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Ana-Alicia

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What a lovely post! This brought me back to my childhood days where I would make mac and cheese and I was so proud of "cooking" by myself. It was quick and easy enough for a kid to make and enjoy! I do have to agree with you about the guilty pleasure food. Foodies should be open to some classic American Junk food and I'm sure most people have their own go-to. Peanut M&Ms are my thing!
It is so nice to learn about the history about, well almost everyone's childhood, go-to food when mom was too tired to make anything. I think it is interesting to learn about the origins of the product because, well I have always thought the chef was a fictional character like Betty Crocker or Mr. Clean. It is nice to know that there is a Chef Boiardi! It seems as if Chef Boy-Ar-Dee's product is now just a mass-produced kid-friendly type dinner, but it sure looks like as if it was of higher quality through out the years he was in Pennsylvania. I wonder if it had tasted any different? I believe the last time I had a can of Chef Boy-Ar-Dee a few years ago I was highly disappointed. It did not taste the same as it did when I was younger. It is unfortunate that we don't hear of chefs that have frozen or canned dinners grow their own vegetables. Would it be possible? Is it too costly?

Food and Culture 

 Ana-Alicia Says:
April 26, 2014 at 1:18 am | Reply

This post is very insightful and all the while I felt like Eliza Doolittle learning about the different table etiquette from around the world. Especially since I am not too brushed up on my dining etiquette from different cultures from around the world. What was interesting to me is that table manners vary due to the fundamental ways of thinking about food. Some cultures seem to really appreciate food and therefore they do what they can, like eating with their hands to nourish their mind. I never knew there was chop stick etiquette in Japan. I found it fascinating that Japan’s table manners are closely tied with other traditions.
I also like that you mentioned what other cultures do after they eat. It made me smile to think of people burping after a meal because it reminds me of babies burping after their bottle. This is very much different compared to the US. I believe we directly say thank you or we get seconds. But those norms do not seem as interesting to me as burping to show appreciation, then again saying thank you is what I am used to.
All the while I was reading I was trying to think of American table manners. I believe we have different kinds depending on the setting. For example, in a formal setting there are utensils for different types of meals like the salad fork or the dessert spoon. Do these cultures also have different table manners according the the setting?
Excellent post thank you!

Food for Thought

I'm not going to lie. But coming up with a topic has been quite difficult even after thinking long and hard about what to write about. So what am I thinking about? Well, after revising the Trifecta blog I was reminded about another blogger who had written about a sports bar not fitting into the neighborhood. Reading that made me think of a rather cherubic kiddo that smelled...interesting and did not have any friends. Simply not fitting in. Then a question raced through my mind--what are some restaurants that have distinctive cultures that do not necessarily fit in with their surroundings? Does that even happen? Do communities have a sense of self then invite the restaurants that match its personality or vice versa?

One restaurant with a distinct culture is Barney's Beanery. This place is not intimidating and it has a friendly atmosphere.The lighting is dim, there are pictures of famous people plastered on the table tops, junk is thrown up on the wall like it belongs there (it doesn't). This is the kind of place where you can eat, drink, watch the Dodger games and curse your heart out at Time Warner. It's a sports bar/restaurant for some bombass chilli. But can you see this place like Los Feliz? Probably not because it is a more affluent region of Los Angeles. All Barney's Beanery would be is that fat smelly kid confined by kid in rich-kid suits.

In-n-Out is a restaurant that we all know and love. RIGHT?! It's definitely a So Cal thing, but has opened restaurants in states like Arizona and Nevada. Let's walk into in-n-out together. Right away you catch a wiff of grilled onion. The walls are white with a touch of red. Behind-the-counter is an army of employees dressed in white, as nurses are, equipped and ready to save me from my hunger. As I get to the cash register a nice young and beautiful person (why is everyone who works  at in-n-out so good looking?) asks what I want--#2 Animal Style NO PICKLES pleaseandthankyou. Sorry I just got hungry. The point I am trying to make is that in-n-out seems to do an excellent job at locating themselves in areas that they would fit into. Mostly in suburban areas as well as off the freeway. (This just might be my own personal opinion) but every time I go to In-n-Out it is usually in not so ghetto areas. BUT there is one in Huntington Park. This is interesting because when I visited this In-N-Out location I realized how white the employees were! I'm not saying In-N-Out is racist, but it has located itself in areas where white middle class families live. So seeing In-N-Out in the hood is a bit skeptical.

