There are three areas that I am focused on..
Chief Administrator/Architect – FlavorSci
FlavorSci is used by professional chefs and home cook to aid in recipe development. It uses force-directed graphing to detail connections between primary ingredients and their complements. For a given primary ingredient, complementary ingredients are connected via color coded lines that indicate complement strength. Complementary details are determined either via a “chef’s mode” or “science mode”. “Chef’s mode” connections are determined via an analysis of over 2 million recipes to determine complements and to give a proven starting point from other recipes. “Science mode” connections are determined by sheer science of molecular commonality of ingredients which may or may not have been commonly explored but give you a starting point to experiment. As an example, basil and lemon share 48 molecules that are primarily sweet in nature i.e. citral, linalool, limonene, geraniol and β-pinene. This might challenge a chef to engineer something that presents basil as something to enjoy for it’s floral qualities and not its herbal qualities.
Chief IT / Administrator – James Beard Nominated – Ideas in Food
Ideas in Food is less a traditional recipe blog and more a culinary exploration hub — created by husband-and-wife chefs Aki Kamozawa and Alex Talbot, it’s a place where cooking intersects with curiosity, science, and creative problem-solving. It’s valuable for home cooks and professionals who enjoy thinking about why food works the way it does and discovering innovative ways to make it taste even better. There’s a very good chance that your favorite chef’s favorite chefs are Aki and Alex.
The site focuses on:
Red Bird Table
The Red Bird Table is the name used for, specifically and by-invitation-only, southern Appalachian ( referred here as “Appalachian” ) food experiences I present primarily in the Hamptons ( East Hampton proper ) and Amagansett ( on Gardiner Bay close to the Devon Yacht Club ). I recently spent a few years in Kentucky doing a deep dive on Appalachian traditions and cuisine and came away with a deep love and understanding of my native roots in the Bluegrass state. Appalachian cuisine isn’t strictly “southern” cuisine. These traditions grew out of different geographies, economies and survival strategies and unlike southern cuisine, Appalachian cuisine focuses a lot on foraging, drying, pickling, salting and smoking so many foods that people think are “southern” never made sense in the mountains like rice, sugar-heavy desserts and seafood. It is its own regional cuisine just as distinct as Cajun or Lowcountry. Most likely your perception of Appalachia is probably wrong and these experiences are not only about cooking the food but also an explanation of Appalachian culture and tradition and to hopefully educate and dispel myths about Appalachia. I do cook southern sometimes and I learned my biscuit technique in Marion, Alabama at Reverie with Chef Scott Peacock ( as close as you can get to channeling the legend Edna Lewis ) and my smoking barbeque technique from Dillard GA’s own Kyle Brenner at Blue Hound Barbeque.
Various/Miscellaneous
Pastry and Patisserie I love, but it’s still nothing more than a hobby. Mostly I get to live vicariously through other chefs I have close associations with but I did manage to get trained in chocolate tempering and desserts at Ecole Ducasse in Paris in October 2024.