Food Fatigue

So I'm in this moment, as I prepare for my final few days in Chicago where I'm under extreme food fatigue. Just nothing is exciting me anymore. Dinner at Graham Elliot was ok, dinner at NoMI the other night was good and all, but I just can't seem to get excited about anything right now. I'm trying to reset my tastes to try to jumpstart them, but I'm in a moment where I just can't seem to find what's going to work.

Anyone have any ideas? Anyone experience this before?

Here is what you do...prepair your body like your are going to have a colonscopy (like I am right now). Only have clear liquids for 24 hours, and then take a laxative that will make you believe in rocket propulsion. I guarantee it, your tastebuds will be reset!

Eat something outside of your comfort zone.

If you're burnt out on high-end stuff, change it up. Go to Sun Wah and get a big ass plate of pork/duck/chicken. Go to Lao Sze Chuan and get some chicken crack or dry chile shrimp. Eat something big, bold, funky.

jpschust wrote:So I'm in this moment, as I prepare for my final few days in Chicago where I'm under extreme food fatigue. Just nothing is exciting me anymore. Dinner at Graham Elliot was ok, dinner at NoMI the other night was good and all, but I just can't seem to get excited about anything right now. I'm trying to reset my tastes to try to jumpstart them, but I'm in a moment where I just can't seem to find what's going to work.

Anyone have any ideas? Anyone experience this before?

I've definitely experienced this before and what works for me is partaking of some boldly-flavored ethnic food. The following places are just a few than normally snap me out of it right away . . .

Lao Sze Chuan
2172 S Archer Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
312 326-5040

Khan BBQ
2401 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
773 338-2800

Sun Wah BBQ
1132-34 W. Argyle St
Chicago, IL 60640
773 769-1254

Cemitas Puebla
3619 W. North Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
773 772-8435

TAC Quick
3930 N Sheridan Rd
Chicago, IL 60613
773 327-5253

=R=

jpschust wrote:Anyone have any ideas? Anyone experience this before?

I'd agree with Josh and Ron, big, bold, spicy. Forget upscale, go low cost, don't think about, or at least over think, about what you are eating, be the moment. Or should I say, be the....

Sliced Beef and Maw Szechauan Style, Lao Sze Chuan


If that does not work, you will have to take extreme measures Culinary Electroshock Treatment

Enjoy,
Gary

Since it's hot out, I'd stay away from temperature-hot dishes, but I'd go for something with some kick.

The cure for what ails ya':

Katy's Dumplings: Cold Szechuan Noodles


Image by Mike G

Best,
Michael

jpschust wrote:So I'm in this moment, as I prepare for my final few days in Chicago where I'm under extreme food fatigue. Just nothing is exciting me anymore. Dinner at Graham Elliot was ok, dinner at NoMI the other night was good and all, but I just can't seem to get excited about anything right now. I'm trying to reset my tastes to try to jumpstart them, but I'm in a moment where I just can't seem to find what's going to work.

Anyone have any ideas? Anyone experience this before?

You know, Beth and I realized after our dinner at graham elliot (which I'd describe as technically excellent but not really exciting) that we were also burnt out, especially on higher end places.

So, tonight, we're having hot dogs.

when i feel that way i like to have a big bowl of pho.

Huh, I thought I was alone in the palate rejuvenating power of pho...

A year ago or so, after a week of dining on high-end plated meals, the best, most satisfying (and cheapest) meal that inarguably outshone everything that I had eaten up to that point that week was a bowl of meatball pho at Tank.

My problem is that I find the quality of so much of the ingredients in restaurant food to be of such mediocre quality that, that is what frustrates me; salads that taste like nothing, blah potatoes, fruit that tastes like potatoes, etc. To some extent, with interesting cuisines, like good Thai or Mexican, the style/recipe can over-come the quality of the raw ingredients, but over-all, the dynamics of the restaurant business do not lead (generally) to the food I like to eat these days.

To that, I'd add that it may be 3/5th ingredient issues, but the other 2/5th relate to the type of cooking I like. Take Chicago BBQ, I find that only a couple of places make anything close to what I want to eat BBQ-wise. Same with some other cuisines, like Italian, what excites me about Italian food, I rarely see executed at Italian restaurants in Chicago. Again, the dynamics of the restaurant biz are not leading to the food cooked the way I like.

Generally, if I am eating out, beyond just catching a bite for the sake of catching a bite, its either the ethnic foods that are done well and authentic in Chicago (Polish, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, a few others) or its the places that I really treasure and respect like Vie or Mado.

jesteinf wrote:Eat something outside of your comfort zone...Eat something big, bold, funky.

