The Omnivore’s Dilemma - Part III response

Pollan tells readers that the shortest food chain is the least wasteful food chain. It involves hunting, gathering, and growing ingredients for food. Today, the food that comes to our table is extremely complicated because its ingredients travel a long time, and they are from everywhere. It isn’t reliable to depend on flowery descriptions of “organic” foods that are not really organic due to its unsustainability. Aldo Leopold in A Sand County Almanac. from The Omnivore’s Dilemma says that “Civilization has so cluttered this elemental man-earth relationship with gadgets and middlemen that awareness of it is growing dim. We fancy that industry supports us, forgetting what supports industry” (281). It tells how it is important for humans to gain knowledge of their food ingredients and nature that makes ingredients available for cooking.

Pollan covers heavily on self-sustainable style of eating which is based on his experiences. It is a powerful narrative as he interests readers to continue reading his work instead of making them bored with all the statistics and scientific facts. We often worry too much about being healthy and eating healthy foods, but if we don’t know how the basic food chain works in the nature, we would be an unfruitful, passive, and dumb eater. We can’t be stupidly captivated by food industry’s advice and advertisement of what we should eat or should not eat because food industry wants you to be ignorant of foods and detached you from land and nature that provide sources of food. However, hunting, gathering, and growing can nourish our knowledge about where does the food comes from and solve a problem of suspecting origin of the food. Pollan instructs us the ways of doing these and addresses that, “For most of us today hunting and gathering and growing our own food is by and large a form of play” (280). I definitely agree about this because personally I don’t understand why people consider fishing as leisure and sports. People should have more respect to fish that is sacrificed for our appetite. We are basically killing fish for us.

Eating meat includes in the human’s food pyramid, maintaining our balance. I think that the whole mainstream movement of vegetarianism comes from the cruelty of industrial slaughter and animal killings, raising consciousness and morality. However, outside of a movement of vegetarianism, cultural mainstream stimulates us to forget about pain of slaughtered animals and choices that we can independently make. Pollan says that “For all these people [people worked to justify the slaughter of animals to themselves through religions and rituals] – the cultural rules and norms – that allowed them to look, and then to eat. We no longer have any rituals governing either the slaughter or eating of animals, which perhaps helps explain why we find ourselves in this dilemma, in a place where we feel our only choice is either to look away or give up meat” (331). It is interesting to see how people look away from frustrating and cruel food industry, which abusing animals, is the prevalent reason why omnivores become vegetarians. Cruelty of killing animals is the problem of the industry, not faults of humans. Eating meat is natural thing to do, but I’ve never thought that eating meat sometimes can be ethical in a way to reduce more intensively cultivated crops. However, it is our duty to at least respect animals and make them die happily, not like making them die from industrialized slaughters, which animals suffer from inhumane process of making animals to products. Pollan says that “happiness seems to consist in the opportunity to express its creatively character – its essential pigness or wolfness or chickenness” (319). We should never forget that they sacrifice their lives for our sustainable eating and pleasure. 

The Omnivore's Dilemma Part II response

What do words - sustainable, organic, and natural - stand for in the time of those words often misuse? That has been my question about organic food industry. Technically, the popularity of organic food has been rising because consumers have become more aware of healthy lifestyle and sustainable and moral way of processing foods. Waste is produced by the nitrogen and pesticide running off the industrial fields and harmful heat energy exerted from tractors and trucks for industrial farming. (Pollan 130). To prevent these problems and following more negative consequences, organic food industry emerged. However, Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma states that organic products even in the organic supermarket aren’t really organic. He says that “I would much rather use my money to keep my neighborhood productive and healthy than export my dollars five hundred miles away to get ‘pure product’ that’s really coated in diesel fuel” (132). This explains why organic foods can be as unsustainable as typical industrialized foods. It neglects saving energy waste, bioregionalism, and seasonality that are supposed to be an ideal standard of organic foods.

I think that saving energy waste, bioregionalism, and seasonality shouldn’t even be the ideal standard, but it should be required to be called “organic foods”. It actually makes me doubt when I see “certified organic” mark on the foods in grocery store because this word has been used so many times in food industry for marketing, fabricating an image of all “certified organic” marked foods are sustainable, green, and fresh which isn’t true in most of the case except in Farmer’s market or more local-concentrated markets. I realized at some point I lost the excitement to see “organic” marked foods which I supposed to think these would make me healthier. It is sad to see how our commercialized and industrialized society leads organic food to be just one of the popular trends that consumers can access without rethinking about foods themselves beyond what a label tells them.

