Food for Thought – the Return of Mega-Restaurant
I’ve been tinkering with a longer piece on this, but work and studying have been running my life a little too much in the last months hence the lull. I also refuse to post anything inconsequential, so voila – a big, gaping hole in my posting. I didn’t think anyone cared, until a voice from the past brought it up to me a few days ago. “You haven’t posted in months,” he said.
‘Tis true.
In any case, living in New York and being fortunate to eat some of the most exotic food without having to so much as take a taxi, since everything is so close, I take a keen interest in following the new restaurant openings. What I’ve been observing for the past year (at least), along with 80s fashion revival, has been the 80s restaurant revival. Gargantuan, ostentatious, impersonal restaurants opened by large names who have otherwise established themselves either in New York or elsewhere (I’m speaking to you Buddakhan). These restaurants are impeccably, often ingeniously, decorated. Nothing is out of place. The lighting is subdued. The furniture – muted. Plates – geometric, white, simple.
But what seems to be missing from these larger-than-life, in-your-face places is the intimacy of a simple meal with friends. Everything, it seems, is a production, including which friends you go with there.
So at the moment, I’m mulling over a longer piece on the return of the 80s dining. Feel free to add your own thoughts while I polish off the real piece on it.
