SFMOMA Cooking Up Art-Inspired Dishes

Ben Kinmont with chef Fabien Vellos, part of his exhibit On becoming something else. [Photo: Bruno Serralongue]

The SFMOMA has long had street cred for their cafe's lineup of desserts inspired by the exhibits (which recently got the cookbook treatment as Modern Art Desserts, from pastry chef Caitlin Freeman). Now, they're getting into the savory side of things as well, recruiting six top local chefs to make dishes inspired by the exhibition Ben Kinmont: Prospectus, which closed yesterday. Part of the exhibit was called On becoming something else, and focused on artists who left the art world to pursue other careers, including farming and politics. To extend the exhibition another month, they've gotten the chefs of Rich Table, State Bird Provisions, Bar Tartine, Camino, Outerlands, and Bar Jules, plus independent chef Leif Heidendal, on board to offer special dishes inspired by On becoming something else at their respective restaurants from now until June 12. Some are straightforward, while others are esoteric. Here's the full list:

Evan and Sarah Rich
Rich Table
Recipe title: The road that leads into the tunnel

Brett Cooper
Outerlands
Recipe title: Glazed young carrots, fresh curds, savory oats, eucalyptus honey

Leif Hedendal
Dinner Discussions
Recipe title: Frozen rhubarb with dandelion, strawberry, Kaffir lime, Thai chile, Vietnamese herbs, olive oil

Jessica Boncutter
Bar Jules
Recipe title: The bee's knees

Nick Balla & Cortney Burns
Bar Tartine
Recipe title: Stone soup

Stuart Brioza & Nicole Krasinski
State Bird Provisions
Recipe title: Melting chocolate pistachio torte, honey & cayenne infused figs

Russell Moore
Camino
Recipe title: Consommé with bitter herb dumplings

If anyone ends up trying any of these creations (we're particularly curious about "the road that leads into the tunnel" and "the bee's knees"), let us know what they were and what you thought.

· Ben Kinmont Closing Reception and Reactivation [SFMOMA]