🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <342mal$kk5@nova.umd.edu> johng@nova.umd.edu (John Gustafson) writes:
>In <CvEn0K.E6o@ncifcrf.gov> masuda@fcs280b.ncifcrf.gov (Michiaki Masuda) writes:

>>  I'm under the (possibly wrong) impression that selling Japanese food
>>could give a better profit margin...[stuff deleted]...That's why quite
>>a few Korean/Chinese restaurants also have Japanese food in their menu?

>Maybe you're right...Maybe you're right...but wouldn't you think that
>restaurateurs of any culture would catch on pretty quickly to the 
>profits to be made in tempura, shabu-shabu...

   I'm not sure whether you are saying that, say, French restaurants would be
interested in serving shabu-shabu or that they can find some French food that 
generates a comparable profit as shabu-shabu. Probably, most French 
restaurant would try the second option unless they want to be famous for
their novelty rather than authenticity. 

>or McSushi (perish the 
>the thought)?

   Actually, McDonald has a special menu in Japan. Some food (e.g., teriyaki
chicken burger) commonly found in Japan is generally unavailable in the US
market. Another hamburger company came up with an idea of "rice burger,"
and I heard that it was quite popular. McSuchi was a good call. 8-) 

>>That's because I stereotypically expect more authenticity at the place
>>where the ethnicity of the food and that of the owner/chefs are the same.

>I'm pretty sure you aren't arguing in a Lamarckian way that ethnic 
>cooking is inherited, but couldn't the kitchen techniques be taught
>outside the ould sod?

   As I mentioned in my previous posting, I know as a fact that there are
many non-Japanese chefs who are good at Japanese cooking and that there
are a large number of Japanese chefs good at non-Japanese cooking. If you
know any authentic Japanese restaurant in this area, I'd be glad to try
that whether the chef is Italian, Russian, Chinese, or whatever.

   If ethnic cooking follows Lamarckism, I'd be able to expect more 
authenticity at Japanese-owned Japanese restaurants in DC area. Darwinism
is what makes my Japanese dine-out less than satisfactory. The natural
selection here has definitely less pressure than that in the West Coast and
of course in Japan. Or maybe I should say that the selective pressure in the
DC area is quite different from that in those other areas. 

>After eight years' living in Korea and Japan, enjoying both a
>magnificent Chinese banquet and a deplorable Korean dinner in Tokyo
>(the Japanese food wasn't bad, either  :) ), it seems more useful
>to me to be guided by the ethnicity of the customers than the 
>ethnicity of the owners.

   I'm pretty sure you aren't arguing in a Lamarckian way that ethnic dining
is inherited, but couldn't appreciation of ethnic food be acquired
postnatally? B-)

   BTW, when you find Asian customers in Tokyo, it's often quite difficult to
tell if they are Chinese, Korean or Japanese. 8-)

--Michiaki