Mugaritz

Mugaritz has cultivated relationships with chemists, microbiologists and neuroscientists to deepen their understanding of the chemical aspects of food. During a visit to MIT in 2014 that was initiated by Pedro Reis, Gilbert W. Winslow Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Mugaritz team focused on the structure of materials—something that is central to the expertise of the engineers at MIT. Chefs from Mugaritz’s Research and Development team presented their work in a lecture and demonstration,“Mugaritz, a natural science of cooking: senses, structures, textures and emotions,” which was part of the MMEC (Mechanics: Modelling, Experimentation, Computation) seminar series and co-sponsored by CAST, and they met with faculty working on the mechanics of fluids, materials and structures.

On November 2, 2016, Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz and others from Mugaritz joined MIT faculty for a forum on creativity across disciplines and to screen the 2015 documentary about the restaurant, Off-Road: Mugaritz, Feeling a Way.

Presented by MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST)

Past Events

Cooking up Ideas: a conversation with Mugaritz
Screening of documentary Off-Road and forum discussion on Creativity with MIT faculty

November 2, 2016 / 4:00-6:00pm
MIT Lecture Hall 10-250
222 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA

What is the process by which we generate ideas? How do we select the best ones? This event will focus on creativity and the creative process. We will be screening Off-Road; a philosophical and ethological documentary about Mugaritz—one of the best restaurants in the world, located in the hills of the Basque Country. Prior to the screening, a multidisciplinary panel of MIT faculty (engineering, physics, mathematics, architecture and music), together with Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz, will discuss their own perspective of creativity in research in their respective fields. After the screening, this same panel will converse with the audience for a forum discussion. 

Free and open to the public
No reservation necessary

Moderators:

Pedro Miguel Reis, Gilbert W. Winslow Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering

Evan Ziporyn, Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Music and Faculty Director, MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology

Panelists:

Andoni Luis Aduriz, Mugaritz Chef and Founder

John Bush, Professor of Applied Mathematics and Associate Department Head

Ben Houge, Associate Professor of Electronic Production and Design, Berklee College of Music

Dani Lasa, Mugaritz Chef

Gareth McKinley, Professor of Teaching Innovation, School of Engineering

Pedro Miguel Reis, Gilbert W. Winslow Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering

Gigliola Staffilani, Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor, Department of Mathematics

J. Meejin Yoon, Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture

Andoni Luis Aduriz, Mugaritz Chef and Founder

John Bush, Professor of Applied Mathematics and Associate Department Head

Ben Houge, Associate Professor of Electronic Production and Design, Berklee College of Music

Dani Lasa, Mugaritz Chef

Gareth McKinley, Professor of Teaching Innovation, School of Engineering

Caitlin Mueller, Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture

Pedro Miguel Reis, Gilbert W. Winslow Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering

Gigliola Staffilani, Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor, Department of Mathematics

J. Meejin Yoon, Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture

Evan Ziporyn, Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Music and Faculty Director, MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology

Mugaritz is a two-Michelin-star restaurant in Errenteria, Guipúzcoa (Spain) under the management of Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz. Since opening in 1998, Mugaritz has gained an international reputation for its experimental approach to food, and it is currently ranked seventh among the “50 World’s Best Restaurants,” according to Restaurant Magazine. Mugaritz’s founder Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz has prioritized both culinary evolution and an interdisciplinary approach, crossing the established borders to create food that is often described as “Techno-emotional Spanish.” In their trial kitchen (one of three kitchens at Mugaritz), the team experiments with ingredients to alter the structure and texture of food in order to subvert the diners’ expectations in provocative and playful ways.

Mugaritz has been the only restaurant to consistently be listed in the top ten of the “Worlds 50 Best Restaurants” for the past eleven years. The restaurant has received a multitude of honors for its innovative contributions to gastronomy. Mugaritz is located in the countryside and strategically situated beside the line dividing Errenteria and Astigarraga. The restaurant gets it’s name from the Basque words muga, meaning limit or border, and haritza, meaning oak.

More at the artist’s website: Mugaritz.