Americans insulted for their "fake" love of "ethnic" foods / restaurants

[Jingthing]

I am posting this for discussion purposes, not because I fully agree with it. Which I definitely don't.

I think the author has said some grains of truth, but way too simplistically, and certainly not applying to all Americans that love "ethnic" foods and restaurants.

Some variables will be a person's EXPOSURE to actual examples of the particular cuisine as enjoyed by natives.

This can come from travel and/or being lucky enough to live in cities that have a large local population of that nationality and going to where they eat and eating what they eat!

The points about there being kind of a perceived nationality economic level /race aspect to what nationalities get labelled "ethnic" and which don't and how that changes over time is rather spot on.

Consider Americans don't consider Japanese food ethnic but do consider Thai food ethnic.

As far as the if it's spicy, it's authentic "ethnic" food, that hits home a little bit for me.

I happen to love very hot and spicy food but that doesn't mean I'm an idiot, as the article sort of implies.

You'd have to quite uneducated to think that all Indian, Thai, Mexican food dishes are even supposed to be spicy!

As far as American consumers demanding that "ethnic" food cost less than similar ingredients in say a French dish, that's obviously true, and I can see how that's a problem for restaurants and how they might need to cut corners on authenticity.

But then again, over time people can get educated if they want.

For example, Chinese.

Sure, there is a cheap Chinese American slop.

But if you live in an area with lots of Chinese Americans you can notice the places they go have much more AMAZING menu choices, higher quality ingredients, and yes, of course it's costs more. Are most Americans willing to pay for that even if they know? Perhaps not, but many are.

In my opinion, once you taste the real deal of an "exotic" nationality dish ... if you love food at all, you're hooked and you won't be satisfied with the one dimensional crapola the author suggests everyone is loving, just because it's spicy, or whatever.

A tactic I've used over the years as I've lived in various USA regions is to mostly go to "ethnic" restaurants where there is a large local population of people to support that. For example, in L.A. you will have no problem finding great authentic Mexican food that Mexicans love and in Silicon Valley you will have no problem finding very sophisticated Indian food that Indians love.

About Thai food, as there aren't many large Thai communities in the U.S., I lived in a few areas where it was great, and then one surprisingly big city where I found only one place popular with Thais and even that wasn't good enough for me. So I just didn't waste my money on Thai food in that city and ate other "ethnic" cuisines that were much better, because of the critical mass of the nationality thing.

Anyway, I thought this item was fun:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/04/22/the-great-ethnic-food-lie/

There is a lie we like to tell ourselves, a bending of the truth that permeates most of the food world in the West. We like burgers and fries, and other quintessentially American dishes, but we also love foreign cuisines, the vast and varied bucket of foods we rush to dub "ethnic."

Surely you have told someone that you adore curry, or that you like nothing better than a bowl of pad Thai. Admit it, you have thought, at one point or another, that an unfamiliar dish, whatever it was, was so spicy it must be authentic.

But behind our public enthusiasm for Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Korean, and the many other foreign cuisines that can be enjoyed in cities like New York, there is also private, and yet pronounced, form of bias, a subtle hypocrisy that suggests we think these foods are inferior.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Jingthing

[manarak]

I'm struggling to see a point in all this.

uneducated western people thinking they are superior and anything else coming from other cultures is inferior, including food. what's new in this worldview?

the same can be said about nationalistic japanese people and nationalistic thais by the way.

stupidity is universal.

[Jingthing]

Sure, there might be something universal in it.

But the article points out, and I think correctly, that in mass market American food worldview there is some kind of hierarchy in what national cuisines are viewed as worth shelling out big bucks for, and which ones are expected to be CHEAP but lots of price resistance even for middle level prices. For examples, French high cost, Vietnamese cheap.

Other countries may have a similar standard hierarchy but it's likely to be different than the U.S. view.

Edited April 23, 2016 by Jingthing

[rogeroc]

The talk of different cuisines being inferior doesn't even enter my mind but then i am from the UK. Perhaps it is an American thing.

[manarak]

Sure, there might be something universal in it.

