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The Ethnic Restaurateur
Academic discussions of ethnic food have tended to focus on the attitudes of consumers, rather than the creators and producers. In this ground-breaking new book, Krishnendu Ray reverses this trend by exploring the culinary world from the perspective of the ethnic restaurateur.
Focusing on New York City, he examines the lived experience, work, memories, and aspirations of immigrants working in the food industry. He shows how migrants become established in new places, creating a taste of home and playing a key role in influencing food cultures as a result of transactions between producers, consumers and commentators.
Based on extensive interviews with immigrant restaurateurs and students, chefs and alumni at the Culinary Institute of America, ethnographic observation at immigrant eateries and haute institutional kitchens as well as historical sources such as the US census, newspaper coverage of restaurants, reviews, menus, recipes, and guidebooks, Ray reveals changing tastes in a major American city between the late 19th and through the 20th century.
Written by one of the most outstanding scholars in the field, The Ethnic Restaurateur is an essential read for students and academics in food studies, culinary arts, sociology, urban studies and indeed anyone interested in popular culture and cooking in the United States.
Focusing on New York City, he examines the lived experience, work, memories, and aspirations of immigrants working in the food industry. He shows how migrants become established in new places, creating a taste of home and playing a key role in influencing food cultures as a result of transactions between producers, consumers and commentators.
Based on extensive interviews with immigrant restaurateurs and students, chefs and alumni at the Culinary Institute of America, ethnographic observation at immigrant eateries and haute institutional kitchens as well as historical sources such as the US census, newspaper coverage of restaurants, reviews, menus, recipes, and guidebooks, Ray reveals changing tastes in a major American city between the late 19th and through the 20th century.
Written by one of the most outstanding scholars in the field, The Ethnic Restaurateur is an essential read for students and academics in food studies, culinary arts, sociology, urban studies and indeed anyone interested in popular culture and cooking in the United States.
264 pages, Paperback
First published August 28, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 10, 2020
Wow. This book was such a well researched piece of scholarship. It offers insights on the hierarchy of tastes in America (particularly NYC). What is considered “good taste” does not develop independent to the context of global politics and racial hierarchies. There is a reason for why ethnic food has always been relegated to the “cheap eats” section of your weekend foodie adventure guides, and we can look to history to understand why certain cuisines have climbed out of the ethnic category and into fine dining (Italian, Japanese, etc).
I have often heard the argument that Japanese sushi can command a higher price because of the skill of sushi chefs and the quality of the ingredients (Krishnendu cites Japan’s economic miracle of the post-WWII era as one reason why view Japanese cuisine differently compared to other Asian cuisines). At the same time, Italian restaurants can charge upwards of $25 for a plate of cheesy pasta, but hell breaks loose when Vietnamese restaurants try to price pho above the $10 - $12 range. Who’s to say that the process of creating a flavorful broth over the course of days is not an equally grueling or challenging process compared to thinly slicing fish to create the perfect mouthful of sushi? And why is one kind of noodle supposed to warrant a higher price than others?
If the hierarchy of taste is tied to the economic success and status of a group, I’m interested to see if Chinese food will be respected in the coming decades (although as I am writing this, I feel as though the recent news with the coronavirus has pushed us back into the category of dog, bat, and rat eating barbarians).
I have often heard the argument that Japanese sushi can command a higher price because of the skill of sushi chefs and the quality of the ingredients (Krishnendu cites Japan’s economic miracle of the post-WWII era as one reason why view Japanese cuisine differently compared to other Asian cuisines). At the same time, Italian restaurants can charge upwards of $25 for a plate of cheesy pasta, but hell breaks loose when Vietnamese restaurants try to price pho above the $10 - $12 range. Who’s to say that the process of creating a flavorful broth over the course of days is not an equally grueling or challenging process compared to thinly slicing fish to create the perfect mouthful of sushi? And why is one kind of noodle supposed to warrant a higher price than others?
If the hierarchy of taste is tied to the economic success and status of a group, I’m interested to see if Chinese food will be respected in the coming decades (although as I am writing this, I feel as though the recent news with the coronavirus has pushed us back into the category of dog, bat, and rat eating barbarians).
January 26, 2019
So yeah, this book started off disappointing and stayed that way till the end. It wasn't uninteresting, but it also wasn't at all what I thought I was getting from the blurb: Academic discussions of ethnic food have tended to focus on the attitudes of consumers, rather than the creators and producers. In this ground-breaking new book, Krishnendu Ray reverses this trend by exploring the culinary world from the perspective of the ethnic restaurateur.
I didn't really think about it but maybe the words "restaurateur" and "culinary world" and such should have clued me in. This is really about high-end dining/haute cuisine, and how it's a very white sphere. That's interesting! But the discussion is very academic and boring, not much in the way of personal experience (despite the claims in the blurb) and although there are only six chapters total, he devotes one entire chapter to the history of the Culinary Institute of America (occasionally touching on how it's very white and male, but mostly just straight up going on about this one very specific culinary school).
