Celebrate eight fantastic years with moto!  Tuesday, February 9th and Thursday, February 11th experience our 15 course tasting menu with beverage pairings for $150 (2012 value of $255).  Seats are available but limited: Call (312) 491-0058 to reserve!

Warm regards,

Chef Homaro Cantu

Chef’s Homaro Cantu and Ben Roche have been rethinking the food and dining experience for years at Moto, and are pushing that envelope further at iNG.   Now the duo asks the question of how can the food innovations pioneered at their Chicago restaurants be used for good? Cantu and Roche experiment with edible packaging that’s as delicious as it is environmentally friendly.  The Chefs take the cow out of the equation, creating a juicy hamburger patty from the major components of a cow’s diet: Barley, corn, and beets.  Flavor-changing miracle berries are not simply a fun novelty but have profound potential in helping the world’s food crisis and treating cancer.  These ideas just scratch the surface.   Watch Chef Omar and Chef Roche’s speech and witness the future of food here.

Richard “Richie” Farina started his career beginnings as a pizza maker. During this two year period Richie also honed his skills by catering with a family friend. Seeking a bigger challenge Chef Farina decided to enroll at Johnson and Wales University in Providince Rhode Island seeking a Bachelors in Culinary Arts. With Chef Farina’s help, the school won the National College Ice Carving Championship 3 years in a row. After working in several top restaurants in Boston Chef Farina seeked a home and a bigger challenge. Off to Chicago he went and landed a job with Moto Restaurant in April 2008. In just two short years Chef Farina worked every station including all of the front of house stations. Now he was being groomed as the restuarants sous chef. In 2009 Chef Farina was one of four characters on a nationally syndicated television show for Discovery Networks titled Future Food that featured the whimsical creations of Moto Restaurant. As one of four lead characters on Future Food Chef Farina gained national recognition as one of the most creative talents in the restaurant world. Chef Farina’s work has reached hundreds of national television and print outlets including The Travel Channel’s No Reservations, The Today Show, The New York Times and many others. Currently Chef Farina is the Executive Sous Chef for Moto and is a contestant on the hit Bravo television program Top Chef which is slated to air in the fall of 2011. Richie describes his experience at Moto as “by far the craziest and most fun place I have ever worked. I am happy to call this place my home.”

Chris Jones

Chef De Cuisine

Moto Restaurant

Cooking started for Chef Chris Jones in his grandmother’s kitchen.  Imagination and inspiration were his driving forces.  What started as playing with his food soon became a path.  Unconsciously, enrolling in a few Home Economics classes in high school, now, at 27, Chef Jones is considered one of Chicago’s most talented chefs.

Chef Chris Jones was educated early to believe that if you want success you have to go out and make it for yourself, no one will hand it to you.  This blazed his path of working his way up through restaurants.   One thing that gave him and edge against his competition was his willingness to step up and “throw down” in a kitchen.  Described as having true stamina, Chef Jones motivates his kitchen to put their best foot forward.

Chef Chris Jones had his first big break in fine dining while working at Le Francais in Wheeling.  There he executed his determination to excel in the culinary field even without a recognized culinary degree.  Some qualities: such as determination and heart, simply can’t be taught in a classroom.  Being out in the work force and carving experiences are just as important in order to gain integrity in the field.  Developing these characteristics is just as recognized, and in some aspects can be more courageous.

At Moto, Chef Jones has creative freedom and implemented ingenious plates while never forgetting about presentation and more importantly taste.  Chef Jones is a talented individual, who is constantly working closely with and being mentored by Chef Cantu and Roche, to develop cuisine that is innovative and revolutionary.  Chef Chris Jones is truly passionate about the food he presents as he feels it is a reflection upon himself.

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Elysabeth Alfano

Creator, Fear No Art Chicago

In preparation for episode three, I thought I would pull out the highlight segment from episode one, featuring culinary creative geniuses: chefs Ben Roche and Homaro Cantu of the renowned Moto restaurant. In this segment, things get a little crazy in the kitchen and the creative sparks fly — literally!