Places like Barney's Beanery and In-N-Out are welcoming to all kinds of people. Restaurants like Baco Mercat, Cleo's, and Beastia are kind of intimidating if you haven't been there before. They are all in areas that are trendy and fun to be in, but are kind of hidden if you haven't been there before. The areas these restaurants are located give a reflection of the neighborhood. It tends to be a bit more fancier than where In-N-Out would be located.

Overall, I don't think I have any answers to my questions. It seems like some restaurants, depending on the type of restaurant it is, can receive some backlash from the community. Other restaurants like In-N-Out are received well from the general public. (then again In-N-Out is quite popular. It's cheap, it's American, and It's open til 1am---why aren't they paying me?!) So is it restaurants placing themselves in the community or the community demanding the restaurant? ¿Por que no los dos?

Food for thought.

Un, Deux, Trois

  I am not quite accustomed to introducing myself to the “world.” I am sure you're wondering why I put world in quotations. Well, I am not active on social media platforms--I'm more like a possum that plays dead. Why? Well, I'm a private person. I don't like to give myself away to "friends" or "followers." Frankly, I am not that cool. If I had a reality show, well let's just stop there it would be nonexistent because my life is just that routine. But, I am okay with that because I enjoy the simple things in life. If I had it my way I would have large windows in my room with a cool breeze flowing in, fresh flowers, and delicious and healthy food everyday. Those, my friends, are a few of my favorite things. (And who would watch a reality show like that?!) So there you have it. I'm simple (and not the way Southern women use "simple" to offend others) oh, easy-going! That's the better phrase. My name is Ana-Alicia and I am easy-going. I don’t think everyone should or has the right to blast their opinions online, but they do anyway. I’m looking at you Jaden Smith!

Doing this blog is a bit out of my comfort zone, I mainly enjoy sharing my thoughts to the people closest to me, but here I am, sharing it with the "world." I’m sure one day my snooping offspring will read this and see how lame I was. (Go do the dishes you crazy kids!)

My blog will mainly be about the one thing that is essential to our survival: FOOD. Let me answer your questions 1. No I will not give you recipes nor show you how to cook/prepare dishes. 2. No I will not go to restaurants and analyze the food myself because I am too poor to visit the various restaurants this great city has to offer. 3. Why yes! I will focus on how food creates cultures by looking at review websites and restaurants with large fan bases. I chose this as my topic because food has always been associated with happy moments in my life. Growing up food was used at celebrations and today (when I splurge on myself) I eat because I have accomplished something. Oh yeah, of course I eat to survive, but in this blog food will mostly be referred to food from upscale or trendy restaurants. I have always been pushed to be adventurous with food I do have a wide range of favorites; Thai, Indian, Mediterranean, Mexican, iMeanTheListCanGoOnandOn! Since I have been "on my own" as a college student I have made a conscious decision to try new restaurants. What I have discovered is the cult-like fans of some restaurants and the good, the bad and the ugly about Yelp. 

This has inspired me to dive deeper into the trench of foodie-ism.Some questions I will ask include: How do they discover these restaurant gems in the city? How does word spread about new foods? 

 Has veganism, paleo diets and other different patterns of eating (eating organic, locally grown foods, grass-fed animals) have urged restaurants to broaden their menu options? What's up with the increase of popularity of food trucks?

I will try to stay away from focusing too much on restaurants and their dishes. Instead, I will incorporate how exterior factors that have lead to the popularity of the particular restaurant. And I will examine the restaurant's fan-base--are they families, college students, wealthy old people that drive long Cadillacs?

