Brown Motion

No this is not a politically motivated speech.  Nor a lecture on economic outlook.  Rather my recent experience at a supposedly highbrow restaurant in San Francisco.  Part of the Michael Mina group - for someone not familiar with the name - a migrant to America who made it big cooking up meals with spices of the east and soon partnered with the business savvy of a famous tennis star to crank out a chain of high end eateries in the USA. This establishment is named RN74.  Starting with its name it tries to alienate someone trying to first figure out that they serve food.  Isn't that the main idea?  Apparently not.  In summary I found this place to be an expensive bar with some food on the side.  Literally and figuratively (as in when the check arrives). So I did some digging before visiting.  Let me back up.  For someone who has known me to have a pre-conceived wariness of anything highbrow why did I go?  It was a business dinner...

Once again I was confused.   I know its not the last time.  Here comes some affluent targeted article about the best places to drop money that is burning a hole in your pocket.  It would appear that it has very little to do with the food and everything to do with being seen hanging for an hour at these places amidst others that have more money than you to dispense. Of the most recent survey (choking on water as I type) of 50 best in the USA there is one random place from San Francisco, ranked in the mid 20s  run by an erstwhile South Indian who worked his way through the Taj kitchens to be head chef here.  The cuisine it appears is some kind of Indian and French fusion.  Now granted there is a lot of science and art coming together to make some of these amazing dishes but the BEST moniker seems to be misplaced somewhere. The big deal in this business is a Michelin rating.  His place has two for 2016.  I mean to me that is also somewhat mystif...

A lot of foodie influences make for a wonderful film showcasing cast and crew from various continents. Directed by a Swede (L Hallstrom whose film credits include movies about edible items - Chocolat, Gilbert Grape etc); the film stars are French-Canadian, British, Indian and an American of Indian origins.  The Indian hero of the film has a food item for a last name - Puri (a puffed fried bread made from wheat flour). It is a tale, an adaptation from a book - about two restaurant owners who vie for success in the French countryside.  One is an established Michelin star winner and the other across the street - 100 feet apart- an upstart started by a migrant family from India. As cuisine goes the story tries to dispel the notion that one country's food can be superior to another while conveying that what really matters in the end is in the palate of the beholder.  It also does a decent job of effectively showcasing some masala - the edible kind - not item numbers - th...