Chopbiscuit food 101: The Restaurant of the future {flux capacitor style}

Editors note: This is a series of posts on food, cooking and sustainable eating habits. We will explore the culture around food in this country and the little steps we can make to secure a laudable future in the world of provisions 

Chapter 4 - The restaurant of the future (flux capacitor style}

 As I travel around the country, I'm often always asked - "What's the future restaurant going to look and feel like?" Well, maybe I'm not asked that too much. I'm just being a little pompous. I like to think I have a keen eye for concept, but that's just the serial entrepreneurist in me.  So without further adue, here are some thoughts about future food, concept and strategy moving forward in the food circuit.

I think we're truly at a crossroads in the large food retail market. Eating has always been a sociable, celebratory event from the first campfires, Greek banquets to the most visually stunning Japanese sushi cafes in Tokyo. Although glorious waterholes have existed since man had figured out how to ferment - the actual word restaurant didn't appear until the 16th century. We actually have to thank post-revolutionary France for bringing in the restaurant circuit that we're accustomed to today.

Let's switch over to the American movement, to the restaurant style that we're accustomed to today. The 1930's saw the minimalistic movement towards the simplification of restaurant design and menu applications. Eventually in the late 1950's we saw a true democratization of mobile dining patrons to the new surging middle class in America. Restaurant design and menu simplification was a powerful tool to distinguish the difference between high-end hotel bistros, taverns, diners and the new fast food options. During the later half of the 20th century we saw a return to the "elite" class of dining institutions with superstar chefs, extravagant layouts and big name designers such as Adam Tihany and Philipe Starck. The big budget productions had it's run in the world of provisions, but everyone knew they would eventually have a bust. Well, it's currently happening.

Today it's not about what and where you eat. It's about "how" you eat. It's about where that food was gathered from and the practices used during that gathering. It's about how "in touch" the restaurant or concept is with it's surroundings. You can splatter all the Vegas style layering's, interiors and food showcasing you want, but it's eventually going to hide what your experience is really about - the food. If you've never been to San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace or Eataly in New York, you're missing out on the new "ruling class" of food design and concept in culinary innovation that fuses retail and restaurant to it's grandest. These ultimate dining experiences are based around the simplistic styling of food - with the sheltering backdrop of creative design. This design is the shell that holds the key to the culture of the food.

The mecca for foodies in San Francisco

The farm to table movement is guiding this Renaissance of simplistic dining by creating self sufficient models for eager and creative entrepreneurs. Proprietors harnessing grown, harvested, prepped and cooked items all in one location is the psyche where most people are headed. People are moving towards honest, pure and simple deal points around food when they are making decisions dining out. Our eating habits are less formalized - smaller portions and portable options are a must today. The movement for open authenticity and food experience, both on the menu and design is bringing the human touch back to the people that work in these restaurants.

Real food is the new luxury around fine dining. With new and exciting enhancements in technology, the human connection will come through the food instead of the maitre d' or waiter. Restaurant concepts are now powering culture into more of an egalitarian outlook. There is more than ever, a desire for artisan brands to go global in ways we've never thought before. Look for these brands to adapt to the characteristics of the locale in a way we've never seen.
 

Chapter 1 - Eating Seasonally
Chapter 2 - How you should eat {Meat, no meat, both)
Chapter 3 - Eating will always have the fringe

Chopbiscuit on the road dining review - Workin' NYC

Editors note: Sorry for the lack of sophomoric banter on here lately. Sometimes work and life just get in the way of bogging, ya dig.

A Yankee game and a lollipop tree?

 I was able to make it down to the Big Apple this weekend, thanks to my birthday present from my wife, Red Sox - Yankees tickets. Outside the world of food, I'm a bit of a sports fan and a huge Yankees fan. Unfortunately the Bombers lost miserably and my wife had a bit of a smirk the whole time. She is a Red Sox fan, so thank god for other commonalities we have!

We rode the train in on Saturday morning and decided to hit David Burke Townhouse for brunch. David Burke Townhouse is the flagship restaurant of the celebrated chef  and has been serving interestingly pieced Modern American Cuisine in an elegantly refurbished Upper East Side space since 2003. According to the website, The restaurant's design is inspired by the bold colors and lacquered surfaces on the 1930's, yet it has decidedly contemporary aesthetic. Upon entering David Burke Townhouse, guests will feel the glamour and sense of fun in the lounge with its sleek white gloss, stone bar and whimsical art installations. The volume of color and drama is turned up for the main event, the dining room, where a striking color palette of chocolate, vanilla and lipstick colors prevails. 

It's been a place I've always wanted to visit, so Katie was nice enough to spend the afternoon diving into his culinary circus. 

What I absorbed:

We both went the with three course Prixe Fixe since we were pretty hungry from the train ride in. I ordered the Burata Mozzarella, Hanger steak and world famous cheesecake lollipop tree. (That felt weird typing as a straight man) All three items were decent and had great taste. The cheesecake lollipop tree was more theatre than appealing to my hungry stomach. When the waiter brings it out, you feel as if a Ruby Tuesday waitstaff has just wished you a happy birthday during a lonely trip to Lockport, NY on a cool winter's eve. Extremely inappropriate and campy. One item that did "punch me in the face" with flavor was Katie's pretzel crusted crabcake with tomato orange chutney and poppyseed honey. It was freakin' insanely delicious. Since it was brunch, of course I had a spicy bloody mary to wash down the food shenanigans. Meh, it was ok but I would rather have ordered an $8.00 strawberry mint iced tea that Katie drank. 


All in all, it was a decent experience even if the "Eastern Block" waiter may have said two complete words to us. The service pretty much blew - sorry Sergey Israntoicvah or whatever your name was. It's ok to say hello to your guests. Best experience of the restaurant - free Peanut Butter peanut brittle on the way out. Dinner that evening we hit up Yankee stadium and were encompassed with $10 watered down draft beer and shitty burgers and limp fries from the poor man's Johnny Rockets. $100 dollars later your full, sans a buzz and angry that the Red Sox crushed the Yanks. Boo.

What type of financing do you offer for a 20 oz.?

The next morning we considered hitting the world famous Balthazar, but a one hour wait and pregnant wife nixed that, quickly. We ended up eating at a little breakfast nook in Soho called Le Petite Cafe. It was warm, simple and quick. That's basically it. During our morning walk we hit one of my favorite coffee joints, Gimme coffee. They have a few locations now in NYC, so it's nice to have a little piece of Ithaca, NY in the Big Apple. For lunch we decided to hit up the Shake Shack, but before that we hit up Eataly. If you've never been and you love food - put it on your bucket list. This may be one of the best food retail experiences I've ever seen. Picture a Whole Foods Market on steroids with a design approach of an Apple store. Simply an amazing experience and one I will make sure I dive into in the near future. We bought some bread for our train ride home and took in the sights, smells and sounds of a world class food experience. 

"We cook what we sell and we sell what we cook"

Like I stated previously we ended up at the Shake Shack at Madison Park with of course, a burger and a shake. I chose the Peanut Butter shake which was insanely Peanut Butt-ery. In the world of burgers right now, In and Out is still my favorite, but Shake Shack puts out a pretty good beef patty.  As always, a trip to NYC is a great food experience and I can mark this one as one of my favorites.