Pollan states that “Our food system depends on consumers’ not knowing much about it beyond the price disclosed by the checkout scanner. Cheapness and ignorance are mutually reinforcing” (245). It shows that ignorance of consumers let organic foods lose its essence. Industrialized world pushes organic foods to be cheaper and more convenient that distribution and production of organic foods make unsustainable. I believe that organic foods should be only from local farmers who would reduce use of fuel to move around their products. If consumers are more educated about the real concept of organic foods, then they will appreciate foods in a deeper level of understanding there do they come from and how they are processed.

Pollan talks also about slaughter and its cruelty. He argues that how scale makes all the difference in more sustainable and moral killing of animals for foods. Joel, a grass farmer, says that in The Omnivore’s Dilemma “That’s another reason we don’t raise a hundred thousand chickens. It’s not just the land that couldn’t take it, but the community too” (230). Basically, I think that people should stop expecting too much from the land and nature to produce what they want. This relates to booming of industrial organic foods because people have too much greed for faster, more convenient, and cheaper foods so that organic foods are forced to process and deliver in lower quality and in an unsustainable way.

Part III - restaurant review

My expectation of dining out at Zooroona was to taste great quality “authentic” Middle Eastern food, especially kebab, and my actual experience perfectly fit right into my expectation of tasting great quality food since the foods there were more crafted, flavored, and well-made. The dishes were tasty and humungous which exceeded my expectation. I craved for better-quality kebab than the quality of a burnt “Koreanized” kebab I had on the street in Korea. I ordered Shish Tawook, cubes of marinated lemon-splashed chicken kebab. It was juicy and not burnt. Also, when I dipped it into the garlic sauce, it was refreshing which was different from the sauces I dipped the kebab in Korea.

I was definitely satisfied with their pita bread and flavorful long grain fried rice that came along with Shish Tawook. Baklava was one of the most amazing desserts I have ever had. Its combination of sweetness and crunchy layers harmonized greatly.  I’m not sure about tasting authentic Middle Eastern foods because I can’t really judge they were authentic or not since I’m not from the Middle Eastern countries. The owner of Zooroona, Mr. Mandwee insisted that foods of this restaurant are pretty much authentic since he is from Arab and knows what authentic dishes of his culture and root are. However, Zooroona might make Americanized Middle Eastern food that leads eaters to delude themselves into eating “authentic” Middle Eastern dishes while conjuring atmosphere that they might have felt like they were experience “real” Middle Eastern culture. I don’t have good amount of knowledge about Middle Eastern culture and foods either. Also, Middle Eastern culture is so vast and diverse so it would be a generalization if I consider all Middle Eastern foods that are served in Zooroona are overall representation of Middle Eastern foods.

Zooroona definitely served tasty foods, but sometimes the service wasn’t that great. Waiting time was short and wasn’t as long as I worried, but I had to wait at least five minutes for waiters to set up my table on Sunday buffet. Regular restaurant days except Sunday operate differently since waiter and waitresses were responsive and quick to take orders. Also, they were kind so that they explained the taste and ingredients of dishes that I was curious to know about.

Long’s “Culinary Tourism” exactly explains a mistake of my writing of analyzing my dining experience at Zooroona. Long says that “It[Culinary tourism] is about groups using food to ‘sell’ their histories and to construct marketable and publicly attractive identities, and it is about individuals satisfying curiosity” (20). Maybe Zooroona do their best to represent the image of authentic Middle Eastern food; however, they might just “sell” the culture and its food to attract eaters to come to their restaurants through marketing their uniqueness from other typical American restaurants. They might sell Americanized Middle Eastern foods.  It is hard to define even what authenticity is. What is “authentic Middle Eastern food”? I think that it is hard for Arabic and Lebanese restaurants to render true “authentic foods” in U.S. because the origin of ingredient for served dishes in these places are not likely to be same as the origins of ingredients for dishes that are served in Arab and Lebanon.

As a culinary tourist who doesn’t know much about Middle Eastern culture and its food, I doubted about does Zooroona truly serve “authentic” Middle Eastern food. However, in my first draft for the restaurant review, I wrote that Zooroona’s atmosphere and food were authentic by frequently misusing the word, “authenticity”. However, after reading Long’s “Culinary Tourism”, I realized authenticity shouldn’t be used thoughtlessly because it’s such a sensitive word. My experience in Zooroona was definitely the example of culinary tourism. I utilized my sense as much as I could to experience Middle Eastern culture through eating its “cultural dishes”, and Zooroona’s foods were different from my mundane foods that I have in school cafeteria. I intentionally went to Zooroona to find “authentic” Middle Eastern foods, but it is still mysterious that I had “authentic” foods or not.

