If the technique takes center stage over the ingredients, then yes I'd agree. Part of being an accomplished chef, is knowing how and when to edit one's self. When I was younger I would try to cram every type of different technique possible onto every plate I designed. Lots of overwrought and difficult to eat food was produced as a result. That being said- I think there's a place for all styles, be it uber modern or medieval era (side by side even). It just takes the deftness of hand and experience to execute it properly.
Also- **** the Michelin Guide.
Yes, exactly. There's room in the world for many different approaches. I have great admiration for chefs like Adria and Achatz and Dufresne who create new experiences and sensations. And of course there's unlimited room for things to wrong when less talented people use their approaches. Powers of transformation plus bad taste equals trouble.
But none of this is really new. Some cooking has always been about celebrating the ingredient, and some cooking has always been about transformation. Almost everything that goes on in the pastry kitchen is the latter. Do you want me to celebrate raw flour on your dessert plate?
I'm a big fan of simple cooking that does as little as possible to beautiful piece of fish or produce. I also recognize that this can be a highly privileged position to take. Not everyone lives in Southern France or Central California. Not everyone can afford sushi-grade tuna. We need ways to take the less obviously appealing pieces of food and to transform them into something delicious. The Italian grandmas know something about this.
As far as transformations that are purely esthetic ... turning round things square ... that's just a matter of taste and of extravagance. Some chefs get into the visual aspect of plating and want to do things that are fun (or surprising, or pretentious, depending on your point of view). If they're willing to pay someone hourly to carve dodecahedron-shaped celeriac dungeons-and-dragons dice ... let's hope the diners love the result. Spherizing isn't surprising anymore, but then, neither is julienning. It's just a technique that can be used well or poorly, like any other.
I think the implicit understanding in most of the restaurants that use insanely labor intensive, transformational techniques, is that these places are for special occasions. People dine there once a year, if that. They're looking for something specifically unlike what they get at grandma's table.
