Farm to Table: Please Make a Reservation
I love those restaurants, don’t you? The non-chain, locally owned restaurants that serve the seasonal fare with a limited, ever-changing menu. Local, fresh, creative dishes using unique combinations of interesting ingredients that sometimes look too pretty to eat. Sometimes it’s like art. It’s always exciting to see what new thing will be on the menu.
Today, while I was reading one of Thoreau’s journal entries about the seasons at Walden Pond, it occurred to me that restaurant menus are like life. In that there are very specific seasons and there are only certain ingredients available during those seasons, so menu items are frequently subject to change and you might not be able to order what you want. It’s dependent on the weather, the growing season, and the rain. One has to have realistic expectations and be mindful of location and the parameters that may impose on the availability of some ingredients. You can’t expect watermelon soup if it’s January in Maine.
Being in my 50’s, I am in a very specific season of life. Certain things are on my menu, some things are not currently available, some are sold out, while others are simply discontinued. Perhaps due to disinterest. Or maybe there are supply-chain issues. Or hoarding. Either way, some of the foods I am craving are simply not available. Not in this season. Not in this location.
Also, I’ve simply lost my taste for certain things. Foods I enjoyed in my youth now turn my stomach. My palate has changed. It’s more sensitive and sophisticated. Sometimes it’s just a visual thing and all I need to do is repackage the food and upgrade the presentation to make it more suitable. You know, like pickle peanut butter sushi.
And what if I have a food sensitivity, or an allergy? Can I get the chef to substitute with something more suitable for me? A bespoke menu? Is that possible? If I call ahead and pay extra, can something special be flown in?
I realize as I write this that Chain restaurants have far more predictable menus. Consistent, familiar, comfortable. Boring. Save for a few specials, they always have the same things. For years! I guess there is something to be said for that. But I still don’t want to go there.
So what if my farm to table restaurant doesn’t have what I’m hungry for? Do I settle for something else? Do I try another restaurant? Go home? Start a long fast? Is ordering something that is on the menu considered settling? Or is it simply choosing? Just because what we thought we wanted isn’t available, that doesn’t mean that ordering something else is subpar. Right? If it’s not available, it’s just not.
Do you know how sometimes you just want something really hearty and substantial, something that warms your soul? But all you have in the house is salad, and a jar of jelly. There’s no sense in eating that because it will never satisfy you. Have you ever gone through your kitchen eating 10 different things because the one thing you really wanted isn’t in the house? Nothing else can fill the void so you might as well stop. I may or may not have done that more than once…
Well, it’s that time of the season and I’m having a very specific craving. I’m looking at the menu online of my favorite farm to table restaurant, but what I want isn’t on the menu. Do I make a reservation?
Bon Appétit
-K