Despite a confusing experience, the culinary tourism widened my perception and shifted myself from ordinary world that I live in. In the future, when I go to study abroad in Madrid, Spain, I will more be careful about what I perceive as authentic Spaniards food because Madrid is known for a tourism place, and the restaurants there can be not authentic many times because they might lose attractions from tourists who aren’t used to Spaniards’ dishes and reject their dishes. Furthermore, I will be more careful to claim authenticity of cultural dishes in ethnic restaurants in U.S. I used to think that cultural dishes like “European dishes” are all same although there is large diversity in European foods. Commercializing culture not only belongs to tourism but also invades to culinary culture, and we should be a critical eater and thinker when it comes to understanding different culture and its food. 

Zooroona restaurant+lounge [final draft]

“Why not trying Iraqi tea with cardamom? My Iraqi people usually drink this amazing tea throughout the day, so there are tea stalls and vendors everywhere in Iraq,” the owner of Zooroona, Mr. Mandwee, exhalted Iraqi tea with cardamom with a warm smile. Zooroona’s alchemy starts with wisps of narcotic bittersweet Iraqi tea with cardamom. It urges one to dream, reflect on oneself, and at the same time explore as if he or she wander at Arabic forest at night in August. Under the canopy of firefly-like light bulbs and colorful Arabic pendant lamps swinging on the ceiling, Iraqi tea’s light layers flow like freely falling petals unlike a tea with full of thick syrup. It clears off one’s worry as being a getaway from busy pace of life.

“Come visit us” in Arabic, Zooroona, serves traditional Middle Eastern dishes from Lebanon, the Mediterranean, Syria, Iran, and Turkey. This welcoming restaurant is located on West Main Street in the Tiffany’s mini-mall which is about fifteen minutes walking distance from Kalamazoo College. Zooroona’s open hours are very flexible. They open seven days a week at around noon until 9pm, but for the weekends until 11pm. Without an extra charge, for a main dish, there are two appetizer choices: a cup of lentil soup and Al Dar Zalata(salad). The lentil soup is balanced with grainy pieces of lentil, cumin, and little bit of lemon juice that invigorates the start of a meal. Contrastingly, Al Dar Zalata consisting of fresh-cut tomato, lettuce, onion, cucumber, and Syrian cheese garnished with roasted almonds is immersed in excessive amount of house dressing. It isn’t as refined as the lentil soup, the best comforting taste of appetizer. Arrival of main dish, Shish Tawook, enchants eaters to grab folks and knives to dig in right away. Shish Tawook is originated from Lebanese and Syrian cuisine, cubes of marinated lemon-splashed chicken kebab glistening with moisture and a few parsleys on the top. Not overcooked. Not wildly salty. The sour but refreshing garlic sauce heightens its mesmerizing taste. The chewy and tender white chicken kebab is grilled on skewers popped into one’s mouth, awakening his or her taste buds. It is served with sliced grilled onions and tomatoes, pita breads, long grain fried rice, and red peppers.

$6.95 for the large freshly-brewed tea is expensive for college students. Its cost is almost equivalent to a meal from Jimmy John’s, but sipping Iraqi tea with cardamom is the climax of dining experience in Zooroona. The restaurant’s emphasis on serving fresh food and drinks appears when Mr. Mandwee, who also worked as a waiter, quickly ran to the tea station and brewed the tea right away. Upon my request, he brought out two different kinds of leaves’ containers and showed them to me. He explained the differences between tastes of two leaves and how these two blend together to make ultimate bliss. The steamy caramel colored black tea in a transparent glass teacup makes one wants to drink it without hesitation. However, one might regret drinking it so quickly because it is seriously bitter like an espresso due to the green cardamom, a pistachio-looking and intensively aromatic spice, so a cube of sugar needs to be in this tea to be more drinkable. If you are a sugar fan, you won’t be able to handle this bitterness.

Mr. Mandwee explained his mission for this restaurant. He hopes that many people from Kalamazoo and Michigan experience the variety of cultural foods. Also he welcomes people from anywhere to enjoy the Middle Eastern teas and dishes. Every Saturday, the belly dance performance urges eaters to share the union with family, friends, and even strangers. According to Mr. Mandwee, a lot of people want to get up and dance with a dancer, so sometimes they dance together. This is more than simply receiving dishes and consuming them. It leads passive consumers to be part of the exhilarating and lively moments at the restaurant.

This restaurant’s atmosphere is like the Arabic forest. The sound of the artificial indoor waterfall pleasantly rings, and the interior is delicately decorated with inscribed geometric Arabic patterns and wooden indoor tree. Greenery hanging on the wall adds liveliness to the cave-like interior. The Middle Eastern hookahs and portraits of Arabic women with mystic smiles in every corner of the restaurant are unique. In the middle of the restaurant, there is an elongated floor sitting down seats with sitting cushions. The music isn’t too loud, and there isn’t that much noise. The music is mostly the dreamy soft house songs building up the laid-back mood, but sometimes there are some overly dramatic songs that make one dizzy. This mysterious but delicate ambiance makes the place cozy.

