Steenbock's and Fountain Prairie

I had the opportunity to photograph some of Chef Michael Pruett's creations for Steenbock's on Orchard. Michael's passion is developing recipes in the "molecular gastronomy" tradition. New tastes, textures and visual surprises provided new opportunities for experimenting with lighting and camera angles.

Steenbock's focuses on sourcing foods from local farms and vendors and the menu reflects seasonally diverse fare based on availability of certain ingredients throughout the year. I wanted to document where the food comes from as well as the final dishes served at the restaurant. Michael invited me to join him for a morning at Fountain Prairie Farms while he inspected what the organic garden would offer him for the week's menu.

After touring the farm I took a little time with Michael in the restored barn to do a few film portraits. I found one last roll of Agfachrome 1000 for my Hasselblad 500C.  It felt amazing to hold the camera again and it was easy to remember how to load the 120 film back, even after 8 years of not using it. I love that camera and I will be making a point of bringing it to more of my projects.