SF Underground Market!

Wow! We hosted ForageSF's SF Underground Market this Saturday and it was a resounding success! 40 vendors, 1262 visiting members, and so much great food! So many of the vendors told me they were selling their food for the first time ever... and many of them sold out! Here are some photos I found of the event.

Now, back to some of that 3-citrus jam...

Iron bEATS 2: The (long-belated) food!

Photo by Kimminy

Happy new decade, friends of Langton Labs!

We at Langton have been in our winter hibernation for the past month or so. We're in a bit more of a dinner party than a dance party mode right now. It's just the natural flow of the seasons, I guess. (Don't worry... we'll be back to awesome public events soon enough.)

One of our last big events was Iron bEATS 2. For the past... uh, nearly two months... I've been meaning to get around to doing a ginormous Iron bEATS wrap-up blog post, full of photos, videos, menus, music, and everything else. Unfortunately, that's always been just a little too big of a job for every breath of free time that I meant to get around to it... so all I ever posted was this great time-lapse video shot by Ryan from Better Nate Than Lever. So, um, oops. So rather than try to put together a giant multimedia extravaganza as one big post, I'm going to finally start posting each bit by itself.

I still haven't even processed my own photos of the day, but fortunately other folks who were there have put their photos on the Iron bEATS Flickr group; if you have any, I encourage you to add them to the group!

So without further ado: the food of Iron bEATS 2!

This time, the challenge ingredients were persimmons and Chinese broccoli! Teams had two hours to make a multi-course meal featuring these challenge ingredients. Two teams sweated over the Langton main space stove, with another team on their camp stove in the main space, one in our upstairs kitchen, and two at their own nearby spaces. At the end of the two hours, the teams showcased their food... and we all got to eat.

The Force Unlimited (Kim, Joe, Roland and Danielle) fashioned a beautiful meal in the Langton main space (not surprising, as Roland and Danielle have catered the last few big events at Langton):

• Hammer Time Cocktail (Creme de Tequila, Kalua, Vodka, Coffee)
• Bruschetta with 2 topping selections: Pesto/Chinese Broccoli Dip and Olive Tapenade
• Meaty Treats: Medjool dates stuffed with herbed goat cheese, wrapped in basil leaves and prosciutto di parma
• Nutterbutt Lasagna: Butternut squash, chinese broccoli, and hazelnut lasagna
• Chocolate 2: Organic raw chocolate truffles with persimmon and cashews.

Better Nate Than Lever (Ryan, Mari, and Alex) could have competed from the middle of the woods, eschewing our stoves and ovens entirely. They set up their camping stove and waffle iron on one side of the Langton main space and prepared:

• Sauteed turkey sausage accompanied by sauteed Chinese Broccoli with two special sauces, one hot and one cold: Scallion-ginger soy sauce and cajun Asian oyster sauce.
• Armed with a waffle iron and mochi (pounded Japanese rice), they made persimmon puree and almond whipped cream into a triple decker dessert. We topped it all off with a few large grains of Celtic sea salt and a punch of cinnamon.

Dirty Disco Kitchen Inferno (Bonnie, Michelle, Gabe, Melanie, and Michael) showed up dressed in full disco cheerleader uniforms, then retreated to Melanie's 10 Heron warehouse to prepare their vegan entry, served in petri dishes attached to old 45s. Really.

• First course: uramakizushi roll with chinese broccoli flowers, fresh persimmon, avocado, wasabi, and served with pickled ginger and a soy-balsamic-ginger-mushroom reduction
• Second course: persimmon mimosa with various citrus juices and tiny umbrellas
• Third course: marinated and broiled tempeh with stir-fried Chinese broccoli, shiitake mushrooms, red cabbage, and spinach with a miso-shiitake gravy
• Fourth course: coconut green tea persimmon sorbet, chilled and carbonated by dry ice
• Fifth course (served with fourth course): 6-layer vegan rainbow cupcakes, featuring persimmon puree in the orange layer

The Josh Pollocks (Nick, Nick, Ethan, and Danny) took the competition as an excuse to finally buy that ice cream machine, and made this gourmet feast in Langton's kitchen:

• Chilled tomato water with Chinese broccoli infused oil and volcanic salt
• Creamy Chinese broccoli soup with hazelnut oil and Chinese broccoli blossoms
• Ahi tartare with persimmon and avocado over sweet sesame jicama slaw
• Persimmon, pine nut and raisin empanadilla with a dill and mint creme fraiche and persimmon sauce
• Persimmon ice cream with sweet Chinese broccoli and beet sauces
• Off menu: Cucumber spritzer cocktail

Raw Can Roll (Alexis, Mark, Hatim, and Elena) went back to the AlterCenter and filled it with raw food, remixes (our only team to compete in both challenges!), and some sort of martial arts. All at the same time!

