'Molecular gastronomy' more than 'making paper' for Chicago's Moto

Nation's Restaurant News, Jan 9, 2006 by Carolyn Walkup

CHICAGO -- Moto, the first restaurant in this city to introduce "molecular gastronomy," the science-based trend credited to chef Ferran Adria of El Bulli restaurant on Spain's Costa Brava, is marking its second anniversary with expectations of continued success despite skeptics' predictions of failure.

Moto, which is finally turning a profit during the past year after a rocky start, according to owner Joseph De Vito, aims to become more finely tuned in the year ahead. "We are almost there," said De Vito, a lifelong restaurateur who also owns La Vita, a traditional Italian trattoria, and the Busy Burger quick-service restaurant.

Admitting that some friends have thought he was crazy for taking the risks he has taken in his career, De Vito said he still ignores their advice and is scouting for more opportunities. "This was extremely risky, but if you believe in something, you are that much further ahead," he said.

Yet De Vito did not set out to open a restaurant as much on the cutting edge as Moto has turned out to be. When he first interviewed chefs for his off-the-beaten-track storefront in Chicago's Fulton Market meatpacking district, he envisioned a global Asian restaurant. However, chef Homaro Cantu, then 27, sold De Vito on his ideas for what he called "postmodern cuisine."

Moto began receiving considerable media attention shortly after opening because it was so different from any other restaurant in town. Creating the buzz were such creations by Cantu as raw fish cooked at the table in a polymer box that he designed and white truffle ice cream spaghetti served in cold spoons balanced on magnetic poles of a small steel platform.

His dishes that included flavored, edible "paper" with various tastes attracted even more attention, especially after it became known that Cantu used a standard ink-jet printer and his own savory "inks" to create the flat food facsimiles.

"It isn't really paper--it's modified food starch," Cantu said.

Media attention for molecular gastronomy increased sharply after the subsequent opening in 2005 of Alinea, in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood, featuring chef Grant Achatz. Avenues, a restaurant in the Peninsula Chicago Hotel that hired chef Graham Elliot Bowles, often is mentioned in the same breath.

Each chef, however, believes his establishment is different from the others.

Bowles said Avenues has followed its own path, a more traditional fine-dining one. "I don't think anybody is doing what Moto is doing right now," he said. "Moto is definitely on the forefront of pushing boundaries every day. It takes a lot of courage to do food you really believe in instead of playing it safe."

De Vito said Moto gained more business after Alinea opened. "It legitimized us even more," he said."I love chefs Grant and Graham Bowles. I hope they open right next to me. People from out of town make reservations at both or all three places."

While De Vito is flattered by all of the publicity, he tries not to pay too much attention to it. "Once people start reading into all of that, they get lax," he said. "Then you're in trouble."

Customers have been booking all of Moto's 50 seats anywhere from two weeks to a month ahead of time, with weekends filling up most rapidly. The restaurant usually books just one turn nightly because the average dinner lasts at least three hours.

Moto gets a surprising number of repeat customers, De Vito said, many of whom come back specifically to introduce the restaurant to different friends and associates. He keeps close track of repeat guests to be sure they can experience different dishes each time.

De Vito and Cantu employ an unusual system to try to assure outstanding service--all servers are cooks who have trained in Moto's kitchen for three months. "It keeps everyone interested in everything that goes on," Cantu said.

"We are training people to be leaders of the restaurant business in the future in both culinary and attitude," he explained. While initial turnover was high among staffers who found they didn't like working both the front- and back-of-the-house, the current team has been stable.

"It was very stressful in the beginning. Now it's working," Cantu said. "There were some people who just didn't see the vision."

De Vito said staffers get paid as servers, except when they work in the kitchen on salary. Moto recently adopted a policy of adding an 18-percent gratuity to all guest checks to make bookkeeping easier. Few of Moto's customers have balked at its $125 check average. They have a choice of three tasting menus: five courses for $65, 10 for $100 or the Grand Tour Moto for $160, which includes between 18 and 24 courses. Three wine progressions, priced from $40 to $80, also are available, in addition to a traditional wine list.

Those prices are slightly lower than those at Alinea, which currently total $85 for six courses, $125 for 12 and $175 for the 27-course extravaganza. Saturday night seatings have been filling about two months in advance for prime times.

Moto also offers a la carte options of four or five items in the lounge for people who want to sample the food before committing to the full experience. Unlike most lounge portions of restaurants, Moto's displays no bottles on a back bar and instead keeps them hidden from customer view to avoid the appearance of a traditional lounge.