I recently acquired the coveted stand mixer and aside from whipped cream, this was my first real use of it. Dough is difficult for me, but I had these buns at the restaurant a few months ago and I knew I was going to have to try them myself. The pickles and pork belly itself were really easy. The buns were a bit more of a challenge—definitely give yourself half a day.

Here we have a smorgasbord of all things Joe Beef: a video about the history of Joe Beef, a word from fans on Twitter, and the foreword and recipes from The Art of Living According to Joe Beef.

Following the demonstration, the opening party with food and cocktails allowed attendees to taste and smell some of these progressive methods first hand from eight chefs who rank as the current stars and innovators in this zeitgeist-y place in the foodie world. The most seasonally appropriate and aromatically distinct menu came from Alexander Talbot and Aki Kamozawa of Ideas in Food, a “a blog, a book, and a culinary consulting business”.