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These young Triangle chefs are a handful of tattooed, spiky-haired, body-pierced punk-rock scientists in the kitchen. They love understanding the science behind how food behaves under different conditions. They use these methods to make the food more artistic. They aim for cleverness in their creations: the Lobster Fiddle Faddle pairs a highbrow ingredient with a lowbrow taste. "Like fair food, but with lobster," Clayman says.

They learned about molecular gastronomy in different ways. Clayman, 30, and Foster, 29, both worked for Sean Brock, the chef at McCrady's. Todd Ohle, 32, the executive chef at Raleigh's 1705Prime, learned from Clayman when they worked together before Clayman left to open The Mint.

The Internet introduced Justin Rakes, 29, the chef de cuisine at Four Square Restaurant in Durham, and Brian Allen, 26, the executive chef at The George on Glenwood, to these ideas. Allen says he started reading books by chefs Adria and Heston Blumenthal, owner of The Fat Duck. Rakes will intern at Blumenthal's restaurant in August.

Diners in Raleigh can get a taste of this trend in a range of prices, from $8 for the sashima tuna dish at The George on Glenwood to $47 for a three-course meal at The Mint.

While the field's international innovators may be a bit out there, what these local chefs create is absolutely recognizable. At The Mint, the lobster and a Poulet Rouge chicken breast entree look like what you expect. They just happen to have been cooked "sous vide" style, where the meat or seafood is placed in an airtight plastic bag and cooked in a water bath at low temperatures until done.

Another common trait among these chefs: Their menus do not reveal their methods. Rakes recently described raspberry caviar as a purée and did not use the word foam to describe a maraschino foam on a white chocolate red velvet cake. "That's my way of introducing it," he says. "I don't tell you about it." Even the Mint's menu does not hint at the techniques. They write panna cotta, when it is methylcellulose, or coulis to describe a fluid gel, Clayman explains. Meanwhile at 1705Prime, they use the techniques only for private parties, not for the general dining public.

"We haven't put it on the menu because, in my opinion, Raleigh isn't ready for it," says Ohle, the culinary director for the Rocky Top Hospitality's chain of restaurants. Ohle did the Grey Goose caviar for a private party.

Allen says he tries to ease diners into the idea; otherwise, they think it's just chemicals in food.

These Raleigh chefs want diners to know that these chemicals, which they call hydrocolloids, are safe to consume. Most have been used by food manufacturers for decades. Sodium alginate, a seaweed extract, is used in Easy Cheese. Soy lecithin, a soybean extract, is found in a Snickers Bar. Carrageenan, another seaweed extract, is in Edy's Grand Ice Cream.

Being able to use techniques discovered in a laboratory makes the kitchen more rewarding.

"We're able to use both parts of the brain at the same time, being a little bit more artistic and being a little bit more scientific," Clayman says. "Really it just makes that much more fun for us."

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