I’m really enjoying Foodspotting these days now that it’s getting more popular. You just upload your photo, tell the site what the dish is and what restaurant it’s from, and people “nom” it if they’ve had it or want to have it. There’s also a “Great Shot!” button that I use to encourage people who understand that it’s not okay to use a flash when they’re dining out. It’s a really great site for those of us who appreciate food but don’t get any recognition because we don’t do any cooking of our own.
But today, while I was busy nomming the borscht at Veselka and the pork soup dumplings at Joe’s Shanghai, I saw this photo from someone’s visit to Locanda Verde (which Robert De Niro has a stake in, if that sort of thing matters to you):
And then I read this in the New York Times review of Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s new venture, the Mark Restaurant:
Local burghers sit in the dining rooms alongside tight-faced matrons in vintage Halston, younger ones in diamonds and black pencil skirts. There are senior partners from white-shoe firms; publishing tycoons; one of the city’s premier public relations men, fiddling with an immense gold ring.
Flash photograph, tongue out, possible devil horns on right side? Diamonds, gold, and vintage Halston? Is it any wonder I feel so out of place at most of the places I eat? I know it’s elitist to assume I’m the only one eating at these restaurants and appreciating the food, and I know it’s elitist to be glad that high prices keep out tourists and babies, but it’s sad that high prices also make restaurants targets for rich people who go just because they can.
Note: my favourite Foodspotting user is definitely LUNCH. Check out their photos and blog.
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