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From YouTube: Tyler Cowen, Author of "An Economist Gets Lunch"
Description
Tyler Cowen, author of "An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies" and owner of the blog, "Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide" (www.tylercowensethnicdiningguide.com) speaks at the Arlington Public Library on Weds. April 3. The program was presented by the Mercatus Center of George Mason University.
A
Hello,
everyone
I'm
Tyler.
Thank
you
all
for
coming
to
the
event
I
I
was
asked.
If
I
would
be
speaking
about
the
eurozone
tonight,
I
can
predict
it.
Food
will
become
cheaper
in
some
of
those
countries,
but
that's
all
I
have
to
say
about
the
eurozone.
For
the
time
being,
I'd
like
to
talk
just
a
little
bit
about
my
book,
an
economist
gets
lunch,
and
this
is
really
a
book
inspired
by
having
lived
here
in
Northern,
Virginia
and
also
near
maryland
and
washington
DC
in
a
broad
sense.
A
It's
a
book
about
this
area,
I'm
very
much
an
optimist
about
food
when
I
look
at
the
food
world.
What
I
see
is
a
kind
of
bundling
of
food
and
complaining
people
love
to
complain
about
food.
So
you
look
at
most
books
on
food
like
fast
food
nation
or
you
look
at
Morgan
Spurlock,
there's
no
end
of
things
that
people
complain
about
with
food,
so
it
might
be
genetically
modified
organisms.
If
you're
reading
mark
bittman,
it
might
be
that
too
many
people
are
eating
too
much
food.
It
might
be
fast.
A
Food
or
people
might
be
complaining
that
we
actually
transport
in
food.
From
other
places,
believe
it
or
not,
so
these
are
the
people
I
call
the
food
snobs
and
the
purpose
of
an
economist
gets
lunch
is
to
put
forward
a
different
vision,
a
more
optimistic
vision,
more
capitalistic
vision,
I
would
say,
but
most
of
all
the
vision
rooted
in
food
as
being
a
popular
art,
a
commercial
art,
something
competitive,
a
vision
that
individual
consumers
are
often
the
source
of
good
innovation,
not
just
government
and
really
trying
to
unbundle
food
and
complaining
I.
A
Think
food
is
something
we
should
celebrate,
and
commercial
food
is
arguably
mankind's
single,
most
important
invention,
if
you
think,
even
at
the
very
beginning
of
the
20th
century,
most
Americans
basically
lived
on
farms
today.
What
is
it?
You
know
a
two
percent
of
the
labor
force
or
son
farms
because
of
food
productivity.
We
have
basically
everything
else
that
we
have
in
modern
life,
so
this
is
to
be
celebrated.
A
Genetically
modified
organisms,
there's
very
strong
evidence,
they're
just
flat-out,
a
good
thing,
there's
not
serious
evidence
that
they've
caused
significant
problems,
health,
environmental
or
otherwise.
If
anything,
they've
improved
the
environment.
The
data
seem
to
indicate
that
the
so-called
obesity
epidemic
has
peaked
and,
besides
the
people
least
likely
to
be
obese,
typically
are
foodies
and
the
well-educated.
So
the
way
to
attack
that
problem,
I
would
say,
is
by
educating
people
about
food,
not
trying
to
control
their
behavior.
A
There's
a
lot
of
evidence
that
transporting
food
does
not
take
up
much
energy
I
do
think,
there's
a
serious
case
for
in
some
way
using
your
private
food
life
to
improve
the
environment.
But
what
the
data
indicate
by
far
the
most
effective
thing
to
do
is
simply
eat
less
meat.
You
don't
have
to
become
a
vegetarian
just
eat
a
bit
less
mean
that
will
have
more
positive
impact
than
any
other
food
decision
you
can
make.
A
Also,
if
you
care
about
climate
change,
just
eat
less
meat,
cows,
burp
and
fart
the
energy
consumed
by
like
bringing
in
grapes
from
Chile
on
a
boat,
it's
very
small.
It
can
be
more
environmentally
efficient
than
having
a
local
farmer
getting
his
pickup
truck.
