artist of the day? . . .
an artist by definition is a person skilled in any of the fine arts - painting, drawing, sculpturing - doing any of these very well with imagination and a feeling for form & effect. so why not a chef be included? chef graham elliot bowles of chicago is an art lover who leads his kitchen crew on regular pleasure journeys to the area's many excellent museums. "there are two kinds of chefs, those who view cooking as a craft, in black and white, those who view it as an art, a gray area open to personal interpretation. we're in the latter camp." van gogh is one of bowles's heroes, admiring and amazed by the intensity of the impressionist's colors. bowles loves van gogh's self-portrait for its vivid hues thickly laid with thousands of tiny brushstrokes, and thus creates his sauces in the same intense way by adding texture on the plate with palette knives and actual paintbrushes. this chef is most definitely skilled in translating a painting to a plate!