HIGH ART, HIGH FOOD

The SAT’s FoodLab is a space for culinary experimentation, free from the usual constraints of the restaurant business

GUERRILLA RESTAURATEURS: Michelle Marek and Seth Gabrielse
Photo by MICHEAL BEAULIEU

Restaurants are seldom places for radical experimentation and innovation. Unlike other cultural venues, they have no access to government grants or private donations from wealthy patrons of the arts. When you’re always watching the bottom line, the scope for taking risks and doing something new and unusual is limited. And those who do dare to innovate are seldom reward­ed, at least monetarily. The world-renowned El Bulli, in Catalonia, Spain, is a case in point—despite endless critical acclaim for its wildly imaginative and unorthodox cuisine, not to mention endless waiting lists, the restaurant never managed to make money.

What if there was a food venue that was free from the tyranny of the bottom line, which enjoyed the same kind of freedom to experiment as the visual and performance arts? Such a venue has come into existence, thanks to the SAT.

The project, appropriately dubbed FoodLab, has recently been handed to Michelle Marek and Seth Gabrielse, respectively former pastry chef and chef at Laloux. “Initially, the idea of a restaurant that isn’t run by restaurant people, who don’t really understand the business, raised some red flags,” says Gabrielse of being approached by the SAT, “but I now see this as a great opportunity.”

NEUTRAL ZONE: FoodLab
Photo by MICHEAL BEAULIEU

The SAT could not have found a more fitting and capable team. While at Laloux, Marek and Gabrielse pushed boundaries as far as they could, masterminding several wildly successful events and earning the restaurant a great deal of visibility. Notable examples include a French 1980s nouvelle cuisine event, or a series of afternoon Kaffeeklatsch (coffee and gossip) events, styled after Viennese coffeehouses.

With Marek and Gabrielse on board, part of FoodLab’s mandate will be to integrate a culinary element into multisensory performances and exhibitions at the SAT. This was the case with Intérieur, a recent dance show performed in the SAT[osphère], the huge dome atop the SAT. The dancers served food to the audience, four courses in total, at specific moments during the perform­ance. The food was designed to match the atmosphere of the performance. “At one point, as a character descends into madness, we sent out a dish with Szechuan peppercorns,” says Marek. The peppercorns’ strange flavour and mild anaesthetic effect bewildered the unsuspecting audience, as did the character’s downward spiral.

Mainly, however, FoodLab is to be a restaurant. Marek and Gabrielse’s mission is to experiment and do as much as possible in house—make their own bread, cheese, charcuterie etc. But for the time being, FoodLab will function mostly as a “Guerrilla restaurant,” as Marek puts it, running on bare bones staff and equipment—just Marek and Gabrielse working a few induction elements and a household-grade oven. “We intend to play on this, to make the most of these limitations,” says Marek. When the required funding falls into place, they hope to upgrade the infrastructure and recruit some staff, freeing them to focus on the other activities they envision.

Said activities will likely include a series of workshops. “I want FoodLab to be a neutral zone, a collaborative space and a resource for the community,” says Marek, “not just food professionals, but any­one interested in food.” Yet, at the same time, she and Gabrielse hope to “shake things up on the Quebec food scene” by introducing new ideas and practices. Whether you’re a restaurateur or simply a gourmand, this is one to watch. ★

FOR MORE INFORMATION, SEE SAT.QC.CA

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