Chefs use Made With Paper iPad App to Sketch Recipes

The great Michel Bras says his cooking is inspired by nature, and he draws pictures of each dish. Legendary Chef Ferran Adrià of elBulli fame has an exhibit of his food sketches at the Drawing Center in New York this month–a pictorial look inside his creative process. I create menus much like them—each inspired by the nature of Jordan Estate and brought to life with a paper and pen, which has evolved to an iPad and a stylus, thanks to the Made with Paper app, created by Fifty Three technologies.

These drawings are more than a creative medium for menu ideas. They also serve as shopping lists for ingredients and guides for my staff to help me plate the final presentation before its whisked off into the Jordan dining room.

Here’s my traditional “hand” approach to sketching new recipes.

Final product (Soft Shell Crab Tempura with Shiso,  Fava Beans and Mushrooms):

Here’s how I sketch on my iPad using Made With Paper:

Final product (Spring Pea Soup with Dungeness Crab and Flower Blossoms):