On Sunday for brunch buffet, the bustling movements of waiters and waitresses prevent customers to ask for water. One might have to ask not only for water but also for a complete set of silverware. Although buffet lets one tastes collections of Zooroona’s all-time famous foods for fifteen bucks: falafels, rice pudding, hummus, lentil soup, Shish Tawook, and cooked eggplant rounds, workers are occupied with filling up each food section. The work division is kind of a mess as there isn’t an assigned person to take care of individual table. On regular days except Sunday, a waiter would guide you from the beginning and to the end of the journey of dining out at Zooroona. On a menu for both lunch and dinner, there is a description under each dish, so it would be easier to imagine what kind of dish will be like. Foods in the main menu are ranged from $12 to $17, which is not super affordable; however, the humongous serving size with high quality foods can be great leftovers.

Baklava, a sweet bite-size pastry, is originated from Ottoman Empire, and it would be a pleasant closure for a meal. As soon as one bites into the golden layers of paper-thin and flaky crusts, they vulnerably break with subtle crackling sound. Then, the chopped nuts, pistachios, and honey juice inside of Baklava pour out, melting into one’s mouth in a few seconds. The sweetness is more than enough but quite addicting.

Here, the dim light of lantern and candle with continuous sound of the waterfall conjures you to be in the night of forest even in the day time. The Iraqi tea with cardamom induces you to dream and reflect yourself, but also tasting numerous delicate, sweet, and richly flavored foods is exploration in this Arabic forest.

Culinary Tourism Response

While writing my first draft of the restaurant review for Zooroona, I forgot that how sensitive the word “authenticity” is. I get annoyed by the non-Asians who generalize all Asian foods and put diverse Asian dishes in one group. I realized how it is easy to unintentionally look down on “authentic foods” in particular cultures and societies. Foods can be very subjective, but it is common these days to generalize ethnic and cultural foods, putting them into stereotypical categorization due to commercializing of them. Long’s Culinary Tourism explains the definitions, conceptual framework, thoughts for otherness, and negotiation of culinary tourism in a very logical way with strong supporting examples. Long’s illustration of incorporation one cultural food to another one because of marketing as cultural foods become commercialized is fascinating. Long talks about Maruchan Ramen that I have eaten before. Maruchan Ramen was one of the most weirdest ramen noodles I have ever had because I was so used to Korean instant noodle’s flavor. That noodle was like spaghetti flavor with unpleasant texture of noodle.

I think that not only in U.S., but in anywhere generalization of one culture is likely to happen. In Korea, Koreans tend to generalize American food. Most of them assume that American foods are all about burgers, fries, and coke, but these are not only American foods. When I went to the McDonald in Korea, I had Shanghai Spicy Burger which is the Korean version of American burger. That burger was spicy to fit in the expectation of Koreans who often eat spicy foods.

The food industry and restaurants are likely to do that to attract customers to eat their transformed cultural food. Long says that “It[Culinary tourism] is about groups using food to ‘sell’ their histories and to construct marketable and publicly attractive identities, and it is about individuals satisfying curiosity” (20). This shows that there is possibility of restaurants to get rid of some factors of cultural foods that are unattractive to American customers which is called unpalatable. So on, “Tasting an Imagined Thailand” by Molz also states about omitting other aspects of certain cultural food: “While most Thai menus include typical dishes, such as Tom Yum soup and Pad Thai noodles, other equally authentic dishes and preparation techniques may be omitted with the customers’ preferences in mind” (57). However, these American customers shouldn’t be criticized by not accepting extremely “authentic” cultural dishes because they are used to their own cultural food.

Yet, it makes me unhappy whenever I see the wrong representation of Korean cultural food in the Korean restaurants in U.S. because it’s Americanized but it’s sold with the label saying “authentic Korean food”. At least these Korean restaurants should stop advocating to Americans that their foods are the best representation of real Korean food. There is no black and white distinction of authentic foods; however, I think that if so called “authentic cultural restaurants” portray one culture in a distorted way to make American customers to be comfortable of what eat, it is wrong to sell these foods. MacCannell claims in Molz’s “Tasting an Imagined Thailand” that “MacCannell says that the true back region isn’t available to tourists, but that the travel industry, understanding the modern tourist’s desire for authenticity, has created a middle ground: staged authenticity” (55). It is so frustrating for me to see some Korean restaurants have the Chinese dragon paintings and sculptors of Buddha which are not exact Korean culture to give a sense of stereotypical “Asian-ness” to American consumers who stereotype Asian culture.