But the article points out, and I think correctly, that in mass market American food worldview there is some kind of hierarchy in what national cuisines are viewed as worth shelling out big bucks for, and which ones are expected to be CHEAP but lots of price resistance even for middle level prices. For examples, French high cost, Vietnamese cheap.

Other countries may have a similar standard hierarchy but it's likely to be different than the U.S. view.

Hmmm... probably has to do with the "default quality level" at which the food is offered by restaurants on the market.

Which chef able to cook French food would offer basic cheap French dishes ?

gratin dauphinois, crêpes, flammekueche, hachis parmentier, assoulet, pot-au.feu, etc... all are cheap and easy to make ! but these aren't exactly the culinary summits that made French cuisine's reputation, nor would these attract the (normal) customers.

So a French restaurant will be default offer the more elaborate and expensive as opposed to the "ethnic" French dishes...

Difference with Vietnamese is that the dishes that made Vietnamese cuisine's reputation are the comparatively cheap dishes.

I'm sure Vietnamese cuisine also has some very much more elaborated dishes to offer that usually aren't on the standard Viet restaurant's menu. But these are only known to insiders, because Viet cuisine got its reputation from the cheap dishes.

If you want to eat "ethnic" French and overcooked, bitter-tasting vegetables are your thing, I'm sure you can find a French ethnic pot-au-feu somewhere... :-)

By the way, it's funny to see how the "dishes for the poor", in old times made from what the rich wouldn't eat, are being lauded.

Personally, I don't like most of these dishes and think they are an acquired taste.

Edited April 23, 2016 by manarak

[lannarebirth]

Unless you go to ethnic enclaves or are prepared to spend a lot of money a lot of the ethnic food, most partcularly Asian ethnic food is just terrible. You can get decent Mexican food almost anywhere in the West for really cheap prices though. Take Thai for example. Fully half of the Thai restaurants aren't even run by Thais. A lot of Vietnamese, Koreans and Chinese looking to expand their clientele are starting "Thai" restaurants now. And why? Because they're not really in the restaurant business, they're in the real estate business and they're just looking to create business entities that create income streams. The good ones they keep, the bad ones they sell on to buy more real estate.

And the food? Mostly awful. MSG laced Pho broth powder is the chief ingredient in what passes for "Pho" now. "Thai" restaurants serving Pad Khapow that's some zuchinni, celery, bell pepper, stir fry concoction . The heat scale goes to 5 and their 5 is my 2. They're actually afraid to give it to you spicy, mainly because a lot of so called restraunteurs don't even know what the dish is supposed to taste like. Sorta like the awful burgers you get in Thailand made by Thais. All they think they know is that whatever the dish is, that because you're American you'll want a lot of it so all kinds of inauthentic crap is used as fillers. It's a pretty bad scene.

[Jingthing]

I can't relate at all. I've only had Pho in the U.S. in Vietnamese areas with mostly Vietnamese customers. The broth was REAL. Also not expensive by U.S. standards. I had a Vietnamese American chef friend who explained the profit margins were still fantastic.

It's kind of my point. The article comes to a lot of firm conclusions. The reality on the ground is much more complex and also depends where you live in the U.S. and whether you're adventurous and curious enough to do the research to find the better stuff. Which often does exist for many "ethnic" cuisines in most big cities. Not just New York or S.F!

Edited April 23, 2016 by Jingthing

[arunsakda]

Makheua Phuang (the little flavourful pea sized things, Makheua Pro (the golf ball "eggplants") the fresh coriander leaf, so where is it ? Available at farmers market my friend!

I asked this to a Thai family running a small restaurant and takeout in one of the most expensive beach communities in Orange County, CA, inhabited mostly by rich white people. They laughed. "our customers don't need they just want chicken, pay another $4 for EXTRA chicken" ! (Their Gaeng Kiew Wan Gai is just a giant pile of sliced chicken breast lightly coated in green curry with a few sprigs of basil and red pepper slices). Clear they could put in more effort but it would increase the price and even though people in Corona del Mar can afford it the effort would be a waste.

