Roman Udalov's Anti-Food Photog Anthem: Blak Früt

Roman Udalov is adorable and extremely talented. The Los Angeles-based photographer has a knack for just about every photographic practice; his portraits are haunting and eccentric, his still lifes are one-of-a-kind and he's made his mark in the world of food photography with beautiful and delectable images, but his most impressive project to us has got to be Blak Früt.

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We spoke to the world traveller about LA, vomiting and the antithetical nature of Blak Früt.

MF: What's your earliest food memory?

I had to think about this one for a while. I was super young. I was at some weird day care in a woman's garage. I was eating a hot dog, and i bit into this huge rubbery piece that i had no idea what it was, but it was the grossest thing ever. I freaked out and threw up everywhere. I haven't eaten a hot dog since. My second food memory is at my family's dinner table. My mom had made ratatouille and my brother said the name meant Rat Tails and Brains. I threw up at the dinner table. Not surprisingly, i have a complex relationship with food as an adult.

MF: What's your favorite cuisine?

I love Italian food. Pizza and pasta, mostly. Seriously, i could eat pesto with some version of pasta every single day (and often, i do). I feel super obese whenever i do though, so, it's a conundrum. But whatever, bears are in, right?

MF: What's the sexiest thing a guy can eat?

Ice cream on a cone. Not nearly enough adult men eat ice cream this way. They always opt for a cup. There's something so innocent and child like (but like, a sexy child) just standing there licking an ice cream cone. When I lived in Provincetown i remember biking down the street and there was this total leather daddy (in full on harness, chaps, and boots) just standing there licking an ice cream cone. i stopped and chatted with him. It makes someone approachable. Vulnerable, almost. Who could be a jerk while eating ice cream on a cone? it's basically a sign saying "i'm a decent person, come talk to me!" and what's sexier than approachability?

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MF: What's the least sexy?

Hot dogs. With ketchup. i can't make out with anyone who's had either hot dogs, ketchup, or worse.. both.. for AT LEAST an hour after i see that. And i have to see them wash it down with some sort of liquid. I get grossed out by the thought of kissing someone who's had hot dogs and ketchup in their mouth. I should just call that a deal breaker. It pretty much is.

MF: Favorite restaurant in LA?

There are so many! I have all kinds of favorites. I even have a favorite "vegetarian indian place" that you have to ring a bell and be buzzed in but the decor is awesome and it's always packed. it's like a secret, and i like it just for that reason. The food is just ok.  But my all-around favorite is Milo and Olive in Santa Monica. The food is awesome, the wait staff is super friendly and lot of fun, and they don't take reservations. It used to be this tiny place that seated maybe 15 people but they expanded while keeping the same feeling. I love everything about it. It's my absolute go-to if i'm on the west side.

MF: Favorite meal to cook at home?

I don't have any staples (except pesto pasta, but that's not really "cooking"). I much prefer to blindly cook with a friend- where I bring some ingredients and they bring some and we get together and just make something with what we got. Those have been my favorite meals, and they're rarely repeated. We don't even know what we are doing but it always comes out well. One of my favorite ingredients to cook is garlic- it just smells so good while being sautéed or roasted. a kitchen that smells like garlic is always inviting and smells like home.

MF: Tell us about Blak Früt. What inspired it? (I see a lot of food "art" photography and this is by far one of the most striking takes I've seen).

I had been shooting food regularly for maybe a couple years and a lot of it was feeling the same. I was in a rut. I wanted to do a food shoot on my own, so i just thought about what i wanted to see. The idea just came to me one day to do an all black food photo shoot. Other than that, there was no real inspiration.  I asked a couple of my creative friends (Danny Dolan & Dare Williams) to help out, and they really helped the idea move forward. I knew i wanted still life shots of the food but also portraits where people were interacting with food in some way. It was all very natural for us. Out of this shoot, our creative collective VOMIR was born. We've worked together ever since.

MF: What relation do you see between the commercial food photography you produce and the art-food photography like Blak Früt?

Commercial food photography is always selling you something. it's usually selling you something that's better than reality. When i shoot food for clients, i often ask that they present it how it will be presented in real life. I usually work with high-end clients with visionary chefs who make beautiful dishes so that's not too hard to do. But Black Früt wasn't selling you anything. In fact, it made everything inedible, or destroyed it all together. It was, in a way, an anti-food shoot. I'm very much an "anti" person. I go for weird and sad before i go for pretty.

