Jeb’s idea for a flagship “McWorld” restaurant in Times Square that serves all the unique items served in McDonald’s around the world is so brilliant, I’m surprised it hasn’t been done already. It’d be an amazing tourist destination – hell, it’d probably get a lot of locals who wouldn’t normally eat at Mickey D’s, too.
Jeb Boniakowski for The Awl:
I’ve often thought that a lot of what makes crazy restaurant food taste crazy is the solemn appreciation you lend to it. If you put a Cheeto on a big white plate in a formal restaurant and serve it with chopsticks and say something like “It is a cornmeal quenelle, extruded at a high speed, and so the extrusion heats the cornmeal ‘polenta’ and flash-cooks it, trapping air and giving it a crispy texture with a striking lightness. It is then dusted with an ‘umami powder’ glutamate and evaporated-dairy-solids blend.” People would go just nuts for that.
So spot on. I’ve been to very expensive “molecular gastronomy” restaurants where the best dish ordered essentially tasted like McDonald’s French Fries. It’s all about the presentation and context.