It depends on the purposes of restaurants’ owners to operate their cultural restaurants: either serving Americanized cultural foods to make profits from American customers who don’t really know about its culture or sincerely working on representing cultural foods while including accurate image of its culture. There is no complete authenticity, but I hope producers of cultural food restaurants regard cultural foods more seriously, and I also hope American consumers of these restaurants are more open-minded about taste of other cultural foods different from American food.

CYOA: Eco-friendly Restaurants

Slow food and organic food restaurants have emerged and have been a popular trend for quite a while, and we have discussed about slow food and mindful eating in the class. Eco-friendly restaurants can be another venue to have more sustainable eating style and food culture! Eco-friendly restaurants are not only the restaurants that use organic and local-grown ingredients but also their interior, motto, and operations of the restaurants are sustainable. Although different kinds of eco-friendly restaurants exist, they all gear toward maintaining environmental sustainability while providing great quality food.

Most eco-friendly restaurants try to keep sustainability through:
-Recyclable and biodegradable interior
-Ingredients and supplies are delivered in reusable
-Use of returnable containers to eliminate waste
-Ingredients are locally produced
-Provide their food waste for composting
-Use only the freshest ethically sourced fish, meats and produce available
-Solar and wind energy for their use of electricity

Restaurant/food industry is one of the most wasteful industry. Since restaurants are likely to throw out the food waste that customers make contrasting to people who cook food at home and save leftover in their refrigerator for later, restaurants create tremendous amount of food wastes. Therefore, the eco-friendly restaurants providing food waste for composting can mitigate the wasteful pattern of the restaurant industry.

The most interesting eco-friendly restaurants that I found are greenhouse shipping container restaurant that started in Sydney, Australia, Bamboo Sushi in Portland, Oregon, and wind&solar powered Burger King in Germany.

Read the article about wind&solar powered Burger King in Germany:

http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/06/16/new-burger-king-restaurant-powered-by-wind-solar-energy

An article about Greenhouse shipping container restaurant: 

http://inhabitat.com/greenhouse-by-joost-is-a-waste-free-shipping-container-restaurant-on-sydney-harbor/

An article about Bamboo Sushi: 
http://magazine.good.is/articles/bamboo-sushi-is-the-most-sustainable-sushi-restaurant-in-america

Ted Video- Arthur Potts Dawson: A vision for sustainable restaurants

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ89At9Xxws

See you in Tuesday class! I'm excited to talk about these eco-friendly restaurants!

Zooroona restaurant+lounge: Just sipping Iraqui tea with cardamom can bring you to the Middle East

There are many so-called “authentic cultural or ethnic restaurants” might display distorted representation of the culture through serving overly Americanized food, but I had desire to look for authentic cultural food, so I decided to go to Zooroona, serving the traditional Middle Eastern dishes from Lebanon, the Mediterranean, Syria, Iran, and Turkey. Zooroona is located on West Main Street in the Tiffany’s mini-mall, and it is about fifteen minutes walking distance from Kalamazoo College.

As I walked into the Zooroona, I felt like I was in the Arabic forest as the sound of the artificial indoor waterfall pleasantly rang my ears, and interior was delicately decorated with the Middle Eastern symbols. A counter was inscribed in zigzag Arabic patterns, soft curtains hanging on the ceiling, and colorful dimming gentle Arabic lamps were the only lights here. This mysterious but delicate ambiance made the place cozy and made me feel comfortable. Alive ceiling plants add liveliness to the cave-like interior. In the left side of the restaurant, there was a Sunday buffet and in the right side there were a small bar and tea station. The Middle Eastern hookahs in every corner of the restaurant grabbed my attention, and on every side of the wall there were portraits of Arabic women with mystic smiles. In the middle, there was an elongated floor sitting down seats with sitting cushions which showed Middle Eastern eating style. I didn’t need to wait for a long time to get a table. Settling myself into swirling patterns of sofas, I had to rely my vision from the dim light from the dancing light of a candle in table lamp.

After eating other dishes in each appetizers, main course, soup, salad, and dessert sections, I loved Shish Tawook the most. Shish Tawook is cubes of marinated chicken kebab. Not overcooked. Not wildly salty. I was amazed by this kebab glistened with moisture of adequately cooked chicken. Zooroona’s various collections of hummus and sauces were delightful to look and taste. The rich juice of chewy and tender white chicken kebab that was grilled on skewers and marinated with thick tomato sauce was extremely flavorful. It was also served with grilled onions and a tomato, nans, long grain fried rice with few basils top of it, and red pepper. I loved that almost every Middle Eastern dishes were heavily flavored, awakening my taste bud. They are always soaked with tomato sauce, lemon juice, or any sauce. There must be secrets of marinating sauce each distinct dish. I could only guess this chicken kebab was marinated with tomato sauce. Maybe yogurt, vinegar, chocolate, and something really random sauce might be used. No one would easily guess it.