Fear No ART Chicago – Moto Restaurant, Homaro Cantu & Ben Roche

pierre moncuit, GRAND CRU BLANC DE BLANCS, le mesnil sur oger, france, brut 20

billecart-salmon, RESERVE, mareuil-sur-ay, france, brut 28

richard grant, BLANC DE NOIRS, napa valley, usa 2001 40

larmandier bernier, ROSE DE SAIGNEE 1ER CRU, vertus, france, brut 38

WHITE

riesling kabinett, HERRENBERG, maximin grunhauser, mosel, germany 2008 17.5

churton, sauvignon blanc, marlborough, new zealand 2009 10

savennieres, LES VIEUX CLOS, nicolas joly, france 2009 25

domaine turner pageot, LE BLANC, languedoc, france 2010 10

shafer, RED SHOULDER RANCH, chardonnay, carneros, usa 2009 15

RED

saintsbury, BROWN RANCH, pinot noir, carneros, usa 2008 22.5

corte pavone, rosso di montalcino, italy 2008 14.5

minervois, LES FONTANILLES, domaine anne gros & jean tollot, france 2009 17.5

bodega nqn, MALMA, malbec, patagonia, argentina  2007 15

grammercy cellars, cabernet sauvignon, columbia valley, usa 2008 25

Homaro Cantu

Executive Chef, Moto Restaurant
Chairman and Founder, Cantu Designs

Chef Homaro Cantu is an internationally recognized chef and leader in the field of postmodern cuisine and an inventor of futuristic food delivery systems.

Chef Cantu graduated from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Portland, Oregon. After developing his culinary skills at several establishments along the West Coast he traveled to Chicago to work at Charlie Trotter’s restaurant where he rose to the position of Sous Chef. After he left Charlie Trotter’s he concentrated on the development of his concept of an experiential design based restaurant with a molecular gastronomy approach. Moto Restaurant, one of Chicago’s most notable restaurants, puts Cantu’s concepts and creations into practice by melding food with science, technology and art to create an unmatched dining experience. 

The New York Times described him as “a chef in the Buck Rogers tradition, blazing a trail to a space-age culinary frontier” and included one of his inventions among one of their best ideas of 2005. Michael Eisner once described Cantu as the most revolutionary person in food since Ray Kroc. Several of Cantu’s patented inventions appear on display in the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.
 
Through his company Cantu Designs, Chef Cantu has filed numerous patent applications covering dining implements, cookware, printed food and is currently working on developing his inventions for commercial, humanitarian and aerospace applications. In addition to consulting on creativity and innovation to the Fortune 500, Chef Cantu’s innovative approach to cuisine and food delivery has influenced thought across several disciplines. Chef Cantu and his “edible paper” have been featured in Gourmet (cover story October 2006), in Food and Wine (November 2006) as well as in the Wall Street Journal (June 2006) and American Scientist (August 2005) and was chosen as one of the best ideas of 2005 by The New York Times Magazine. Fast Company (May 2006) featured Chef Cantu and Cantu Designs in a cover story entitled “Weird Science” which praised his practice to running a small business and philanthropic goals. Cantu Designs’ interactive utensils were part of the exhibit “Feeding Desire, Design and Tools of the Table, 1500-2005” at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, and currently appear in Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry as part of their “Fast Forward, Inventing The Future” Exhibit.

Chef Cantu’s television appearances include “Battle Beets – Morimoto vs Cantu” on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America (defeated Morimoto), Dinner: Impossible, Good Deal with Dave Leiberman, Roker on the Road, the Ellen DeGeneres Show, TODAY, The Early Show, MSNBC, WGN News, Chicago Tonight, and dozens of local Chicago news and lifestyle programs. In under 6 years he has been featured in over 1000 articles in 37 countries including The New York Times, USA TODAY, The LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Food and Wine, Esquire, Maxim, Chicago, Wallpaper and Dwell.

In 2010 along with his sidekick Pastry Chef Ben Roche, Cantu created and produced his first television series for Discovery Network’s Planet Green titled Future Food. In over 55 million homes, Future Food displayed Cantu’s ingenious knack for thinking outside the box and apply his ingenuity to global food issues.