Review: Test-Tube Eatery Flips the Food Chain for the Better
This story is part of Dispatches from 2120, a speculative-fiction project that imagines Washington, DC a century into the future. To learn more about the origins and intentions of this project, read author Josh Kramer’s introductory post.
With savory lab-grown meats and a crafty 3D-printing cocktail bar, Douglass-born chef Jane Posterus has carved out a cutting-edge culinary space in the struggling Adams Morgan Uptown financial district. Her new eatery, Inferis, is wholly focused on exploring the lower depths of the food chain. This trend may at one time have seemed unrefined, but Posterus’ forward-thinking food is sure to convince even the most unyielding tastebuds.
Posterus is known for having exceptionally hip sensibilities when running her restaurant empire. Past ventures of hers include test-tube sushi concept, Piscis, and superfood vegan concept, Hortus, which have only yielded positive results with sweeping acclaim. This past May, the surprisingly young, 20-something, up-and-coming chef was awarded the 2120 James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef.
At the time, the chef told the press, “The taste of tomorrow is founded on thinking small, not big.”
When I previewed Inferis, I had the chance to speak with the chef and ask her what she meant by this statement. She swiftly navigated me to a back-of-the-house section of the restaurant where most won’t have the chance to see, and I saw something that impressed me more than the sleek interior or inventive menu items: the power source of the entire operation. Specifically, pond scum. The algae biofuel has increasingly become an energy staple for some in the industry, but the chef has gone further to ensure that each of her restaurants are run 100 percent on the natural fuel source.
The chef credits her full-fledged concentration on algae biofuel on the climate catastrophe. The strikingly warmer weather over the past few decades has led to more difficult, more lengthy heat waves as well as higher electricity bills. This has also led to a boon of the easy-to-grow pond scum, which thrives in warmer temperatures. The choice towards algae was also partially attributed to it being a hip new trend that has been spreading across restaurants in Toronto and Mexico City.
“I decided to make the most of what is around me in this city that I call home,” Posterus told me. “I figured if you can’t stand the heat, rather than get out of the kitchen, why not simply adapt?”
This mindset is also reflected in the menu.
The seafood options, though limited, are sourced from the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, which have become popular fishing and swimming destinations since their extensive cleaning in the past century. Of course, don’t expect to see any bass on the menu. While native to the area, the species is too rare at this point. Instead, minnows and daces are on the menu.
When diners nowadays hear the word, “fish bait,” they often think of these types of fish. Even so, Posterus asks diners not to overthink the small stuff.
“Yes, bass and catfish taste great, but these fish have nearly died out,” she said. “The price to pay for the plate would cost in the hundreds. More importantly, the cost to the environment for overfishing these species would last for who knows how long.”
When I dined in the restaurant during its first week of service, I was surprised by how flavorful and crispy the tempura-fried dace was. My palate was similarly perked up by the accompanying mash of peas, parsley, and hints of mint alongside a blend of Mezzetta and Kalamata olives, marinated in a spicy chilli-garlic blend. The peas, like all of the vegetables and fruits in Inferis, are developed in a lab to be richer in vitamins and more pronounced in taste.
Let’s get to the “clean meat” of the menu, though. While there is no shortage of attractive vegetable dishes, most diners’ meals will center on Inferis’ hearty, meaty dishes. But what is such a wonder with these options is that all of the meat — I must emphasize, all! — is made from a local lab. These test-tube steaks are no gimmicks, though, and they’re not the exorbitant cost that older diners might remember from lab-grown meat’s first round of popularity.
Take the ribeye. Developed with a realistic bone-like structure in the folds of the meat, the 14-ounce ribeye is served with a red wine jus and a generous abundance of roasted summer vegetables. When one slices into the structure, it bleeds like real meat, and when one places the ribeye in one’s mouth, it is succulent and savory … just like real meat!
Posterus is quick to mention that she doesn’t necessarily think that humans should withhold from meat altogether. “There are several societies across the world whose cultures are focused on certain types of meat,” the chef said. “But once again, I’m focusing more on the overall environmental impacts of what we eat. We all are aware at this point that meat production is a major source of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and cutting down on meat production is one of the most important ways in which humanity can affect the environment.”
Not only with cultured beef, but with lab-grown pork and chicken, too, the chef hopes to prove that lessening dependence on the environment can be possible and delicious, too.
The test-tube, pan-seared foie gras, for example, is bound to become a favorite with locals. The dish is paired with a caramelized peach purée that balances the fattiness with the creamy, sweetness. The dish is delectable and irreproachable at the same time. Dinner entrees range from an affordable $180 to the upper $300s.
As far as cocktails go, the bartenders at Inferis shake up exciting concoctions that play on the nose and eyes as much as the tongue.
The London Fog-gy Bottom Martini is a personal favorite. The gin is paired with a splash of Earl Grey-infused milk and 3D-printed Biscoff cookie-flavored “cereal” that is actually spoonfuls of ice cream that have been hit with liquid nitrogen, so the cocktail offers a “foggy” mist. A thinly twisted, candied lemon slice garnishes the drink.
It’s worth mentioning that the Earl Grey tea that is used by the Inferis kitchen staff is produced here in Douglass. Just like with meat production, the market for tea has also had to compete for access to land, while undergoing widespread constraints on resources like water, vital nutrients, and energy. India, Sri Lanka, and other primary tea-growing regions have struggled due to the climate catastrophe, and because of that, Posterus doesn’t buy exported tea. Instead, she utilizes tea grown in local Douglass neighborhood Bubbles, developed by Bubble Co., a 70-year-old business that installs environmentally protected, bubble-shaped voltaic atriums on rooftops.
A similar drink that is sure to raise some eyebrows is her Off-White Russian cocktail. For several decades now, coffee has been extinct. With a 3D printer, Posterus is able to create a liquid that resembles and tastes just like black coffee — or at least what I can recall from the taste of it. While I was fairly incredulous at this visionary discovery, I must admit that I would not be able to tell the difference if I was blindfolded. I still remember the early days in my career as a restaurant critic when I was able to relish a sip of the bitter, buzzy drink at one of the last cafes in Douglass before it closed down due to skyrocketing rents and even higher prices for coffee beans.
Finishing off each meal is none other than algae-sugar cookies — yes, the same algae used to power the entire operation. Though slightly stodgy in texture, the small bite offers a lasting, sweet impression, a final nod to the focus that Posterus has had for the city since she began her budding restaurant empire.
If there’s only one note I can mention that may be of concern to diners, it is the design of the space, itself, rather than the execution of the dishes. Inferis has been set up to appear and function similarly to a K-12 school cafeteria.
Posterus says that she understands that the link between “mystery meat” and “school cafeterias” has long been set in stone. Even so, she hopes that the set-up offers a charming, nostalgic look at the past; there aren’t cafeterias anymore in public or private schools like there were when we were growing up, and even Posterus was too young to have one. Due to the need to use every nook and cranny to the best of its ability, the overpopulation of students instead has led them to eat their meals in the classrooms themselves.
“I know it sounds strange, but I wish I could have eaten in a cafeteria,” Posterus said with a small laugh. “The space allowed for strangers to be able to interact with one another more easily rather than be confined to their own tables or booths. If one person can leave Inferis with a new friend, then I think I’ll have made an impact on someone’s life.”
In the end, if there’s one thing the up-and-coming chef is asking from her diners at Inferis, it’s that they be willing for some food for thought.
We want to hear your vision for the future. Email us at hello@730dc.com if you have an idea for an artifact from the future (blog post, comic, song, video, you name it) that we could incorporate into the world Josh has created for Dispatches from 2120.
