Two videographers dcoumented the Dissertation Dinner. The first, Carlo Ghioni, shot throughout the night and then put together a 10-minute edit. It was his interpretation of the polyvocality of the event, of the multiple perspectives along more than one temporal-spatial axis. I used that edit during a presentation at the May 2015 colloquium, Raconter l'aliment : la gastronomie et ses récits contemporains.

Seeking to extend the performance of the Dinner and invite other collective interpretations of gastronomy, I entered into a conversation with Carlo's video—his images and framings, my voice and commentary. I also asked people in the room to take another microphone and offer their own narratives, as new participant-witnesses to the biography that was unfolding. None were offered.

Perhaps, in viewing Carlo's video (above, right), you'll have your own narrative about gastronomy emerge; perhaps you, too, will want to accuse me of narcissism, as one interpreter of the presentation suggested...

The second video was made by Adrian Gorea (below, right), a Byzantine icon painter and scholar, who used his iPad for the camera. Another perspective, another technology, another voice in the autobiography of gastronomy.