I have been to some "upscale" Indian and Mexican restaurants in the SoCal area and they were always based on "scene", food being secondary to guys buying $16 dollar drinks at the bar chasing snatch. Problem with that is when a such place becomes passe' it is not sustainable. A famous restauranteur Danny Meyer opened "Tabla" (Indian) in NYC in the 1990's. Noted Indian musician Zakir Hussain personally told me personally it was dreck. Looks like it is closed now and there are many places called Tabla around the country now. Used to be an upscale Thai place at South Coast Plaza ten years ago, they certainly were not pulling $25-35 for entree plates. If that is what the author is talking about why so-called "Ethnic" food can't but French can, I'm not convinced the reason is completely based on Eurocentrism and bias. To get the profit premium you have to provide a scene, in location, and put value on the plate. Sushi does this with pricy imported fish shipped by air and the expensive Chinese with whole fish, and shellfish prepared to order and sold "market price".

Don't forget the solidified bird spit and sustainably farmed Japanese fish fins and abalone.

The author makes valid points here but may be a victim of Orientalism and own subtle bias. For example appearing to state that mediocre Japanese food in middle America is bad because it is cooked by Chinese. It is mediocre because it contains cheap ingredients prepared with little care. I agree that Japanese food followed a different trajectory in the US. The first restaurant with a sushi bar in NYC (Nippon) opened in 1963 on upper east side steps from Counsul General of Japan. Don't think it was intended for mass consumption, nor did anyone imagine that decades later "sushi" would be available at every Supermarket. Many of the uber-cool diners at Nobu in LA pay because of hype, it is "the place to be" and they don't have the experience to know what they are eating anyway. There are plenty of excellent places where food just as good is prepared by Japanese cooks in SoCal at reasonable prices, perhaps even more exclusive because they are smaller, may not take reservations, and you wait for a table standing outside in a strip-mall parking lot. I can tell everybody from experience once you get to the downstairs dining room at Nobu's "Matsuhisa Aspen" the food is no better than average Japanese food one can get anywhere, just more expensive. It is produced by recent culinary school grads all with piercings and some with Chefs Knife tattoos on their arms and served by Kids who are more interested in snowboarding and hustling for "tips" and know nothing of Japanese culture. Unfortunately for cooks, like my good friend, their labour is fungible. There are always jobs but here is no great money in the restaurant business unless one is a celebrity chef or has ownership rights making "profits", not wages.

So Americans will pay for the far flung "Branded" establisments of celebrity chefs in Vegas, etc, even though quality control suffers hugely and it is poor value. They will pay for very simple italian food (served in a bowl) because the "Trattoria" is trendy and located in a vineyard in Napa Valley. They will pay vast sums to eat pricy cuts of beef at so-called "Steakhouses", and order $500 wines on the company expense account. I'm not saying working the grill at Charlie Palmers is easy, but it is a basic skill and what does it come with fries and creamed spinach? Cafeteria food. Will Silicon Valley execs plan a business dinner at one of the expensive Chinese restaurants in the area? Perhaps in a private dining room, not on the main floor for sure, noisy and brightly lit with screaming brats running around, with no surgically enhanced tarted-up waitresses to flirt with.

Location, Scene, cuisine, in that order. Meanwhile the gluttons in middle America must fill their gullets several times a day and they want it cheap.

Edited April 25, 2016 by arunsakda

[rgs2001uk]

Isnt the OP the same guy who once said "authentic" Pat Thai was served with ketchup?

Probably coz he ate it in some "authentic" Thai place overseas before ever setting foot in Thailand.

[rgs2001uk]

PS, define authentic, I can eat poncified farangised Green Curry in a multitute of hotels etc in Bkk, it bears no resemblance to what I see the locals eating or what is being served at local markets.

Take one of the nations favourites, Tom Yam Gung, it has now evolved into something that bears no resemblance to its local regional variations.

Head to a local Thai restaurant and tell them you want mattsaman boran.

Frangised, with potatoes or without, with pumpkin or without, with peanuts or without, with garlic or without, with tomatoes or without.

Can someone please tell me apart from Southern Thailand, where I can get a decent plate of mattsaman.

[NeverSure]

Someone once pointed out to me that in America, the most popular foreign foods are "peasant" food. I think that's true. What we think of as Mexican or Chinese or Thai is what the normal people in those countries can grow or harvest locally. Even within the US I think that's true. New Orleans Cajun food can all be grown there or harvested from a river or swamp. The traditional foods change as you move to different climates.

