by Stephen D » Tue Sep 22, 2009 10:53 pm
I got a real kick out of what the photos seemed to subliminally suggest...
The photo of him sitting on the steps, garbed in what was obviously his normal daily attire really conveyed a sense of unpretentiousness. If you look at the doorjamb behind him, you can see where a construction fix had been made. The bourbon he seems to be sipping is the Rip Van Winkle 12.
Now, he could have gotten all gussied up. They could have picked a spot in the dining room to shoot. He could be drinking Pappy 20. It seems evident that he felt he should be represented for who he actually is, not as some antiseptic representation. In the age of celebrity chef primadonage, I thought this was refreshing.
The other thing that I enjoyed was the succession of two pics. In the first, he is holding a lamb, appearing to kiss it on its head. The second shows his lamb chop dish. It seems to me that we have lost the realization that dinner represents the sacrifice of some living being. Decades of our meats being sold to us wrapped in plastic, although convenient and efficient, separate us from our food. I believe this is why most Americans hate 'when food looks back at you.' I also think it's why saying grace has become a hollow and increasingly uncommon practice.
To me, those two pictures express a respect and humility to the animal's sacrifice. As urbanites, we rarely, if ever, experience this process. It makes us uneasy- the morbidity of light fading from the eyes of such a cute pet (err...creature!) Yet dinner comes from somewhere and I think these two pictures communicate this miracle as eloquently as one can.
Wrapping up, I want to congratulate Chef Lee and 610 on a job well done. The entire article exudes an inspirational message: farm-to-table, be true to the ingredients, be true to yourself. I'm not so sure it could have gotten any better...
