At The New York Times's First Food Festival, Human Dignity, Technology, and Chef Star Power is Changing the Food Scene
On October 5th and 6th The New York Times hosted their first annual food festival in Bryant Park. For two days there were live DJs, cooking demos and beverage workshops, big-name food vendors (Estela, Frenchette, Superiority Burger, and Roberta’s were some of many), and a series of industry panels ranging from cookbook writing and food journalism, to the hospitality industry and food and travel television. I attended three discussions: on Saturday, “Welcome: The Fine Art of Hospitality” with Will Guidara, Nicole Ponseca, and Alexander Smalls; also an evening talk called “Bourdain and Beyond” with Pati Jinich and Andrew Zimmern; and on Sunday, I went to “Feeding the World” with Massimo Bottura and Ruth Reichl. Despite the wide scope, there were some common takeaways from each of the panels that poignantly examined the climate crisis, public policy, and innovations in technology as they relate to the business and the cultural significance of restaurants and the food industry. Here are some of my reflections:
Feeding People is About Dialogue and Dignity
“It’s about more than the way something tastes,” was how Nicole Ponseca responded to the question “is the customer always right?” She continued by stating, “it’s beginning a cultural dialogue about our nation’s diversity.” Alexander and Will built upon this notion and analyzed how the hospitality industry can no longer dedicate itself to curating a perfect eating experience. Instead, hospitality “as a philosophy” must be applied to create an environment where a customer and the restaurant staff can forge a dynamic relationship that freely crosses various political, social, and cultural barriers. This, they all believed, is essential to ensure the restaurant experience goes beyond a good yelp review. So just because those shrimp and grits don’t taste like the way your mom makes them, it doesn’t make the same dish at Root & Bone any less delicious. “We have to be less possessive about our food preferences,” Ponseca concluded, “so that we can talk about where we come from, build trust inside the restaurant, and hope that client comes back again.”
Massimo Bottura in “Feeding the World” took this idea one step further—outside Osteria Francescana—to bring a genuine restaurant experience to those who may need it most. As a chef, Bottura believes he is a preservationist of his own food culture (especially his region’s balsamic vinegar and parmigiano reggiano). He thusly makes it his duty to share the ingredients and cooking practices he learned from his past generations.
“Cooking is a spiritual act,” he declared with his usual exuberance. “It’s about transferring ideas and empowering people to feed each other, rather than relying on these systems that are failing us.” Bottura’s Food for Soul foundation strives to do just that. As a nonprofit, Food for Soul collects surplus food in “community kitchens”—also called Refettorios—stationed across the globe (currently there are three: London, Rio de Janeiro, and Milan) . Ingredients are prepared by local people in marginalized communities, and the food is served to “socially vulnerable” citizens: those that are homeless, disabled, impoverished, or have simply fallen on hard times. Yes, it’s a soup kitchen, but it is one that combats food waste, creates job opportunities, and restores the comfort and dignity so often lost in the act of feeding those less fortunate. Guests do not line up to have indiscernible, surplus canned goods thrown on their trays and then sit to eat in shame or silence. In a Refettorio, volunteer servers will bring you a well-prepared meal and treat you like a restaurant guest. Massimo believes that the degree of social interaction in tandem with restaurant-level hospitality facilitates a greater conversation about alleviating symptoms of poverty and hunger in vulnerable communities. Detroit’s FoodLab and Charleston’s Fresh Future Farm are two national examples of this method’s success, and Massimo hopes this type of outreach will continue.
“Hunger is everyone’s issue,” Ruth told us. It’s not as easy as giving someone something to eat. As we grow, sell, eat, and throw away food, we must accept it as a vital and incredibly intersectional piece of pop culture, social justice, and the environment. While ensuring both pleasure and comfort in the act of eating, food establishments and restaurants must remain able to discuss and meet the needs of various diners. By doing so, restaurants can act as a catalyst to reshape the greater socio-cultural dialogue about feeding and hospitality. In our own communities, giving food or growing it for those in need is so much more than an act of charity. It is an essential piece of our humanity and the stimulus required to forge lasting relationships.
2. Technology in the Food Industry is still a Slippery Slope
Online reservation platforms, cancellation fees, and home delivery services are some of the ways in which restaurants have been able to increase profits and customer bases. Better POS and time management systems have also helped restaurants and their owners ensure accurate front and back of house staff compensation, and improved communications has yielded more efficient means for orders and deliveries. Using iPads instead of a waitstaff or walking up to a kiosk instead of a cashier, though, are still points of contention. Will Guidara argued that human interaction in restaurants is important but not always necessary. "If you’re traveling and don’t speak the language, the discomfort of ordering food disappears when you can change the language on the iPad at the table.” He went on to tell the audience that technology is a powerful tool with both pros and cons; it is therefore up to the owner of the restaurant to decide how large the role of technology will play.
“Bourdain and Beyond” similarly explored the good and bad sides of tech innovation. Andrew Zimmern credited Bourdain’s Parts Unknown for its ability to demystify the fantasy of a foreign country and expose audiences to various food cultures. Bourdain paved the way for food and travel television series like Chef’s Table and Somebody Feed Phil, which have allowed viewers to take a deeper look inside restaurant kitchens and global destinations.
But all this interconnectedness has its detriments. Social media has created a highly transactional system of tourism that tends to dilute the importance of a place and its history. Taking the perfect boomerang, getting a well-lit selfie, or hunting down wifi to update your Instagram story is all you may need to feel justified for going to that market in Spain or shrine in Japan. Ruth and Andrew, however, agreed that there is no better way to experience a place than to put down your phone, get uncomfortable, and follow your nose.
“Get on the subway and get off at the last stop!” was Zimmern’s reply when I asked what we can do to be better tourists.
3. The Chef as an Activist
Massimo and Ruth both praised chef José Andrés for his disaster relief work in the Bahamas and Haiti. His powerful sense of duty to feed people has helped many chefs realize that leadership roles are not only inside a restaurant kitchen. The current cultural climate around food has therefore created a unique opportunity for chefs to take on dynamic educational, political, and charitable projects. In this sense, Bottura and Reichl agreed that chefs have the power to assume a political stance and rally support behind platforms for better waste management practices, improved school lunches, and enhanced community cooking education.
“Bourdain showed us how food is the foundation of our humanity.” Zimmern said solemnly. “He also showed us how food may give us access to the most intimate spaces in the world. Food is the key to open the door to conversation and betterment.”
Reichl also remarked that the increased visibility of chefs in pop culture has opened multiple avenues for food writing. Diners can no longer be fully tantalized by the way a critic describes a dish. In addition, they want to know the chef’s belief and value system as well as their backstory. Chefs, then, can no longer just hide away in their kitchens; they now possess a great deal of new-found social responsibility.
From my point of view, The New York Times’s first food festival was a great success. Bryant Park was transformed into the perfect arena for a food celebration, and the Times Center a hub for stimulating conversation and food-forward intervention. I’m looking forward to attending again next year.