04.18.2007

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Postmodern Dining: Meet The Authenticos

A Tinderbox Commentary

Just when many were beginning to wonder if "it's all been done before," the past few years have witnessed wildly unexpected developments in the restaurant world. Specifically, there has been a concerted effort on behalf of serious food fans, chefs and restaurateurs to transform the fine dining experience into a more focused, intellectual food experience.

Frustrated at the perceived pretense traditionally accompanying fine dining occasions - the romance, the "there to be seen crowd," the business deals and the "clueless rubes" out to celebrate special occasions - serious food devotees and professionals alike are joining forces to elevate the food to center stage. In the process, they are turning what was once an occasion for casual enjoyment, indulgence, romance or celebration into a focused celebration of the food itself.

In this new world order, where the food is elevated to spiritual sacrament, we mortals become subjugated to its otherworldly powers. Increasingly, we find ourselves complicit in its (the foods) demands that we reimagine food in entirely different contexts and forms. So for those seeking sophisticated dining experiences, eating has become (very) serious work.

In this, the first of a two-part series on postmodern dining, we will consider one end of this "continuum of reimagination" by looking carefully at the Authenticos, those obsessed with the authenticity of the dining experience. By contrast, the second entry in this series will look at the other side of the coin, the revisionists interested in what has been dubbed "molecular gastronomy," by food writers and analysts.

The Authenticos

Beginning in the 1990s, those interested in elevated fine dining experiences - food fans, writers, wine fans and chefs alike - were growing increasingly frustrated at the opportunities to engage food in a more focused setting. Diners complained of fellow patrons who were crowding rooms "just to be seen." Wine enthusiasts complained that too many restaurant patrons were wearing heavy doses of cologne (a clear "no no" in the wine world). And chefs joined the chorus, complaining that the need to design menus to accommodate "irrational food obsessions" (lactose intolerance, food allergies, etc.) kept them from producing the kind of soulful food they had dreamed of offering.

As a result, food and wine folks began to plan special invitation-only dinners. These small affairs, often staged on Monday nights when restaurants are closed to the public, gave chefs the latitude to "stretch out and be adventurous" for an intimate crowd of like-minded foodies who sought a more focused, authentic food experience. The diners, seated around large tables, found the conversations more lively, the interactions more warm and the food more, well, real. Suddenly it became clear to all present that the problem with contemporary dining was that the model was set up to serve picky eaters who were more interested in controlling their experience and dining in isolation than actually experiencing food the way it was meant to be experienced: to be shared humbly, in a natural social setting with like-minded people.

Shortly after the turn of the millennia, another development emerged. Led by the success of Ghetto Gourmet in San Francisco and Austin's Supper Underground, chefs in major cities across the US began abandoning their physical buildings and kitchens altogether and experimenting with so-called "underground" restaurants.

The idea here was to extend on the original impulse and hold secretive, invitation-only dinners in a rotating series of private residences or other non food-specific sites (bowling alleys, warehouses, etc.). One such organization in Seattle (Gypsy) consists of nothing more than an e-mail address (apply@gypsydinners.com), whereby guests are invited to apply and, once accepted, receive an email advertising a fixed-price meal on a specific date, taking place at a private residence. Potential diners have less than 24 hours to reply and reserve a spot, though they have no idea who will be cooking, what will be served or who they may be dining with. According to the emerging Authentico spirit, this is dinner at its finest. Sans crowds of picky eaters, pretentious settings and glorious dress, diners pile into a home, a back room or even abandoned basements to wallow in the most authentic of food experiences - the humble, communal, home-cooked meal.

Michael Hebberoy created one of the most successful underground restaurants, Portland's Family Supper. In fact, it grew so popular it was eventually shut down by authorities (health inspectors don't like chefs cooking in non-commercial kitchens). He was also the owner of the wildly successful commercial restaurant ClarkLewis.

Hebberoy, author of the upcoming book Kill the Restaurant, now heads an organization called One Pot in Seattle. His mission it to take the underground restaurant concept even further underground - so underground that most will not even know of its existence. To quote from his highly charged manifesto:

"...My little corporate one pot world headquarters in Seattle, Washington will be hosting dinners in various locations - some open to the public and listed here, some deeply private and not listed anywhere, where we cook one simple thing in one simple pot and serve it to a group of god-fearing bipeds.

The bottom line here is that the Authentico spirit represents one end on a continuum - a climate of opinion that holds that in order to achieve the most compelling food experiences possible, we must first reimagine fine dining to correct for all of its pretense. We must return the meal to its rightful place - the home - where it can be shared in a (truly) intimate, social setting.

Make no mistake, this is work. Hard work. But for the growing number of customers interested in the finest food experiences, the end result more than justifies the effort.

So what does this mean for ordinary folks?

While some might be tempted to scoff at the relative obscurity (or absurdity) of this trend, the thing we must understand is that elements of this spirit pervade the entirety of contemporary dining experiences and can be seen a growing series of important developments in the industry. Just to highlight a few...

• A growing number of restaurants strive only to seat each of the tables in their dining room once per evening. After all, to try and manage a dining room for greater turn-over might result in a rushed, less relaxed food experience.

• Increasingly, chefs are returning to very limited or fixed-price menus with a set number of pre-determined courses. In part this allows kitchen to focus their attentions, but it is also a result of a growing belief that the customer should not derail the food experience with their picky eating habits. As one chef noted, "If you feel the need to carefully monitor the kinds of foods you eat, you probably shouldn't dine at my restaurant."

• Many restaurants are abandoning reservation policies for parties of less than 6 to 8 and then finding that they are able to fill the restaurant, well in advance, with large parties. The goal, of course, is to replicate something more akin to a communal family dining experience and chip away at the traditional practice of dining as couples.

• Increasingly many new fine dining restaurants are abandoning two-top and four-top tables in favor of long, communal tables seating 8 to 40 (or more). As one restaurateur we spoke with quipped,

  "I believe the implicit goal among many of my peers could not be more clear: To destroy the notion of dining as a couple or as two couples. This is not about keeping safely within the customer's comfort range, it's about giving them a real experience, something they should have been getting all along. Somewhere the restaurant industry lost its way."

• Most interestingly, as these developments trickle out into the mainstream, we are also seeing similar behaviors with regard to more frequent, "ordinary" dining occasions. For example, we are finding that consumers are increasingly fond of bypassing quick-serve restaurants and fast-casual dining options and choosing, instead, to assemble a meal from the fresh and prepared food offerings of their local grocer before returning home to consume their meal in a communal setting. This is precisely the same behavior as witnessed with the Authenticos, albeit on more mundane, everyday settings.

The bottom line here is that the emerging Authentico spirit represents one of the most fundamental, and least understood, trends that has the potential to transform the restaurant industry in ways few of us can yet imagine. And while its initial impacts may appear relegated to a core set of fanatical food fans, we believe the actual influence is much more widespread and pervasive than most realize.