In the most Southern parts of the US you can grow oranges, but only to the North, you can grow apples, peaches and pears - but not oranges. People develop recipes for what they have.

One of the things I like best about traveling is eating a great variety of food and yes, I think it's usually the local food of the masses.

Cheers.

[Jingthing]

Perhaps, but try to get a decent Cajun meal in L.A. for 10 dollars! Tacos? No problem.

[arunsakda]

I guess Tra Vigne closed too.

It was rustic food served in a Bowl.

http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2015/10/23/wine-country-classic-tra-vigne-to-close/

[Jingthing]

On the hot and spicy thing equals "authentic" thing of course it doesn't.

On the other hand, it's understandable how that perception came about.

When you're looking for "ethnic" dishes in the U.S. that are supposed to be hot and spicy, such as Pad Krapow, if you're served it bland and sugary because it's a place catering to more mainstream American tastes, it's reasonable to get a hot and spicy version and conclude that's more authentic. Because it is.

For people who love food and are curious, it doesn't even have to involve foreign travel. You can research specific dishes online and although you can't taste them there, you can easily learn something about general descriptions of the dishes.

Again, I think the article in the OP paints with a broad brush.

On the question of Indian, anyone with any kind of palate can tell single note dishes vs. complex spicing.

I've been to Indian buffets in Pattaya packed with Indians eating happily hot spice Indian dishes that have very basic one note (BORING) spicing.

I'm sure they know it's Indian version of slop but it's cheap and if they want ethereal stuff they would have to pay more for that in this local market. I reckon Americans are capable of learning that too.

I've been lucky with Indian in U.S. places I've lived.

The last city got a tip from an Indian and found this total dive in a gas station parking lot that does weekend buffets ... some of the most amazing Indian food I've ever tasted ... usually only Indians there. Ten dollars! The only problem is that sometimes they have dishes I won't eat ... such as goat FEET curry.

Obviously they could do it so cheap because it was in a gas station parking lot.

The article suggests you can't get decent "authentic" ethnic food in the U.S. for 10 dollars. I'll add some inflation and say 15 dollars now.

Well, it's not always easy to find, and it's true not every kind in every city ... but it's not as grim as he suggests.

To add, getting into the "food snob" factor. If many Americans are satisfied with the cheap one noted hot "ethnic" food and aren't aware there is much better stuff (which they might have to pay a lot more for) ... where exactly is the big harm? They're happy, those restaurants catering to them are staying in business, and if people learn there is better stuff and care enough to seek it out and often pay more ... that's great too.

It's like in Thailand, and the general false perception of Thai masses on what "farang" food is. Many like it, many don't, but most of it that they go for isn't really authentic. Again, so what? The Thais that care (and can pay) have options to eat better stuff here.

Edited April 26, 2016 by Jingthing

[Boon Mee]

Someone once pointed out to me that in America, the most popular foreign foods are "peasant" food. I think that's true. What we think of as Mexican or Chinese or Thai is what the normal people in those countries can grow or harvest locally. Even within the US I think that's true. New Orleans Cajun food can all be grown there or harvested from a river or swamp. The traditional foods change as you move to different climates.

In the most Southern parts of the US you can grow oranges, but only to the North, you can grow apples, peaches and pears - but not oranges. People develop recipes for what they have.

One of the things I like best about traveling is eating a great variety of food and yes, I think it's usually the local food of the masses.

Cheers.

Got that right.

Eat what you want and die like a man!

[mgjackson69]

Most "Thai" restaurants in USA are operated by Chinese, and the food is not really Thai food...more like Chinese with a bit more spice.

If I can go into a Thai restaurant in USA, and someone can speak to me in Thai, then it is worth a second look.

Otherwise, one and done.

[Jingthing]

Most "Thai" restaurants in USA are operated by Chinese, and the food is not really Thai food...more like Chinese with a bit more spice.

If I can go into a Thai restaurant in USA, and someone can speak to me in Thai, then it is worth a second look.

Otherwise, one and done.

