Eating Around: Foam on the Range

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HERVE THIS, French scientist and author of "Molecular Gastronomy: Exploring the Science of Flavor," had no idea what a demon he would unleash when he coined the term that denotes a focus on science as a means of improving cooking methods and flavor.

Today, his genre has inspired unusual flavors and textures — chocolate with caviar, cubes of flavor gel or an ingredient suspended in a sugary droplet — along with accoutrements such as test tubes, pipes, ice cream chargers and sous-vide machines.

With its sterile, mad scientist associations, the term is decried by many who are linked to the style of cooking, including Grant Achatz, the chef at Chicago's Alinea; Michael Ruhlman, the author of "The Making of a Chef"; and Peter Smith, executive chef at I Street NW's PS7's.

"What's the point?" said Smith. "People [who practice that style of cooking] spend so much time making it look cool that they forget the things that make food taste great."

Smith asserts that his only mad-science item is sodium alginate in "Tiny Bubbles," the Prosecco-based drink in which lavender orbs undulate like liquid in a lava lamp. Yet, six months after the restaurant opened, others point to the playfulness of surprising pairings in such dishes as the popcorn-crusted halibut or the scallop "boudin" as a nod to the genre.

Yet despite his reputation for melding playful,stylish combinations, the chef also embraces retro: local farmers' efforts in raising grass-fed cattle and organic crops. PS7's opened in September, so Smith said he's looking forward to warm-weather ingredients. "There's no time like summer when you're up to your eyeballs in so much stuff that you have the luxury to can things, or make funky ketchups or stuff, fry and poach morels."

In another nod to the past, Smith practices the ancient art of curing his own meat. Bacon, pancetta, duck, pepperoni, sopressata — they are all, at various times, hanging in the corner of his 50-to-55-degree wine cellar.

With his embrace of local farming, organic agriculture and cooking methods both familiar and futuristic, Smith is neither fully a lab coat-wearing iconoclast nor a Bearnaise-stirring member of the culinary old guard. "I want there to be a lot going on," he said, "because that's how I like to eat."

» PS7's 777 I St. NW; 202-742-8550. (Gallery Place-Chinatown)