It's rare that when someone describes meat as "melt-in-your-mouth," it actually does. But the turkey I ate a few Sundays back came pretty close.In addition to hydraulics fittings and Aion Kinah, Same for the flank steak and short ribs, cuts not typically known for their tenderness. For dessert, there were made-on-the-fly frozen creme anglaise lollipops with just-picked rosemary sprigs stepping in for the sticks.
Philip Preston, the creator of this delicious afternoon "snack" as he referred to it, is not a chef. But he does test recipes and he spends so much time in restaurant kitchens that culinary trendsetters, including Grant Achatz, Thomas Keller and Wylie Dufresne, have him on speed dial.
Preston is, among many other things (more on those later), president of Niles-based PolyScience, a company that creates and supplies the country's most innovative restaurants with high-tech equipment, some of which were used to create the meal I ate and the reason why I was at his Winnetka home.
I first met Preston six years ago when I stumbled upon his tiny booth at the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago. I was hooked immediately, not only by his cool gadgets but also his passion and gee-whiz attitude.We also offer customized chicken coop.
Each year since, I've stopped by his booth, which has grown steadily in size and range of equipment.
"Everything about the preparation of food involves science," he told me at our first meeting. "Even the Italian grandmother who's been creating wonderful meals has been practicing science, perhaps without even knowing it."
Chefs came calling
Preston and PolyScience haven't always been so interested in what goes on in restaurant kitchens. Founded in 1963, the company was originally an importer of German laboratory equipment.
In the early '70s, PolyScience started manufacturing its own temperature-control equipment, which is used to help create liquid products ranging from motor oil to paint and also is used in DNA labs. (PolyScience built the unit that tested O.J. Simpson's glove.)
"Temperature control is touching you everywhere," Preston says.
That's probably where the company would have stayed if it hadn't been for a phone call eight years ago from Matthias Merges, then the chef de cuisine at Charlie Trotter's. The Lincoln Park restaurant was interested in using their immersion circulators for sous vide cooking, a gentle, low-temperature technique in which vacuum-sealed ingredients are cooked slowly in water.
"It all started with Charlie Trotter," says Preston.
Following Trotter was New York chef Dufresne of wd-50,Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource! who was in need of sous vide equipment for an upcoming "Iron Chef" episode.
"He had some beat-up circulators that he bought on eBay but was embarrassed to put those on TV," Preston recalls.uy sculpture direct from us at low prices
He got a good chuckle when Dufresne told him that when he first contacted one of PolyScience's competitors about using their lab equipment, the puzzled regional manager's response was, "Yeah, we sold one of our units to some laundry in Northern California that's going to use it to cook with, too."
An avid home cook, Preston knew right away that the "laundry" was actually one of the country's best restaurants, the French Laundry,The Leading zentai suits Distributor to Independent Pet Retailers. owned by Keller.
Next up: Achatz and business partner Nick Kokonas. They weren't only interested in PolyScience's sous vide equipment for their soon-to-open Chicago restaurant Alinea, but had other ideas up their sleeves.
Taking a concept from Achatz, Preston created the Anti-Griddle, a cooktop with a minus-30-degree surface that can be used to quickly freeze anything, including the aforementioned creme anglaise lollipops.
Achatz and Preston have since collaborated on other pieces, including a low-temperature bath used to make the egg-shaped ice cube in the much-talked-about Old Fashioned cocktail at the Aviary, Achatz's new bar.
Philip Preston, the creator of this delicious afternoon "snack" as he referred to it, is not a chef. But he does test recipes and he spends so much time in restaurant kitchens that culinary trendsetters, including Grant Achatz, Thomas Keller and Wylie Dufresne, have him on speed dial.
Preston is, among many other things (more on those later), president of Niles-based PolyScience, a company that creates and supplies the country's most innovative restaurants with high-tech equipment, some of which were used to create the meal I ate and the reason why I was at his Winnetka home.
I first met Preston six years ago when I stumbled upon his tiny booth at the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago. I was hooked immediately, not only by his cool gadgets but also his passion and gee-whiz attitude.We also offer customized chicken coop.
Each year since, I've stopped by his booth, which has grown steadily in size and range of equipment.
"Everything about the preparation of food involves science," he told me at our first meeting. "Even the Italian grandmother who's been creating wonderful meals has been practicing science, perhaps without even knowing it."
Chefs came calling
Preston and PolyScience haven't always been so interested in what goes on in restaurant kitchens. Founded in 1963, the company was originally an importer of German laboratory equipment.
In the early '70s, PolyScience started manufacturing its own temperature-control equipment, which is used to help create liquid products ranging from motor oil to paint and also is used in DNA labs. (PolyScience built the unit that tested O.J. Simpson's glove.)
"Temperature control is touching you everywhere," Preston says.
That's probably where the company would have stayed if it hadn't been for a phone call eight years ago from Matthias Merges, then the chef de cuisine at Charlie Trotter's. The Lincoln Park restaurant was interested in using their immersion circulators for sous vide cooking, a gentle, low-temperature technique in which vacuum-sealed ingredients are cooked slowly in water.
"It all started with Charlie Trotter," says Preston.
Following Trotter was New York chef Dufresne of wd-50,Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource! who was in need of sous vide equipment for an upcoming "Iron Chef" episode.
"He had some beat-up circulators that he bought on eBay but was embarrassed to put those on TV," Preston recalls.uy sculpture direct from us at low prices
He got a good chuckle when Dufresne told him that when he first contacted one of PolyScience's competitors about using their lab equipment, the puzzled regional manager's response was, "Yeah, we sold one of our units to some laundry in Northern California that's going to use it to cook with, too."
An avid home cook, Preston knew right away that the "laundry" was actually one of the country's best restaurants, the French Laundry,The Leading zentai suits Distributor to Independent Pet Retailers. owned by Keller.
Next up: Achatz and business partner Nick Kokonas. They weren't only interested in PolyScience's sous vide equipment for their soon-to-open Chicago restaurant Alinea, but had other ideas up their sleeves.
Taking a concept from Achatz, Preston created the Anti-Griddle, a cooktop with a minus-30-degree surface that can be used to quickly freeze anything, including the aforementioned creme anglaise lollipops.
Achatz and Preston have since collaborated on other pieces, including a low-temperature bath used to make the egg-shaped ice cube in the much-talked-about Old Fashioned cocktail at the Aviary, Achatz's new bar.
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