Happy reading!

 And just because I mentioned him earlier,  below are some of Jaden Smith’s tweets:

Jaden Smith @officialjaden

I Watch Twilight Every Night

Jaden Smith @officialjaden

20 Slizered Unicorns XxYxŸ

Jaden Smith @officialjaden

Jonah Hill Is A Genius

Jaden Smith @officialJaden

School Is The Tool To Brainwash The Youth

It was difficult to find blogs about food and culture because there's so many damn foodies out there and they mostly review food. Many of the blogs that I sorted through ranged from food review blogs to food photography blogs. I don't think I have the authority to rate food, nor do I have the knowledge to give you food recipes, and the only camera I have is on my phone. And I do not know how to use it properly. And that my friends is why my blog is about the cultures that surround food.

The name of the blog is "Eating L.A." with the clever tagline "it's your city, you might as well taste it."Thanks for the advice Pat! Pat is a writer from the Silver Lake area. She has written for Variety and she has other blogs that she writes for as well: Silver Lake Story and hipstavore. She has been bloggin' since 2004 and has written phenomenal blog posts.

 Pat is consistent about posting blogs and her latest post was on February 25, 2014. A blog that I enjoyed reading was about a new bar, the Hyperion Public opening up in Los Feliz. It was interesting because the community was concerned about having a "sports bar" in their neighborhood and the typical "sports bar" character doesn't quite fit the neighborhood's persona. (I mean who doesn't like a beefed up jock?) At least that is what the neighborhood is claiming. Pat mentions, "The upstairs bar does have TVs showing sports events, but with bingo, karaoke and live music nights, the owners are working hard to make sure the bar has something for everyone in the community." This gives me something to think about, because my blog is about food and culture and it never occurred to me that restaurants may have a hard time fitting in with the area. It definitely says something about the area. Are they too good for an old fashioned sports bar? Do they want to keep the jock-strap bro outside of their community? According to the blog the Hyperion Public has tried its best to fit in. They have revamped the interior to make it look chic and they also serve food that is appealing to the community.

Another blog that caught my eye was about a Yelp review. Apparently, Pizzeria Delfina in NYC was clever enough to make t-shirts out of their bad Yelp reviews. Now that's a knee slapper!

This blog does not specifcally relate to my work, but it does provide some interesting insight. The posts seem to vary on details, but the blog would help me best for my own blog ideas. I don't think its an academic blog, because it is targeted toward Angelinos that do want a taste of the city.

Natalie is a NJ in LA (which looks like NINJA when you are quickly glancing at it.) I can't see her bio, but if you don't mind me taking an educated guess, she was from New Jersey and had moved to Los Angeles. Chasing the dream are we? The subject of her blog is food. (Whodathunkit?) What Natalie does is food reviews many different restaurants across the Southland and posts magnificent photos of the food. Her blog is clean and crisp.

I went through several pages of her blog and many compose of voice--both personal and professional. The professional voice in the blog is to be read as an objective point of view of the food she is reviewing. The personal voice is then lightly sprinkled and gently mixed in with Natalie's professional voice. Personally, I think having both is vital for a food blog. Here are some examples:
  
"I was psyched when I was invited to 800° Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria in Westwood because   recently my friend Whitney was telling me how much she enjoyed it – not to mention, how perfect of a spot it was for a casual date. AND CUZ PIZZA!"  

Right here she is introducing the restaurant she is reviewing, but also letting us know her personal feelings about the food. She starts off lady-like and calm, but she then transforms to this giant who is ecstatic and hungry for her favorite food. I understand, girl. 

"It wouldn’t take you long to realize from looking at my Instagram to know how much I LOVE BURRATA."

The giant also loves burrata. 

"This style of pizza is eaten with a knife and fork in Italy but since I was in Westwood I didn’t feel any pressure. There’s something about holding a slice of pizza like a little baby in your hands that feels rewarding."