Getting excited for moving into dessert section, there was Baklava, a bite-size pastry, was a special highlight for entire meal and satisfied my expectation for finding an amazing dessert. As soon as I bit the golden layers of paper-thin and flaky crusts, chopped nuts and honey juice inside of the layers were sweet. Fragile cover, surrounding the nuts, pistachios, and honey, vulnerably broke and melt into my mouth in few seconds. The sweetness was more than enough but quite addicting. I couldn’t stop bringing few mores on my plate and ate constantly although I was full already from eating all the main dishes. If you love overly sweet treat with lovely nuts and pistachios, this is the must-eat menu!

Zooroona’s open hours are very flexible. They open seven days a week at around noon until 9pm, but for the weekends until 11pm. The menu for both lunch and dinner has various choices. Since there was a description under the names of each dish, it was easier for me to imagine what kind of dish will be like. The beauty of Zooroona is the party platters. Ordering combination of party platters let guests of Zooroona to taste various Middle Eastern dishes, a combination of trays serving beef, lamb, or chicken Kabobs, rice, hummus, and other spices, also it is cheaper to order in this. The foods weren’t that pricy, and the serving sizes were humongous big.

For alcohols, they had cocktails, specialty arak (Levantine alcoholic), and red and white wines served by glass and bottle. But, the fresh-made smoothies and teas by the pot were expensive since large-sized brewed teas were $6.95 which for college students, it’s almost the cost of the meal in Jimmy John’s or Chinese fast food places. Although the teas were extremely expensive, it was the climax of dining experience in Zooroona was when I had a sip of Iraqui tea with cardamom. I could see Zooroona’s emphasis on serving fresh food and drinks to eaters when the owner of this restaurant, who also worked as a waiter, quickly ran into tea station and brewed the tea right away. Upon my request, he brought out two different kinds of leaves’ containers and showed them to me. He explained the differences between tastes of two leaves and how these two blend together to make ultimate bliss. A teaspoon next to the pot was the smallest teaspoon I had ever seen. I poured the hot caramel colored black tea in a transparent glass teacup and drank without hesitation. It was seriously bitter, and if you are a sugar fan, you won’t be able to handle this bitterness. I put a cube of sugar and swirled it and tealeaves that already sank. The strong taste of tea was equivalent to espresso, and this taste was mainly from green cardamom, a pistachio-looking and intensively aromatic spice.

Mr. Mandwee, an owner of Zooroona, replied my question of what is his mission for this restaurant. He said that he hopes as many people, who live in Kalamazoo or Michigan as possible, can experience variety of cultural foods. He says that Zooroona in Arabic means “Come visit us”, and he wants people from anywhere are welcome and enjoy the authentic Middle Eastern teas and dishes. He proudly boasted that Zooroona serves one of the authentic cultural dishes in Kalamazoo because he and his family members are from Iraqi, immigrants in Kalamazoo. He said since they are from Iraqi they know how to make real Middle Eastern food!

The music wasn’t too loud, and there wasn’t that much noise. The music was mostly the dreamy Middle Eastern soft house songs building up laid-back mood, but sometimes there were some overly dynamic songs that made me feel little bit dizzy. The bustling movements of waiters and waitresses prevented me from asking for water. I had to ask not only for water but also for the knife. Since it was buffet day, workers were busy with filling up each food section. The work division was kind of a mess as there wasn’t an assigned person to take care of individual table.

After dining out in Zooroona, I felt like I traveled around the Middle East. I realized that great ambiance and decorations can’t be underestimated! Just remember that if you come on Sunday brunch buffet, you can taste variety of the Middle Eastern food just for fifteen bucks; however, you might face the bad service! But, it was perfect moments when I tried each delicate and sweet and richly flavored dish with unique sauces while looking what was around me. The Iraqui tea with cardamom, Baklava, and Shish Tawook took me to the world that I’ve never been. 

Zooroona's entrance

 

 Iraqui tea with cardamom

Sauces/Hummus

Rice with tomato sauce, Nans, salad, boiled eggs, and Shish Tawook dipped with hummus

Shish Tawook for a regular menu (not buffet version)

rice pudding

 

Baklava

The assumptions and expectations for dining out in Zooroona!

I expect Zooroona to serve the authentic Middle Eastern cuisine that has the variety of menu choices, and if that can be true, then this restaurant definitely represents a “vivid entryway into another culture” for me (Long 1). I’ve never really experienced Middle Eastern culture or food since most of my lifetimes I have lived in Korea where there are not many Middle Eastern people live. Although Indian restaurants are quite common in Seoul, Middle Eastern restaurants are hard to find in there. Also, my knowledge and experience for tasting Middle Eastern food are limited, and I don’t really know much about its culture.

