A farewell to an old friend....

Well, its been a good thirty years. I've loved you unconditionally all this time, even though I always knew you were no good for me. You were there in good times, and in bad. You were always there to give me a comforting hug when I needed you.  I kept coming back for more, knowing each time I was opening myself up to your charms, and once again, falling into your intoxicating aroma and sweet, sweet taste on my lips - only to make me feel dirty and guilty afterwards.

Today.... I ate my last Big Mac.

I've known for some time that this day was fast approaching. The signs are everywhere, people keep telling me... Mr Big (Mac) is no good for you. So, driving home from the mountains tonight without having had any dinner, I stopped off at a roadside service centre. I thought about dropping in to the service station instead of the Maccas to try to find something that resembled food (and not an egg and lettuce  sandwich that had been made and packaged probably eighteen hours earlier). But his pull was too strong, so I drove past the Caltex, and into the drive-thru.

'Small Big Mac meal with a diet coke please'. Within two minutes, he was in my hand, his sweet buns begging me to bite into them and release the special sauce, (along with the lettuce, cheese, pickles, and those two thin slabs of slimy beef patty, and about 65 other ingredients, a lot of which are not actually food products at all).

In all seriousness, tonight really is going to be my last McDonald's purchase. And, its not like I succumb very often - maybe once every six-eight weeks or so - but there really are too many reasons which affect my health and well-being. Most important of all though, McDonalds' irresponsible marketing of their nutritionally deficient products to children, is what tips me into the boycotting pool. And worse still, this marketing is often disguised as charity or assisting learning in schools. Who really wants to see a happy meal voucher for their children on the back of their report card for achieving good grades (this was an actual proposal in the US)?

Maybe it was Jamie Oliver's campaign showing the truth about what goes into chicken the nuggets- scary stuff when you watch the video!

Anyway, whatever it was, it came to a head tonight. All of this literally put a bad taste in my mouth. I couldn't finish my Big Mac. I felt like for the first time, I could taste every single chemical and preservative that had been added (I could go into the list of lots-of-letters-in-their-name ingredients in their different products, but I am already feeling little queasy!)

So, this really is goodbye my big friend. While I'm at it, you should pass my au revoir on to your sidekick, French fries, and your jobshare buddy, Sausage and Egg McMuffin  (I might never be able to drink excessively again, knowing I can't cure my hangover with that spiced sausage, perfectly shaped fried egg and that deep fried golden hashy).

So from today, your golden arches will never sit on the horizon and draw me to you with some sort of  magical power.... ever again.

This is my promise to you (and myself), Mr M!

Is traditional dining out, dying?

Is traditional dining out, dying?

While once it was the familiar hospitality of the owner/maître’d that was a drawcard to a restaurant, it is now the rock star chef who ensures a full restaurant night after night. Although he/she may not actually be on-site - possibly at their ‘pop-up’ experiment in an up-and-coming-but-still-cool-and-dingy suburb, or cooking for the city’s elite at a 10-chef charity ball, or hosting a ‘casual’ early evening, sun-setting BBQ on the deck at ‘home’ with friends (but only the beautiful friends, because it will be featured in a Sunday lifestyle liftout’s pages next month) - it seems to be that the art of hospitality and dining as an occasion, is slowly fading. 

Dining used to be a consuming (pardon the pun) experience – not just the food, but the  interaction with the owner and staff, the décor, the music, the view, the wine, were all determining factors as to one’s decision to visit or return to a restaurant. Nowadays, it really is all about the food. And the pre-cursors to the main event (the food) don’t weigh in anymore – good service is lacking and it really doesn’t matter anymore if the venue has a view of a sparkling harbour or a dilapidated and graffitied laneway wall.

All of this makes me feel for the humble, hard working and ever-present restaurateur. It is unfortunate that his style of hospitality is not what people want anymore. It seems most punters would rather be in the insular company of their friends taking pics of the food rather than have a conversation with this stalwart of the community, while he pours the wine he has specifically selected and recommended for the group.

The question is - how do these businesses survive going forward? It is no longer a matter of a $70 weekly ad in the local rag, or a letterbox drop to the local residents. It’s almost not cool to advertise and market traditionally anymore…..as one of my digital marketing friends said, ‘it screams desperation!’. Discount/coupon websites don’t really work in the long run. They might be a quick cash injection, but ultimately, are these customers going to return to pay full price next month? Unfortunately, the answer is ‘not likely’.

