Nestled among warehouses in Chicago's meatpacking district, Moto opened in January 2004. Initially, guests were confused. People would come in looking for sushi and leave when offered a degustation menu instead, De Vito recalled. Enough people braved the menu, however, and soon the restaurant was discovered by foodies. Cantu soon earned a reputation for shocking guests. For example, one feature was synthetic wine squirted into the glass with a medical syringe. An industrial-sized tank of liquid nitrogen was kept outside the restaurant to make hot food cold and give fishes odd shapes.