1994: Fusion Fizzles, Korea Sizzles

Architectural Detail, Korean Folk Village, drawn by Lucey Bowen from Gourmet, April, 1994 Photograph.

     How are we to gauge the effect of Gourmet's writing about Asia and Asian food on the American public?  The continued success of the magazine in the 1990s, as measured in advertisement and circulation indicates a receptive audience.  Other measures might be the increasing depth and breadth of coverage.  Another illustration of success might be the additional menus which feature Asian food, with recipes included.
     Fred Ferretti's "Seoul, Kimchi and Culture"  added Korea to the list of possible destinations, and foods, for hungry travelers.  (This is probably associated with Korea's representation at the U.N. beginning in 1991.)
    1994 issues featured not only the recipes of Nina Simonds' "Sizzling Stir-Fries, Chinese on the Lighter Side," but complete menu's for "A Pan-Asian Luncheon on Maui," and "A Taste of Thailand."  Food historian Grace Lanier Norville has pointed out that recipes made "the good life" accessible to the mostly white middle class, cooking for their families.  Others have argued that Americans colonized ethnic restaurants, causing modifications to traditional menus.  They've also pointed out that Gourmet's recipes for home cooks literally domesticate Asian food and subtract authenticity.  Cooking Asian food rather than dining in a restaurant brings the foreign closer to hearth and home, but without the perceived risk of language barrier or different retaruant etiquette.  Appreciation of a culture and society must increase with knowledge of the techniques involved in producing its food.  However, the simplified recipes might give the illusion that these are simple foods.
     "Fusion" food, Eastern and Western, or multiple Asian cuisines, proved sometimes successful, and other times fragile; seemingly dependent on the whims of American fashion and the creativity of individual chefs.
   
Here's how history has rewritten the Asian restaurants of 1994:

New York:
China Grill at 60 West 53rd St. is still China Grill.
Zen Palate at 663 Ninth Avenue is still Zen Palate with additional locations at 115 East 18th Street and 239 West 105th Street.
Shun Lee Palace at 155 East 55th Street is still Shun Lee Palace.
Hatsuhana at 17 East 48th Street and 237 Park Avenue is still Hatsuhana.
Diwan Grill at 148 East 48th Street is still Diwan Grill.

San Francisco:
China House Bistro at 501 Balboa Street is now Yuubi Sushi.
Kyo-ya at 2 New Montgomery Street is still Kyo-ya.

Los Angeles:
Zenzero at 1535 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica is closed.
Shiro at 1550 Mission Street, South Pasadena is still Shiro.
Cinnabar at 935 South Brand Boulevard, Glendale is closed.


Daniel at 20 East 76th Street in Manhattan is Cafe Boulud.