What is Le Fooding? Vaguely, it's all about high-quality-but-casual eating and drinking that falls outside of all established genres. Comfortable spaces where all rules are tossed out the window, along with themes, formality, preciousness and, above all, tradition, and where the vibe will be just as important as the food. For such a fuzzy notion, Le Fooding's influence on the French dining scene has been profound, and the group's eponymous restaurant guide is now nearly as influential as the classic Michelin guide. According to Le Fooding's manifesto: "We create, we innovate, and most of all we have fun."
So, OK, what the hell does Le Fooding have to do with Philadelphia? Stay with me here. Consider the word "fun" in the manifesto. How many of the big "think food" manifestos and movements that we've seen over the past few decades had time for "fun"?
Think, for instance, of the most recent culinary movement to overtake our fair city: Is anyone else already tired of this farm-to-table restaurant shtick? It's not necessarily the principles behind it - locally grown, sustainable, organic - all of which are certainly noble and commendable. Maybe I'm just reacting in the same way I did when other culinary movements - molecular gastronomy, nose-to-tail eating or even classic, snooty French dining - became didactic and predictable. Or maybe it's just that all of the above share the same basic traits: namely a lack of humor and too many rules.
Look, if I'm going to drop $300 on dinner for three - as I did the other night at Talula's Garden - do you think I might also be able to have some fun? Apparently the utterly humorless hostess, bartender and server didn't think so. Perhaps it was our fault for showing up early for our reservation? We'll never know.
