4: The Impact Of Fashion On Food
In developed nations, the consumption of food has ceased to be about sustenance and has instead acquired myriad social, cultural, and symbolic meanings. In particular, this author feels that the producers of foodstuff has leveraged marketing to transform food into a symbol and a signal of cultural and individual identity.
(EN: Given the melodrama of previous chapters, I feel it's necessary to mention this is speculative - some individuals approach dining in this manner, and arguably it is something that many are aware at the subconscious level, but I have yet to see hard evidence that it is significant or widespread, and have the sense that most people are not quite as conspicuous or deliberate in their consumption as some social critics would have us believe.)
Food has become a form of entertainment, with only superficial concern for its function, and is the topic of entertainment and a matter of everyday conversation. This is far from a new development, as the dining habits of urban Europeans of the seventeenth century and even the upper classes of ancient Rome demonstrate that food is in some instances more about entertainment and fashion than sustenance.
Toying with food
There are instances in which "food is not food" but merely a material for artistic expressions. There are many items crafted of edible items that are generally not meant primarily for eating - consider "food sculpture" such as the butter sculpture at a buffet is not meant to be used as butter, and some artworks on display in museums have been crafted of edible materials, as a sort of social statement.
(EN: The author continues for a time, providing rather too much detail about a few examples of the use of food as material in the arts. My sense is that she also aggrandizes the use of food as a novelty in gift items - a chocolate sculpture, whether for a child or an adult, is generally intended to be consumed - and completely misses the rather obvious example of food as spectacle, whether attention is grabbed by "the worlds largest" cake or the food is simply wasted as in a tomato-throwing festival, or when consumption itself is freakish such as in eating contests. There are quite many instances in which "food" is used purely for entertainment rather than sustenance.)
Social role of food
Every society has an elaborate system of symbols that convey cultural messages, and food is general among them. Consider that roles of gathering and preparing food are strongly associated to gender, food is the subject of a great deal of religious interest, and the offering of food to visitors or the occasion of a feast are instances in which food is culturally significant.
It is also common across a panoply of cultures that certain foods are considered unclean and it is forbidden to consume them, where other foods are reserved for the noble or at least upper classes and it is presumptuous and even criminal for lower classes to eat.
In the modern west there are not so many explicit rules pertaining to consumption, but there are many that are implicit - and where no rituals exist a person's choice of consumption signals others as to their status and cultural identity. Likewise, people eat many different foods and follow many different dietary patterns that are not linked to sustenance or nutrition. Food is consumed for pleasure or entertainment.
There is also the commercial aspect of food, which has effects on the way in which cities are zoned in a manner in which restaurants are clustered in specific locales. Not to mention that food is a relatively bulky good that is consumed with great frequency such that logistics within a city, and certainly between rural areas and urban centers, is largely geared first toward the movement of food.
Given that there is a great deal of commercial activity involved in manufacturing and distribution of food, and so many choices, food has become a part of marketing - as food companies must convince people to prefer their products. Given that one brand is not significantly more or less nutritious than the next, advertisers have put considerable effort into associating non-functional qualities with their brands, and have embraced culture as a means of convincing consumers to purchase and consume their food products regularly, as a part of their own daily routines.
The importance of the restaurant
Etymologically, "restaurant" derives from a French term meaning "restorative" and the restaurant itself was a kind of clinic that prepared medicinal soups for those who were sick and lacked the capability or knowledge to prepare food that was suited to their nutritional needs and digestive capabilities.
(EN: This is an interesting parallel to food items such as soda as well as entertainment experiences such as a spa resort, both of which were originally considered to promote or restore health, and both of which grew to serve a broader range of individuals and persisted even after their connection to health was found to be specious or nonexistent.)
However, not all present-day restaurants derive from healthcare, as less glamorous "cook shops" existed in medieval Europe that existed for the less esoteric purpose of preparing food for those whose domiciles had no cooking facilities, which was a growing number of freemen who did not belong to estates. This is not to overlook inns that provided meals to travelers and offered food service for a fee even to those who were not renting a bed, vendors who brought food to worksites to sell a midday meal to workers, and other enterprises that recognized people had a need to eat but insufficient time to prepare food. These various establishments evolve over time into the modern restaurant in its various forms, which address various needs of various customers for food.