MF: For me, there's clear cues to fetish, leather, etc in Blak Früt. Where does fetishism connect here?

I really wasn't thinking that at all, but i can totally see that. We were laughing a lot during the shoot about how silly some of the shots were. But there definitely is a dark side to it all. One of my favorites is the one of Dare turned away from the eggplant. It's the rejection of an offering. That resonates with me a lot. Interpret that as you will.

MF: What are all the foods in the series?

Anything i could get my hands on at the 99¢ store, which is the cheapest, lowest quality food in the world. Don't ever shop there! I did focus on things that had structure, that would look identifiable when painted black. Like, a watermelon wouldn't work at all, but they work in regular food photography, they're so graphic. I also had to consider what would fit on a plate. Bananas, grapes, tomatoes (on a vine).. those kinds of things, you can tell what they are by their silhouette, and that's what i was going for.

MF: What is the plate ware?

Just things i thought were interesting from the thrift store. i don't think i paid more than $1 for any one thing. Thrift stores are great for that kind of thing. I wanted some fancy vintage and antique borders and textures and that was super easy to find. I was actually super impressed with the variety i was able to pick up in just one place. It all worked out really well for me.

MF: What are you working on now?

VOMIR just shot a story that we are editing and would love to get it out soon. That's my baby right now. The shoot was super fun. I am also just shooting some stuff here commercially and there but nothing really worth mentioning. I really just want to push VOMIR as often as i can. I don't care if it doesn't make me any money. I love it. It's creative freedom. I want the world to see me at THAT guy.

More Blak Früt:

Rolling Stone's 40 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time (Gay Division)

Rolling Stone posted their list of the 40 greatest punk albums of all time and while there are some questionable choices throughout, we can absolutely get behind the queer punks who made the cut. 

We won't say being gay automatically makes you punk, but it certainly reframes how you look at things. 

The Germs:

http://www.occultpunkshirts.com/shirts.html

Sleater Kinney:

"Get Up" from the 1999 Sleater-Kinney album, The Hot Rock Sub Pop Mega Mart https://megamart.subpop.com/artists/sleater_kinney iTunes www.itunes.com/sleater-kinney Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Sleater-Kinney/e/B000AQ19DG/works/ref=ep_artist_tab_w Watch more videos from Sleater-Kinney: http://goo.gl/DkjH0L Sleater-Kinney http://www.sleater-kinney.com/ https://www.subpop.com/artists/sleater_kinney Sub Pop Records http://www.subpop.com Twitter https://twitter.com/subpop Facebook https://www.facebook.com/subpoprecords SoundCloud http://soundcloud.com/subpop MegaMart https://megamart.subpop.com/ Subscribe To Sub Pop's YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/subpoprecords

Hüsker Dü 

Promo from the album Flip Your Wig.

The Buzzcocks:

Buzzcocks

(and sort of) The Stooges:

The Stooges at the Cincinnati Pop Festival

The Full List:
40. Dead Kennedys, ‘Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables’ (1980)
39. Devo, ‘Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!’ (1978)
38. White Lung, ‘Deep Fantasy’ (2014)
37. Blink-182, ‘Enema of the State’ (1999)
36. Crass, ‘Penis Envy’ (1981)
35. Fugazi, ’13 Songs’ (1989)
34. Joy Division, ‘Unknown Pleasures’ (1979)
33. The Slits, ‘Cut’ (1979)
32. The Misfits, ‘Walk Among Us’ (1982)
31. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, ‘Fever to Tell’ (2003)
30. Sonic Youth, ‘Evol’ (1986)
29. The Replacements, ‘Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash’ (1981)
28. The Germs, ‘(GI)’ (1979)
27. Minor Threat, ‘Complete Discography’ (1989)
26. Flipper, ‘Generic’ (1982)
25. Mission of Burma, ‘Vs.’ (1982)
24. The Jam, ‘All Mod Cons’ (1978)
23. Pere Ubu, ‘Terminal Tower’ (1985)
22. Bikini Kill, ‘The Singles’ (1998)
21. Richard Hell and the Voidoids, ‘Blank Generation’ (1977)
20. X-Ray Spex, ‘Germfree Adolescents’ (1978)
19. Bad Brains, ‘Bad Brains’ (1982)
18. Green Day, ‘Dookie’ (1994)
17. Television, ‘Marquee Moon’ (1977)
16. Descendents, ‘Milo Goes to College’ (1982)
15. New York Dolls, ‘New York Dolls’ (1973)
14. Sleater-Kinney, ‘Dig Me Out’ (1997)
13. Hüsker Dü, ‘Zen Arcade’ (1984)
12. Patti Smith, ‘Horses’ (1975)
11. The Buzzcocks, ‘Singles Going Steady’ (1979)
10. Nirvana, ‘Nevermind’ (1991)
9. X, ‘Los Angeles’ (1980)
8. Black Flag, ‘Damaged’ (1981)
7. Minutemen, ‘Double Nickels on the Dime’ (1984)
6. Wire, ‘Pink Flag’ (1977)
5. Gang of Four, ‘Entertainment!’ (1979)
4. The Stooges, ‘Funhouse’ (1970)
3. The Sex Pistols, ‘Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s the Sex Pistols’ (1977)
2. The Clash, ‘The Clash’ (1977)
1. Ramones, ‘Ramones’ (1976)