This is a simile. A simile is a figure of speech which compares one thing to another. Here she is explaining how you are supposed to eat the pizza, but she is a rebel. And giant has developed feelings for PIZZA. These feelings are absolutely parallel to a mother's love for her child. 

"Ethiopian cuisine is one of my greatest culinary loves so I was psyched when a friend of mine from the Craft & Folk Art Museum invited me to come eat at his family’s new restaurant, Azla Vegan."

Pretty normal sentence, but the use of the word psyched caught my attention. She could've use other words, but she didn't. That's a good thing. The word "psyched" reminds me of this down-to-earth person who can get excited about the little things. The word "psyched" has a lot of voice within itself because, usually when I hear it, it is said from a close friend. Did we just become best friends?!

 "I had a tall glass of refreshing Sorrel with ginger, which complimented my meal, a drink that spoke to this Mexican American girl forever in love with  jamaica – hibiscus to much of the world."  

This. I was bummed when I couldn't read her bio because I like knowing a bit about the author. But, when she revealed her identity I felt as if I can relate to her more. First, she mentions "Sorrel" and when it is in italics it makes it seem as if it were the most precious and mysterious liquid delicacy that only a few people in the world have actually drank. Pfft. But then she mentions her identity (yay, yo tambien un mexicana-gringa) and reveals it's just jamaica. Immediately I wanted tacos. I think I'll get some King Taco later. When she writes "hibiscus" I believe she is simply explaining what jamaica is. It's "hibiscus."   

"DID SOMEONE SAY ETHIOPIAN PIZZA?"

1

Once again instead hearing the blogger who has a trendy blog with a sophisticated voice, we hear the giant. And she is ready for more pizza.

 So after reading these blogs (as well as many others from Natalie) I  assume she has a pleasant personality. She doesn't over share her hopes, dreams, and wishes. She is excellent with combining her personality into her work without overdoing it. This type of work makes me like her because I can relate to her (especially on the part about pizza!) but I can also fully respect her line of work because she does not over share. 

$$$

I've always had champagne taste with beer money. ALWAYS!!! When I'm shopping for clothes (which isn't often) all the clothes I like are ridiculously over-priced. It's the same with finding a restaurant.

I was waiting for my Social Inequality class to begin, I sat down and there was a magazine called Restaurant Guide. "What a coinkydink," I thought. Here I am, a blog writer about food and culture and here lays a magazine that was waiting for me to open. I don't often come across paper literature since I am Hooked on Yelp. I began to flip the glossy pages looking for a new place and counting how many restaurants I've actually been to.  (which wasn't many) There was one thing that annoyed the shit out of me. Every damn restaurant that sounded so amazing was so fucking expensive!!! I was enraged. I felt like I could never be able to afford one of those places. I honestly felt like Andie Walsh from Pretty In Pink when she is parked outside this beautiful home with Duckie. She says something like "I bet they don't even appreciate it." I'm sure people that visit fancy restaurants are so blasé about the impeccable service and the exquisite food.

It really had me thinking how restaurants can be an example of the division of classes. But really think about it. I know money is uncomfortable to bring up, but how many times have you read a yelp review, but then dismissed it because it was $$$ and not $. It's exactly how I am when I go clothes shopping.

Let me describe some of these restaurants for you: A French Brasserie & Bar. In the blurb they use words such as "mixologist," and serve "absinthe" and "steak tartare au conteau." Je ne parle pas français! $$$ Don't get me wrong I would love to visit this place, but goddammit I only have beer money. Compared to a $ restaurant there were limitations. I would not get steak tartare au conteau at a $. "But would I trust a place that served steak tartare au conteau for $?"

When I was done being offended I realized that I am getting what I paid for. A restaurant with impeccable service and exquisite delicacies should be priced accordingly--which is sadly breaks my piggy bank.

Despite this I feel as if people who are unable to try these expensive restaurants are limited in food choices. While flipping through the Resturant Guide I found a lot of American, Asian, and Latin places that are between $-$$. But who hasn't tried a burger, taco or noddles? Let's get some diversity here.

