Foodie Fatigue
Dec 28, 2010 | 7:48 am
#1
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Foodie Fatigue
I thought this was interesting.
The rest of the story:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...0,118410.story
Kim Dalton would like a wedge of iceberg lettuce.
Or maybe a grilled cheese sandwich. Anything but the fussiness of the foodies she's been experiencing lately. Last spring, a few years after her Ukrainian Village [Chicago] restaurant Dodo went extinct, she took over the old-school lunch spot Dino's Morgan Inn, which stands in a century-old building at the corner of Fulton Market and Morgan Street; there, she serves cheeseburgers and all-day breakfasts to the fish mongers and meat packers who work nearby, to the line cooks at high-end restaurants such as Moto and the Publican and to the people building Grant Achatz's upcoming Next, a few doors away. This puts Dalton, arguably, at the heart of Chicago foodie culture. It also means, she said, "that I get questioned a lot on whether my eggs are organic."
On weekends, she makes okonomiyaki, Japanese pancakes. "The other day a guy came in and said, 'I've had these in Japan. They're not like this. They're bigger. They grill them in front of you. It's supposed to have bonito flakes. And there's meat in it.' 'Well, like, this is how I make it,' I told him."
And it's not just that guy.
A chef she knows told her that one of his friends couldn't enjoy tomatoes anymore unless there was a little char on them.
"I have my food hang-ups, too. I really hate bad hollandaise. But every weekend now we have people in here who are photographing their food. I mean, it's nuts. This whole foodie ideology where people are always talking about their food and worrying about food and where everything on their plate is from I'm tired of it. I feel like an existential drag saying that. But going out with friends now means eating with picky people. Everyone likes good food. This is an unhealthy obsession."
Or maybe a grilled cheese sandwich. Anything but the fussiness of the foodies she's been experiencing lately. Last spring, a few years after her Ukrainian Village [Chicago] restaurant Dodo went extinct, she took over the old-school lunch spot Dino's Morgan Inn, which stands in a century-old building at the corner of Fulton Market and Morgan Street; there, she serves cheeseburgers and all-day breakfasts to the fish mongers and meat packers who work nearby, to the line cooks at high-end restaurants such as Moto and the Publican and to the people building Grant Achatz's upcoming Next, a few doors away. This puts Dalton, arguably, at the heart of Chicago foodie culture. It also means, she said, "that I get questioned a lot on whether my eggs are organic."
On weekends, she makes okonomiyaki, Japanese pancakes. "The other day a guy came in and said, 'I've had these in Japan. They're not like this. They're bigger. They grill them in front of you. It's supposed to have bonito flakes. And there's meat in it.' 'Well, like, this is how I make it,' I told him."
And it's not just that guy.
A chef she knows told her that one of his friends couldn't enjoy tomatoes anymore unless there was a little char on them.
"I have my food hang-ups, too. I really hate bad hollandaise. But every weekend now we have people in here who are photographing their food. I mean, it's nuts. This whole foodie ideology where people are always talking about their food and worrying about food and where everything on their plate is from I'm tired of it. I feel like an existential drag saying that. But going out with friends now means eating with picky people. Everyone likes good food. This is an unhealthy obsession."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...0,118410.story
Dec 29, 2010 | 12:13 am
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Funny... was just discussing this over lunch with a friend. I'm so tired of looking for the next great thing and I'm kind of wishing I could go back to a time before i knew the difference between good and great. I know my waistline would appreciate that too.
Dec 31, 2010 | 12:13 am
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carnival
This reminds me of how I thought carnival cruiseline buffet was good the first time I had it at 20 on my honeymoon cruise. My palette has matured since then. Needless to say it was not appetizing last time i was on their cruise ship and exposed to the food.
Dec 31, 2010 | 2:26 pm
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Timely article - I was out for some fine dining (might rather have been home with mac-'n-cheese, but oh well) and the couple at the next table spent at least 15 minutes photographing their beautiful meals and emailing the photos to their friends. Meanwhile, their food grew cold and congealed on their plates.
Dec 31, 2010 | 2:27 pm
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foodies are the opposite of picky. food is about thought rather than taste.
im not a foodie, and dont have a sophisticated palate. more simple but expensive.
while i could go for a more sophisticated palate, i would rarely if ever want to put thought above taste. im not an art person at all, and while i can appreciate some experiential things, i dont see the point with food.
or is there a divide within foodies of modern vs traditional? considering pretty much everything (at the top) is modern (just a question of degree) i dont see how that could be possible.
im not a foodie, and dont have a sophisticated palate. more simple but expensive.
while i could go for a more sophisticated palate, i would rarely if ever want to put thought above taste. im not an art person at all, and while i can appreciate some experiential things, i dont see the point with food.
or is there a divide within foodies of modern vs traditional? considering pretty much everything (at the top) is modern (just a question of degree) i dont see how that could be possible.
