I find myself rooting for new restaurants in my own city and in places I’ve never been. I have “friends” with blogs, flickr, Facebook, and Twitter sites that have opened restaurants in such cities as Chicago, San Francisco, and New York. These places are worlds apart, and I may never have met anyone involved with them in person. But the way I see it, a restaurant opening these days serves its demographic–both local and virtual–directly on opening day, opening its doors to the world.
Most people view restaurants as strictly eating places. Ultimately, that’s what restaurants are, and that’s how they make money. But to me, restaurants, bakeries, markets, and bars are so much more than just places to eat and drink. They can be kind of like friends themselves, distant buddies or even athletes in the sense that I can follow the progress of their projects and performance from idea to fruition or from pre-season to opening to peak season. I can keep up on how they perform, what the fans and critics are saying about them, and sometimes, fortunately, I can visit them in person and put my money in their register. The eventual firsthand experience is kind of like seeing your favorite band in concert or getting to see a team that you’ve been following play in their stadium for the first time. By sitting down to that first meal or first cocktail, I’ve filled the role of customer and the establishment has been paid. Just like that concert or that game, I feel like I’ve had an experience worth much more than what I’ve paid.
image credits:www.contigosf.com
Just like the qualities that draw people to each other, or that attract us to one type of music or another, I keep up on these places, in part, because I’m in the industry; there’s something about them that I can relate to and I think their story is interesting. Maybe we share a certain style, or gain our inspiration from similar places and have a similar food philosophy. In the end, we can’t be that different–we’re seeing restaurants personified to a degree.
It’s an interesting time for restaurants. It seems as if many are closing and struggling. However, many are opening every day, and I’d imagine a lot more visitors are admiring their menus online or looking forward to their openings than can fit it in their seats on a daily basis. This should make these restaurants feel good and, hopefully, give them something to count on in the days to come. I’m enjoying this new world of restaurants and chefs connecting directly to their clientele and their admirers. Is this connection borne out of necessity? Or are the Internet age and the nearly $600 billion per year food industry just meant to go together?