I am ultimately conflicted because I feel shunned away (and even intimidated) by these amazing fancy restaurants that I would love to try out, which makes a little bit angry. Why can't I have an unforgettable restaurant experience for less than $$$? (maybe an amazing restaurant experience is subjective, omg do i have super high standards?) Why are the cheap eats the holy trinity of food--American, Asian and Latin?

Thank you Restaurant Guide for giving me food for thought.

Voice Post

Natalie is a NJ in LA (which looks like NINJA when you are quickly glancing at it). I can't see her bio, but if you don't mind me taking an educated guess, she was from New Jersey and had moved to Los Angeles. The subject of her blog is food. (Whodathunkit?) What Natalie does is food reviews many different restaurants across the Southland and posts magnificent photos of the food. Her blog is clean and crisp.

I went through several pages of her blog and many compose of voice--both personal and professional. The professional voice in the blog is to be read as an objective point of view of the food she is reviewing. The personal voice is then lightly sprinkled and gently mixed in with Natalie's professional voice. Personally, I think having both is vital for a food blog. Here are some examples:
  
"I was psyched when I was invited to 800° Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria in Westwood because   recently my friend Whitney was telling me how much she enjoyed it – not to mention, how perfect of a spot it was for a casual date. AND CUZ PIZZA!"  

Right here she is introducing the restaurant she is reviewing, but also letting us know her personal feelings about the food. She starts off lady-like and calm, but she then transforms to this giant who is ecstatic and hungry for her favorite food. I understand, girl. 

"It wouldn’t take you long to realize from looking at my Instagram to know how much I LOVE BURRATA."

The giant also loves burrata. 

"This style of pizza is eaten with a knife and fork in Italy but since I was in Westwood I didn’t feel any pressure. There’s something about holding a slice of pizza like a little baby in your hands that feels rewarding."

This is a simile. A simile is a figure of speech which compares one thing to another. Here she is explaining how you are supposed to eat the pizza, but she is a rebel. And giant has developed feelings for PIZZA. These feelings are absolutely parallel to a mother's love for her child. 

"Ethiopian cuisine is one of my greatest culinary loves so I was psyched when a friend of mine from the Craft & Folk Art Museum invited me to come eat at his family’s new restaurant, Azla Vegan."

Pretty normal sentence, but the use of the word psyched caught my attention. She could've use other words, but she didn't. That's a good thing. The word "psyched" reminds me of this down-to-earth person who can get excited about the little things. The word "psyched" has a lot of voice within itself because, usually when I hear it, it is said from a close friend. Did we just become best friends?

 "I had a tall glass of refreshing Sorrel with ginger, which complimented my meal, a drink that spoke to this Mexican American girl forever in love with  jamaica – hibiscus to much of the world."  

This. I was bummed when I couldn't read her bio because I like knowing a bit about the author. But when she revealed her identity I felt as if I can relate to her more. First, she mentions "Sorrel" and when it is in italics it makes it seem as if it were the most precious and mysterious liquid delicacy that few have actually drank. Pfft. But then she mentions her identity (yay, yo tambien un mexicana-gringa) and reveals it's just jamaica I thought of King Taco. When she writes "hibiscus" I believe she is simply explaining what jamaica is. It's "hibiscus."   


"DID SOMEONE SAY ETHIOPIAN PIZZA?"

Once again instead hearing the blogger who has a trendy blog with a sophisticated voice, we hear the giant. And she is ready for more pizza.

 So after reading these blogs (as well as many others) I  assume she has a pleasant personality. She doesn't over share her hopes, dreams, and wishes. What she is excellent at doing is combining her personality into her work without overdoing it. This makes me like her because I can relate to her (especially on the part about pizza!) but I can also fully respect her line of work.

Profile Post

It was difficult to look for a blog about food and culture because there's so many damn foodies out there! Many of the blogs that I sorted through ranged from food review blogs to food photography blogs. I don't think I have the authority to rate food, nor do I have the knowledge to give you food recipes, and the only camera I have is on my phone, and that's why my blog is about the cultures that surround food.