From my personal experiences in the past, only representative food I have known for the Middle Eastern food is Kebab. I saw kebab for the first time in my life on the street actually, not even in the restaurant. I smelled roasting Kebab from 15 feet away from an entry of Myeong-dong station as soon as I got out of there. Of course I didn’t know where is that smell from, but while walking down the busy Myeong-Dong Street, I found a Korean lady making kebab which was probably Korean-version of kebab. Next to the well-done grilled kebab on a skewer, there were ketchup and mustard. My brother who went to Turkey with my dad told me that these sauces weren’t supposed to go along with that kebab if this kebab is the authentic one. It was only five dollar, so I bought it and had a bite. It wasn’t that great since there were many parts were burned, but since it was cheap, I didn’t complain. I dipped the kebab into ketchup, and it tasted like yakitori which is a common street food in Korea and is originated from Japan. The kebab I had was made of chicken, and yakitori is a grilled and skewered chicken too. The juicy shreds of chicken were thick but tender.

I expect more than this juicy and tender but burned chicken kebab when I get to taste dishes in Zooroona. For the dining experience in Zooroona, I assume that I will taste more authentic Middle Eastern dishes since I heard that Zooroona’s owner is from the Middle East. My only worry for this experience is what if I get horrible service and long wait time. I hate waiting in the restaurant while smelling delicious dishes that I can’t eat right now. Also, if I’m hungry, that’s worst. I’m sure that as Zooroona isn’t cheap restaurant, the service will be nice, but I never know! I’m worried about service because I don’t really know much about the Middle Eastern food, I hope the waiters and waitresses can kindly and patiently guide me about the Middle Eastern dishes while bearing my ignorance of what are true Middle Eastern foods.

My hope for this experience is that I will be able to taste high-quality kebab and authentic Middle Eastern desserts. When I go to restaurants serving cultural foods, I always focus on desserts since I consider eating desserts finishes up the journey of tasting whole meal time.

My restaurant review for Zooroona will be related to Tokyo Redux chapter in A Cook’s Tour by Anthony Bourdain. Tokyo Redux is about Bourdain experiencing natto that he describes as “an unbelievably foul, rank, slimy, glutenous, and stringy goop of fermented soybeans. It’s the Vegemite of Japan, dearly loved by everyone there, for reasons no outsider can understand” (152). I might be an outsider like Bourdain that I don’t understand some parts of the Middle Eastern food. My assumption of Zooroona is that they probably serve authentic and traditional Middle Eastern dishes, and I’m going to face with culturally rich dishes that I might hate to taste. But, I might love to taste these dishes. 

Restaurant Reviews response

While reading through the New York Times, the Huffington Post, and the LA Weekly, I enjoyed Pete Wells’ restaurant reviews the most. Bending Tradition, and Bowing to It by Wells talks about the Cagen and Ristorante Morini restaurants in New York City that seeks to creatively transform each traditional Japanese and Italian dishes into a modern style and taste. The vivid descriptions of the dishes and their ingredients were fascinating. It was interesting to read his use of metaphors to portray foods rather than using boring and cliché descriptions. “The gunpowder was inside: an extra-hot, nostril-punishing slug of wasabi implanted alongside strands of sweet squash, waiting to go off when I bit into it” (Wells). This metaphor lets me think of a spicy stubby little handroll. I could totally taste the wild, hot, and savory flavors and smell of wasabi and strands of sweet squash, and this description draws the readers’ attention more.

His descriptions about each restaurant are delicate in a way that he explains not only prices, drink and wine, and recommended menu of these restaurants but also explains the atmosphere, service, and sound level. There are more details than just explaining tastes or qualities of dishes, and some food eaters want more descriptions of the restaurants than of the foods served. For example, Wells describes the Ristorante Morini as “small, lively lounge downstairs with a long, sedate, white-tablecloth dining room above.”  This helps readers to imagine the restaurants as if they were in there. Place, service, and atmosphere are important to enjoy dishes more. I think that as a customer, it is better not to go to the restaurant where the dishes are good but the service is horrible because the atmosphere and service affect my appetite and mood. However, Wells need to explain definitions of some foreign words in his review. He throws the words of foreign dishes and ingredients that Americans usually wouldn’t know. Wells says that “A plate of small appetizers  offered ham deep-fried katsu style with a splotch of Worcestershire on its panko crust, along with a single mouthful of the Nobu classic”, and I didn’t know the meanings of katsu style, Nobu classic, and panko crust! I was lost as an unprofessional food eater.

