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Edible Expression

In creative dishes, we see the elements of art

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BARRY WONG / THE SEATTLE TIMES Seattle Art Museum executive chef Christopher Conville invites us to try a trio of tastes: sautéed beet greens, Saigon cinnamon plum and dried blueberry compote and a mini grilled Beecher's flagship cheese sandwich. Behind him is an 8th-century granite statue of the Hindu god Visnu.

FOOD IS COLORFUL and interesting; its preparation and presentation can be creative outlets for cooks and producers. But it might be pushing the boundaries to describe food as art. Christopher Conville and Danielle Custer, executive chef and general manager respectively of the Café at the Seattle Art Museum, ponder this question because their food is part of the art-museum experience.

Under the auspices of Bon Appetit Management Co., the two produce all the meals for the Seattle Art Museum. When it reopens after remodeling in May, SAM downtown will house TASTE Restaurant. TASTE Cafés are in the Fuller Garden Court of the Seattle Asian Art Museum and opening next month at the Olympic Sculpture Park. "For me," says Conville, "food can be art as well as many other things. Food for me is a challenge, a living and (working as a chef) is a longtime goal come true." Conville has been cooking since he was 10 years old, professionally since he was 18. "I love food," he says on the company's Web site, "and I am passionate about the process that transforms raw ingredients into a dish." And that passion is what pushes food into new realms of expression.

"My first instinct is to say yes, food is art," says Custer. "But," she adds, wavering a little, "if food and cooking are an art form, then it's temporal art, like a performance art. I mean it is like an art because it stimulates emotion, and that's what art is for, right? It's there to evoke an emotional response; but food is different than fine art, because you don't need art to live and you do need sustenance."

The distinction is the one between arts and crafts. A bucket may be handcrafted of beautiful hickory wood and carefully wrought iron, but no matter how pleasing it is to look at, it's still a bucket, a functional object. An abstract sculpture, on the other hand, may be extraordinarily beautiful, but it won't carry water. Each object has a valuable place in human experience, but the purpose of each object is fundamentally different. Arguably, food is about nourishment, and art is about aesthetics. Because it's always functional, food is more craft than art. But the lines are easily blurred.

A few years ago, I was cooking at IslandWood, the environmental learning center on Bainbridge Island, and I had an opportunity to discuss "culinary arts" with Anne Gould Hauberg. Hauberg's entire life has straddled the borders of art and craft. Her father, the architect Carl Gould, designed the building that once housed the Seattle Art Museum (it's now home to the Seattle Asian Art Museum). And her former husband, the late timber heir John Hauberg, contributed the bulk of the museum's Indian Art collection. Along with glass artist Dale Chihuly, the Haubergs co-founded the Pilchuck Glass School in 1971. And the school is pivotal for having decisively elevated the craft of blowing glass to a fine art.

"Culinary art is not a misnomer," insisted Hauberg. "It's the conscious touch of the human hand that makes something art. Something that's made on an assembly line is not art; food from a factory is not art. But this," she said with a wave toward the orange and rhubarb tart I was serving, "is art."

Conville and Custer are bringing that kind of individual creativity to the food and wine at the art museum cafes and various catered events they coordinate. Their latest project is SPLASH!, a series of quarterly winemaker dinners described in promotional materials as "an interactive experience where food and wine pairings are discussed; local, artisanal, organic and sustainable food choices are on the menu; and food and wine are integrated into an art setting." (Call 206-654-3190 for details.) On a more intimate scale, the TASTE cafes will feature Bite and Flight meals, three distinct components on one plate, paired with a particular regional wine. Craft or art, the pairings are certainly pleasing.

Greg Atkinson is author of "West Coast Cooking." He can be reached at greg@northwestessentials.com. Barry Wong is a Seattle-based freelance photographer. He can be reached at studio@barrywongphoto.com.