I think I can safely say that Montreal has never, and probably WILL never, fall into the pit of food-porn merchandising.
That is, when a menu item is dotted with with almost aggressive name-dropping as to the provenance of the produce. What the fuck do I care that the bib lettuce came from the Wilson Family ranch? WHAT THE FUCK DO I CARE?
The writers of these menus seem to have perfected food-porn writing to a high art. But it gets REALLY TIRESOME. Just get a load of this one. I mean, as if "willis ranch pork spareribs" means a single goddamn thing to me? How's about "Berchtesgaden Family Farm Prime Lampshade Wienerschnitzel"? What drugs do these people smoke? How's about capitalizing your menu items? DO . . . YOU . . . A-SPEAK . . . DA . . . INGLIS? It's just completely out of control.
I mean, hey, I got it when you said "Hi, I'm Jason, and I'll be your server tonight! Could I interest you in our specials . . ."
Fuck, man, it's fucking FOOD, not a litany of farming business-card names.
As usual, the major perpetrator of this nonsense is California. California should be lined up against a wall and shot, if only for its pretentious food-mongering.
It's great that I KNOW this will never happen to Montreal. You know that your wallet is in trouble when you see this pretentious bullshit. And I am certainly glad that I don't have the misfortune of owning SanFranciscoFood.com.
Oh, and LOOK AT THOSE FUCKING PRICES.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume it's safe to say you don't believe in eating seasonally or locally, as that is the only typical Californian food pretention I can think of right now and basically what you're ranting about :)
ReplyDeleteThis isn't particularly unusual here either. People label "grain fed" chicken all the time, even though Quebec chickens aren't fed anything but, Brome Lake duck is often advertised as such, and so on.
Menu prices aren't necessarily reflective of this labeling simply because the restaurant is pretentious and feels it can justify it, but because such labeling can sometimes justify a menu price.
That is, why would you pay $40 for a steak when you can go to Casa Grecque and get a pound of tenderloin for $9.99? Because it's dry-aged, grass-fed Angus, of course. Why should you pay $12 for a chocolate souffle? Because it's made with Valrhona instead of Hershey's, and so on.
Typically, the branding association with food is done because it is a symbol of quality, and customers are not only willing to pay for that, but are increasingly demanding that sort of labeling on menus. Even McDonald's is starting to do it to some extent.
People are willing to pay more for better food. It's just food, yes, but I'd rather go to a restaurant that advertises using Quebec produce than stuff shipped in from South America, if for no other reason that because it is likely fresher than its counterpart. Supporting local businesses and reducing the 'carbon footprint' are just a bonus.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, that I don't find that menu pretentious or the pricing ridiculous in comparison to us. A rack of lamb is $36 and a ribeye is $33. Those are the most expensive items on the menu and are basically on par with any Montreal dining institution.
On the flipside though, a chicken claypot with caramel sauce and chilies? To me, that is pretentious!