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Fine Dining — Page 4
“But we’re missing the real point here,”
she adds, “because the whole missing link controversy
is of much greater importance.”
Dr. Kronick was, of course, referring to those dining
items that positively link the epochs: Hy’s Seasoning
Salt, supersized pepper mills and bratwurst. “Hy’s
Seasoning Salt clearly connects the dots,” Dr.
Kronick said. “But if you want the real missing
links, look to quality bratwurst, especially the ones
that split when amateur grill-dads barbecue them. Because
they definitely connect the epochs, too.”
Dr. Kronick makes a strong case, and even her most outspoken
critics seem at least in tacit agreement on these points.
“Now, you could argue that vertical presentation
in general, and the addition of high-rise rosemary spears
to roasted garlic mashed potatoes in particular, were
important Arugula-era icons,” says chef Todd Ling
of Vancouver’s renowned fusion house Beige Ling.
“Equally, you could make the valid point that
short, cryptic menu descriptions like “Recent
Veal” and “Regional Haggis” are definitively
post-Arugula. On the other hand, ‘Blackened Group’
is clearly Cajun and therefore pre-Arugula.”
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"It's like
a finger in the eye of your Arugula-obsessed parents.
Cut an iceberg lettuce
in half and slather a pint of Thousand
Island dressing over it."
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What about Hy’s Seasoning Salt, we asked? In response,
Ling pulled out a yellowed copy of the September, 1968,
edition of Vancouver Life magazine. He pointed to an
advertisement for the legendary financial district hangout,
Hy’s Encore. Pictured in the ad is the restaurant’s
founder, Hy Aisenstat, doctoring a fowl with Hy’s
Seasoning Salt and a lashing of cognac. The caption
reads, “At Hy’s, no tern goes unstoned.”
“Clearly Pre-Arugula,” Ling said, “but
a technique still much in evidence in finer steakhouses.”
“By-catch, sustainable, and fly-caught, these
are the buzzwords for the Post-Arugula generation,”
says Kitsilano bistro proprietor Alphonse d’Aprés-Toi.
“At Chez Alphonse we really concentrate on these
things,” he says as he fondles the generous lobes
of a nubile foie gras. “To be sure, bratwurst
will always remain important,” he adds, “but
only the way we make it here—browned off in the
quick sauté and then napping in the sauce of
low morels.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Lam and his colleaugues aren’t
so sure. “Blindfold some restaurant critics and
then ask them to tell the difference between a wild,
line-caught, quick-bled, winter-spring salmon versus
the traditional farmed product,” Lam says, “and
I guarantee you that nine times out of 10 they’ll
be 50-50 or so.”
Lam is also seeing ample evidence of a new trend, called
Retro Pre-Arugula, showing up on menus. “It’s
like a finger in the eye of your Arugula-obsessed parents,”
Lam says. “Cut an iceberg lettuce in half and
slather a pint of Thousand Island dressing over it—Lighthouse
brand is a superior product.”
Interestingly, however, “the distinctions among
the three periods are most clearly evidenced when examining
restaurant service, not food,” Dr. Lam pointed
out. He’s referring to the notorious “quality
check” question that has adapted to changing times.
“Pre-Arugula,” Lam says, “Brad, your
waiter, would stop by to interrupt your rehearsed entreaties
of seduction by asking, ‘Is everything all right?’
But these days, his name is Ethan and he’ll ask,
‘Is everything meeting your taste expectations?’
This is much worse, of course, because it can make your
date think she’s buying into something much more
than dinner.”
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