Yes, that's true in some areas but not all. Also Koreans often run different kinds of Asian restaurants.

I don't recall any Thai places in the S.F. Bay Area that didn't have visible Thais. Of course there are probably Mexicans in most kitchens of any kind of larger restaurant.

Edited May 13, 2016 by Jingthing

[IMA_FARANG]

The talk of different cuisines being inferior doesn't even enter my mind but then i am from the UK. Perhaps it is an American thing.

-----------------------------

When you are in the U.K. do you ever go for a Donner?

You probably do not know that what you call a Donner in the U.K. comes from the Turkish term Adana Kebab which in Turkey simply means a Kebab in the style popular in the city of Adana, Tutkey.

[rogeroc]

Yes i really like Doner Kebab and i knew the origin was Turkey. My point was that i love many different cuisines and i have my favourites but i never look at one cuisine as being inferior. Mind you if all a country can offer up as a national dish are meat pies or burgers then maybe i should think again.

[Jingthing]

It's interesting that Donner is not a big thing in the U.S. Mexican is so much better and they even have Arab origin al pastor on a spit which is ironically pork.

[impulse]

For example, Chinese.

Sure, there is a cheap Chinese American slop.

But if you live in an area with lots of Chinese Americans you can notice the places they go have much more AMAZING menu choices, higher quality ingredients, and yes, of course it's costs more.

With very few exceptions, in order to make Chinese food more authentic, you'd have to make it out of the cheapest weeds and gristle that you can buy in the USA. That's 10 years of living and cooking and eating in China speaking. Their everyday cuisine still hasn't recovered from the famines when they ate whatever they could scrounge from the side of the road.

Of course, there are some excellent and some extremely expensive dishes, but they can be mutually exclusive. Some of the most expensive dishes gag me (pickled snake skin comes to mind), and some of the cheapest are a real treat.

Edited May 13, 2016 by impulse

[Jingthing]

I doubt you lived in Shanghai.

[Seizetheday]

Americans brought us MacDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC and Subway and many others, I'm not sure they are entitled to lecture anyone about food.

[Jingthing]

Americans brought us MacDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC and Subway and many others, I'm not sure they are entitled to lecture anyone about food.

So Americans are some kind of stereotyped monolith to you. I find your comment a cheap insult having zilch to do with the topic.

[impulse]

I doubt you lived in Shanghai.

Shanghai ain't the real China any more than The EmQuarter is the real Thailand.. It's 15 years ahead of Beijing in westernization, and Beijing is 10 years ahead of the tiny little suburb of 12 million people where I lived.

Shanghai, a lot of Beijing and some other popular tourist areas are like a movie set on display to give the impression of a modern environment. But just like a movie set, go a few miles in any direction and you're in the sticks with mud roads, no toilets, and chicken feet on the dinner table.

Edited May 13, 2016 by impulse

[Jingthing]

Thanks for sharing. I think most people get the point. If you wanted authentic American in Europe you wouldn't be seeking tuna casserole made with Campbell's soup but something more refined. They also wouldn't be looking for roadkill stew!

Edited May 13, 2016 by Jingthing

[Ireland32]

Makheua Phuang (the little flavourful pea sized things, Makheua Pro (the golf ball "eggplants") the fresh coriander leaf, so where is it ? Available at farmers market my friend!

I asked this to a Thai family running a small restaurant and takeout in one of the most expensive beach communities in Orange County, CA, inhabited mostly by rich white people. They laughed. "our customers don't need they just want chicken, pay another $4 for EXTRA chicken" ! (Their Gaeng Kiew Wan Gai is just a giant pile of sliced chicken breast lightly coated in green curry with a few sprigs of basil and red pepper slices). Clear they could put in more effort but it would increase the price and even though people in Corona del Mar can afford it the effort would be a waste.