• Carrot-Persimmon Soup
• Pad Thai including Chinese Broccoli & Persimmon "noodles"
• Mushrooms Stuffed with Chipotle Sunflower Seed + Chinese Broccoli, Raw Cacao Mole, & Cashew Sour Cream
• Cacao-Persimmon Cheesecake

The Epiculigans (Noam, Amy, and Lauren) chopped, stewed, and baked away at the Langton main space oven:

• Autumn greens and persimmon salad with dried bing cherries
• Ginger-lemon sweet potatoes with black mustard seed and Chinese broccoli
• Lentil-bulgur potage with (contains Chinese broccoli purée)
• Persimmon bread
• Sliced sourdough baguette with Chinese broccoli-walnut pesto

(Coming soon, I swear... the music! Pictures! Video!)

Iron bEATS timelapse!

I'm still in a food coma from Iron bEATS yesterday. There'll be photos, menus, and remixes galore to come. While you're waiting, here's a timelapse of a small part of the event, filmed by Ryan from the cooking team Better Nate Than Lever:

Iron bEats 2: next Sunday!

Back in March, Langton Labs hosted an ode to improvisation: a simultaneous Iron Chef cookoff and DJ remix challenge.

Everyone loved it so much that we're doing it again, on Sunday afternoon, November 15th!

Come join us at Langton Labs in SOMA as teams battle it out in an Iron Chef-style cookoff. But it's better than the TV show, because you get to eat what they make!

While the cooks are slicing, dicing, sauteing, and baking away, headphone-clad DJs will all remix up a surprise track.

As the cooks and DJs work away, commentators will fill you in on the play-by-play. And there'll be a performance by a SECRET MUSICAL GUEST.

At the end, we'll all eat tasty food and listen to hot new tracks.

The event starts at noon on Sunday, November 15th; food will be served around 3 (do eat brunch first!).

Tickets are $10 (covering cost of food); presales through Brown Paper Tickets (no service charge!) are highly encouraged to help ensure that teams make the right amount of food. Feel free to RSVP on Facebook as well!

blast from the past: iron chef pics

Photo by Omari Stephens

We here at Langton have been light on the public events and parties over the past while, since we're in serious Burning Man mode. The Langton main space is being used to build everything from a 32 foot diameter dome to a giant sculpture for the Burning Man camp The Phage (formerly known as True Prophet)... and other Phages and friends are heading to town and crashing on whatever horizontal surfaces they can find. (Check out The Phage's Wednesday night party at the Fishbug sculpture, which will include a few DJs and artists who'll be familiar to avid Langton party-goers!)

But hey, we used to throw events, right? Remember Iron Beats, our Iron Chef/DJ Remix challenge back in March? For months, I've had people ask "so when is Omari going to post his pictures?" Well, finally his great shots from our event are ready. Check out Omari's Iron Beats set, as well as Langton Lab-rat Michael's set.

(And yes, I'm pretty sure there'll be an Iron Beats 2 this fall...)

deconstruction tonight, and more

The Deconstruction: second life art show opens tonight! Since Monday, Brian's crew has been working around the clock to turn the main space into their gallery. Full details at the Deconstruction site.

And looking forward: July will be an educational month at Langton Labs, including a "year in Antarctica" night (tentatively July 1st, more details TBA), and Matt Ganucheau presenting A Night of Steve Reich, Steve Reich, Steve Reich, Steve Reich on July 23rd.

deconstruction: second life

Last March, Langton Labs opened its doors for our first big public event with Deconstruction: an art show curated by Brian Enright, with requisite opening night bash. In just a few days, Brian's gang will be back to install this year's edition: Deconstruction: second life.

The show features Brian's furniture and metal art, John Ricksen's mixed media work, and paintings by Matt McGowan and Brian Herrick. The opening night bash is Friday June 19th at 10 and will also feature an installation of a documentary on the deconstruction process, some of our favorite DJs, and complimentary gourmet food and drink. Check out the Deconstruction site for all the details.