At what point does fine dining begin to lose its luster? When do totemic luxury ingredients begin to taste the same? And why—up until a certain point—do tasting menus pale in comparison to fast food?
Critical Philosophy
Thoughts on the future of restaurant criticism and its intersection with video game criticism.
While OAD’s survey-based rankings offer a valuable counterpoint to fine dining’s entrenched powers, the organization’s legitimization of social media self-aggrandizement represents the very peak of competitive conspicuous consumption. Chefs who cater to this globetrotting cabal do so to the detriment of their own communities, impeding the development of an inclusive, distinctive regional taste.
Diversity, the death of insight, and the necessity of playing nice.
The “enlightened” fine diner’s goal, when all is said and done, has little to do with fulfilling personal pleasure. Their goal should be an appreciation of an establishment’s distinction–relative to any other place in the world–through understanding what is done and why.
If critics of the screen and stage can single out individual actors for praise and criticism, then why can’t restaurant critics?
I used to be a star-chaser like you. That is, drawn to stellar bodies of the bibendous kind…
I sit here now, a rain-speckled afternoon in the third week of October, reflecting on just why I chose to develop this online journal…