I have been to some "upscale" Indian and Mexican restaurants in the SoCal area and they were always based on "scene", food being secondary to guys buying $16 dollar drinks at the bar chasing snatch. Problem with that is when a such place becomes passe' it is not sustainable. A famous restauranteur Danny Meyer opened "Tabla" (Indian) in NYC in the 1990's. Noted Indian musician Zakir Hussain personally told me personally it was dreck. Looks like it is closed now and there are many places called Tabla around the country now. Used to be an upscale Thai place at South Coast Plaza ten years ago, they certainly were not pulling $25-35 for entree plates. If that is what the author is talking about why so-called "Ethnic" food can't but French can, I'm not convinced the reason is completely based on Eurocentrism and bias. To get the profit premium you have to provide a scene, in location, and put value on the plate. Sushi does this with pricy imported fish shipped by air and the expensive Chinese with whole fish, and shellfish prepared to order and sold "market price".

Don't forget the solidified bird spit and sustainably farmed Japanese fish fins and abalone.

The author makes valid points here but may be a victim of Orientalism and own subtle bias. For example appearing to state that mediocre Japanese food in middle America is bad because it is cooked by Chinese. It is mediocre because it contains cheap ingredients prepared with little care. I agree that Japanese food followed a different trajectory in the US. The first restaurant with a sushi bar in NYC (Nippon) opened in 1963 on upper east side steps from Counsul General of Japan. Don't think it was intended for mass consumption, nor did anyone imagine that decades later "sushi" would be available at every Supermarket. Many of the uber-cool diners at Nobu in LA pay because of hype, it is "the place to be" and they don't have the experience to know what they are eating anyway. There are plenty of excellent places where food just as good is prepared by Japanese cooks in SoCal at reasonable prices, perhaps even more exclusive because they are smaller, may not take reservations, and you wait for a table standing outside in a strip-mall parking lot. I can tell everybody from experience once you get to the downstairs dining room at Nobu's "Matsuhisa Aspen" the food is no better than average Japanese food one can get anywhere, just more expensive. It is produced by recent culinary school grads all with piercings and some with Chefs Knife tattoos on their arms and served by Kids who are more interested in snowboarding and hustling for "tips" and know nothing of Japanese culture. Unfortunately for cooks, like my good friend, their labour is fungible. There are always jobs but here is no great money in the restaurant business unless one is a celebrity chef or has ownership rights making "profits", not wages.

So Americans will pay for the far flung "Branded" establisments of celebrity chefs in Vegas, etc, even though quality control suffers hugely and it is poor value. They will pay for very simple italian food (served in a bowl) because the "Trattoria" is trendy and located in a vineyard in Napa Valley. They will pay vast sums to eat pricy cuts of beef at so-called "Steakhouses", and order $500 wines on the company expense account. I'm not saying working the grill at Charlie Palmers is easy, but it is a basic skill and what does it come with fries and creamed spinach? Cafeteria food. Will Silicon Valley execs plan a business dinner at one of the expensive Chinese restaurants in the area? Perhaps in a private dining room, not on the main floor for sure, noisy and brightly lit with screaming brats running around, with no surgically enhanced tarted-up waitresses to flirt with.

Location, Scene, cuisine, in that order. Meanwhile the gluttons in middle America must fill their gullets several times a day and they want it cheap.[/quote. Javier's did you like it ?

[rogeroc]

Seizetheday, on 13 May 2016 - 13:11, said:

Americans brought us MacDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC and Subway and many others, I'm not sure they are entitled to lecture anyone about food.

So Americans are some kind of stereotyped monolith to you. I find your comment a cheap insult having zilch to do with the topic.

Regrettably yes i think they very often are. I think the article demonstrates what is actually to many Europeans quite a strange attitude. America has no history of good cuisine but considers countries that do (especially if they have dark skinned people) to be inferior. So tell me what delightful cuisine has the US ever brought to this planet?. I have lived in London (possibly the most multi cultural city in the world) and have enjoyed great Chinese, Thai,Japanese, French ,Italian, Persian Greek, Carribean, even English food. Oh not to mention i think i found one or two American places that sold me a cheap lousy burger!! Maybe that could assist you in understanding 'seizetheday's 'comment

"Enjoy each

[arunsakda]

Makheua Phuang (the little flavourful pea sized things, Makheua Pro (the golf ball "eggplants") the fresh coriander leaf, so where is it ? Available at farmers market my friend!