Dec 31, 2010 | 3:47 pm
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I used to be devoted to reading Chowhound LA. Now, it seems as though every one is discussing the same half dozen restaurants over and over again and they all share a common trait.... an obsession with offal. Yes, offal is the big thing. Offal and fried pigs ears (crispy with lime).
Foodies have become pretty boring.
Foodies have become pretty boring.
Aug 6, 2011 | 7:33 pm
#9
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I used to be devoted to reading Chowhound LA. Now, it seems as though every one is discussing the same half dozen restaurants over and over again and they all share a common trait.... an obsession with offal. Yes, offal is the big thing. Offal and fried pigs ears (crispy with lime).
Foodies have become pretty boring.
Foodies have become pretty boring.
Read www.chowhound.com in your city and see what you think of the "reviews".
Unfortunately, some look at these reviews, particularly by the bloggers (often invited by management to review every item on the menu). The glowing reviews by bloggers on Chowhound, IMHO are not credible.
Aug 6, 2011 | 8:42 pm
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Here in San Francisco everyone needs to just shut the hell up about food. One of my colleagues told me that when her younger brother moved into town, he came to her and said "You have to help me. I go out with people and they're talking about food. I don't know how to talk about food." Everyone here is more interested in the idea of the food than the food itself. Take a hike, foodies! I love to cook and I'm as interested in food as the next guy, but shut up!
Aug 6, 2011 | 8:58 pm
#11
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^
^^^
Here in San Francisco everyone needs to just shut the hell up about food. One of my colleagues told me that when her younger brother moved into town, he came to her and said "You have to help me. I go out with people and they're talking about food. I don't know how to talk about food." Everyone here is more interested in the idea of the food than the food itself. Take a hike, foodies! I love to cook and I'm as interested in food as the next guy, but shut up!
Aug 7, 2011 | 10:12 am
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I think "foodie culture" is pretty artificial, especially in the USA (and the UK too, those people were eating nothing crap until 20 years ago! 
). What the heck do Americans *really* know about Italian food, or Thai food, or whatever?
I know Italian because I grew up there, and Japanese because I spent years cooking and serving in Japanese restaurants (and this is still superficial knowledge - I'm not effing Japanese!)
But it seems to me that everyone wants to be an expert on all things food, and the more recherch the meal and ingredients, the better. Nevermind that many of these people have never stepped foot outside of the lower 48... they get the Food Network and they've eaten at Spago, so they *must* be experts.
I don't claim to be an expert, and am always happy to profess ignorance, even about things I should know more about (like in the pizza thread). What I can't stand is all the puffery and arrogance about organic this, and free-range that, and rare Scottish pigs bred only in upstate New York every five years (although the latter do make stupendous whole-hog sausage...
)
). What the heck do Americans *really* know about Italian food, or Thai food, or whatever? I know Italian because I grew up there, and Japanese because I spent years cooking and serving in Japanese restaurants (and this is still superficial knowledge - I'm not effing Japanese!)
But it seems to me that everyone wants to be an expert on all things food, and the more recherch the meal and ingredients, the better. Nevermind that many of these people have never stepped foot outside of the lower 48... they get the Food Network and they've eaten at Spago, so they *must* be experts.
I don't claim to be an expert, and am always happy to profess ignorance, even about things I should know more about (like in the pizza thread). What I can't stand is all the puffery and arrogance about organic this, and free-range that, and rare Scottish pigs bred only in upstate New York every five years (although the latter do make stupendous whole-hog sausage...
)
Aug 7, 2011 | 10:38 am
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I'll disagree. I think the increased focus on food in the U.S. is helpful given the fast food trend of the last half century. I like that many more people are thinking about what they are eating and how it got to their plate. Yes, there will inevitably be obnoxious people who take it to an unnecessary extreme, but I suspect that if it were not food, those people would be equally obnoxious about something else.
Aug 7, 2011 | 12:21 pm
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I'll disagree. I think the increased focus on food in the U.S. is helpful given the fast food trend of the last half century. I like that many more people are thinking about what they are eating and how it got to their plate. Yes, there will inevitably be obnoxious people who take it to an unnecessary extreme, but I suspect that if it were not food, those people would be equally obnoxious about something else.
I don't think it's an impossible cycle to break, but as with most things that are common in our moderately wealthy circles, they have virtually no resemblance to or effect on what happens in urban ghettos and rural America. You might as well be sticking your head in the sand if you think that only eating at restaurants with locally sourced ingredients and growing tomatoes on your fire escape has anything to do with what Joe Schmo in rural Kansas is eating for lunch. Indeed, fast food continues to be a growing industry in spite of the fact that increasing numbers of affluent people now refuse to eat it.