In the Search of Wonder

This year We are about to embark upon a long tale.  It has many twists to it, and at times will appear confusing and even ridiculous, but the terminus will warrant the journey.  It must begin somewhere which is here for lack of a better starting point.

“Whenever we encounter some truly novel phenomenon, one that reinvents the margins of our world, an old hankering is awakened. At such moments we are like explorers of an unknown dimension: everything appears fresh to our eyes, each idea seems unprecedented, virgin, strange. In the face of this newly made universe, we may be tempted to exclaim, ‘It cannot be!,’ yet our protests soon lie buried under an avalanche of wonder.”

-       Dr. Wilson’s Museum of Jurassic Technology

There are things we do not understand in the World.  We approach them with anxiety unaware of what will happen.  We prepare ourselves for the Unknown and that ‘avalanche of wonder’.

There are those who seek this ‘Wonder’.  In their adventures they blaze a trail for others to follow.  This may result in an epic tale such as The World Travels of Marco Polo or a universal theory of relativity as with Albert Einstein.  Or as in the case of Auguste Escoffier it may be an enduring approach to all things culinary: recipes, kitchen organization, the creation of the chef profession.  All of which have transformed our world today.  Whatever our specialty may be, we adore those who embark upon the ‘margins of our world’ and elicit that state when ‘everything appears fresh to our eyes’.  It may be said that Chef Nordo Lefesczki, despite his crank and quack, is one such pioneer currently blazing his trail with the Carnal Food Movement.

There are those who record the Wonder.  When such Luminaries exist there must be a way to record and share the achievements.  It may be as simple as a university physics book or a painting that now hangs in the Louvre, an index of World Records or an urban myth that travels the globe on the lips.  In the case of Chef Nordo it is a Cabinet of Curiosities set to appear in Seattle in May of 2012.  For a few short weeks a selection of the Cabinet’s exhibits will be open to the public.  This is an extremely rare opportunity, one that people wait for, a once in a lifetime affair.

As we all know, food is a precious and overlooked necessity to life.  And it is Chef Nordo’s goal to rekindle the wonder of the world of food in everyone through his crafts of cooking and storytelling.  It could be said this Cabinet includes every idea, fact, myth, and imaginative spark ever to be inspired by our food.  Café Nordo is the stage for Chef Nordo’s stories.  The Cabinet of Curiosities is the repository of all that knowledge.

Someone must keep this knowledge alive.  Here, it is stored.

Down a rabbit hole.  Swept away by a tornado.  Tumbled into Slumberland. 

Visited by the spirits of Past, Present, and Future.

This is the only way to describe what Nordo has in store for us in his next and most outlandish endeavor yet.  Stay tuned as we explore this Cabinet of Curiosities in anticipation of its Grand Opening in Seattle 2012.