i am a country bumpkin

Yes, I Wear Flip-Flops to Expensive Restaurants, but

April 30, 2010

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.

7 Comments

  • Kim

    April 30, 2010 at 12:54 pm

    My mom has this vintage black silk Halston minidress from her late teen years in her closet that I’ve been trying to starve myself to fit into my entire adult life.

    Which is a weird thing to say on a food blog, but, um, you started it.

    • plumpdumpling

      May 4, 2010 at 12:45 pm

      Who was wearing Halston as a teen?! I’m, like, barely even wearing GAP as an adult.

      I don’t approve of starving yourself, but I’m fully on board for purging. Just in case you were on the fence.

      • Kim

        May 5, 2010 at 12:57 pm

        Hi, MamaKim is EXACTLY what you imagine her to be, trust.

        Also, purging? No way. Obviously shiny perfect teeth are my runner-up aspiration to shiny perfect hair. I’m going with smelling of food, occasional small bites of food, and demanding detailed descriptions of food from my foodie friends as my techniques. The last probably while I watch Renaissance porn (with like, clean, groomed present-day stars, of course).

  • Tracey

    April 30, 2010 at 7:39 pm

    Do you think its impossible for someone who appears that douchey to also be a foodie? I’m not convinced that those two things are mutually exclusive.

    • plumpdumpling

      May 4, 2010 at 12:50 pm

      Let’s put it this way: I’ve never seen anyone douchey getting out his camera at a restaurant. And I’ve never seen any douchey self-portraits of foodbloggers.

      Actually, maybe I just have a bias against men. Because I’ve seen plenty of female foodbloggers who post super-sexy photos of themselves, and that doesn’t affect how I think they approach food.

      Although maybe that’s because I think of food as very sensual (I hate that word) and not at all douchey.