Marcel's Quantum Kitchen

Quantum Kitchen moves along at a good clip and Marcel creates dishes you won't ordinarily see on food shows. That could be the recipe for a novelty act, but it's hard to resist peeking under the lid.

And, in most cases, he has a concept for how the food will look, then has to figure out how to make it work. Taste is important, but seems to be somewhat of an afterthought.

It's not clear to me that viewers who come to Syfy for actual science fiction will appreciate this series--"Face Off" was more on point and a better show, too--but for fans of reality TV cooking shows, MQK does add a new flavor to the prime-time cooking show palette.

It offers a vision of dinner as a special effect, and its appeal is akin to that of the freeze-dried ice cream available at finer space-museum gift shops. It's a novelty item that makes no claim to please discerning palates.