There's
some
things
when
you
fly
the
man
it's
inefficient,
but
overall
distance
is
not
the
enemy
of
a
sound
environment.
Distance
is
international
trade.
It
lowers
costs
for
the
most
part,
it
lowers
the
burden
on
the
environment.
A
Now
part
of
the
book
also
is
about
how
to
find
good
food.
It's
a
how-to
guides.
It's
not
mainly
a
policy
book
and
I
think
there
are
some
fairly
simple
principles.
You
need
to
learn
a
bit
how
to
apply
them,
but
they
guarantee
I
think
that
even
if
you're,
not
an
actual
food
expert,
if
you
apply
the
principles
you
can
eat
much
better
meals,
further
or
I.
Do
not
think
that
on
average
more
expensive
food
is
better
food,
it
can
be.
A
Sometimes
it
is,
and
there
is
a
lot
of
very
bad,
cheap
food
in
the
form
of
fast
food,
but
note
even
fast
foods,
gotten
a
lot
better
in
the
last
five
years,
improvements
in
fast
food
or
the
biggest
food
sector
trend
right
now,
and
that
will
continue,
but
anyway,
just
a
few
of
the
ways
I
think
about
food.
Our
first
issue
is
you
know
how
do
you
get
to
it?
You
really
should
be
looking
for
places
that
are
hard
to
get
to.
If
it's
too
easy
to
get
to
something
is
wrong.
A
Let's
say:
you're
walking
down
the
main
aisle
of
a
mall
or
you're
walking
down
Fifth
Avenue
in
New,
York
or
Broadway.
That
food
is
easy
to
get
to
it's
usually
like
good
enough.
It
may
not
be
terrible.
It's
got
to
serve
a
lot
of
people,
but
they're
paying
a
high
rent.
They've
got
to
do
high
turnover.
It's
not
really
that
specialized.
What
you
want
are
things
that
are
weird
or
esoteric
or
a
small
number
of
dishes
or
for
a
small
number
of
customers,
and
those
are
places
that
are
hard
to
get
to.
A
A
This
is
now
more
possible
than
it
used
to
be,
but
basically
being
right.
Near
metro.
Stop
is
a
bad
sign.
It's
changing!
Actually
in
clarendon,
there
are
some
better
places,
but
still
best
places.
The
best
bargains
are
hard
to
get
to
here's
another
way.
To
think
about
food,
we're
in
the
United
States,
it's
a
big
country,
we're
great
at
long
distance,
large-scale
logistics
right
where
the
country
of
Walmart
a
lot
of
foodies,
think
that's
bad
news,
but
I
say
use
it
to
your
advantage,
we're
also
a
nation
of
immigrants
or
a
nation
of
talent.
A
So,
if
you're
looking
for
a
dish
that
is
based
on
like
the
perfect
raw
ingredient,
like
you
go
to
Italy,
they
serve
you
a
plate,
there's
a
tomato
there's,
some
olive
oil
like
that's
it.
It's
awesome,
it's
wonderful,
but
you're
in
the
wrong
country.
For
that,
if
you
can
get
that
here,
if
it's
going
to
be
good,
it
probably
costs
a
lot
of
money.
Fancy
chef
flown
it
in
whatever
the
American
genius
and
food
is
combining
ingredients
in
creative
ways,
often
done
by
immigrants.
That's
what
this
country
is.
A
A
It's
really
a
question
like
how
do
you
get
the
good
dishes?
Most
ethnic
restaurants
have
some
really
good
dishes
and
most
dishes
and
ethnic
restaurants,
including
my
favorites.
Maybe
two-thirds
of
them
are
just
average
or
mediocre,
so
there's
just
an
art
to
ordering.
Now,
if
you
know
what
are
the
best
dishes
or
you
could
check
my
food
guide,
you
know
great.
But
what,
if
you
don't
know
so
much
of
eating
out
well,
is
simply
learning
how
to
communicate
with
other
human
beings
you're
in
an
ethnic
restaurant.
