Bryon Brown is a high-flying chef, alchemist and showman whose extravagant theatrical bent has thrust him into a new paradigm, one that will feature exotic performance artists, molecular gastronomy and world fusion music, all in one 12-course dining experience that caters to all the senses. His latest venture, housed in a specially designed Buckminster Fuller-inspired geodesic dome constructed near Nationals Park, will please his legions of adoring foodies who have been tracking him through Twitter to the D.C. art galleries where he has been hosting his secret food plus art plus music events. His highly original concept of juxtaposing cutting-edge culinary techniques with the arts could elevate him to the vanguard of today’s most experimental and exciting chefs. But can he pull it off? If he does, and I’m betting on it, it will be a spectacular achievement.
| IF YOU GO |
| ‘Sensorium’ |
| » When: Dinners begin April 12 |
| » Info: sensoriumdc.com |
“I actually come from the higher education world. My background is in research methodology and statistics, ” he let on. But his early culinary training was at Jaleo and Minibar under Jose Andres and Cork under Ron Tanaka.
In 2009, he developed an iPhone application, Wine Picks by Sommeliers, that was purchased by more than 80,000 subscribers. Last year it was named one of Apple’s Staff Picks and was a highly ranked Lifestyles app.
How do you combine art, theater, dance and music with food?
Artisa Kitchen started out as a nomadic super club in various art galleries in D.C. We used the Fridge Gallery, the Hamiltonian and the Long View Gallery. People would sign up and submit their appetites to me. And what we learned from doing those dinners was that people really enjoy the intimacy of an informal setting. We wondered how we could take that a step further to enhance their experience with art music and food. Although the emphasis is on theater, our goal is to heighten the culinary senses.
How does “Sensorium” unfold?
The premise is that your taste experience dissipates the fastest. So we connect it with the visual experience since your visual perceptions memories last longer.
For example in this dinner we make what we call a Mimosa Grape. It’s a spherified mimosa cocktail shaped like a grape that we add Pop Rocks to. For the theater part we emphasize the sound of Pop Rocks exploding and at the same time the performers act that out. We strive to connect internally with our guests in order to reinforce their taste memory.
