Dave Arnold (born 1971) is the founder and president of the
Museum of Food and Drink
The Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) is a New York City educational non-profit and museum that seeks to change the way people think about food and drink. The museum's work explores "the ways food and beverage impact our culture, politics, economy, ...
(MOFAD); the host of the radio show ''
Cooking Issues''; an owner of Booker and Dax, a food and drink research lab in New York; a
food science
Food science (or bromatology) is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing ...
writer and editor; the author of ''Liquid Intelligence: The Art & Science of the Perfect Cocktail'';
and an innovator in the field of culinary technology.
Early life
Dave Arnold was born in 1971. He earned his B.A. in philosophy at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
and M.F.A. in performance sculpture from
Columbia University School of the Arts
The Columbia University School of the Arts (also known as School of the Arts or SoA) is the fine arts graduate school of Columbia University in Morningside Heights, New York (state), New York. It offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Film, ...
.
He worked as a paralegal,
performance artist, and pizza deliveryman before he began experimenting with restaurant equipment.
Arnold wrote contributing articles on food science and machinery for ''Food Arts'' magazine and caught the eye of then-editor
Michael Batterberry, who became his mentor and introduced him to the
food world of New York City.
Career
In 2004, Arnold started working on plans for MOFAD, a museum to promote learning about the culture, history, science, commerce, and production of food and drink.
In 2005, Arnold was tapped to create and head the first-of-its-kind Culinary Technology department at the
French Culinary Institute, now part of the
International Culinary Center, in New York City. At the FCI, Arnold taught classes on food technology to culinary students and wrote about his experiments from home-style
centrifuge
A centrifuge is a device that uses centrifugal force to subject a specimen to a specified constant force - for example, to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby ...
s to futuristic cocktails on his blog. ''Cooking Issues'' grew into a radio show, where listeners ask Arnold questions about food science and technology, unusual ingredients and cooking techniques, culinary culture, and kitchen myths. The show was previously hosted by
Heritage Radio Network, and broadcast from the back of
Roberta's restaurant in Brooklyn, New York every Tuesday at noon. Currently the show is funded by a Patreon, and is hosted out of a studio in the center of Times Square, NYC. The show is no longer affiliated with Heritage Radio Network.
In 2011, Arnold paired with
Momofuku chef
David Chang to form what began as an innovative cooking equipment supplier for restaurants and home cooks and morphed into a high-tech cocktail bar. Booker and Dax, named after Arnold's two sons, consists of a food innovation laboratory on the Lower East Side and a popular bar attached to the
Momofuku Ssäm Bar in the East Village.
In 2013, Arnold's Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) made its public debut with a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $100,000 for MOFAD's first exhibition: ''BOOM! The Puffing Gun and the Rise of Breakfast Cereal''. The exhibit, which features a functioning, 3,200-pound puffing gun that was once widely used to produce
puffed grain breakfast cereal, debuted at New York City's Summer Streets festival on August 17, 2013. ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' described MOFAD's puffing gun as "a mid-century relic that embodies, in profound ways, the industrialization and commercialization of American food."
Arnold has been featured in ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 185 ...
'', ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', ''
Food & Wine
''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and sea ...
'',
''
Esquire
Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
'',
and ''
Popular Science
Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
''.
He has spoken at cocktail and culinary technology conferences around the world, teaches at
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
's Science and Cooking Lecture Series every fall, and has appeared as a guest on ''
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of the '' Late Night'' franchise. Hosted by Jimmy Fallon, '', ''
Martha Stewart Living
''Martha Stewart Living'' is a magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), ...
'', ''
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...
'',
CNN
Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
's ''
The Next List'',
and ''
The Today Show''.
CNN has called Arnold "one of the leaders of a 'modernist' group of cutting-edge instructors, chefs and bartenders."
Pete Wells, writing for ''Food & Wine'', calls Arnold an "ideal representative of the avant-garde in food", while ''Esquire'' labels him "a tireless innovator and experimenter."
In addition to his work at Booker and Dax and MOFAD, Arnold has a two-book publishing deal with
Norton on his work with experimental mixology and related projects. The first book he wrote for Norton, ''Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail'', was published on November 10, 2014.
He lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with his wife and two sons.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Dave
1971 births
American chefs
Columbia University School of the Arts alumni
Living people
American male chefs
Museum founders
Place of birth missing (living people)
Writers from New York City
Yale College alumni