David Zilber (Food Scientist): What Fermentation Can Teach Us About Collaboration, Control, and Creativity
Update: 2025-10-27
Description
In this episode of Mission Critical, Lance sits down with David Zilber — chef, fermentation expert, author, and Top Chef Canada judge — to explore how food reflects who we are, where we come from, and where we’re headed. From his groundbreaking work leading the Fermentation Lab at Noma (once named the world’s best restaurant) to his current work in biotechnology, Zilber has become one of the most influential voices redefining how we think about food, science, and sustainability.
He shares how microbes can teach us about collaboration, control, and surrender, and why the most meaningful meals often have nothing to do with perfection — but everything to do with connection.
Key highlights and takeaways:
- On food as reflection: Zilber sees food as “the most essential human endeavor,” one that mirrors culture, climate, and our collective values.
- Fermentation as metaphor: “You can guide it, but you can’t control it.” Fermentation teaches humility, patience, and the beauty of surrender.
- Collaboration lessons: Nature isn’t binary — even microbes blur the lines between good and bad, symbiosis and conflict.
- Creativity on Top Chef Canada: True creativity is intuitive and contextual — “you know it when you see it.” Zilber values ingenuity over perfection.
- The joy of maladaptive cooking: Making food that takes more energy than it provides (like handmade pasta) is what connects humans — it’s the “social glue” of culture.
- Redefining progress in food: Advocates for decentralized, community-driven systems where power and food sovereignty are shared.
- Transformation in motion: Now a father and homeowner, Zilber embraces evolution — “falling forward” and learning as a lifelong student of life and microbes.
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