Aside of selling a product, the restaurant also became a gathering place, where individuals would meet and interact, and thus took on a social aspect. A given restaurant served a specific clientele, by intention or happenstance, who were generally similar in rank - people who were fit to eat in one another's company - such that where a person went to dine was related to his social class. The lower classes were served by commonplace chow-halls, the upper class in lavish salons, and the middle-class in places that combined elements of the two.
Wherever people congregate and interact socially, there are behaviors that serve a social agenda:
- Competition - Sorting out the social order by asserting or reinforcing one's ranking among peers of a similar class
- Normalization - Establishing and communicating the behaviors appropriate to a given class or social group
- Identification - To assert one's belonging to a certain class or group by posturing as a member and displaying certain behaviors
- Association - To interact with certain individuals, and to avoid interacting with others, as a means to make connections for practical advantage
As a place where people gather often and spend a reasonable amount of time, the restaurant became a forum in which all of these practices could be employed. In effect, the need to consume food became a premise for gathering, and the social behavior that was originally a side-effect of gathering has largely superseded the original purpose of the restaurant.
The restaurant a la mode
In Nineteenth century Paris, it was said that there was a restaurant on every corner, providing for every conceivable taste, and meanwhile shaping the character of their era by bringing together individuals of various social strata and cultural backgrounds in an unregulated mix that allowed for the sharing and development of ideas. It was at this time that Paris was truly a "world city" whose influence stretched beyond its borders. From a sociological perspective, the function of the restaurant is exactly thus, though most function on a less ambitious scale.
One theorist (Spang 2000) regards restaurant as an environment in which social norms are spread - when people of different cultures are assembled, they share ideas through conversation and witness the nonverbal components of comportment to learn from one another and adopt the traits of culture, co-authoring protocols and rituals for interacting among themselves and for a brief period of time, some of which may be persisted beyond the dining experience.
The restaurant is also the crucible of table manners, where the behavior of individuals are noticed by others, considered, and deemed worthy of admiration and derision. As a result, the mannerisms of some are imitated by others - either for their practicality or elegance - and those that gain popularity become customs and social norms.
Another theorist (Sennett 1994) considers the obvious way in which restaurants have shape dining etiquette, not only for the manner in which food is consumed, but the rules for social interaction. A contrast is drawn between the English restaurant (in which people of different social classes gathered to eat and it was perfectly acceptable to engage with strangers to gain knowledge) and the French restaurant (inclusive to a specific class of persons, in which diners did not expect to bother or be bothered by one another).
However, cultures change, and in times of cultural upheaval society becomes more interactive - seeking support and allegiance. The degree to which strangers interact in restaurant spaces reflects the degree to which culture is evolving - consider the hubbub of activity in coffee shops and ale houses during the French and American revolutions.
(EN: An interesting point is that such interaction is more characteristic of establishments that are more about drinking than eating - pubs, bars, coffee shops, and the like. It is still consumption but it strikes me that beverages are more closely associated with interaction than is solid food. In that sense I don't think one can fairly consider a bar or coffee shop to be merely a restaurant specializing in beverages - the two are entirely different in this regard.)
Fashioning the modern restaurant
The degree to which diners at a restaurant are cloistered or put on public display is also significant. Consider that the small and intimate venues were often places where people would go to avoid being seen - revolutionaries hatching plots or a rendezvous among lovers in a secret affair do not wish to be seen by others. On the opposite end of the scale are the fashionable restaurants with large windows and even seating on the street, where diners are meant to be seen by those who are passing by as if to place themselves on a stage for public viewing.
(EN: The author depicts this as a change or an evolution, but my sense is that the need to be public or private is ongoing, and the design of modern restaurants cater to the varying levels of exposure their patrons desire.)
There is also a degree of interaction in a dining venue - whether patrons are expected to remain seated at one table, or to flit about from one group to another. (EN: which gets back to my previous note about the difference between eating establishments and drinking establishments - it seems more a functional than intentional quality, as one can easily carry a beverage around a space, but not a plated meal and its accompanying condiments and utensils.) As well, consider whether a given venue is designed for patrons to dine leisurely over a long period of time, or to relax and socialize, or merely to eat and run.
One sociologist (Simmel 1950) takes particular interest in the physical proximity of strangers in places like restaurants - though he also considered their behavior in parks, theaters, and other venues. It is often by the virtue of the architecture and the nature of the activity performed in a space, but it is also to some degree by contrivance of the proprietor - and it is very often inherent in the choice of venues by the customer.
