Culinary pioneer David Chang, owner of taste-making restaurant group Momofuku, is expanding his fusion empire to include a unique (to say the least) offering—bacteria and mold. Yum!

Chang has teamed up with Harvard microbiologist Rachel Dutton to create a tasting menu incorporating rare strains of bacteria and mold into his sometimes bizarre, always delicious dishes. Momofuku’s R&D may resemble more of a laboratory as they test out the fermentation process of many foods in their kitchen, such as beans, peas, and popcorn. But don’t be too weirded out, fermentation is a common cooking process. Especially in Asian cuisine where fermentation is essential to traditional foods like miso soup, kimchi, koji, and rice vinegar. So, this whole mold thing may grow on you…or maybe you’ll just stick to cult-favorite Momofuku offering Crack Pie. 

fastcompany:

Where do the healthiest people in America live?

A Map Of Healthy Eating In The U.S.

So proud that our NYC and LA offices rank 1st and 3rd, respectively, as locations for the healthiest cites in the US. Glad we could do our part. 

Filed Under: Satan’s Lollipop

Sriracha is wonderful on everything; there’s a reason why handfuls of top chefs work the Thai hot sauce into their menus (and us into our daily lives). Some diehard spicy fan had the ingenious idea to transform Sriracha into a lollipop—could be gross, but the intrigue is worth a try! 

Filed Under: What’s Cookin? Food Raps

Ice cream, pancakes, and bagels may not sound very gangster in their literal form, but the latest stop-motion short from production duo BankShot makes the food do the talkin’ to classic lines from Biggie Smalls, Raekwon, Q-Tip, Method Man, and more notable rappers. Sponsored by LRG, this video serves up some platinum marketing. 

Filed Under: We All Scream for Boozecream!

This is the best thing to happen to dumped girlfriends: no longer will we have to clutch a bottle glass of wine and shovel daintily spoon Ben & Jerry’s into our sad faces on a Friday night. Two of the best vices, alcohol and ice-cream, have combined superpowers to create the artisanal adult-only frozen fun of Drunken Udder. LA-based Drunken Udder’s spiked ice cream is more gourmet than “ice cream party.” From Tequila Lime Sorbet to Bailey’s Jameson Caramel Swirl, this is sure to make any time happy hour.

Filed Under: Addicted to SugarSin

It’s always impressive when design can transform something as simple as a candy shop into a compelling place of curiosity. We love London-based SugarSin’s strong but whimsical “sugar and spice” identity created with bizarre black and white images juxtaposed with saccharine sweet rainbows and candies.

(Source: designworklife.com)

Filed Under: Crushin’ on Cordials

You aren’t still drinking soda bought from the store, are you? Well, we won’t be after we get our hands on these natural, intensely fruity cordials and pressés from UK’s Belvoir Fruit Farms. From organic elderflower to orange-ginger, welcome spring in a rainbow of flavors with a freshly-mixed soda or cocktail, customized to your heart’s desire and to your friends’ enjoyment!

Filed Under: The Real BBQ Pizza

Screw burgers and ribs, this is about to be the summer of pizza, y’all! The KettlePizza is designed to fit most standard round kettle grills, so this stainless steel pizza oven sleeve can be enjoyed by everyone that doesn’t have a stone pizza oven in their home…i.e. pretty much all of us. Can’t wait to cook me some pizza pies on the patio! 

We’ve been seeing the veggies in your dessert trend, but we are now totally on board with the veggies in your cocktails trend after trying this beet martini at NYC’s Riverpark. Called “The Roots,” this drink is made up of beet infused vodka, ginger, citrus and basil and it had us craving just one more serving of vegetables- who would have ever thought!?

Ever dreamed of ordering up cayenne pepper, balsamic vinegar, peanut butter, cotton candy, or gummy bears in your coffee? Me neither, but apparently the thousands of creative coffee connoisseurs toying with Seattle’s Best Coffee’s new Facebook contest are coming up with some interesting ideas. The ‘Create Your Deliciousness’ campaign lets users experiment with unconventional (to say the least!) coffee combinations with the aforementioned ingredients, plus countless others. Birthday cake coffee, anyone? 100 virtual-baristas per day win free bags of Seattle’s Best Coffee, and the company benefits from seeing what people really fantasize about in their coffee, promising to make the best concoctions into reality. 

Watch out, omnivores, pescetarians, paleos and vegans – a new rank has edged itself into the food consumption vernacular.  We wrote about it in one of our 2011 reports,and now The Values Institute at DGWB predicts the rise of the flexitarian as a major 2012 trend in consumer health.  Flexitarians cut back on meat in the diet significantly without going full-on vegetarian (check out the popular Meatless Mondays). It’s nice to know that we can delay our virtuous goal of going vegan for one more year.  So may the best eater win! We know who’s going to be flexing their muscle, or lack thereof, in the ring.

Yes, really. The newest way to get your daily dose of veggies vodka is through alcoholic soups. Brilliant multi-tasking! The Bryant Park Hotel’s Cellar Bar is helping you eat a “meal” and get your drank on at the same time with their three new seasonal soups, which actually sound delicious and (maybe) nutritious. 

These “Soup Cocktails” are the dreamy-sounding Lobster Bisque infused with Harvey’s Bristol Crème and porto, Herb-Tomato blended with vodka and raspberry liqueur, and a Carrot Ginger with Domaine de Canton and Frangelico liqueurs. Lunchtime or happy hour? Who cares!