The name of the blog is "Eating L.A." with the clever tagline "it's your city, you might as well taste it." Thanks for the suggestion Pat! Pat is a local from the Silver Lake area who is a writer for Variety and she has other blogs that she writes for as well: Silver Lake Story and hipstavore. She has been bloggin' since 2004 and has done fantastic blog posts.

Pat's latest post was on February 25, 2014 and she seems to post a few times a month. One blog that I enjoyed reading was about a new bar, the Hyperion Public opening up in Los Feliz. I thought it was interesting because the community was concerned about having a "sports bar" in their neighborhood and the typical "sports bar" character didn't quite fit the neighborhood's persona. Pat mentions, "The upstairs bar does have TVs showing sports events, but with bingo, karaoke and live music nights, the owners are working hard to make sure the bar has something for everyone in the community." This gives me something to think about, because my blog is about food and culture and it never occurred to me that restaurants may have a hard time fitting in with the area. It seems the Hyperion Public has revamped the interior to make it look chic and they also serve food that is appealing to the community. Another blog that caught my eye was about a Yelp review. Apparently Pizzeria Delfina in NYC was clever enough to make t-shirts of their bad Yelp reviews. It was a knee slapper!

This blog does not specifcally relate to my work, but it does provide some interesting insight. The posts seem to vary on details, but the blog would help me best for my own blog ideas. I don't think its an academic blog, because it is targeted toward Los Angelinos that do want a taste of the city.

Hipsters Bite

Somehow I end up having conversations about hipsters with my friends. It’s usually because we’ve recently encountered one and it resulted in a negative experience. From my own experience they seem to look down upon my presence for whatever reason, but what do I care, it’s their fault for being so pretentious! Despite my friend’s and I constant complaints about these hipsters (I can assure you we are not the old dude’s from the Muppets) we always conclude that they have brought us one good thing---food.  
I have no clue what the exact definition of a Hipster, but through my own observations I have  noticed a few common things. Normally, they don’t call themselves hipsters (the ones that do are probably 14 year-old kids that popped out the lens of their 3D glasses from when they saw Frozen) they might not even know they’re a Hipster. If anything the term “Hipster” serves as an umbrella term for the many types of people that are "alternative". The sketch comedy show Portlandia does an accurate depiction of the many types of hipsters there are. Here is one example:

As mentioned before, I tend to think of the term "hipster" serving as an umbrella term for the many types of lifestyles people live. Look at the comic below as an example:

I don’t mean to glorify the fad, because as Reddit user, ratchetthunderstud, whose best friend was a hipster states that a hipster’s attitude is like the following: “if a lot of people are starting to like this / do like this, it is automatically crap.” In my opinion this attitude is just “young adult angst” and no one wants to be around that, but they have made a significant impact in the restaurant industry by synthesizing their pretentious attitudes with food.

Many things make a restaurant hipster here let me make a list of those things

Hipster things about restaurants:

The location—Was it kind of hard to find? Is it in an area you haven’t explored yet? Did you have to yelp it before hand?

The furniture—Very minimal, nothing too flashy, but boy does it look sharp!

The atmosphere—Is there dimmed lighting? Are people talking over each other? There’s music playing, but I’m sure you haven’t heard the song before. Is it crowded and people are wearing eccentric clothing?

The food—Do they have vegan, gluten free, free range, locally grown, organic options? Is it kind of expensive, but totally worth it because it was delicious and you can never make it yourself?

I know I’ve been poking fun of hipsters, but the restaurants that are inspired by the lifestyle have, in my opinion, been delicious. Maybe being pretentious goes a long way with food because it allows these hipster inspired restaurants to experiments with exotic food fusions or create off the wall cuisines that are remarkable. So I encourage you to check out the hipster-esque restaurant, (for all I know the hipsters could be your cup of tea; loose-leaf oolong tea made in a French press right?) and enjoy the food.