Be Serious: Isn't "Upscale" Food Just a Load of Bulls$%t?

Posted by PumpkinBear, February 19, 2009 at 7:46 AM

Maybe I'm just bitter because I could never afford to eat at a truly upscale, gourmet restaurant. Maybe it's because I cook family style and don't pay much attention to "plating," but I can't help but think fancy schmancy upscale food is a ton of B.S.

I remember reading one of Anythony Bourdain's books and there's an entire chapter on how to make your homely, ugly food look restaurant-quality by putting sauces in squirt bottles to be decoratively drizzled and jamming food into rings to be artistically stacked.

I'm sure the food in (insert famous chef's name here) restaurant is ridiculously delicious, but why make it so pretentious? Why are the portions so wimpy? Why does it have to look so delicate? If the food's good, don't you want more than a spoonful? Yeah, yeah, I know we eat with our eyes first, but isn't that exactly why just looking at a simple cheeseburger makes our mouth salivate and our bellies growl?

Am I wrong here, or does it seem to anyone else that upscale restaurants get away with charging so much because it's more about the experience and the exclusivity of the place and NOT so much about the food? I grew up thinking that sharing a meal with someone was special and that cooking for them was a labor of love. Upscale restaurants seem so cold and severe, like just the fact that you're there is supposed to be enough.

I'll take a whole-in-the-wall Thai place (where I can wear my favorite, ugly pair of jeans) over dainty, $100-a-plate food any day. Anyone else with me on this?

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Tags: nagging questions