Does the restaurateur reinvent? Change the theme of the menu? Overnight, become a canteen, a diner, or a pop-up? There will always be new trends in food and dining, but surely its senseless reinventing to the point where the passion is lost. After all, passion is why our restaurateur is in this business.

Does he diversify? Add a breakfast service? Offer takeaways? Catering? To a point, yes. Diversification is not a bad word. Ask Richard Branson. But there is still the fundamental problem of marketing these new ventures.

So, it to comes down to this. We’re in a brave new world, people. It is either time to embrace the new and casual approach to marketing and filter that through to the end product, or become another casualty in the constantly evolving dining scene. This fickle and well-informed new customer is here for good, so veterans of the industry need to act now. Start with using social media as a platform to talk to your customer and get up close and personal with them – start the relationship with them before they even set foot in the restaurant. Show behind-the-scenes pics – people LOVE behind-the-scenes (especially of a kitchen).  Mention ‘the chef’ – A LOT! Send the chef to the markets and ‘hand pick’ the ingredients for tonight’s service - just make sure that it is photographed and posted to Facebook! 

Of course, social media (and other types of marketing) is only half the battle. Maintaining a passion for a great product, staying true to oneself and projecting a level of confidence by ensuring staff and colleagues are just as passionate, will always be the most basic necessities for a successful restaurant....canteen....food truck...or dare i say it - pop-up! 

On the other side of the coin, thanks to new, young, forward thinkers in the restaurant world, we have access like never before to great food which is affordable and approachable. Just like we say women dress for other women, similarly in the days of 'haute cuisine' of the 80s and 'molecular gastronomy of the naughties' chefs seemed to be designing menus and dishes for other chefs and industry peers, rather than for the diner. It all seemed so out of reach for the majority of the population. 

Even as recently as the last five years, as mentioned earlier, dining out has become second nature, and not so much a special occasion. This is due to many factors - accessibility to great produce, our ever-evolving array of cultures in Australia, and we also probably have cooking shows on TV to thank for this as well. People are so much more food savvy than ever before, and restaurateurs and chefs are needing to keep up with this discerning customer, otherwise he will just stroll down to the new Greek street food place on the next corner!

So who wins? It is us, the diner! We are so lucky to have so many different styles, themes and cuisines in Australia. If we, as consumers can strike a balance when it comes to our eating habits - enjoy each style of dining for what it is, the more formal and traditional restaurateur will survive as long as he is adaptable but without compromising on the 'experience' offered to each guest. The rock star chef owner/operator is having a moment right now, and this will continue, as long as he keeps the diner front of mind, and the critics, Instagram, and awards a step behind this. 

Forbidden fruit....or chips...or cake

The story goes that Lord Byron couldn't bear to see women enjoying their food. In ones of his letters, he described his new Italian mistress eating 'chicken wings, sweetbreads, custards, peaches, port wine....a woman should never be seen eating or drinking unless it be lobster and champagne, the only true feminine viands'.

Apparently women aren't supposed to enjoy their food in public. The (male) principal at my all-girl Catholic high school had a very strict rule on students' behaviour after schools hours - NO EATING IN PUBLIC. I never thought to question the reason for this at the time (although, in defiance, I most certainly enjoyed my fair share of hot chips from the local fish 'n chips shop on the way home from school), but I now wonder why? Why shouldn't women be allowed to enjoy their food publicly??

Does it, as Freud would probably suggest, come back to sex? Does a varacious appetite for food translate to her burning desire for her own flesh and body to be consumed? Think of the images of Kirsten Dunst playing Marie Antoinette, surrounded by cakes, brioche and other sweets....there is no doubt, an erotic undertone to these images.

Or, is Marie Antioinette indulging so extravagantly because she is losing control? It seems that women and girls must be seen to be 'in control' of their (food or non-food related) hunger. If a female is seen to be losing this control and gorging on food or sex, (or shoes, even!), she is viewed no longer as a desirable partner, but maybe even a little 'unhinged'... It is unfortunate that now, with these archaic views surrounding women and their food consumption, the result is that of young girls starving themselves in order to conform to society's image of the perfect woman.

Thankfully, in recent decades, there has been a push by mainstream media to quell these old standards, and embrace a woman's natural beauty, instincts and desires, which has resulted in changing perceptions of women's roles in the community. Governments around the world have also established health policies that incorporate dealing with eating disorders, and education policies that help to build young womens' self confidence. Sadly, there are still many others in the mainstream who refuse to see women as more than objects of a certain ideal of perfect....to those, I say.....

Let them eat cake!!