The Reader‘s first review of Moto (I didn’t write it), published shortly after it opened in January 2004, always bugged me. Apparently I wasn’t alone. Even back then it read like we were rejecting an invitation to play from the weird but possibly brilliant new kid on the block. A few years later another critic, Martha Bayne, filed a new, more positive review of Homaro Cantu’s “full-immersion experience” in the “lunatic fringe of contemporary cooking,” but the chef never forgot the first one.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
I’d accepted the invitation of Moto’s publicist, who was fishing around for a writer who wanted to work a shift in the famously secretive kitchen and live to tell about it. Cantu told me that because of that first review the Reader was probably one of the last publications he’d want taking notes over his shoulder, but he let me in anyway. Moto hosts one to three interns every week, professionals and amateurs alike, but they’re required to sign nondisclosure agreements and reporters are rarely allowed in for long. Cantu told me, “I usually kick people out at five o’clock.” I was allowed to stick around longer, and explained that an agreement not to disclose wouldn’t really jibe with my job description.
He was particularly pleased with his photo bioreactor, an aluminum rack holding four clear plastic bags filled with aerated green water set against a wall across from the dishwashing station. Currently they have little to do with the operation of the restaurant, but in them he’s growing nannochloropsis—an algae typically used to grow zooplankton—feeding it waste and extracting its oil content. He said he’s already used the stuff to power his toy remote controlled cars, but one day he imagines such a system biofueling self-contained ecosystems (like restaurants) to produce truly sustainable local food.
According to Roche, things became a lot more relaxed in the kitchen when they started relying on the Matrix. Aside from its practical uses, it allows them to access the Internet during lulls and watch YouTube videos, like UFO news reports and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer losing his marbles at a company presentation. Lately, Roche said, they’d been watching Gordon Ramsay screaming at people. “Me and Omar used to work at Charlie Trotter’s. So we like to make fun of those guys. Who does that anymore?”
945 W. Fulton 312-491-0058 motorestaurant.com
