FEATURES
Pacojet
Elgin Espiritu employs a variety of
modern equipment at Orson, including
a Pacojet machine for ice creams and
sorbets that can be spun to order.
nonstick surface of the acetate sheet
helps the gel peel off easily.
dispense it into a pint container and then
cook it for two minutes in the microwave
for an amazing textured sponge cake.”
Other tools of the trade
Espiritu employs a wide variety of modern
equipment for Orson’s contemporary
California cuisine with a modern edge.
“For ice creams and sorbets, we have a
Pacojet machine, which allows us to use
small batches of base and pretty much
spin to order,” he says “We can take all
the ingredients, freeze them in a pint
container, then put in the Pacojet to spin to
a desirable texture.”
Contemporary sweets
While Stupak does not rely on all the
latest high-tech gadgets for his molecular
out of things you wouldn’t be able to
because you would need heat.”
Acetate sheets for garnishes such as
niçoise olive gel have found a place in
Conrad’s kitchen. “I put the gel on the
sheets, freeze it, and then put it on top of
the oysters, where it melts,” he says. The
He says the restaurant has a dehydrator
by Excalibur for a range of uses, such as
making chips. It is also used for drying
liquids cooked with tapioca starch so that
they can be fried, which creates an end
product that puffs up like Cheetos.
Takahiko Marumoto
The Orson chefs employ a ThermoMix
blender by Vorwerk, which cooks and
blends food simultaneously. “It has the
function of a scale, blender, timer and
heat source all in one,” says Espiritu.
“Essentially, you can take raw ingredients
and put them in this machine to create
perfect sauces and soups.”
This ThermoMix
blender by Vorwerk—a scale, blender,
timer and heat source all in one—cooks
and blends food simultaneously.
He says they use a Thermo Whip whipped-
cream canister by iSi and a microwave
to make a two-minute sponge cake. “We
fill the Thermo Whip canister with cake
base and use two chargers of NO2. We
gastronomy desserts at wd~ 50, he
does turn to a few key pieces of modern
equipment. For example, he is using a
small vacuum chamber made by Multivac
with a one-way valve that only pushes air
in (and does not pull it out).
Aerated Mandarin orange ice cream with
rhubarb, olive oil and orange blossom
at wd~ 50.
“This allows us to aerate some unusual
things, such as ice cream,” he says. “We
take a small amount of soft serve ice
cream and put it in the vacuum chamber
in a vacuum-sealed rigid plastic container.
We inflate it with air to make it look like a
