To say this isn't your average joe is an understatement of major proportions. Obsessive about sourcing and roasting, Lem Butler also uses science to break flavors into various compounds, mixing and matching on a near-molucular level — adding everything from homemade almond milk to tonic water to espresso to create the most harmonious flavor profile. Science not your best subject? No worries. All that matters is how gorgeously and rich each cup that Butler brews tastes.In this video chef Curtis Duffy explores the cutting edge innovations underway at Counter Culture Coffee.

Nashville's hardest to get restaurant seat is worthy of its reputation. Nothing is as simple as it looks with any of the dishes you'll receive during a meal at Chef Trevor Moran's counter. A simple tartare is anything but. Topped with citrus begonia and tossed with grilled seaweed and snail eggs, the piece de resistance is the tea that accompanies this precision-focused dish. Potato and herb infused, the smell and warmth of the tea heightens every sense.Inside the meticulous multi-course fare with Curtis Duffy.

Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski's inspired work at New Orleans' Cochon is elevating what we think of when we think of the south. Ham hocks, famous for being an accessory in soups, take center stage with some careful curing, smoking, and deep frying. Curing in particular is a specialty at Cochon, where their sausages are all made and cured in-house for up to several years at a time.In this installment of The Line, learn how to cure meat the Stephen Stryjewski way.

Chef Matthias Merges, who came into his own under the legendary Charlie Trotter, is changing the face of Japanese street food at his Logan Square restaurant. Here, delicate Japanese standards of green tea and dashi give way to big flavors like kicky mustard and togarashi that coats crispy shards of fried chicken skin, served as part of a "skin trio" with with pork skin and salmon skin. Barbeque pork, served in a traditional Japanese style, nods to the south over a potato salad (but with kewpie mayo, of course).Watch Curtis Duffy join chef Merges at Yusho to learn the technique behind the perfect crispy skin.

If you haven't yet heard, fermentation is the now all the rage. Chef David Chang has been using his production warehouse in Brooklyn as more science lab than factory with his new line of products that grace the tables of his many restaurants. Untraditional chickpea and sunflower hozon sauces dress noodle dishes and vegan XO sauce provides an umami-bomb for everything it touches. All are available online for ordering if you're capable enough in the kitchen but prefer to leave the fermentation to the experts.

Chef Blaine Wetzel has trained at renowned places like Manresa and Noma, and brought back a desire to cook with only local ingredients from the Pacific Northwest. The requirement is especially challenging on Lummi Island, off the coast of Washington state. This was farm to table, but on steroids. With two full-time farmers, every change in the weather affects what may or may not be served that night. The dishes, exquisitely composed, embody the island like no other.

There are butchers, and then there are chefs. Most chefs are happy to leave the cattle-raising to the experts, and vice versa. However for Anya Fernald, an entrepreneur with businesses all over the world — including a ranch in Uruguay and an eco-farm in Belize — it was time to settle down some roots in the restaurant world. Belcampo's meat comes straight from the farm in Northern California, where everything is processed in-house to satisfy Fernald's obsessive quality standards, which you can taste in every perfectly marbled bite.

Calling it a bean to bar experience, Patricia Tsai brings a modern edge to ancient rituals when it comes to cocoa. Sourcing beans directly from a family-owned farm in Mexico, which are then fermented and roasted, Tsai and her team grind the beans using lava stones and create the chocolate without using flavorings or additives. Her chocolate factory then offers the precious cocoa in various drinks (think frozen hot chocolate or spicy mochas), as well as offering chocolate flights for tasting her proprietary blends.