Read More: Rolling Stone lists the 40 greatest punk albums of all time 

Top to Bottom: Phillip Basone

Top to Bottom is quick-fire interview series where we show off our cutest friends in the world of food.

For this week’s installment of Top to Bottom, we find ourselves sharing a delicious slice of homemade pound cake in New York City’s West Village. The charming third floor apartment off of Bleeker Street is home to 24-year-old heartbreaker Phillip Basone, the Executive Chef of Jonathan Waxman’s famed restaurant Barbuto. We sat down with Phillip to learn about his passion for food and how Emeril changed his life.

Interview by Alexander Lawrence

For more Top to Bottom features:

Hes Carvalho

Gus Reckle

Jon Fancey

Lets start at the beginning, growing up in Connecticut with your family. Did your mother or father cook?

My parents never cooked. My father doesn’t touch a pot and my mom only cooked derivatives of ground beef, which is so funny because my grandmother was incredible in the kitchen.  I am very lucky with the parents I was given, but how many times can you eat Bertucci’s and Chinese food in one week?

Very True. When did you start cooking?

I didn’t have very many friends growing up, I was a loner who hated school. I would come home everyday and I would watch the Food Network. I would always watch Emeril Live. This was when I began to cook. After every episode I would go and remake whatever Emeril had just made, once I started cooking more and more I began to realize that I was actually quite good.

Eventually my parents picked up on my interests and gave me their support to peruse a career in the kitchen. I transferred out of my AP classes and began to work closely with the foods teacher; she really helped build my confidence through her support and mentorship. I wasn’t out in high school and didn’t really care for my classmates, so having someone around that was willing to dedicate their time to my passion was really amazing.

Did you attend culinary school?

After high school I immediately moved to the city to attend the French Culinary Institute, I knew I had to be in New York if I was going to continue on this path. I started interning at Barbuto while I was a student.

How did you get connected with Barbuto?

Well the chef and owner Jonathan Waxman is a hero of mine, I had his cookbook when I was growing up. When I realized he had a restaurant in New York I looked it up, at that time restaurants would post the chefs email on their websites. I took the chance and sent a very long email to then Executive Chef Roel Alcudia, and I was invited for a tour. That was my first night as part of Barbuto, I was immediately placed on the line and a member of the team. I worked for free as an unpaid intern for 8 months; I was willing to do what ever they wanted if it meant getting in that kitchen.

 After eight months, were you offered a position?

I was offered a position for that upcoming summer, but I couldn’t wait. I had a chance meeting with restauranteur Mark Vetri when he dined at Barbuto one evening, my coworkers let me cook the entire meal for him and he loved it. He offered me a job a few days later at Amis in Philadelphia, so I took the job and moved. After a very short time I realized that I had not made the right decision moving, so I packed up and went back to Connecticut to regroup and figure things out. I got really lucky, my first day back home I received a call from Roel at Barbuto who invited me to work under him again. I would eventually follow him to Left Bank where I was helping to revamp the their Dessert program, I came in and showed the staff some new techniques and recipes. I left there after the owner asked me to “make a brownie sundae”, I don’t work at Chili’s.

I would move to another restaurant for a year before branching out into culinary publications. I went and worked at Saveur Magazine as a recipe tester and at Good Housekeeping where I would test kitchen appliances. That was a really interesting experience for me; I worked with 80-year-old women who were shocked when I would come in, in my Rick Owens.

