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For some, food is an adventure. There are people who try new dishes at every turn, constantly seeking new experiences. There are others who enjoy familiarity, they play it safe with comfort foods. I’m typically a member of the former, though lately my mindset has shifted. I’ve been getting cozy with foods that I know, whether it’s enjoying cooking at home, or dining on more casual foods. Am I the only one?
Last Monday I ate at Resto, a relaxed Belgian restaurant in Manhattan that boasts an extensive beer list and classic dishes like moules & frites and deviled eggs. I had the most divine cheeseburger I’ve ever had. The burger was a mixture of beef cheek, hanger steak, and fatback (pork fatty goodness) served with crisp fries and a choice of mayo dipping sauces. On a Monday evening, cozy Resto was nearly full, no small feat for a restaurant at any time of year, especially in these times.
Another restaurant was on my radar, The Redhead, in the East Village, famous for its “bacon brittle” and fried chicken. I planned on detailing my experiece there, only to find that they had a two hour wait at 8:30 on the Friday we arrived. With some of the stories I’ve heard about empty dining rooms at upscale places, it seems people are making a shift. Perhaps my point has been proven for me?
These days, I’m less excited about going to a stuffy restaurant where the focus can be too much on pretense and less on amiability. Save the foam infusions and caviar on toast points for another time. Lately it’s all about a beautifully crafted cheeseburger, a hearty bowl of soup, or fresh roasted vegetables. I don’t want to worry about how hip my outfit is. It feels like we have bigger fish to fry these days (or maybe fries to fry?).
These warm, indulgent comfort foods are something we can cling to in uneasy times. Even if you aren’t taking comfort in the new era upon us with today’s inauguration, the comfort of a juicy cheeseburger is tangible and within reach. While I am by no means calling for us all to boost our fat intake (save the Luther burger for Paula Dean), we can treat ourselves once in awhile. You deserve it.
Have you been cozying up to your food lately? How have your eating patterns shifted this year, if at all?
Filed under: Food Trends
1 Comment
January 29th, 2009 at 3:37:32 AM
Erika
The food industry and all the literature that follows (and/or leads it) is what essentially dictates what we all eat. Just like the fashion industry, we don’t even realize that we are not making the trends, just following them. Food styles like clothing, go back and forth-in the 70′s we had all that upscale plated perfection which held throught the 80′s, then in the 90′s and double 00′s we start getting weird fusion and infusion and foams-then all of a sudden, we are just so sick of it all we want to go back to basics , back to the rustic food that our grandparents brought back from the old country, back to 50′s comfort-back to a safety net (and i am sure some will tie that into the economy and wanting to feel safe, get value for the food etc). The media picks up on this vibe and all of a sudden the new hot restaurant in town is the home style hungarian stew place with great flavor and no ambiance.
you are not alone in your quest for comfort, simplicity and rusticity. Tied into that is the whole locally grown, knowing the origin, fork to plate, eating no further then 10 miles from where you live concept-which is why all of a sudden we all crave that authentic burger made from cows that were mooing in a field in Long Island (or in my case, Marin County) and we like it when the restaurants show us polaroids of happy cows roaming in the fields and start getting all teary eyed like Sally Struthers, telling us that we can adopt a cow as well!
Whats old is new and what is new is old. I think we are going to soon be seeing more rustic french bistro food (not stuffy french food) and home style Mediterranean dishes from Morocco, Turkey and Greece. We crave the intense flavors and we are tired of the overpriced nonsense.