Fascinating article, sketches a path toward sustainable fine dining that reverberates with things I've been pondering since "farm-to-table" first started making very small waves in Louisville in the early 1980s. Most of our farm-to-table restaurants seem to be stuck on Chef Barber's "Second Plate." I'd love to see someone push it to the next step, which is not vegetarianism or anything like it but a fine balance of quality omnivorous dining and stewardship of the earth.
[quote=
"RN First Bite"]The failure of farm-to-table dining
Michael Mackenzie
Australia Broadcasting Co. (ABC), RN First Bite
Chef Dan Barber, of celebrated restaurant Blue Hill, was a keen proponent of farm-to-table dining. However, in researching his book The Third Plate, he realised the shortcomings of the movement. As Michael Mackenzie writes, Barber is now very frank about the future of food. ...
... Barber (has) started to form the concept of the ‘third plate’, whose architecture is driven by land and water depletion and that ever-present quest for quintessential deliciousness. [/quote]
Full article and audio:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/pro ... te/5979706