(MORE: The Perils of Coffee Snobbery)
Consider the state of our restaurant life. And when I say
“our,” I mean we as Americans, not just the coterie of
effete gourmands I tend to eat with in New York City. As I
noted here a little over a year ago, the gradual
disappearance of the family chain restaurants – the
Friendlys and Ground Rounds of the world, while far from
tragic from a culinary perspective, is a major loss to our
society. Being able to eat out, at least once in a while, has
for at least three or four generations, been part of the
birthright of most Americans. And eating out should mean
eating a decent meal, with silverware and a server to bring
you your food. One reason so many of us are smitten with
Chipotle, aside from their sustainable food aspects, is the
space they occupy between fast food and traditional
restaurants. But on the other hand, Chipotle, despite its
high quality and moderate pricepoint, is still a cafeteria-
style burrito place.
(MORE: Can the Chipotle “Fast Casual” Approach Work for
Pizza?)
It’s not hard to see how dumbelling happens. As our economy,
and the culture it produces, swirls downward in its spiral,
centrifugal forces are produced that separate out the
extremes. On television, we are seeing some of grossest,
tawdriest content in living memory, thanks to reality shows
like Jersey Shore, Mob Wives, Toddlers and Tiaras and the
like, while at the other end of the spectrum cable generates
masterpiece and masterpiece, from The Wire to Homeland. In
our politics, hardly any consensus exists at all; extreme
ideologies exist in insulated vacuums. And of course it’s no
secret that there are more millionaires and more paupers than
at any time in American history.
As for food, there has never been a time when Americans were
more exposed to the best that world cuisine has to offer. And
there has never been a time when our food was worse. We are
embracing a new, high-minded aesthetic of local, heritage
products, cherished for their flaws and artfully prepared by
chefs of unprecedented skill and commitment; and we are
finding new ways every month to get fatter and unhealthier,
consuming tacos made with Dorito shells, or arming bacon
explosions. It’s the tweezer or the tongs, with less in-
between all the time.
