Eatery Environments

As I was sitting at a table in Kerbey Lane around 1:30 or so on Saturday night (or perhaps more accurately Sunday morning), I wondered what had drawn me there.  Certainly it had to do a lot with the fact that it’s open around the clock, but is that the only reason it’s frequented by hundreds of college students at all hours of the night?  I came to the obvious conclusion that I was mainly there for some delicious queso; however, almost as important was the restaurant’s comfortable environment.  Kerbey is always full of energy, yet paradoxically provides a place to relax at the same time.  It has a cozy diner feel, but has enough rooms, nooks, and booths to seem somewhat private if one is looking for conversation.  I then realized just how important the atmosphere and setup of a restaurant is, and thought back to our class discussion on the matter.  Kerbey Lane is a restaurant that invites you in for a long visit, but in a society driven by convenience many eateries fail to do the same.  For instance, I for some reason feel obligated to eat quickly and then leave if I’m eating at any of the Asian restaurants on the drag.  I decided to consider why this might be, and the answers came almost as fast as their food.  The service is speedy, the lighting is fairly bright, and the tables are positioned close together.  Though these restaurants feel nothing like a cafeteria, these particular aspects of the establishments do to some degree seem oddly familiar.  Perhaps this is what subconsciously compels me to get in and out in a timely manner.  Restaurant environment affects customers more than they can imagine.  Unless the features are striking though, such as a fountain at an expensive Italian place, or a playscape at a McDonalds, one doesn’t necessarily associate certain surroundings with the restaurants he or she frequents, but I think the atmosphere influences people in countless unseen ways.

Celebrity Chefs

I’ve always been a lover of food.  On family vacations I perhaps most look forward to the fine dining, as a student any superfluous spending is done at coffee shops or restaurants, and during holidays the festivities are almost as much about the meals as family.  Well, the last statement might be a slight exaggeration, but this doesn’t suggest I enjoy food any less.  This being the case, I’ve actually been watching the Food Network for years.  The topic of celebrity chefs is therefore one I’m quite familiar with.  Long before our class discussions I’ve known about the somewhat manic nature of Paula Deen, Rachael Ray’s signature one word response to any tasty morsel she pops in her mouth, and the phrase, “Allez cuisine!”, spoken before the beginning of each Iron Chef battle, but they have pointed out some significant nuances I’d never taken notice of.  For example, I’d never realized the seemingly gender-specific roles the chefs have been assigned.  When one looks closely at the shows given to each gender, the parts the chefs play could be construed as sexist.  Women tend to be set in the kitchen, while men are placed in any number of other places.  The set a woman chef generally works at in designed to look like a kitchen at a home, or is indeed her own kitchen.  The women seek a primarily female audience, particularly housewives, to teach simple and delicious meals to, in order for them to please their families.  Men on the other hand are seen in cooking “arenas”, food “workshops”, or in other countries.  The male chef’s job is to explore, learn, and compete.  Men travel the world and battle each other in food preparation, but very little in the way of cooking process of the food is expressed.  Thus, while the men bolster their masculinity through battle, the women stay at home to care for them when they get back.  Personally I don’t think the Food Network is attempting to perpetuate stereotypes, but rather it is simply providing shows that cater to different audiences; however, one could probably make a strong case is opposition to my view.