This week’s assignment could not possibly be more up my alley. Before moving to Eugene Five years ago, I spent three years working in a fine dining restaurant in The Coeur d’Alene Resort in north Idaho. Beverly’s restaurant was one of the best and most creative experiences of my life – and that is saying a lot.
In this environment we fully embraced the art form of slow food in all we did. We sourced our food whenever possible from local farmers and harvesters. We utilized meat that was harvest by ways of the chef’s hunting adventures into the wild forests and then practiced charcuterie – which is the branch of cooking that processes meats, making them into bacon, rustic sausages, pâtés, terrines and beyond. Nearly everything was made in house – even our dressings, mustard, mayonnaise and sauces.
We weren’t only encouraged but sometimes required to spend an entire shift carving melons or creating sauces that would just be delicately painted across a paint to create the perfect bite. Ingenuity was expected at every turn. A new daring flavor profile. A pairing that hadn’t been thought of.
Once a year hosted an enormous dinner celebration just to honor the revered Copper River Salmon. Not only did we rejoice its depth of flavor, firm mouth feel and overall boldness, but we acknowledged and showed respect to the animal itself and what it stood for – especially to those of us in the northwest.
Dissanayake said, “What artists do, in their specialized and often driven way, is an exaggeration of what ordinary people also do, naturally and with enjoyment – transform the ordinary into extra-ordinary.” Every last one of us, even from the dishwashers all the way up to our Sous Chef, would say that we created art. We thought outside of the box. We took on tasks with passion and dedication and respect for what we started with. We called on all the senses to truly make a memorable experience – every smell mattered, every nuance of the garnishes, the subtle tingling of the citrus based sauces… None of it was without thought.
Food was our paintbrush and we considered ourselves to be the Picassos that could search out the most precious ‘paints’ from around the world and every day we forged ahead to create amazing, one bite at a time.
Hey Shonna,
Very nice experience, thank you for you share the idea with me. You told how amazing when you worked at Coeurd’Alene Resort during three years. The details touch me so much. Especially the word of “ingenuity was expected at every turn”. I can saw you use heart to carve melons or create sauces. Meanwhile, I like this dining restaurant which you attended because all of chefs, writers and guests can enjoy the wonderful feeling for food include tasting, smelling and creating. I never do a job for some restaurants in America. Your introduction let me deeply know there are more funny things if you stay in a good restaurant. A good restaurant will treat food so well; they will respect food and try to make the food by themselves.
If I have to ask a question from your essay, I would want to know what your attitude for fast food is. You said the slow food as passionate art. How about fast food? In my opinion, both slow food and fast food can give art to human being. The difference from them is the speed of dinning but don’t have direct influence on the art. If someone knows what the food as art is, they will enjoy each dish in life whatever slow food or fast food.
Anyway, I really like your ideas and the described words for food. The person is lucky guy if he or she can feel what the art from food is.
Sincerely,
Xiaofeng
Hi there,
Great post, I appreciate you sharing so many personal examples. You clearly have a lot of experience working with fine food. I like the quote from Dissanayake that you included, “What artists do, in their specialized and often driven way, is an exaggeration of what ordinary people also do, naturally and with enjoyment – transform the ordinary into extra-ordinary.” I think food, like the kind you help produced, is undeniably artistic because of the personal touch, creativity, and effort put into it. However, I do not think that we can make such a general claim that food is art. In your post you did not consider the variety of food. Is fast food art? It doesn’t fit the mold Dissanayake created, nor does it involve the same personal touch and creativity that the food you helped create. In my opinion, food can be art but it is incorrect to say food is art.
-Sam
Sam,
I totally understand your point, but politely disagree. I think art is really in the eye of the person experiencing it. Although I would not say that fast food is as refined of a from of art as food from a fine dining restaurant, I do still believe it has it’s own artistic characteristics.
All of the chemistry and intention that goes into the dish to make it almost addictive and so that you desire more. Everything has been formulated very carefully.
There was a documentary done taking Big Macs and Whoppers into cultures that would never have had any experience with either of the burgers before. Their reactions to both burgers was very much as if they found them to be fairly incredible. It was new and scintillating and many of them were very moved by the experience. To me, if it makes you feel something, it is art. And when people stop to take the time to be in the moment and bring consciousness to the medium.
Hi Shonna! Your experience in Beverly’s was awesome. From your description about how you choose the vegetables and meat for the meal, I could even smell the delicious food in your restaurant. I do agree with you that food is a form of art that could stimulate more human sense than the paintings or other kinds of art. In addition I have to say that I love your last sentence, “Food was our paintbrush and we considered ourselves to be the Picassos that could search out the most precious ‘paints’ from around the world and every day we forged ahead to create amazing, one bite at a time.” It is really impressive to talk about food in this way! Refer to the “making special ” theory mentioned by Dissanayake in her article. The process of making food something special is a process of creating art and making the normal materials special. People would also consider their personality into the food. People with different experience and backgrounds could make various dishes that express their opinion. I think this is the reason that I thought food as art. In the end, thank you for sharing your own experience in a fine restaurant.