For a country that is many times defined by the diversity of people in it, it’s difficult to give an exact description to ‘American’ food. The American eating experience itself is characterized by the wide variety of ethnic foods you can choose from and the ‘fusion’ foods that this diverse environment creates. When comparing La Scala and Olive Garden, though, Olive Garden indisputably claims the title of ‘More American’ of the two restaurants. How could this be, if ‘American food’ is so vaguely defined?
While the ‘American’ eating experience is not restricted to certain types of food, it can be defined by its atmosphere and environment. La Scala did use more ‘authentic’ and rare ingredients than Olive Garden and boasted an impressive collection of wines, but the actual items on the menus did not seem very different. Having been at the two restaurants, what made the true difference to me between a more ‘Americanized’ restaurant and La Scala was the ambiance of the restaurants. ‘American’ restaurants such as Olive Garden have a focus on family dining- bright lights, uncluttered space, an easily navigable floor plan, and a brightly-colored kids menu. The members of your table are not the only ones who are visible; you can look around and see nearly everyone else in the restaurant. Olive Garden, as well as many other American restaurants, is a ‘break’ from the dinner table at home, and offers families a change of pace from their daily routine.
La Scala didn’t follow these conventions. The first thing I noticed was how dim the lighting was; fluorescent lights from the ceiling were replaced with muted, yellow-tinged lamps. The dark, wooden decorations impeded on the restaurant space, making the already-narrow seating space seem even more closed-in and slim. The walls leading to the private room were made of brick, and the bar inside was so large and elaborate it felt like it took up half the room. Eating at La Scala felt more intimate and closed-off; I felt very enclosed with the group I had come with, and the other tables (which were already hard to see with the low lighting) easily faded into the background. La Scala’s ambiance leaned more to having closer, intimate conversations, and the rustic brick and wooden decorations seemed to have a more ‘homey’ feel than a restaurant.
So how does this tie into authenticity? Should Olive Garden just dim the lights and add more brick furniture to truly claim that they serve ‘authentic’ Italian food? This, obviously, isn’t the case- while the difference between eating environments differ between Olive Garden and La Scala, they are just reflections of the culture that formed them, not fool-proof indicators of ‘authenticity’. Perhaps every aspect of La Scala’s perceived ‘authenticity’ were just reflections of what Americans associate with an ‘Italian experience’ rather than how restaurant culture actually is in Italy. And while I can’t speak for the eating experience in Italy, I can better define how authenticity is defined by considering the American-Chinese food scene.
Growing up eating home-cooked Chinese food as well as having visited China multiple times, I feel like I have a better measure of what constitutes as ‘authentic’ Chinese food in America. The authenticity depends on many different characteristics, and even if a restaurant seems to be ‘authentic’ it doesn’t mean that it is necessarily good. I’ve found for the food, the ingredients and cooking style is the most important- America has many ‘takes’ on authentic Chinese food so the menu items are often similar, but the biggest difference comes from how the food is actually made. Using sesame oil instead of olive oil, boiling bones in soups, and using woks (which distribute heat differently than a normal pan) seem like small changes but can really lend to the authenticity of the food. ‘Group-style’ eating with exclusively shared dishes throughout the meal is another important part of Chinese restaurants.
Going to La Scala reminded me of the vagueness of the claim to ‘authentic’ food, and encouraged me to conduct my own research about different country’s eating culture. Only then could I decide whether or not I was getting a genuine cultural experience at that restaurant. Looking not only at the items of the menu but rather the restaurant itself, from its decorations to architecture to ambiance, allowed me to better understand the cultures around me in our increasingly diverse community.
Italy Imagined 