I asked this to a Thai family running a small restaurant and takeout in one of the most expensive beach communities in Orange County, CA, inhabited mostly by rich white people. They laughed. "our customers don't need they just want chicken, pay another $4 for EXTRA chicken" ! (Their Gaeng Kiew Wan Gai is just a giant pile of sliced chicken breast lightly coated in green curry with a few sprigs of basil and red pepper slices). Clear they could put in more effort but it would increase the price and even though people in Corona del Mar can afford it the effort would be a waste.

I have been to some "upscale" Indian and Mexican restaurants in the SoCal area and they were always based on "scene", food being secondary to guys buying $16 dollar drinks at the bar chasing snatch. Problem with that is when a such place becomes passe' it is not sustainable. A famous restauranteur Danny Meyer opened "Tabla" (Indian) in NYC in the 1990's. Noted Indian musician Zakir Hussain personally told me personally it was dreck. Looks like it is closed now and there are many places called Tabla around the country now. Used to be an upscale Thai place at South Coast Plaza ten years ago, they certainly were not pulling $25-35 for entree plates. If that is what the author is talking about why so-called "Ethnic" food can't but French can, I'm not convinced the reason is completely based on Eurocentrism and bias. To get the profit premium you have to provide a scene, in location, and put value on the plate. Sushi does this with pricy imported fish shipped by air and the expensive Chinese with whole fish, and shellfish prepared to order and sold "market price".

Don't forget the solidified bird spit and sustainably farmed Japanese fish fins and abalone.

The author makes valid points here but may be a victim of Orientalism and own subtle bias. For example appearing to state that mediocre Japanese food in middle America is bad because it is cooked by Chinese. It is mediocre because it contains cheap ingredients prepared with little care. I agree that Japanese food followed a different trajectory in the US. The first restaurant with a sushi bar in NYC (Nippon) opened in 1963 on upper east side steps from Counsul General of Japan. Don't think it was intended for mass consumption, nor did anyone imagine that decades later "sushi" would be available at every Supermarket. Many of the uber-cool diners at Nobu in LA pay because of hype, it is "the place to be" and they don't have the experience to know what they are eating anyway. There are plenty of excellent places where food just as good is prepared by Japanese cooks in SoCal at reasonable prices, perhaps even more exclusive because they are smaller, may not take reservations, and you wait for a table standing outside in a strip-mall parking lot. I can tell everybody from experience once you get to the downstairs dining room at Nobu's "Matsuhisa Aspen" the food is no better than average Japanese food one can get anywhere, just more expensive. It is produced by recent culinary school grads all with piercings and some with Chefs Knife tattoos on their arms and served by Kids who are more interested in snowboarding and hustling for "tips" and know nothing of Japanese culture. Unfortunately for cooks, like my good friend, their labour is fungible. There are always jobs but here is no great money in the restaurant business unless one is a celebrity chef or has ownership rights making "profits", not wages.

So Americans will pay for the far flung "Branded" establisments of celebrity chefs in Vegas, etc, even though quality control suffers hugely and it is poor value. They will pay for very simple italian food (served in a bowl) because the "Trattoria" is trendy and located in a vineyard in Napa Valley. They will pay vast sums to eat pricy cuts of beef at so-called "Steakhouses", and order $500 wines on the company expense account. I'm not saying working the grill at Charlie Palmers is easy, but it is a basic skill and what does it come with fries and creamed spinach? Cafeteria food. Will Silicon Valley execs plan a business dinner at one of the expensive Chinese restaurants in the area? Perhaps in a private dining room, not on the main floor for sure, noisy and brightly lit with screaming brats running around, with no surgically enhanced tarted-up waitresses to flirt with.

Location, Scene, cuisine, in that order. Meanwhile the gluttons in middle America must fill their gullets several times a day and they want it cheap.[/quote. Javier's did you like it ?

Nothing wrong with the food at Javier's.

At the bar this girl I tried talking to me asked "What do you drive?", literally one of the first things out of her mouth. I told her I did not believe in the personal ownership of internal combustion engines. (Another girl in LA asked me that one other time, but sure she was joking). Totally shallow and materialistic airheads plus gold diggers that make Isaarn whoors look amateurish.

Edited May 16, 2016 by arunsakda