A
To
be
perfectly
blunt,
especially
if
you
look
American,
you
know
American
in
the
sense
of
what
they
think
of
is
American.
They
don't
trust
you
you
come
in,
they
think
you're,
a
fool,
they
think
you're
a
fool,
because
on
average
you
are
a
fool.
So
what
you
need
to
do
is
establish
a
bond
of
trust.
You
need
to
tell
them,
bring
me
your
best
dishes
and
to
say
it
in
a
way
where
you
are
credible,
you
need
to
trust
them
and
you
need
to
get
them
to
trust
you.
A
It's
like
a
two
way:
sales
job
and
when
you
view
it
in
those
terms,
you're
establishing
your
credibility,
showing
them
that
you
trust
them,
they
will
bring
you
the
best
dishes
and
meal
will
be
many
times
better
and
that's
a
more
important
point
that
any
knowledge
of
food
you
might
learn
by
reading
books
are
talking
to
food
critics.
How
can
you
establish
trust
with
your
waiter
or
owner
or
chef
and
get
them
to
stop?
Thinking
of
you
as
a
fool.
A
A
Here's
another
tip
I,
give
especially
for
more
expensive
places,
places
in
Washington
places
and
hip
neighborhoods
I
would
say
the
restaurant
cycle
has
been
speeded
up,
so
he
used
to
be
a
place,
would
open
it
would
build
for
years.
It
would
be
good
for
years
there
was
word
of
mouth.
It
all
happened
somewhat.
Slowly
now,
there's
the
food
bloggers.
Imagine
those
people
there's
the
internet,
there's
Yelp,
there's
Twitter,
so
a
new
place
opens
up
it's
geared
to
make
a
big
splash
right
away,
everything's
about
publicity.
A
Typically,
these
places
the
first
six
months,
they're,
really
pretty
good,
sometimes
they're
great
excellent,
original,
unique.
Whatever
the
chef
owns,
seven
restaurants
and
he's
there
or
she's
there
for
the
first
six
months,
so
you've
got
to
let
you
to
go
to
a
new
restaurant.
You
like
it
you
say
wow.
This
is
good.
You've
got
to
ask
yourself:
are
these
people
part
of
the
cycle,
eighty
percent
chances
that
they
are?
So
if
you
really
like
it,
I
would
say,
go
a
lot.
Those
first
six
months,
then,
once
the
place
is
established,
it's
a
social
scene.
A
It
starts
attracting
beautiful
women,
well
off
man,
whatever
you've,
just
gotta
cut
bait
and
stop
going
kiss
it
goodbye,
don't
look
back,
you've
got
to
be
somewhat
brutal
and
disloyal
because
it
probably
isn't
good
anymore.
It's
still,
probably
like
not
bad,
but
it's
somewhat
expensive.
It's
not
the
way.
You
remember
you
keep
on
going
back,
you're,
hoping
you
tell
people
you
bring
them
you're
like
gee.
It
was
better
last
time
it's
like
no
be
brutal.
Six
months,
speed
up
your
enjoy
I'm
in
cut
it
loose,
move
on
to
the
next
one.
A
It's
not
the
case
for
ethnic
restaurants.
If
they're
good,
they
stay
good
for
years
trendy
places,
the
quality
cycle
is
totally
accelerated.
How
to
use
the
internet
places
like
Yelp
they're,
great
other
sources,
but
don't
look
at
the
average
of
stars.
No,
that's
the
average
who
wants
the
average
assessment.
If
you
went
for
the
average
assessment,
where
would
you
eat
every
meal,
I
think
it
would
be
McDonald's
right,
McDonald's,
Big
Mac?
He
was
what
you
do
on
Yelp.
You
look
at
the
positive
reviews.
A
Are
they
long,
detailed
and
convincing
if
they
are
it's
a
good
place
and
forget
all
the
people
who
gave
it
one
star
because,
like
the
food
was
too
spicy
or
one
star,
because
I
wanted
mexican
food
and
they
didn't
serve
margaritas
or
two
stars,
because
they'd
never
had
male
before,
like
forget
them,
just
look
at
the
quality
of
the
good
reviews.
