Culinary Communion is No More

It's a sad day for fans of Gabe Claycamp's offbeat cooking school, Culinary Communion. Today, the official news came down the pipe: The school is closed (click to read the official statement from Gabe.)

Claycamp, who first gained renown for his underground restaurant Gypsy (which was featured in an episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain), began cooking classes out of his West Seattle home many years ago. He later started Vagabond, another underground dinner series. Since those early days, he's become either a foodie hero and independent-thinker, or a guy who stubbornly and repeatedly refused to play by the rules, depending on where you sit.

Of course, in many ways he is all of these things all at once, and in the last year or so, he's taken a public beating for it (just read the vitriolic comments on this recent P-I post).  His ongoing efforts to open The Swinery, a meat-curing business, have been thwarted by challenges that he's brought upon himself--permits never applied for and such--and challenges with the economy, building permits, and so on. And I think there's probably a decent chance that the guy's also been targeted at least a teensy bit more than your average cooking school owner for his past actions (especially operating Gypsy).  

But it's important to remember that, for several years, Gypsy--and Claycamp himself--was the hottest ticket going. Gabe was praised for his forward-thinking food activism, for thinking outside the box, for pushing Seattle dining into the future. What's that saying about building them up only to tear them down?

And so while Gabe's and Culinary Communion's fall makes good press and lurid headlines, I just want to put in my two cents: Without the rebellious chefs, the guys who stretch the rules and push the boundaries, food in this city would be a hell of a lot more boring than it is today. We all benefit from the brave souls who dare to think big.

And while, by nature, I'm not much of a law-breaker (and I won't defend Claycamp's actions), I am all for breaking the rules every now and then. Aren't we all?