I loved Wells’ other restaurant review, As Not Seen on TV. He wrote an honest and blatant review about Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar in Times Square. Contrasting to his review of praising Cagen and Ristorante Morini in Bending Tradition, and Bowing to It, this review reveals chaotic and messy atmosphere, over-exaggerated and flowery descriptions of dishes on the menu, overpriced, and unpleasant tastes of blue drinks and Cajun Chicken Alfredo in Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar. I’ve never read the ranting review of the restaurant consisted with anger and disappointment. Wells gave a low rate for this restaurant, and I appreciate his honesty. Although through TV show and advertisements, this place was described as a great place to eat. Many times, untruthful media influence consumers to make bad choice, but he reports the reality of the poor atmosphere, service, and dishes in this restaurant to guide consumers to make better choice.

Wells effectively uses series of questions: “What exactly about a small salad with four or five miniature croutons makes Guy’s Famous Big Bite Caesar (a) big (b) famous or (c) Guy’s, in any meaningful sense?”, and also “ Did you discern any buttermilk or brine in the white meat, or did you think it tasted like chewy air?”. These make readers to engage into a thoughtful process of questioning what they eat in the restaurants. Sometimes consumers eat in the restaurants without sharp judgment because they believe the media portraying amazing things about the restaurants which might be not amazing. I think that consumers should have power of distinguishing between bad and good restaurants, and Wells helps them through his intense and honest writing. To have that power, consumers need to carefully discern the bad environment, tastes of the dishes, and service and report to others for the further improvement of the quality of the restaurants and for letting consumers to know not to go to those poor quality restaurants. 

Response to Bourdain’s essay "Don’t eat before reading this"

Anthony Bourdain’s essay Don’t eat before reading this shocked me greatly because it honestly reports ugliness of the U.S. restaurant industry. Bourdain, a prominent chef of his French restaurant also reports life of cooks with his frank, witty and amusing tone. Since I’m not a huge food ethics person, vegetarian, or an epicure, I naturally had trust and fantasy of restaurant foods and didn’t doubt about the process of cooking these behind restaurants’ kitchen door and ingredients of them. When I was young, my parents forced me to eat every dish that was given to me including restaurant food, so I became a total omnivore who is oblivious to discern the dishes that use poor-quality ingredients.

His essay starts with: “Good food, good eating, is all about blood and organs, cruelty and decay … Your first 207 Wellfleet oysters may transport you to a state of rapture, but your 208^th may send you to bed with the sweats, chills, and vomits” (83). This shows that food has two sides – ingredient of food and its negative and positive impacts from eating. You might guess that your dish is delicious and amazing from looking at its good appearance; however, this dish can lead you to having illness by its hidden and poor-quality ingredients that are used. And he goes on reporting the scary reality of restaurants dealing with ingredients horribly.

“When a kitchen is in full swing, proper refrigeration is almost nonexistent, what with the many openings of the refrigerator door as the cooks rummage frantically during the rush, mingling your tuna with the chicken, the lamb, or the beef” (84). It was frightening to think about tuna sandwich that I had in numerous restaurants in U.S. Tuna mingling with other poultries made me not want to eat it in a restaurant ever again. I realized I was an innocent or maybe stupid customer thoughtlessly consuming food I paid. “People who order their meat well-done perform a valuable service for those of us in the business who are cost-conscious: they pay for the privilege of eating our garbage” (85). This part struck me too by thinking of innocent customers like me ordering well-done steak with expectation of good food but actually ending up eating nerves and connective tissues of beef that substitutes the real meat part. These revelations made me think of unavoidable choice of restaurant cooks to let these things happen because they need to get decent paychecks. Restaurants are influenced largely from profits they make so cooks have to use almost all the parts of ingredients and can’t waste them. I believe that cooking is art, and it is sad to see how cooks have to use ingredients improperly and rush to make dishes to sell. Cooks are driven by money too like commercial artists who have to draw massive amounts of painting without putting his or her best efforts to pay off his bills. If restaurant business goes down, then there is not much chance for a cook to create new dishes earnestly and carefully. Simply they can’t afford to do it.

Furthermore, I like Bourdain’s description about beauty of a restaurant’s kitchen community. It is fascinating that the restaurant kitchen accepts people from different backgrounds, education, and pasts yet each cook equally starts from being a dishwasher to be a chef. Restaurant cooks give up the regular lifestyle as they have to be in the kitchen on the weekends. They also have to get stress under busy, pressured, strict and confusing environment (if the restaurant is famous) while surviving through chef’s harsh demands. I think that they follow this career because they are so passionate about cooking so they bear these hardships.

This piece is different from “A Cook’s Tour” in a way that Bourdain describes his own territory, his New York City’s restaurant, rather than describing food in different restaurants in different countries. It is interesting that he blatantly reveals dirty secrets of restaurant’s kitchen although he is a chef, and many cooks don’t want to expose their malicious cooking process. Now I know behind scenes of kitchen that no one taught me!