How
good
are
they
that
will
do
the
trick?
A
You
know
those
are
just
some
of
my
basic
tips
for
finding
good
food
they're,
all
based
in
economic
logic.
So
I've
you,
like
the
food
writing
I.
Do
the
economics
writing
I,
do
they're
more
or
less
the
same
thing,
even
though
they
inhabit
from
the
point
of
view
of
the
world
two
totally
separate
universes,
but
the
logic
of
food
is
the
logic
of
economics.
In
vice
versa.
A
Let
me
say
just
a
little
bit
about
some
of
my
favorite
places
in
particular
around
here.
I.
Take
it
most
of
you
live
not
too
far
from
here
and
I'll,
even
mention
a
place
or
two
near
metro
stops,
but
if
you're
like
wondering
like,
where
should
I
eat
now,
like
you
know
this
Cowan
guy,
can
you
get
totally
specific
best
meal
I've
had
lately
is
in
a
new
Bangladeshi
restaurant?
It's
called
gari
r
khabar.
These
are
all
on
my
food
blog
by
the
way
Tyler
Cowen,
Seth,
Nick,
dining
guide
com,
but
that's
5151
lee
avenue.
A
A
A
Finally,
they
cooked
a
Brioni
best
briyani
I've
ever
had
in
the
US,
but
that
was
all
they
could
do.
I
went
back
to
slask
end.
We
went
in
a
group
of
four
did
the
old
song
and
dance.
We
trust
you.
You
must
trust
us,
please
bring
us
your
best
things.
We
had
like
an
eight-course
meal,
30
bucks,
a
head
every
course
was
incredible.
We
loved
it
I'm
dying
to
go
back
every
course
was
original.
There's
not
that
much
bangladeshi
food
around
here.
It
wasn't
just
you
know,
repeating
Indian
dishes
great
place.
A
That's
my
number
one
pick
right
now.
Another
place
like
really
right
around
here
and
really
right
by
a
metro
stop,
but
they
have
a
hidden
menu.
It's
called
hunan
delight
you
get
out
of
boston,
metro,
it's
right
across
the
street
like
right
across
like
20.
Second
walk,
it
looks
terrible.
It
does
everything
wrong.
It
has
every
mark
of
a
bad
American,
Chinese
restaurant
and
it
is
a
bad
American,
Chinese
restaurant.
A
That
is
a
great
meal
and
you
need
to
go
in
a
group
get
a
bunch
of
things
just
to
ask
them
like
what
should
I
get
here.
Let
them
take
care
of
you.
It's
a
great
place,
Chinese
food
buffet.
All
that's
mediocre,
don't
let
it
scare
you
off
if
you
can't
get
the
secret
menu
somehow
just
like
walk
out
and
leave
it's
interesting.
This
escalation
of
the
secret
menus,
another
favorite
place
of
mine.
It's
called
Bangkok
golden.
It's
a
Thai
restaurant
at
seven
corners
like
the
Thai
food
on
a
scale
of
one
to
ten.
A
Maybe
it's
five
and
a
half
I
mean
it's,
not
bad.
I
think
it's
good,
maybe
above
average,
but
their
best
food
is
allowing
trying
to
slouch
and
restaurant
and
really
cheap.
So
if
you
go
there
well
at
first,
it
was
a
secret
menu
and
you
had
to
know
to
ask
ninety
percent
of
the
people
got
the
Thai
food.
So
if
people
who
knew
got
lotion
over
time,
more
people
knew
allow
Shan
food.
A
You
need
to
ask
for
that
menu.
They
don't
want
to
bring
it
to
you,
maybe
their
allowance
in
the
audience,
but
there
probably
aren't
too
many.
So
they
look
at
most
of
us
and
they
think
you
don't
read
lotion,
you
must
insist,
menu
in
lotion
and
then
they
bring
it
to
you
and
just
say
to
them.
I
want
these.
