Eating out can be a joy and also a disaster! I have been writing reviews about restaurants around the world for over 25 years and have met the good, the bad and the very ugly. Sometimes great chefs give up the quality of their cuisine because of the demands of their unknowledgeable diners but others stick to their integrity.
- My study of Nutrition and Food cultures
- Wholesale Food Markets around the world
- Oldways Symposium..Bovine Growth Hormones, GMO's....
- As a Restaurant Reviewer
- Chefs on the 'Ball'..at the mercy of unknowledgable diners
- credits
My study of Nutrition and Food cultures
I have been a restaurant writer for over 30 years and have met many people who call themselves restaurateurs, chefs de cuisine etc etc. Today I find it rather interesting sitting on opposite sides of the table...me writing about you you serving me up all kinds of foods. Now to all intents and purposes you may be thinking well who she to have opinions and sometimes judgements about the food we serve. And in some ways I agree with that but my opinions are based on knowledge as I have studied food for the past 30 years. My judgements are based on those who call themselves restaurateurs but do not live up to that.
Now there are those who are very knowledgeable professional people who have studied the intricate forms of cuisine, management, service and professionalism and those I acknowledge wholeheartedly.
I, too, have for many years studied nutrition and health and having grown up in the UK and Europe learned about quality versus quantity, food combining and presentation. As a professional International Food, Wine and Travel Writer, I have visited many countries, studied their food culture, crops and all the things that lead up to putting a plate in front of a customer.
Now there are those who are very knowledgeable professional people who have studied the intricate forms of cuisine, management, service and professionalism and those I acknowledge wholeheartedly.
I, too, have for many years studied nutrition and health and having grown up in the UK and Europe learned about quality versus quantity, food combining and presentation. As a professional International Food, Wine and Travel Writer, I have visited many countries, studied their food culture, crops and all the things that lead up to putting a plate in front of a customer.
Wholesale Food Markets around the world
It was a fascinating experience to visit the wholesale food markets in places like Casablanca, Tangiers, Southwark and Provence and marvel at the incredible displays of fresh fruits and vegetables. My husband was an agronomist and I visited with him farmlands in Egypt, markets in Tunis and small cities throughout the middle East. All these gave me a deeper perception about quality and freshness.
Oldways Symposium..Bovine Growth Hormones, GMO's....
I was invited to an Oldways Symposium some years back on the Mediterranean Diet. It was held in San Francisco and I stood up to ask the debating board why 99.9% of the food stuffs here in the USA were grown on supermarket shelves instead of being left to ripen in the fields naturally. Why so much of the food is processed and dead before it even reaches the mouths of people. Of course no one could answer except for the answer we all know....GREED and MONEY.
Now the Bovine Growth Hormone and genetically modified foodstuffs produced by Monsanto flood the markets and are invasive in our markets. These chemically produced foods are causing many types of behavioral aberrations.
You may ask what this has to do with me. I guess nothing unless you care as I do what people put in their mouths. Buying fresh organically grown foods and non-hormone treated meats, poultry and dairy products is important to the health of every person.
Now the Bovine Growth Hormone and genetically modified foodstuffs produced by Monsanto flood the markets and are invasive in our markets. These chemically produced foods are causing many types of behavioral aberrations.
You may ask what this has to do with me. I guess nothing unless you care as I do what people put in their mouths. Buying fresh organically grown foods and non-hormone treated meats, poultry and dairy products is important to the health of every person.
As a Restaurant Reviewer
All these things influence me when I do a review. The ambiance of the restaurant, the service which today can be fabulous in some and abysmal in others. Food, of course, is of the utmost importance and I observe not only what is put in front of me but in front of other diners too. The freshness of the salads, the way the vegetables are cooked, the colour and smell of fish, meat and poultry. I have had occasion to send food back to the kitchen because the smell indicates it is not fresh. Also the overuse of sugar in desserts and the watery brown tasteless brew called in coffee which happens so often.
Chefs on the 'Ball'..at the mercy of unknowledgeable diners
There are quite a number of chefs who are really passionate about food, its preparation and presentation..where they buy their produce and I take my hat off to these. I also understand how so many of them are at the mercy of your customers. They demand more and more mixtures ontheir plates thinking that quantity proves the price is worthy. Where entertainment and ego centric people gather in happening places in most major cities their huge demands indicate their total ignorance about cuisine.
To stay in business, chefs and restaurant owners have to cater to these folk and so out of the window goes quality. This is not always the case obviously but since I am a writer and not getting paid to do this I have a little freedom to say what I have found since I started writing about cuisine and those personalities.
I do have many friends in the restaurant business who value my integrity and oft ask me to try their new menus and give them feedback. Of course there are those who do not care for me and that is fine. I will still find wonderful places to eat and write about.
To stay in business, chefs and restaurant owners have to cater to these folk and so out of the window goes quality. This is not always the case obviously but since I am a writer and not getting paid to do this I have a little freedom to say what I have found since I started writing about cuisine and those personalities.
I do have many friends in the restaurant business who value my integrity and oft ask me to try their new menus and give them feedback. Of course there are those who do not care for me and that is fine. I will still find wonderful places to eat and write about.
credits
Meet the author
I have been writing on food, wine, travel, cosmic creation and erotica for over 30 years I do horoscopes and numerology and readings. I write on expertscolumn.com under nortyme1
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