In Episode 2 of Art &, we meet Ramón Perisé—chef and Head of R&D at the internationally acclaimed Basque restaurant Mugaritz, and a Doerr Visiting Artist at Stanford—alongside Vayu Hill-Maini, a Stanford bioengineering professor whose lab explores fermentation, microbial systems, and the creative edges of biology. Their collaboration marks a rare and exciting model for campus: a chef-in-residence program that merges avant-garde gastronomy with scientific research, sustainability, and design.
In this conversation, Ramón and Vayu trace the roots of their partnership, which began more than a decade ago when Vayu was a student searching for ways to merge science and cooking. That early exchange shaped his path as a researcher—and now returns in the form of a residency that brings Mugaritz’s playful, provocative approach to Stanford. Together, they walk us through their newest line of inquiry: the study of Neurospora, a vivid orange fungus whose biological and culinary potential opens the door to what they call “genetic gastronomy”—designing flavor, nutrition, and sensory experience directly through microbial life.
For both of them, fermentation becomes a framework for thinking: a process that connects the microscopic to the planetary, linking questions of transformation, ecology, and sustainability. They describe the cross-disciplinary ecosystem they’re building on campus—hands-on workshops at the O’Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm, part of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, collaborative experiments in the lab, plans for a communal meal, and a forthcoming Neurospora zine—all aimed at creating new forms of exchange between chefs, scientists, farmers, students, and the public.
Together, Ramón, Vayu, and Ellen explore what becomes possible when culinary practice and scientific inquiry move in tandem—how food can function as a form of cultural research, how microbes can reshape the boundaries of creativity, and how cross-disciplinary collaboration can spark new ways of thinking about sustainability.
Featured Guest: Vayu Hill-Maini & Ramón Perisé
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Credits
Host: Ellen Oh
Creator/Producer/Editor: Taylor Jones
Production Support: Edi Dai
Sound Designer and Mix Engineer: Chase Everett
Theme song and Music: Juana Izuzquiza
Executive Producers: Ellen Oh and Anne Shulock
Artwork: Connie Ko