A
A
That's
one
of
the
best
places
the
like
middling
secret
menu
is
still
great
Thai
food,
okay,
middling
secret
menu,
great
super
double
secret
menu
are
very
great.
I
recommend
there
in
DC
more
expensive,
but
little
serow,
one
of
the
best
places
in
North
America.
It's
fixed
price.
They
don't
take
reservations.
You
have
to
wait
in
line,
but
it's
absolutely
tremendous
it's
better
than
any
other
expensive
restaurant
in
town.
It's
just
one
of
the
best
places
to
eat
right
now
in
this
whole
side
of
the
world,
so
go
now
before
I.
A
Don't
know
what
they'll
do
with
it,
but
it
can't
last
forever.
You
get
many
courses
for
what
is
kind
of
a
fancy:
restaurant,
not
a
lot
of
money
around
here.
What's
new,
there's
a
new
place
just
blocks
from
here:
it's
called
Russ
who's.
What
kind
of
appealing
name
is
that
Russ
ooze
food,
but
it's
R
Us
dash
uz,
which
is
still
like
wacky,
but
you
hear
a
wacky
name
and
you
think
name
is
ugly.
Maybe
the
food
is
good.
A
So
rush
Russ
ooze
is
Russian
food
and
who's
becca
Stan
food
so
apply
the
logic
of
economics,
which
is
the
appeal
to
like
the
masses.
Well
in
relative
terms
in
this
country,
it's
like
the
Russians
who
are
the
masses
right.
It's
the
use
becky's
who
are
harder
to
mind.
So,
of
course
that
means
the
u.s.
Becky
dishes
are
better
just
get
to
use.
Becky
dishes
you'll
see
these
Russian
dishes
on
the
menu
the
familiar
stuff.
You
know
the
dumplings,
the
borscht,
whatever
it's
okay,
I
mean
it's
fine,
but
don't
go
there
for
that.
A
Hold
your
ground
get
to
use
Becky
stuff,
like
the
noodles,
the
lamb,
whatever
the
pasta.
It's
excellent
only
use
Becca
Stan
restaurant
around
here
right
by
a
metro,
a
few
blocks
from
where
we
speak.
If
you're
into
gas
stations
and
I
bet
you
know,
most
of
us
are,
if
you
drive
a
car,
but
in
Maryland
are
in
our
taqueria
best
Mexican
food
around
by
a
long
mile.
It
is
served
out
of
a
gas
station.
It's
12
miles
up
route
95,
it's
worth
the
trip.
That's
great!
It's
like
our
one
real
mexican
place.
A
There's
a
vietnamese
cluster
in
need
and
center.
Most
of
you
probably
know
that
just
go
there
like
make
some
kind
of
mistake,
go
to
the
little
places
in
the
corridors
those
little
places
like
they
don't
have
names,
they
don't
really
have
menus.
There
are
like
glass
and
three
tables
go
to
those
throw
yourself
on
their
mercy
like
they'll,
have
five
dishes
and
three
of
them
you
won't
like,
but
their
best
dish
is
really
good,
find
out.
A
What's
their
best
dish,
get
that
there's
an
Ethiopian
cluster
in
west
alexandria
on
south
george
mason,
dr
not
too
far
from
here.
All
those
places
are
great,
my
favorites
oreo
sports
bar
again
a
great
name.
When
I
heard
that
name,
I
thought
this
place
must
be
great.
When
americans
want
to
eat
ethiopian
food,
what
kind
of
name
are
they
looking
for
like
red
sea
Queen
of
Sheba?
A
A
Every
Sunday
on
route
50
a
bit
west
of
here
there's
a
few
bolivian
food
trucks.
I'm
a
huge
fan
of
food
trucks.
Dc
is
trying
to
basically
regulate
them
out
of
existence.
I
hope
you
all
lend
your
support
to
the
cause
to
keep
those
food
trucks
going.
Virginia
doesn't
have
as
many
food
trucks
I
guess.
Arlington
does,
but
Fairfax
we're
like
not
up
to
food
trucks.
I
guess
we're
too
unsound
in
a
way
through
so
much
convenient,
Food
and
lower
density.
