America’s Answer To Ferran Adrià

“You have just tried a crunchy handful of one of Dave Arnold’s edible experiments – homemade pork rinds that taste like fatty Cracker Jacks – and now you’d like something to wash it down with.” So the up-and-coming star of molecular gastronomy shoots some CO2 and nitrous oxide into a bottle of tap water “and hands over a homemade carbonated water that is soft, creamy, and sweet.”

Yeah, Angela Gheorghiu Is A Crazed Diva, And She Doesn’t Care Who Knows It

“Gheorghiu is a bit of an anomaly on the opera scene today. She hasn’t embraced the conciliatory attitude of her colleagues… She likes to request new costumes, is honest about a performer’s desire to be adored, and when she says, ‘No comment,’ it usually means something akin to ‘We’re just getting started.'” She knows she’s called “Draculetta” and (with her husband, tenor Roberto Alagna) “the Bonnie and Clyde of opera” – and she has an enterprising response…

Understanding The Critical Mind — Or Trying To

“Dancers and choreographers often love to hate critics, especially when they’ve been subjected to a direct hit. Whether it’s the print or web equivalent of a spitball or a spear toss, the sting tends to linger, as does the resentment at being publicly humiliated. … A dancer who has been so stung might well ask, ‘Why are they so mean?'” Well, why are they?