 How long did you stay there?

Three years, it was so weird. I am not a morning person; the 9 to 5 thing doesn’t work for me. I then went back to Barbuto where I would become the Sous chef and then eventually become the Executive chef.

Your relationship with Jonathan is still strong after all this time?

Yes. He is amazing. Barbuto is my family. I can truly say that I owe that place my career. He teaches you how to be a thinker, a lesson that I have carried with me since day one.

Where do you see the restaurant industry going in the next few years, what is the next big thing?

I honestly hate fads, I don’t even really eat out. I love a good box of chicken fingers with ranch over a dinner out any day. I am however very interested in the American perception of good food, I think that as a country we really need to evaluate how we define what it means for food to be innovative, healthy, eco friendly, and most importantly delicious.  

Where do you see yourself in the future? Where do you want your career to take you?

I want to own my own restaurant in New York City. It is really as simple as that. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. 

Top to Bottom: Van Kuch

Top to Bottom is quick-fire interview series where we show off our cutest friends in the world of food.

Van Kuch

For the second installment of Top to Bottom we are traveling to Brooklyn to eat some homemade hotpot with the ever so charming dessert chef Vanarin Kuch. Van is currently the head of the dessert programs at Chef Jesse Schenker’s restaurant’s The Gander and Recette, where he is using his skills in the kitchen to create one of a kind desserts. 

Van Kuch

Interview and text by Alexander Lawrence

For more Top to Bottom features:

Phillip Basone

Hes Carvalho

Gus Reckle

Jon Fancey

So you were born in Texas? 

Yes, I was born in Houston. My parents are Cambodian and came here as refugees.

Did your parents cook?

All the time, my mom is the most amazing cook. One of my favorite things about living and visiting Houston is my family’s garden; my aunts are growing things that you cannot find anywhere. My family also owned a doughnut and fried chicken shop in Houston, the Cambodian dream at the time. 

That’s amazing! Did you work there?

I did. I would work there during the summers when it was slow and fry doughnuts.

How did you get involved in food, the Doughnut Shop?

In middle school and high school I was a gymnast and a cheerleader, I had the Olympic dream and everything. During my freshman year at University of Houston though I realized I didn’t know what I wanted, so I took a 10-month hiatus to figure things out. 

How did you maneuver into desserts?

I was opening a hotel, and I always hung around the pastry chef who would eventually hire me to work under her. I moved to the restaurant Tiny Box Woods for a year and half where I was the pastry chef up until I left Houston. This was also when I got involved with Top Chef Desserts.

When and why did you make the move to New York?

I am a self-taught pastry chef, everything I know about cooking is from trying to make it myself. That drive combined with dissatisfaction with where I was working pushed me to sell my stuff and head east to New York. 

So we obviously have to talk about Top Chef, what was that like?

Of course! So when I was working in Houston I was profiled in Star Chef, which is an industry oriented online publication. I guess Star Chef sent my profile to Top Chef and they really liked my energy and asked me to be part of the show. It was a really amazing experience; I knew if I didn’t do it I would regret it forever. 

So after Top Chef and the move to New York what kitchen did you end up in?

I actually didn’t have a job, I just moved in with my sister. I have a great relationship with Star Chef; they were really helpful and they steered me towards a job at Alfred Portale’s Gotham Bar and Grill. Gotham has to be one of my top New York kitchen experiences; it was a really great first gig. After Gotham I moved to a few other places throughout the city, I was trying to find a kitchen that I really vibed with.

How did you end up at The Gander?

A friend introduced me to the team and I was brought on. I have completely revamped the program there as well as Recette, which Jesse Schenker also owns. 

How do you approach desserts? 

What I love to do with desserts is take two really familiar dishes and make a love child out of them. Right now we are doing this crazy mix between hot coco and a chocolate German cake, we call it “The Hot German”. I love it. For me when you make desserts you have to remember that it’s optional, you have to make them want it. I want it to be familiar enough that you can taste it in your head. 

What’s your favorite restaurant in the city right now?

Uncle Boons! It is the best restaurant in the city, hands down! I also really love eating in Korea-town.

If you weren’t a dessert chef, what would you be doing?

An interior designer! I am constantly redoing and rearranging my apartment. 

Where do you see yourself in the future? 

I want to own my own place. I have a very strong view about what a dining experience should be, and I really want to show that to people.