As I entered the
restaurant through the large glass doors I first noticed the modern, but also
laidback feel created by the décor and the background noise. The two large TVs
hanging on the walls, the large bar in the center of the first floor, and the contemporary
music just audible over the sound of conversations led me to believe that this
restaurant was not the sort of classy and uptight place I imagined it might
have been before coming inside. The
walls were painted an inviting orange-yellow color, which looked good with the
dark wooden tables and chairs. Metal hanging lights and the metal of the bar
added the modern touch, but a few bamboo plants and oriental lights made the
restaurant seem warm and inviting. Although it did not seem crowded at all, the
hostess led us to the large, circular bar to wait for a table to open up. I
noticed that the diners seemed to be mostly young adults relaxing and engaging
in conversation while enjoying their meals; there were no families or older
people eating. This could have been because it was late on a Sunday night, but
I think this is the kind of crowd that Phat Thai would attract no matter which
day of the week or what time of night.
As I read the menu
I saw that they included “gf” and “v” after the names of many of their dishes,
for the “gluten free” and “vegan” options. I also read “we buy local and
natural when possible and prudent.” I really didn’t think these things to be
unusual; the appeal to healthy, natural, and local foods has become the norm in
popular culture. My dad however, was not aware of this change in food culture
and the language that went along with it, and asked what “gf” and “v” stood
for. He did not seem all that impressed when I told him what these
abbreviations meant, but for many people seeing “gf” and “v” on a menu could be
quite a selling point. These terms are an important part of the new “foodie”
culture. As I took out my phone to take a picture of a plate of food my dad
suggested that I should explain to the waiter that I was just taking a picture
for class because they would probably think it was weird for me to do this. It never crossed my mind that this
might be a strange thing to do, my friends always put pictures of especially
good-looking dishes on Instagram or Facebook for others to view when they go
out to eat. In the article “Foodie-ism,
as youth culture,” the writer goes out to eat with a few young food
enthusiasts and notices that they take “quick photos of each dish as it is
placed on the table,” and how “Dish snapshots and social-network check-ins are
a given.” The article notes how this growing attention to food has become a
large part in the culture of younger generations and it was interesting to see
how the crowd of young adults at Phat Thai might have been, and were, a part of
this “foodie” culture.
Phat Thai might
have to try a little harder to gain the approval of food experts, however. I
watched a waitress call one of the cooks over. She was holding a small plate of
pad thai in her hand, and looked back at a young women across the bar who was talking
quietly and animatedly with her date. The waitress and cook stood next to me
and I overheard the waitress explain that the woman had claimed that “food was
her thing,” and as a “foodie” she thought that the pad thai was badly spiced. The
cook rolled his eyes and said that it tasted normal to him and the waitress
laughed looking somewhat annoyed, but talked nicely with the woman and offered
to do whatever was needed so that she would be content with her meal.
Appeals to
healthy, natural, and world conscious food may attract foodies like this woman
to Phat Thai, but the quality of the food is clearly also a very important part
of the experience, which they might still have to work on. Although Phat Thai’s
“jasmine rice sales are donated to organizations that provide flood relief and
other forms of assistance to those in need of Thailand and SE Asia,” this
foodie would probably not be uploading a picture of her pad thai to Instagram.
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