Step-by-step instructions break down modernist techniques so mere mortals can try this at home.

 I've spent some time in recent weeks in a Pike Place Market space that previously housed a day care, and is now filled with cryogenic freezers, photography equipment, and one badass espresso machine from La Marzocco. It's the new, industrially hip lair/headquarters for ChefSteps.com, a new culinary school conceived by three of the guys behind Nathan Myhrvold's opus Modernist Cuisine. Chris Young is one of the three named authors, Grant Crilly worked as lead development chef in the book's lab in Bellevue, and Ryan Matthew Smith shot most of its incredible photos.

The three have assorted consulting projects in the works, but this week they also launched their online culinary school. The aim: Take techniques like sous vide and distill them into easy-to-understand modules via beautiful, spare, photos and videos. The book that put these guys on the map costs $625, but Grant, Crilly, and Young feel strongly that their classes should be free (these are savvy guys, so you can bet they've got moneymaking mechanisms built in along the way).

Preview the first course, sous vide, right here, and check out Eater's rundown of what the guys have planned. More to come.