Post: #1

While I'm normally not a fan of Vice, and especially their "Munchies" series, this one is pretty great.

Much of it resonates with me personally, the part about feeling disillusioned and completely sick of "white tablecloth" restaurants, about serving food that you hate just for a paycheck.

Andy Ricker is well known in the food and restaurant world, as the chef/owner of Pok Pok in Portland, and now in NYC too. But he had a very unconventional path. There's some solid red pill principals, especially the bit about having no formal training, and the importance of just "doing".

Check it out:

Post: #2

Sorry, didn't embed correctly the first time. Should be good now.

Post: #3

I watched this the other day, it was eye opening-ly good. He sets the bar so high for himself that it seems like hes never happy, there are no obstacles to his goals. Other peoples opinions do not.matter to him, doesnt give a fuck etc. The only bad thing id say is that he emits a sense of misery around him,like nothing would make him happy haha. Good watch though

Post: #4

(07-22-2014 08:08 PM)alecks Wrote:  The only bad thing id say is that he emits a sense of misery around him,like nothing would make him happy haha. Good watch though

Every chef has this. It's a very love/hate profession.

It's great to be able to make food for a living, but there's an inherent desperation behind it. It's insanely hard to create a consistently good product from variables that are ever-changing, so it creates this dynamic that "nothing is ever good enough." Talk to any chef; most of them hate their own food and the product is never as good as they want it to be, even while they're out there earning accolades and gracing the covers of food magazines.

Post: #5

(07-22-2014 08:20 PM)thedude3737 Wrote:  

(07-22-2014 08:08 PM)alecks Wrote:  The only bad thing id say is that he emits a sense of misery around him,like nothing would make him happy haha. Good watch though

Every chef has this. It's a very love/hate profession.

It's great to be able to make food for a living, but there's an inherent desperation behind it. It's insanely hard to create a consistently good product from variables that are ever-changing, so it creates this dynamic that "nothing is ever good enough." Talk to any chef; most of them hate their own food and the product is never as good as they want it to be, even while they're out there earning accolades and gracing the covers of food magazines.

I think that could be just running a restaurant. The daily grind of so many variables wears on you and eats your soul. You'd have to be one particularly ice veined cat to pull that off for years, then be successful on top of that.

Post: #6

Great documentary. One thing I don't like is how food is treated as too big of an event, and the concern with authenticity, and the "culturification" of it all. And I feel like I'm falling into that trap because now I know where this food can be found.

Post: #7

"Great documentary. One thing I don't like is how food is treated as too big of an event, and the concern with authenticity, and the "culturification" of it all. And I feel like I'm falling into that trap because now I know where this food can be found."

On a superficial level, food has always been a central part of civilization, a routine upon which we conferred great importance, as "foodies" do nowadays. The difference is that in past civilizations, the ritual of eating was subordinate to something else - sanctifying God's name, or say, promoting the vigor and unity of the tribe. Without a central organizing principle, the food becomes an end in itself, a portal to decadence.

Haven't watched the documentary yet.

Post: #8

Amazing documentary, thanks for the link.

It's inspiring, he's a man with a sense of purpose and drive.

His life is fucking amazing

Post: #9

(07-22-2014 10:10 PM)Menace Wrote:  Great documentary. One thing I don't like is how food is treated as too big of an event, and the concern with authenticity, and the "culturification" of it all. And I feel like I'm falling into that trap because now I know where this food can be found.

Valid points, and common ones in the food world.

There are pros and cons to this explosion of interest in the food world, specifically in America.

Most obviously, our bitches are too fat and having all this incredible food isn't helping them out. It's also an extremely shallow pursuit.

On the other hand, it's hard to complain when food goes from canned mushrooms in the 70s to having fresh mushrooms available in any store now. Whatever your taste, it's out there. And the quality has skyrocketed. Every year, there's a growing market of grassroots food suppliers that are bringing high quality products to consumers, and this isn't a bad thing.

As far as authenticity goes, this is a classic debate amongst chefs. There are various cultures that are obsessed with the notion of authenticity, and I always use Italy as an example because nearly every Italian I've met buys into the idea that authentic=better. There is perhaps no ingredient that is more synonymous with Italian food as the tomato, and yet it's only been there for a few hundred years. In fact, many staples in Europe were brought from the new world, so what does authenticity mean within that context? If food is always evolving, how can there be "authentic"?

And yet, I know where he's coming from. When chefs like Andy Ricker talk about authenticity, it's not necessarily to reference the way things have always been done. It's authentic to his experience. He ate a certain thing, and his goal was to recreate it as accurately as possible. For me, this is incredibly admirable, especially in contrast to every other Top Chef jackass that insists on going on and on about "their" food and "their" ideas, even though they're stealing shit that's been done for years. Ricker has the humility to say, "This isn't about me, it's about them." He sees himself as more of an ambassador and doesn't think to dilute something that's already good with some notion of "fusion".