The idea of "sitting around in public" is likewise marked by whether this is a purposeful activity (a person lounges with the desire to meet and interact with others) or a happenstance one (a person happens to be in a place because it is essential to a goal, or while waiting to take action). There is also some middle ground in which people who are stranded by necessity pass the time by socializing with others who also happen to be present.
It is also recognized that, in the present day, people are less social - they seek to avoid interacting with others in life's idle moments, to be "surrounded by life but remaining detached from it." (EN: This may explain why there are magazines and televisions in waiting rooms - to give people the opportunity to avoid interacting with one another - as well as the popularity of personal electronics that enable a person to have a convenient reason to avoid social contact.)
Seen in that way, the various restaurant formats appeal to clients who desire different degrees of interaction, either directly (conversing) or indirectly (merely being seen). In that sense the restaurant is a kind of participatory theater in which each patron is a member of the audience, and actor, and part of the scenery. Or to cop yet another metaphor, an academy in which the norms of culture are taught and learned.
In the present day the restaurant is extending into the realm of political expression. To dine at a vegan restaurant is an expression of concern with the environment and the ethical concerns about the status of animals. Some people gravitate toward laboratory-engineered "smart" or "super" foods while others make a point of being known to consume only organic foods from ethical sources. Their dietary fashions, verbally expressed and put on display by means of their consumption, are meant to demonstrate their support of certain causes and to suggest that others should follow their lead.
Consumer fashions
The character of a restaurant is determined by the tastes it means to serve. Its most basic function is delivery food to paying customers, and its myriad forms reflects the differences in what customers expect in both its core function and peripheral qualities, and more often the latter than the former.
(EN: Agreed, but it needs some fine tuning. The form a restaurant takes is not determined by the customers but by the proprietor, who in most instances acting on his estimation or expectation of what the customers want. The proprietor my be wrong, or entirely wrong-headed, and even a restaurant that is successful in attracting and retaining customers did not get it exactly right, just sufficiently right.)
The factors that shape the restaurant include the flavor cuisine it serves, its price-to-quality balance, its manner of service, the dining environment, the image it conveys, the nature of its customers in general, and many other factors. These factors yield a broad array of options. Competition is by means of choosing a combination of these factors, as well as adding "gimmicks" that differentiate them from similar venues.
The proliferation and differentiation in the restaurant industry is related to the expansion of the consumer economy: "dining out" is a luxury that can easily be suspended or discontinued in times of hardship. It also derives from the multicultural overtones of society, in which individuals no longer seek to conform to one of a narrow range of groups, but participate in many of a broad range of tribes.
This is not unique to present-day America, as the same observations were made by Savarin in 1825, who recognized that in a time of wealth and diversity, there are many different preferences to be served, and success in the restaurant business requires identifying a particular set of features that will appeal to a sufficient number of diners for a sufficient period of time, and doing so more accurately and effectively than others within the same area.
Restaurant architecture
One of the most significant factors of a restaurant, aside of the food itself, is the decor and ambience of the dining area (if it has a dining area at all). The furniture, napery, dinnerware, lighting, floor covering, staff uniforms, and such are matters that are under control of the proprietor, while factors related to the customers who are admitted is largely arbitrary.
(EN: It's worth noting that "dress codes" seem to have gone away, and people in general are entirely indifferent to the suitability of their attire to anything but their own comfort and, rarely, their own fashion sense. So this is becoming an increasingly unpredictable variable.)
There are some functional consequences to certain choices: drinking a good wine can be made awkward and less pleasurable if served in ill-designed or oversized stemware, dining at a small table can be a distraction, and the sound of flatware scraping plates can become a source of irritation. The temperature, lighting, and noise of a room can also mar the dining experience even though they have nothing o do with the cuisine. Likewise the behavior of the staff, the location of the kitchen, the "backstage" services such as the coat room and lavatory, etc. also influence the experience.
No element of the dining experience is immune to the influence of fashion or lacks some effect on the dining experience. There are places to eat where the setting is much more important than the food: consider any restaurant that offers a "view", or those that are owned by celebrities or frequented by the wealthy elite of a given area.
Conclusion
In all, the restaurant industry has a complex character that combines food, entertainment, and social interaction that changes with the tastes and preferences of customers. To consider the restaurant to merely be an eatery is to ignore many factors that may take precedence over its core function in the desires of the customers.