A
We
don't
have
food
trucks,
but
on
route
50
they
do
is
a
great
Bolivian
place
in
arlington
la
sirenita,
wonderful
late
night,
hangout
lots
of
fun.
My
favorite
chinese
places
in
maryland,
Sichuan
Jin
River
mala
hang
right
around
here.
It's
right.
It's
right
behind
GMU,
great
sichuan
food.
You
can
walk
there.
A
Elephant
jumps
for
thai
is
in
mirror
field
and
not
really
a
lot
of
good
places.
We
live
in
a
golden
age
of
Northern
Virginia,
Maryland
dining
10
years
ago.
Maryland
was
better
now
Virginia's
pulled
away
with
the
lead.
It's
not
even
close!
Sorry,
if
I'm
offending
anyone
here,
but
it's
true.
We
have
now
better
for
almost
everything,
not
Caribbean,
not
always
Indian,
but
most
everything
else.
There's
a
new
one,
New
Orleans
place
like
cajun
place.
You
know,
I
saw
the
people
here,
one
more
page.
It's
a
great
book
store,
I
just
discovered
it
lately.
A
I
was
astonished
how
good
it
is,
and
I
hadn't
known
about
it.
It's
off
of
route
29,
which
is
like
food
Mecca
route.
29
s,
everything
great
about
Virginia,
it's
a
total
dump.
Every
site
on
route.
29
is
ugly
when
route
29
becomes
nice.
It
is
time
to
leave
this
area
because
we
will
be
boring
so
like
clarendon,
a
sort
of
christ
at
vietnamese
priced
out.
You
know
some
of
the
lower-income
Latinos,
but
clarendon
is
still
diverse.
Still
interesting
still
has
great
food
great,
but
route
29.
A
It's
like
the
bastion
of
diversity
and
just
like
track
that
road.
Every
year
route
29,
you
know,
parts
get
better
parts
get
worse,
but
when
you
see
it
being
gentrified
run
the
other
way,
but
there's
this
place,
they
have
new
orleans
dishes
and
you
know
the
red,
the
craw
fish,
which
they
boil
and
right
next
to
that
is
one
more
page
that
makes
for
a
grade
a
combined
trip.
So
go
there.
If
you
have
the
chance
and
you
can
eat
decent
New
Orleans
food,
but
it's
a
great
book
store
anyway
I'm
about
out
of
time.
A
We
have
time
for
some
questions,
but
those
are
just
my
basic
points
about
you
know.
Food
capital
is
a
market.
We
live
in
a
great
world.
It
has
some
problems.
The
biggest
problem
actually
is:
how
are
we
going
to
grow
more
food
for
poor
people
and
get
the
price
down?
That's
a
real
problem,
not
for
like
the
people
in
this
room,
but
for
the
world
as
a
whole
for
Africa
for
South
Asia
for
other
poorer
parts.
We
need
to
get
agricultural
productivity
up.
We
don't
need
nearly
as
much
people
complaining
about.
A
You
know
individuals
in
the
u.s.
somehow
doing
this
or
doing
that
in
a
way
which
is
maybe
found
to
be
unaesthetic.
The
real
food
problem
is
growing
more
getting
it
cheaper,
but
if
you
live
around
here,
you
know
food's
great
and
those
are
just
some
of
my
core
tips
on
how
to
find
it
anyway.
Thank
you
all
for
coming.
A
B
A
My
position
on
farm
subsidies
is
very
simple:
there
should
not
be
any.
We
should
abolish
every
dollar
of
them
tomorrow
they
do
harm,
not
phase
them
out.
Just
get
rid
of
them.
They're
counterproductive.
They
make
food
cost
more.
You
know,
there's
a
boom
in
commodity
prices.
If
there
was
ever
a
time
when
farmers
didn't
need
them,
it's
now,
it
costs
taxpayers.
Money
takes
funds
away
from
higher
priorities,
no
good
reason
to
do
it
behind
you.
There
was
a
question.
Yes,
your.
