In 1941, England found itself in an all-out-war with Nazi Germany. It had sustained severe damage when the Nazis unleashed the Blitz on 16 English cities between September 1940 and May 1941.

If you head to SFMOMA’s café on Third Street in San Francisco, you can order up some Damien Hirst “Amylamine” lemon velvet cake, Donald Judd tomato soup, and Mark Rothko Toast.

Les Blank made quiet, affectionate films about quirky subjects. Many of his films paid homage to the music and food he loved—The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin Hopkins and Yum Yum Yum! A Taste of Cajun and Creole Cooking. Blank was a lover of many traditional American musical forms.

Espresso is his palette. Coffee is his medium. Welcome to the artistic world of Mike Breach, a NYC barista, who painstakingly “paints” portraits on lattes and cappuccinos.

Charles Bamforth is the Anheuser-Busch Endowed Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences at UC Davis, which means he knows a few things about making beer. He can get into some nitty-gritty topics, like the enzymology of the brewing process, foam stability, and the psychophysics of beer perception. But that’s not what he’s doing here.

In many ways food—its production, preparation and consumption—is the hottest art form today. Chefs are like celebrity auteurs, revered for their passion and dedication. We even watch reality television shows about the drama of commercial restaurant kitchens.

George Martin knows something about mixing. The Beatles trusted him to mix their albums, deciding which ingredients to leave in, and which ones to leave out. (Take for example this lost guitar solo from “Here Comes The Sun.”) The record producer, sometimes known as the Fifth Beatle, has taste. No one disputes that.

I haven’t frequented Starbucks for a long time, but when I did, I could never get into their lingo. Do you want a “grande,” the “barista” asked? No, just give me a medium, ok? And if I ever tired of the irritating lingo battles, I headed to an indie cafe where simple language made sense.