The Art of Simple Food: Conclusions

Our two week run with The Art of Simple Food is officially over. We will probably continue to make new recipes from this book over the next few weeks to broaden our sample size and more strongly validate our conclusions, but as of now our overall assessment of the book is not favorable. The reader should know that by disposition we are pretty critical. If someone were to try the same dishes and that person tended to be unscrupulous, then their interpretations would likely be somewhat different than what we have written. But why be easy to please? Chez Panisse and Alice Waters have international reputations, so "not bad" is not the standard by which we judge. High standards can be, and often are rewarded, and we will continue to have them as we now move forward.

At its conception, we thought that this project would be a nice diversion from our general malaise here in Chicago. It has not been enough. We also thought it would be exciting to have tasty new meals every night where we would learn much about cooking and preparing food, food combinations, taste, and the chef him- or herself. This did not occur in the degrees hoped for. The meals were mostly flat and resultantly our days were tediously and tepidly wondered with what our next overly simple meal would be. Incidentally, it should be said also that all of our ingredients came fresh from the farmers markets that we patronized several times a week, small artisanal sellers, and Whole Foods.

There were highlights. Unreserved recommendations are in order for the a) Pasta al Pesto, b) Buttermilk Pancakes, and c) Cranberry Orange Scones. All were real successes. I will be pleased to have them again. More restrained recommendations go to the a) Pea and Asparagus Ragout, the b) Simple Tomato Sauce, and c) the Asparagus and Lemon Risotto. The latter was tasty enough to have twice and if Lisa were to announce it for dinner again I would be pleased to know that. With that said, it is our second favorite asparagus and lemon risotto recipe. The rest of the recipes we had were middling, none bad, but mostly forgettable.

A few final notes: Lisa would like to mention that there was no challenge involved in making the recipes as they required no knowledge of cooking. This may be a benefit to some but was not for her. Also, at first we were a little nervous each day. When you have a repertoire of meals that you are used to they are comforting and give your mind a contented "looking forward to" kind of feeling. So when we began this project there was a vague feeling of withdrawal and agitation. Essentially you are making yourself uncomfortable by forcing yourself into what is unknown. This is good to do, of course, because it precludes growth. Now at the end of two weeks this feeling has gone. Lastly, I would be disappointed if I did not say that I am looking forward to the next book. Of course I am. Lisa has books by the best regarded chefs. The results will improve and I love that I will be able to participate and have a front row seat. So even though I have sounded a little dour with Alice Waters, I am still primed for what comes next. I think this example is a good analogue for our attitude about Chicago and what might come next too.