I do dig this, thanks for sharing it. It's a nice little dose of reality, I think. Not everyone can make it to the high-end restaurants of the gastronomic capitals, which for most people are an occasional treat, if that. I really love food, but again, this whole "foodie" (man, I really hate that word) thing, while it has certainly done a lot to increase the overall expectations of what dining out in America should be like, has also made people lose their fucking minds, at least a little.

I have a friend who's a chef and a pretty solid one too. No, he hasn't cooked at any place I would expect people to have heard of, but he has good technique, his food is tasty and he can sell you a $25 and leave you feeling happier for having paid for it. You know what he eats on his day off? Wonderbread grilled cheese (Kraft singles w/French's yellow mustard) and Campbell's tomato soup. Why? It's good. It's simple. He doesn't have to think about it. Plus, he's a real person and in America, those are the kinds of things ordinary Americans have eaten for years.

There's a difference between enjoyment and hedonism and much as I love food, right now it looks like people are using it the way they use drugs or material possessions to display wealth and give the impression that they too, have good taste, are taste makers, are important. Unfortunately, a lot of little mom and pop restaurants where people would go to get a decent, cheap meal are suffering because of this. Just the other day, I went to a place I used to go to in high school. Basically, it was a coffee shop that also served full breakfasts and lunch. Now they have a dinner menu, everything comes with aioli and pesto and other "cheffy" touches. Just gimme a decent BLT for $4 and I'll come more often. Sometimes I don't want apple wood smoked, artisinal bacon on farm style whole white bread with house mayo, microgreens and heirloom tomatoes served with handcut potato chips and pickles from the guy that sells $15 jars of pickles. Twelve goddamn dollars.

I just think we all need to chill out on the food thing. Not everything has to blow your mind every single time. It creates crazy high expectations and inevitable disappointment and boredom. Part of the broader food movement is sustainability and responsibility and how can that happen when people are mainlining $20 salads, hand tossed by Jesus H. Christ himself?