights of innovation into the chasm of satire."

The video is worth watching. Initially it comes off as a bit stale take on molecular gastronomy (spherified olives?), but as you watch it you realize that you really want to go there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFXv20pmmn4

Review: https://www.seattlemet.com/eat-and-drink/2026/05/ilmu-bothell-tasting-menu

https://preview.redd.it/gw40u2d6y92h1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bc47f90921b312e18212200d3d751d66e14c3ea8

Steam Combi Oven, 24L Capacity for United Kingdom and Europe

£ 239.00:

I don't know anything about this oven (and there are smaller versions too) or where it is available. But this is a placeholder post for more information in the future.

https://www.ouninglobal.com/product-1697108268679292.html

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HewXYV6Jenk

https://www.youtube.com/@OUNIN_UK

Here's a review I found:

https://the-gadgeteer.com/2025/12/27/ounin-24l-combo-11-in-1-steam-and-air-fryer-review-versatile-and-compact-cooking/

https://preview.redd.it/1klzkz4hft1h1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f5027b0ea25157fadf4b832e4726b4efe047df1

Interview with Chef Grant Achatz, 2026 MenuMasters Hall of Fame

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkVG3gHg1PM

https://preview.redd.it/e0nlcligct1h1.jpg?width=2228&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7ea9d6807418c70ff2cc18214de1069eeb52742

I turned off Alexa+ and now it works like it used to and uses the old voice I liked.

Just wanted to share.

Every year in January, King Arthur Baking Co. releases a "Recipe of the Year." I make a lot of traditional pizza (mostly Neapolitanish), but this is an amazing recipe that is unlike anything I've ever had.

A simple 2-fold crust laminated with butter and baked at 475°Fx15m in the APO (0% steam). To keep the bubbles from blowing up everywhere, I snipped the big ones with a scissors periodically while it baked.

The crust is totally unique, very crispy, flakey, buttery. Think Chicago tavern-style but taken to the next level. I bet it would be good the next day too, but we didn't have any left.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sxkurAwAZY

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/flaky-puff-crust-pizza-recipe

https://preview.redd.it/tnxefmd1rvyg1.jpg?width=4264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9dd0e83b42c9cdbe87a1e0e7083246dd31841e3e

https://preview.redd.it/ryei9ld1rvyg1.jpg?width=2904&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f468652d54af002f861ee000849a4cd311ef219

A fascinating video about the importance of crystal polymorphs, which affect topics as diverse as antiviral drug development, making chocolate bars, and the temperature stability of organ pipes in the 1700's. (Featuring Chef Chris Young half way through.)

https://www.reddit.com/r/combustion_inc/comments/1szujgu/chris_in_new_veritasium_video/

https://preview.redd.it/52zevymomiyg1.jpg?width=2793&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd676075600e62f83d63c6d958933ba8fb3a36d3

Now, Steve Gow has a new video and also a webpage and downloadable Excel file (and may create a web-based calculator) for his approach to applying the science of rendering collagen at different times and temps when smoking brisket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lplpPCU5UNQ

https://smoketrailsbbq.com/brisket-holding-masterclass-and-tenderness-model/

https://preview.redd.it/t9p47ztgeiyg1.jpg?width=2859&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9f4d0a9893085bfb5bd0a716fbf0b79b2cf8584e

For those of you who are interested in using your combi steam oven as a holding oven for BBQ to improve the tenderness of the result, recently Chris Young and Steve Gow have had interesting videos delving into the science of how collagen renders at different times and temps when smoking brisket.

Previously, Chris has actually taken it so far as be able to smoke a brisket in a mere 6 hours, start to table. When I asked him, he agreed that a CSO would be the ultimate tool for this (he just doesn't have one!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fW16i40ZDQ

Now, Steve Gow has a new video and also a webpage and downloadable Excel file (and may create a web-based calculator) for his version of these calculations. He goes into a number of "holding oven" solutions, including a CVap oven that he bought used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lplpPCU5UNQ

https://smoketrailsbbq.com/brisket-holding-masterclass-and-tenderness-model/

After decades of BBQ culture, it's nice to see science being applied to it more and more (although as Steve points out, they are sometimes explaining things that some of the better pros had deduced empirically decades ago).

https://preview.redd.it/bvvqzrvpciyg1.jpg?width=2859&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=553f8141e720bbad1ee04981cc97bf7854b81669

BBQ may be a bit off the track from our usual subjects, but both Chris Young and Steve Gow have had interesting videos delving into the science of how collagen renders at different times and temps when smoking brisket.

