Food Futures
Last Saturday, Andrew asked what my dream job is. That's a really interesting question for me, since I want to do everything and nothing all at once.
Assuming I don't win the lottery, buy a yacht, and sit back and read books for the rest of my life, there is a little bit of a plan in place that might be of interest to you.
First and foremost, I need my doctorate. The magic 8-ball says my dissertation will have something to do with medical nanorobotics, and hopefully, that will allow me to settle into a cozy house somewhere near MIT and start working for them as a professor of sorts.
That will continue for an unknown number of years, and presumably, the prospect of opening a restaurant will continue to nag me throughout them. I see two possible avenues for proceeding from this point.
First, I could stop doing nanotechnology altogether and use the money I've saved to start my restaurant. Or, I could take a sabbatical to start the restaurant and, when things are calming down on that front, go back to my tenured position on some sort of a nearly-full-time basis.
The MerovingianAside: Wouldn't it be cool if I could do a Merovingian-style trick with the food and use nanobots to make people have temporary extreme sensations of happiness, contentment, delight, pleasure, and so forth?
What is the reason? Soon the why and the reason are gone and all that matters is the feeling. This is the nature of the universe. We struggle against it, we fight to deny it; but it is of course a lie. Beneath our poised appearance we are completely out of control.
— The Merovingian
Nanobots or not, however, the restaurant will be magnificent, and it will serve the finest food in the world to customers seated in very opulent surroundings. I can't wait.
Oh, another idea I have for the restaurant is interactive holographic menus that emerge from the middle of the table and can display 3D images of the items on the menu based on where the customer's eyes are focused. It seems doable, if incredibly expensive.
That's pretty much where the plans end. Professorship, nanobots, restaurant, ..., profit. I hope that answers your question, Andrew.
Comments
Cool future. I thought you were going to say that you were going to have the nanobots make the food. That would be cool too. For example, with nanobots, you could make sure that your foie gras is cooked (or seared) to perfection every single time. But I like your plan too. Have you thought about what you will name your future restaurant? Perhaps....the Wetherbee? or Colinano? or PhD? Serving the world's most intelligent cuisine.
Posted by: arc | April 24, 2006 08:15 PM
Since your food tends to be a taste-orgasm anyway, I have no doubt that you will progress to The Merovingian status if you really work at it. Nanorobitic, heh? Sounds like much fun.
Posted by: tlt | April 24, 2006 10:02 PM
Wetherbee's With black table cloths and a valet with white gloves who will turn away any dirty car or any smoked-in care or any car driven by a Bush. But when do you plan on opening club Christ?
Posted by: deb | April 26, 2006 12:24 PM