I wanted something more like Sheldeon Simeon's Cooking in America series on Eater, where he goes to various cities and checks out restaurants run by people of color. Instead I got a lot of dry academic talk about French cooking and fancy restaurants and it was just kind of meh.
I didn't really think about it but maybe the words "restaurateur" and "culinary world" and such should have clued me in. This is really about high-end dining/haute cuisine, and how it's a very white sphere. That's interesting! But the discussion is very academic and boring, not much in the way of personal experience (despite the claims in the blurb) and although there are only six chapters total, he devotes one entire chapter to the history of the Culinary Institute of America (occasionally touching on how it's very white and male, but mostly just straight up going on about this one very specific culinary school).
I wanted something more like Sheldeon Simeon's Cooking in America series on Eater, where he goes to various cities and checks out restaurants run by people of color. Instead I got a lot of dry academic talk about French cooking and fancy restaurants and it was just kind of meh.
January 28, 2026
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I started reading this almost a decade ago as an attempted buddy read but didn't get very far even though I was fresh out of academia and thus should've still been a little bit calibrated towards the dry, citation-heavy writing. Alas, it's lingered on my Currently Reading shelf and I essentially started over last month as one of my goals is to continue clearing things that have lingered there for years.
I did actually enjoy this re: the topic once I pushed past those initial chapters which felt heavy on the overview of why this was a topic worthy of study (sounds like in terms of studies there can be a bit of a focus on food trends but not necessarily who is doing the cooking professionally, or the perception of them either). Ray calls this the Hierarchy of Taste, comparing Zagat ratings over time (as well as average meal prices per cuisine) in several metro areas, observing that statistically some cuisines (French, New American, Japanese) are perceived as high value but others (Chinese, Mexican) are viewed as "cheap", partly from how society values the "home" source of the cuisine and if we've binned it as ethnic or not. New York City is very useful for this, as a large metropolis with a long history of immigration waves where you can track the increase in German/Italian foodmongers and see that give way to Asian and Latin-American restauranteurs over time. A chapter compares the professionalization of chefhood via Culinary Institute of America to biomedicine moving from midwives & hedge doctors to [white] men in white coats that went through institutional training, followed by another chapter comparing the packaging and writing of cookbooks presenting cuisine (two approaches to Indian food compared to The French Laundry and Momofuku's cookbooks) and whether they must indicate authenticity/familial history/etc. or be allowed to have artful hands models showing placement of ingredients etc. Everything is political whether you're aware of it or not, and food is yet another medium steeped in context and meaning in how we perceive it.
Coming back to this a decade after publication does make me wonder if much has changed, especially post-onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 where initial public misperception led to suspicion of Chinese markets and foods. David Chang is mentioned as an example of a rising star who still went through the conventional middle-class routes to Chefhood; Lucky Peach has since ceased publication (and I could probably look to see if Krishnendu Ray had opinions about the whole "try to trademark chili crisp" controversy, but I don't see anything at a glance)
I started reading this almost a decade ago as an attempted buddy read but didn't get very far even though I was fresh out of academia and thus should've still been a little bit calibrated towards the dry, citation-heavy writing. Alas, it's lingered on my Currently Reading shelf and I essentially started over last month as one of my goals is to continue clearing things that have lingered there for years.
I did actually enjoy this re: the topic once I pushed past those initial chapters which felt heavy on the overview of why this was a topic worthy of study (sounds like in terms of studies there can be a bit of a focus on food trends but not necessarily who is doing the cooking professionally, or the perception of them either). Ray calls this the Hierarchy of Taste, comparing Zagat ratings over time (as well as average meal prices per cuisine) in several metro areas, observing that statistically some cuisines (French, New American, Japanese) are perceived as high value but others (Chinese, Mexican) are viewed as "cheap", partly from how society values the "home" source of the cuisine and if we've binned it as ethnic or not. New York City is very useful for this, as a large metropolis with a long history of immigration waves where you can track the increase in German/Italian foodmongers and see that give way to Asian and Latin-American restauranteurs over time. A chapter compares the professionalization of chefhood via Culinary Institute of America to biomedicine moving from midwives & hedge doctors to [white] men in white coats that went through institutional training, followed by another chapter comparing the packaging and writing of cookbooks presenting cuisine (two approaches to Indian food compared to The French Laundry and Momofuku's cookbooks) and whether they must indicate authenticity/familial history/etc. or be allowed to have artful hands models showing placement of ingredients etc. Everything is political whether you're aware of it or not, and food is yet another medium steeped in context and meaning in how we perceive it.
Coming back to this a decade after publication does make me wonder if much has changed, especially post-onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 where initial public misperception led to suspicion of Chinese markets and foods. David Chang is mentioned as an example of a rising star who still went through the conventional middle-class routes to Chefhood; Lucky Peach has since ceased publication (and I could probably look to see if Krishnendu Ray had opinions about the whole "try to trademark chili crisp" controversy, but I don't see anything at a glance)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews