guest blog: no more food poseurs!
01/14/2005 02:48:00 PM 
(1) 
(1) For now, food offers a respite.
It's certainly not because we accept the way we look, (see Neil LaBute's new off-Broadway play Fat Pig) or because obesity has ceased to be a problem since the government re-vamped our dietary guidelines.
It's because we're in a lull between the low-carb frenzy and the final approval and distribution of Acomplia:, European drug-maker Sanofi's double-threat anti-smoking and anti-obesity drug (hold your horses - it's not due out until the first half of 2006!). So what to rave about in the meantime? Mercifully, nothing. Nothing is hot. No new diets, no new franchise imports, no new cuisines, and no new ingredients (well, I'm always open to hearing about chocolate).
Japan is eye-rollingly old news. Sushi is a convenience store staple, all the high-end Japanese restaurants in Manhattan have been reviewed to death and New York Times readers are now familiar with the phrase "artisanal tofu."
I want to hear from food gurus. Absolutely not another word from poseurs like Nigella Lawson or Bobby Flay or Jamie Oliver or Emeril Lagasse, etc., etc., etc. (I'll spare you the entire 50+ chef line-up from the Food Network). I don't even want to know what global empire-builder Jean-Georges Vongerichten is up to. No more food celebrities! Alice Waters, you ask? Well sure, if she has time after hosting a benefit at Manhattan's Whitney Museum of American Art (and it's only because she's old school).
I just want to hear from people who have quietly found their life's work with food.
Julia Child stood alone among the current crop, but there are others. My hands-down fictional favorite is Miles, the cranky Pinot lover from Sideways. Here's a real one - Deborah Madison, who is an Alice Waters disciple. I love her cookbook, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and have spent many an hour happily curled up with her vegetable alphabet and free-form spice recommendations. More, Deborah, more! Another one, both real and fun; David Karp, The Fruit Detective immortalized in the New Yorker for his discovery of white apricots. What are you up to beyond your occasional contributions to Gourmet, David?
Most of all I want to hear from Scott Pikovsky, the proprietor of Great Ciao, a gourmet wholesaler in Minneapolis. With his business partner Jeff Pierce, Scott supplies food retailers nationwide with wild and glorious imported and domestic goods, from wines to cheeses to oils to vinegars to sausages, etc., etc. He also works with his import producers to develop and refine new products. His palate and imagination are inspiring. His influence is immeasurable. Hey Scott - how about editing a cookbook or even writing a memoir?
Ellen Ratchye-Foster is a researcher and trend spotter with an eye on food and food culture. She is our first contributor in a series of Guest Blogs for Influx.
Interested in contributing a blog? Contact the Influx team.
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Hi Ellen, <br>My husband is deeply steeped in sustainable agriculture/slowfood/csa/organics and has numerous connections to others within this realm and the foodies, chefs and people making things happen in the broader view. Perhaps it will be of help? Du er hjertelig velkommen aa faa tak i meg, eller oss.