Celebrity Ingredients

[ExtraMSG]

It seems that menus have a lot of celebrity ingredients these days. Niman Ranch seems to be the one I see *everywhere*, on both coasts. With Chez Panisse, The Mansion at Turtle Creek, and Charlie Trotter's all serving Niman Ranch beef (plus hundreds of other restaurants), doesn't it kind of increase the chance that whatever quality it had that made people go to it in the first place, can't be maintained. At some point these celebrity ingredients must be mass produced just like other generic ingredients. And certainly, the idea of regionality is lost all-together if every top restaurant in the country is getting their beef from the same source. Think we'll ever get menus that just say "flank steak" and not "Niman Ranch flank steak" again? Seems like a cow that's devouring itself.

[Andrew&Karen]

Hi ExtraMSG,

If you had forced yourself to eat a Santa Fe Grilled Chicken Sandwich from Burger King yesterday (as we both did, to be able to address another question in eGullet.com's Q&A), perhaps you wouldn't feel that great ingredients were so prevalent! We took it as proof positive that there's still a long way to go to raise the level of quality in American food -- not at the level of haute cuisine, but at the level at which most Americans eat on a daily basis.

That's one of the reasons we're supportive of the fact that the Chipotle Grill chain is serving Niman Ranch pork. It makes quality accessible not only to those dining at a high-end restaurant, but to office workers grabbing a $6.50 burrito for lunch or dinner.

It's also an example of the fact that mass production doesn't have to equal generic. It's really a matter of values -- values of the producers, values of the retailers, and values of the consumers. Niman Ranch stands for something. Chipotle Grill stands for something. And every consumer votes with their wallet as to what they stand for (to paraphrase Chapter 10 of BECOMING A CHEF). Our collective decisions are what will determine the quality of food in America in the long run.

Best wishes,

Karen & Andrew

P.S. Oh, and as for branded ingredients on menus -- did you know that certain producers offer discounts if their names are featured as such on menus? Given that that's the case, it doesn't seem to be going away any time soon....

[ExtraMSG]

P.S. Oh, and as for branded ingredients on menus -- did you know that certain producers offer discounts if their names are featured as such on menus? Given that that's the case, it doesn't seem to be going away any time soon....

As long as dishes don't start saying "Hollandaise Sauce brought to you by FedEx" and "Budweiser's Portland Bistro", I guess I can live with it.

Nick

[Andrew&Karen]

As long as dishes don't start saying "Hollandaise Sauce brought to you by FedEx" and "Budweiser's Portland Bistro", I guess I can live with it.

Hi Nick,

We shudder at the thought!! ; )

Karen & Andrew