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thecandlelab wrote >>
I think you're overthinking the concept behind the restaurant. On one hand, there seems to be concerns that the organic/sustainable/green elements aren't highlighted on the menu, but then you seem to judge them by those standards anyway. ...
Set aside the concept and go in with an open mind, and you're likely to enjoy some really good food.
...?
I'm really trying to wrap my head around this comment, and I just don't understand it. It sounds like you're saying, "Don't judge the food as if it were organic, sustainable, etc., and you'll enjoy it." But doesn't that amount to saying, "Start with the premise that the owner is lying about all that stuff, and lower your expectations accordingly. Once you've done that, the food is great"?
I'm not saying the owner's lying. I explicitly wrote that rewriting the menus could make a good case for the restaurant's progressive values, without doing anything else. And even if that were the case, Michael's point about them not getting a pass is spot on. The higher prices are justified explicitly with reference to "all that stuff." So why order the $19 tuna salad, if you don't believe the owner?
As to the larger point, I seem to have conveyed the impression that, when I'm eating a chicken, I'm thinking about how organic-y it tastes. Nope. I've got a menu that reads like something out of Michael Pollan, so while I'm thinking about what to order, I'm naturally curious. I ask some questions (and get some unusual answers). I start to think about how the Pollan-esque boilerplate jibes with the wine list. Hey, I'm a curious guy. But when the plate arrives? How good is it -- that's what I want to know. And I did evaluate it on its culinary merits, or at least, I did my level best.
That's not to say that the two are unrelated. As Drew pointed out, one bedrock claim of the progressive food movement is that the stuff tastes better, and that comes out in Kevin's CU interview. He comes across as someone obsessed in his quest for the best -- only olive oil will do for the salads! PEI mussels aren't good enough, let's source them from a small fisherman in Maine! Little foodie dreams are made of stuff like this -- when I read it, I thought, "I have got to taste some of the stuff that he's sourcing -- it sounds amazing!" And usually, when I go out of my way to try some food that someone's taken particular care in sourcing and producing, the difference between that and ordinary fare is like night and day. Was it here? Not really, no.
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