A Quick Reality Check

A rainy Friday for our Foodie post.  But at least it’s not snow so I’m feeling like we’re heading towards warmer weather, golf, and outdoor cooking.  I had a conversation with someone yesterday about what type of smoker I use and why I won’t grill on a gas grill outdoors in the winter and after the chat was over I realized that the main reason has something to do with authenticity.  To me, grilling is about wood – it’s descended from the earliest forms of cooking, even pre-pots and pans and to miss out on the flavor imparted by using this most ancient cooking form is corrupting your meal.  Of course, most people don’t know any better and that’s not just about grilling.

Let’s take bagels.  There are roughly half a billion dollars worth of bagels sold via supermarkets in our country and yet if that’s what people think of as bagels they’re missing out.  Anyone who has had a bagel in NYC or Montreal (yep, another bagel hot bed) from a place that hand crafts them will tell you that the frozen gunk you get in a supermarket aren’t bagels.  They’re not even close to real.

Pizza too.  I hate to sound like SNL, but Dominos?  Really?  Pizza Hut?  Really?  I know that’s what a lot of America thinks of as pizza and technically it is but it’s not the real deal.  And therein lies the problem not just with food but with business too.

When we allow ourselves to accept a lower standard – a characterture of something – the danger is that over time we’ll accept that characterture as the real deal.  Food from a gas grill resembles food grilled over wood or charcoal but it’s not.  Many products claim to be something that they look like through squinty eyes but upon close inspection they pale by comparison to the thing they claim to be.  Some folks’ ideas of customer service resemble real service and a true concern for the customer but..well..you get the idea.

Don’t settle for less in what you do, whether it’s in the kitchen or in the office.  Of course, it would be nice if the weather would cooperate!