I'd take a different approach. If it were my last week, I might opt for simpler fare - White Pizza at Coalfire. A Bari sub for lunch. A few pasta dishes at Coco Pazzo that I love. The choucroute at Brasserie Jo. Saag Paneer from Klay Oven. Things that have an emotional or sentimental attachment and remind me of my time in Chicago - not the creme de la creme five star tables or something new and marvelous. I've moved around quite a bit over the years (for about a decade I averaged two moves a year) and the meals I always yearn for are the local places I used to frequent - conveyor belt sushi, local pizzeria, cheap Mexican meals, Bratwurst sheds, etc. Not sure what your equivalent would be, but that would be my choice.

wak wrote:I'd take a different approach. If it were my last week, I might opt for simpler fare

I would go this route as well. Walk around the farmers markets and find something you don't have to cook. Nothing beats a pint of strawberries or sugar snap peas in season.

teatpuller wrote:when i feel that way i like to have a big bowl of pho.

This is exactly where I go when I'm burnt out on too much fine dining. Sometimes you just gotta go back to the basics to fully appreciate the high end stuff, recalibrate the palate, give the brain a break from processing the food and just allow your natural senses to enjoy something without too much thought. It's either a bowl of pho, a banh mi sandwich, Chinese bbq (Sam Woo for me here in Vegas) or the ultimate comfort food for me, Filipino food.

OK. This is going to sound like an expensive response to the problem, but my thought is take a trip. Cuban food tastes better in Miami. A mozzarella and prosciutto sandwich is better in Hoboken. The little cookie you get with your coffee when you get a cup before leaving the airport in Amsterdam is a minor miracle. 90% of the tapas you'll get anywhere in San Sebastian in Spain are better than anything at any Spanish restaurant in the US. I don't think the last statement is objectively true necessarily, but something about being away makes everything just seem a little more interesting and makes every bite a little tastier. This is said by someone who's planning on spending his week off this summer in Wisconsin by the way.

CCCB wrote:OK. This is going to sound like an expensive response to the problem, but my thought is take a trip. Cuban food tastes better in Miami. A mozzarella and prosciutto sandwich is better in Hoboken. The little cookie you get with your coffee when you get a cup before leaving the airport in Amsterdam is a minor miracle. 90% of the tapas you'll get anywhere in San Sebastian in Spain are better than anything at any Spanish restaurant in the US. I don't think the last statement is objectively true necessarily, but something about being away makes everything just seem a little more interesting and makes every bite a little tastier. This is said by someone who's planning on spending his week off this summer in Wisconsin by the way.

Good point, and about the my family and I hit restaurant fatigue in Chicago (a few years back) we also started taking more trips around the area. There's tons of fun food to eat within 150 miles (or so) of Chicago, and it surely has the benefits of being novel.

When this happens to me, the problem lies not in the food itself, but in the circumstances of the eating. The only remedy is to find a person with whom to dine in harmony. Works like a charm.

Vital Information wrote:My problem is that I find the quality of so much of the ingredients in restaurant food to be of such mediocre quality that, that is what frustrates me; salads that taste like nothing, blah potatoes, fruit that tastes like potatoes, etc. To some extent, with interesting cuisines, like good Thai or Mexican, the style/recipe can over-come the quality of the raw ingredients, but over-all, the dynamics of the restaurant business do not lead (generally) to the food I like to eat these days.

To that, I'd add that it may be 3/5th ingredient issues, but the other 2/5th relate to the type of cooking I like. Take Chicago BBQ, I find that only a couple of places make anything close to what I want to eat BBQ-wise. Same with some other cuisines, like Italian, what excites me about Italian food, I rarely see executed at Italian restaurants in Chicago. Again, the dynamics of the restaurant biz are not leading to the food cooked the way I like.

Generally, if I am eating out, beyond just catching a bite for the sake of catching a bite, its either the ethnic foods that are done well and authentic in Chicago (Polish, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, a few others) or its the places that I really treasure and respect like Vie or Mado.

Amen! Said so well it bears repeating.

I wonder if food fatigue is sometimes a sign that the search for "interesting" food has become a compulsion. Not only one's palate, one's brain neurons become exhausted by the quest for ever more stimulation. This would make it similar to other kinds of compulsive behavior; logically, there's no reason eating should be exempt from the pattern. If this is so, it might be useful as a practice to set aside one or two days a week for completely boring eating. An American cheese sandwich for lunch. A bowl of cereal for dinner. Anything to short-circuit the need and/or desire for interesting flavors. Then one can return to the quest with renewed vigor!

I realize that this is the exact opposite of what Vital Information said--but both could be true.

I agree with riddlemay,
nothing wrong with a nice cup of yogurt, some plain scrambled eggs.
If you're like me, raising a crew, and MOSTLY eat normal boring food,
when get the more elevated stuff, you really do appreciate it more,
heck even whe i happen to have time to cook more creatively myself,
I appreciate it more LOL
Best of luck.

This week's Tastings (which I've recently ordered) has an article that reminded me of this thread and these issues in particular. You have to sign up here to get it, it isn't in the archives yet, of course - or I could email you my copy; PM me if you're interested...