Sarah
Heermann
Writ
short Essay 3
The
American Way
The
Italian restaurant I chose to eat at for this analysis had many features of an
average Italian restaurant. White table cloth, served wine and noodles, and had
soft guitar music playing in the background. However, it takes a second look to
realize this is not really what an Italian restaurant should be. Authentic Italian food should not come from a
chain of restaurants, imbedded in the center of a massive shopping area, and
served with alterations to fit a more “American” taste. Our American culture
has changed our perception of all kinds of food, including Italian, and in an
ironic twist this causes anything truly authentic to seem like a poser of what
we believe to be authentic. I sat in the
Brio restaurant next to the Cherry Creek mall enjoying a meal for over an hour,
and noted some interesting details that led me to these conclusions.
The location of this restaurant has an effect on the
types of customers it receives. Being next to a mall, many shoppers laden with
bags come in during the day, most likely in a higher quantity than if the
restaurant had a different location.
This causes the general crowd to have an overall more casual look and
feel, since most shoppers wear everyday clothing and carry several paper and
plastic sacks with them. Brio is not
like a scene in McDonald’s though, people dress up and come specifically to eat
at Brio, so not all of the crowd are casual.
The
décor in Brio does not reflect the more casual shoppers that come in during the
day, but instead reflect the more dressy night time crowd that filters in for a
more dressy meal that is still affordable. The prices in Brio range from 10-40 dollars an
entree, and placed next the high-class and more expensive restaurant Elway’s,
Brio seems like a cheap option without offending your date. I am sure this is a
factor with drawing people into the restaurant, as people usually show interest
in the product that is second best if the price of the best is too high. Inside it imitates the grandness of Elway’s
and other high-class restaurants, if not over doing it. It has waiters dressed in long-sleeved shirts
and white table cloths, long and heavy decorative curtains, soft guitar music
in the background and matching cloth drapes across the ceiling to draw the eye
to the large chandeliers that hang in the center of the room. Additionally,
they have several forks and spoons on the sides of the plates, several glasses
out (one for each course of the meal i.e. wine glass, coffee cup) and the
chairs have cloth tied in the back that makes it seem as though it is a special
occasion.
I
have been to Brio before during lunch, but this last time I have gone was for
an evening meal, and the people behaved differently at night. Many were more
dressed up, having come straight from home rather than the mall, they came in
larger family groups or in pairs for a couples date, and at night they were
generally more mindful of their manners (placing napkin on lap, knife sideways on
the plate after use, etc.). Something more significant that I noticed was that
the night time crowd never tried to do activities other than eating while at
dinner, while the lunch crowd could be seen reading a book, looking at
receipts, or even making phone calls.
More
authentic restaurants would be smaller, not a part of a chain restaurant that
appeals to the masses and would prepare the food using more Italian methods
rather than Italian inspired American dishes. Americanizing ethnic foods is
very popular among chain restaurants. Just like any large corporation that
seeks to gain the approval of the masses, changing their product to appeal to a
more “American” taste just makes sense especially when considering profits. According
to “La Gazzetta Italiana”, only one-third of supposed Italian food actually
come s from Italy. Freshness and quality
after being shipped is also in question. (Janice Therese) Of course under these new considerations
few people will ever have “true” Italian food, but even the recipes involved in
cooking and methods of production have differed to appeal to a more American
taste. Authentic Italian food comes in smaller portions, with much simpler
ingredients, uses less cheese and toppings if none at all, and most surprisingly
to me Italians do not use tomato sauce at all. They focus on freshness, and
make meals from scratch so waiting a long time for a meal is a major
difference. (Ledblimp, 2010)
The
restaurant Brio is one I always look forward to eating at. The food here of
course is Americanized, being part of a large corporate chain that want to sell
food in mass quantities, but this restaurant is still one of my favorites. It
has the convenient location of being close to the mall, which affects the types
of customers it gets, but it also has an atmosphere of grandness in both
decoration, good quality of food, and service without the hefty price prices
that are perhaps a more unique and authentic restaurant would have. All in all, I prefer the American way.
Resources
Janice Therese, M. [Web log message]. Retrieved
from http://www.lagazzettaitaliana.com/italian-food-american-history.aspx
Ledblimp. (2010, August). [Web log message].
Retrieved from
http://www.lifeinitaly.com/forum/threads/11472-Differences-between-Italian-amp-American-style-Italian-food
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