What is Molecular Gastronomy?

By Gayot Editors

Molecular gastronomy, also sometimes referred to as “progressive cuisine” or “modernist cuisine”, uses avant-garde cooking techniques and equipment to transform flavors and presentations.

Examples include deconstructions, foams and “caviars” composed of reductions that have been converted via calcium baths into textural dollops with tapioca-like consistency.

Learn more about the chefs and restaurants merging science with the culinary arts with our articles below.

Top 10 Molecular Gastronomy Restaurants in the U.S.A.

Experience the best of this exciting epicurean frontier at these avant-garde establishments across America.

More Restaurants Specializing in Molecular Cuisine

• United States
The Bazaar by José Andrés, Miami Beach, FL
é by José Andrés | Las Vegas, NV
Makoto | Bal Harbour, FL
The Twisted Frenchman | Pittsburgh, PA

Le Chique aguachile + spider Crab + guava
Le Chique aguachile + spider Crab + guava

• More Countries
Arzak | San Sebastian, Spain
Bo Innovation | Hong Kong
Chez Lena et Mimile | Paris, France
El Celler de Can Roca | Girona, Spain
Le Chique
| Riviera Maya, Mexico
elcielo | Bogotá & Medellín, Colombia
The Fat Duck
| Berkshire, England
The Krug Room
| Hong Kong
Mugaritz
| Errenteria, Spain
Schauenstein Schloss Restaurant Hotel | Fürstenau, Switzerland
Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin | Bangkok, Thailand
Sublimotion | Ibiza, Spain
Sur Mesure | Paris, France
Tickets | Barcelona, Spain

Tricks of the Molecular Trade

Blueberry, foie gras, miatake, lapsang souchong at Alinea
Blueberry, foie gras, miatake, lapsang souchong at Alinea

My Life as a (Molecular) Blog: Alain Gayot Offers a Look into a Food Science
Lab
– Get a glimpse of “Top Chef” Winner Michael Voltaggio’s Molecular Dishes
– Find out why Alinea is “Unlike Any Other Restaurant”
– View photos from the opening of The Bazaar by José Andrés and a tour of the SLS at
Beverly Hills
An Evening at elBulli
Extreme Cuisine – Meet the New Culinary Vanguard

Love it or Loathe it? Chefs & Writers Speak Out

“All you ever wanted to know about Molecular food and are disconcerted to learn” by André Gayot
– André Gayot asks is this “The End of Culinary Alchemy?” after a health scare at
The Fat Duck
in England
Is Modern Gastronomy Off Course? Frédy Girardet’s Critique
Dr. Faust in the Kitchen: Spanish chef Santi Santamaria Shuns the Use of Chemical Additives
Adrià’s Audacity: Culinary Genius or Gastronomic Dead End?