Chris has actually taken it so far as be able to smoke a brisket in 6 hours, start to table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fW16i40ZDQ

Steve Gow also has a webpage and downloadable Excel file (and may create a web-based calculator).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lplpPCU5UNQ

https://smoketrailsbbq.com/brisket-holding-masterclass-and-tenderness-model/

After decades of BBQing, it's nice to see science being applied to it more and more (although as Steve points out, they are explaining things that some of the better pros had deduced decades ago).

https://preview.redd.it/ya9vpiz1biyg1.jpg?width=2859&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=70fa26e9f8dfdb953b2f4d9c6b4bacad7ebdd887

I've been religiously watching Padma Lakshmi's new culinary competition on CBS, despite it being pretty boring (almost nothing to actually learn about cooking, and no reality TV controversy to speak of, if that is your thing), hoping to see someone actually use the multiple Anova Precision Oven 2.0's found on the kitchen set. Anova must be a sponsor.

FINALLY, in the 9th week (down to the final 5 of 16 Michelin star/ Bocuse d'Or /James Beard chefs competing for $1,000,000), one of the original favorites, 2-time Top Chef winner and Michelin-starred Buddha Lo, tried to use an APO2.0 to make rice noodle sheets for a Nigerian-inspired dish (he was required to use both noodles and Nigerian flavors).

Unfortunately for him, this was a total fail, and he had to rush to set up some bamboo steamers on the stove to do it the old-fashioned way. Amusingly, we have seen someone do it successfully on this sub!

I won't reveal if he survived in case you DVRed it.

https://preview.redd.it/e917o3udoayg1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=152f3313a92e19449dd1e6e11d8f96cf9c35851b

https://preview.redd.it/c5s544udoayg1.jpg?width=3921&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8059c5bcb6ab2dbf8c4bb8d2434d673b44f0ee60

Chef Jordan Yuste, formerly chef-owner of 1-Star  L'Arrivage in Sète France (now closed), using a MoldBrothers mold to great effect (watch to the end).

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXUeWG_CC7Y/

https://preview.redd.it/erb186b18hwg1.jpg?width=790&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c1fe059dc5d0b2fee2198b596ad7d9fa718c24f6

I've been watching, but was about to give up on this series. Very little to learn about cooking, despite the celebrated hosts including modernist star Wylie Dufresne and successful contestants (multiple Michelin stars, James Beard awards, Bocuse d'Or), and little controversy or personality battles (if that is your thing). I guess a $1M prize is sufficient to get some serious chefs willing to be embarrassed on TV!

But the latest episode was actually somewhat interesting. The remaining chefs each had 5 hours to produce as many dishes as they could using as many of the "modernist" techniques on the list as possible. The more techniques in each dish, the higher the possible score and the more dishes, the higher the possible score.

The 7 chefs collectively produced 40 dishes over the 5 hours, with up to 6 techniques in each one. From the judges reactions, they seemed pretty successful, which was a bit surprising since not all the chefs had much modernist background (although one actually worked at El Bulli).

Being an Anova combi oven owner, and there being several Anovas in the kitchen studio, I continue to be amused that I haven't seen one being used even once in the first 6 episodes (I guess installing several Rationals would be a lot of work and expense for a tempoary kitchen, and the chefs are probably not familiar with how to operate an Anova). But plenty of vacuum compression, sous vide (particularly vegetables), smoke, spherification, foams, powders, ash... in this episode.

I also found it amusing when Padma complained that Buddha Lo's carbonated grapes lost their bubbles when he sliced them in half lol.

I won't mention who won, or who got eliminated (you can probably look it up on Wikipedia if you care).

https://preview.redd.it/zs85o9z03tvg1.jpg?width=2724&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4dd69e034b005d7d54dbff706e91ccf2f029a9d0