As I start to align my interests and bring my current culinary studies to the doorstep of my literary, English language background with this, my "food blog," it's precisely that question--what makes a good restaurant good and why?--that I hope to answer. Along with the company and assistance of both friends and family, I've taken it upon myself to visit and enjoy as many restaurants as possible, though in no way limiting myself to "fine dining." With so little time to actually stop and cook a meal for myself, especially after spending close to 15 hours a day in a kitchen, I've found it much easier to go and savor the fruits of others' labor as I try to hone my own interests and attain more focus on my own future. Some of my forays into edible exploration have been less than satisfying (some even downright nauseating), while others have excited me beyond the mere plate as though I were a child again trying chocolate chip ice cream for the first time. Regardless, I keep going back for more, searching for new places, spending more of my truly hard-earned cash in an attempt to find out what really does make a good restaurant good. Unfortunately, as you might have guessed, I haven't yet discovered a concrete answer, basically for two simple reasons.
First, I don't believe that there is a formula to define or create a good restaurant. Chef Dean Max, who I currently work for at 3030 Ocean, recently went and ate at Michael's Genuine Food and Drink in Miami's Design District, per my plentiful and raving reviews. When he came to work and saw me afterwards, his first and most important word was, "Dude," said with a tone that meant, "You were right, that food is amazing." The point he brought up was that Michael Schwartz makes food that people want to eat, which, in the restaurant and general food business seems like all too easy of a goal or accomplishment. Considering the amount of restaurants that go belly-up every year for whatever reason, though, making food that people want to eat begins to seem less obvious and like more of a chore. Plus, there's the fact that food and taste is rather subjective and trends play such a role in what we consume that what people want to eat today may be the cause for a new diet tomorrow. So, when looking at what makes a place like Michael's so good, simply saying that he makes good food doesn't really give us an answer.
My second reason for having yet to discover the secret to a good restaurant is that I haven't eaten at enough yet, in enough places, to find an answer. Until about eight months ago when I started culinary school and really began focusing on food and flavor, I didn't put much thought into what I was eating beyond whether or not I was paying a fair price for food that tasted good. Coincidentally, it was before I returned to the United States and started culinary school that I lived and traveled through various countries in Europe and South America, all the while eating in places that I still remember to this day as being good. Certain places stick out in my mind as places I would and will return to in the future to enjoy another delicious meal, while others are nothing more than a distant memory of an establishment offering something food-related to fill my stomach. So I don't necessarily believe that the credentials of being a certified culinarian or professional foodie will help me answer my question, because I could have told you back then that I did or didn't like something and why. Even if I were given an unlimited budget and a year to eat my way across the planet, trying everything from neighborhood favorites to world-renowned cuisine, I would still probably fall short of a clear definition of a good restaurant.
Basically, I need to just keep eating. I need to keep talking with others, exploring flavors, getting opnions and developing my own before I can say what makes a good restaurant good. And that's the point of this blog, my mounting credit card debt, my attendance at culinary school (even though I learn a great deal more at work)--I want to know. I'm setting myself up for a life's work of cooking my own food, eating others', travelling, exploring and discovering. Essentially, I'm looking for what's good.
Patrick Hieger
1 comment:
If I had to define "art" for it's finding a new way to say the same old thing. Has anyone ever said "war" like Picasso did with Guernica? Has anyone ever whispered "love" like Shakepeare? They are tired words, but they can be expressed with many colors.
Food, at its most beautiful, is art. A good restaurant for me is one that says "food" in ways one has never heard before. Combining odd flavors : the cabbage and kiwi salad I ate at the Brazilian place on Manuel Montt. This restaurant says FOOD is creation, poetry.
Other places occupy all of your senses, like Los Buenos Muchachos: the sight of traditional dance, smell of grilled meat, the sixth sense of friendship as families laugh and chatter around you--Here food is entertainment.
Even the restaurants in La Vega, dirty and devoid of culinary character, are enveloped in art because they remind us that food is lovely when prepared by overweight ladies and amid the clatter of vendors and the smell of cilantro. These locales scream "FOOD" like an insult, like it's the last word they'll ever breathe. (And they drop the final "d", in traditional Chilean style---FOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!)
:-)
I'm so happy to see you diving into the art of nourishment, because I know you'll say Food with myriad tone and accent.
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