Slow Food Snail of Approval

[Megan Blocker]

So, this is kind of neat! Slow Food NYC has created the "Snail of Approval," a program that recognizes local restaurants, bars, artisans and the like for their devotion to the principles of the Slow Food movement. Kind of a nifty idea; wonder if it will become a deciding factor for people in where they choose to eat?

Here's a link to the website; restaurants recognized this time around include Lupa, Prune, Cookshop, Telepan and Pearl's Oyster Bar (Pegu made the list of bars and taverns).

Is there anyone missing who seems like a glaring oversight? Any Slow Food members who'd care to weigh in on the choices?

[JosephB]

It's curious that Chambers Street Wines was omitted from the list, because it not only espouses the Slow philosophy, it runs a regular ad in Slow Food's newsletter, the Snail.

[markabauman]

I haven't had a chance yet to peruse the list and compare it to the printed Slow Food Guide to NYC published a while back. It certainly is a bit more useful and up to date to have it web-based. I have used the guide in the past as one more source, among many, to discover new places, to make decisions as to where to eat in NY, etc. to answer Megan's question. Still trying to decipher what criteria, based on Slow Food principles, that they use to make their choices. Certainly these days, many places are trying to be "fresh, local, seasonal", etc. "Sustainable"- another buzzword. Avoiding endangered species, etc. It's also a little difficult to compare the preservation of foodways, traditions, heirloom products in this country to a place like Italy. We're trying- we just don't have quite the same things to conserve as they do. Does a place make the list because they support artisinal wine producers who truly espouse "terroir"- another abused concept; is a place left off because they serve mass-produced wines? Be interesting to see how it works out.

[docsconz]

The list so far is a small one. My suspicion is that a lot of worthy candidates simply have not yet been nominated. One must be a Slow Food member in order to submit a nomination, which is then considered by a committee.