C
A
Depends
you
know
where
exactly
you
are,
but
basically
for
me
all
of
them
mistrust
me
when
I
go
back.
They
know
me,
then
it's
easy,
but
to
name
something
from
their
country.
Go
a
little
prepared.
I
don't
mean
the
capital
city,
but
if
you,
if
you
go
to
a
Bolivian
place,
I'll
say
something
about
cochabamba
or
just
show
some
knowledge
of
something
you
go
to
a
sichuan
place
say
I
want
the
food
the
way
you
cook
it
in
chengdu
and
if
you
can
master
the
tones
I.
A
Can
you
know
so
much
the
better,
just
try
small
things,
they'll
mostly
work.
If
you
see
other
patrons,
they
are
eating
the
good
stuff.
You
can
point
and
say
serve
me
like
you,
serve
them
or
serve
me
like
you
would
cook
for
yourself.
One
thing,
I'll
know
is
that
if
you're
really
persistent,
it's
actually
the
case
that
eighty-five
percent
of
the
Chinese
restaurants
in
America
are
great,
even
though
it
seems
like
only
a
few
are
good.
A
But
if
you
demand
to
personally
speak
to
the
chef-
and
you
convince
him,
you
want
like
a
real
Mapo
tofu,
which
doesn't
really
require
good
ingredients
and
say
cook
it
for
me,
like
you
cook
it
for
you
cook
it
for
me
the
way
the
staff
eats
it
even
like
these
horrible
american-chinese,
gloopy,
sweet,
salty
sugary,
awful
cringe-inducing
places,
if
you
can
whack
sense
into
them,
for
you
for
that
one
dish
they'll
be
like
at
least
a
b-plus
Chinese
restaurant
doing
Mapo,
tofu
and
almost
any
thai
place.
You
can
talk
into
a
better
meal.
A
Then
there's
other
cuisines,
like
you
look
at
something
like
Bolivian,
the
genius
of
Bolivian
cuisine
is
they
haven't
yet
figured
out
how
to
sell
out
to
a
mass
market
same
with
a
lot
of
Vietnamese.
Like
20
years
ago,
people
thought
Oh.
Vietnamese
food
is
becoming
popular,
it's
coming
into
Georgetown,
whatever.
Fortunately,
that
didn't
happen.
So
there
is
like
a
sellout
version
of
American
Chinese
food,
we're
developing
a
sellout
version
of
Thai
food,
which
is
too
sweet
and
a
lot
of
gloopy
like
pad
thai
and
some
restaurants,
Thai
restaurants.
A
A
D
So,
regarding
these
theories,
like
that
beautiful
people
in
a
restaurant
are
negatively
correlated
with
the
quality,
it
seems
like
there's
not
much
empirical
evidence
on
that.
Do
you
think
it's
possible
to
get
empirical
evidence
on
that,
given
how
subjective
things
are,
and
should
that
be
done?
The
study.
A
You
know,
can
I
prove
that
statistically
no
do
I
know
it's
true,
yes,
but
you've
got
to
think
about
the
trade-off
in
terms
of
price
quality
gradient.
So
if
you're
a
billionaire-
and
you
just
want
like
pretty
good
food
for
70
bucks
by
all
means,
look
for
the
beautiful
women
and
they'll.
The
other
advantage
is
too,
but
you
can
do
that
for
70
bucks
and
I
can
go
my
Bolivian
route
for
12
bucks
and
actually
I'll
probably
prefer
my
meal
to
yours.
A
A
So
it
depends
where
you
are,
but
the
notion
that
you
should
go
to
places
which
are
hard
to
get
to
that's
true,
virtually
everywhere.
Knowing
how
to
ask
is
true,
virtually
everywhere
if
you're
somewhere,
we
are
totally
stumped.
What
you
want
to
do
is
look
to
ask
a
male
between
the
ages
of
30
and
50
years
old,
who
has
a
job
which
requires
him
to
work
with
a
lot
of
Transportation.
A
This
would
include
cab
drivers,
but
also
fireman
text
book
salesman,
all
kinds
of
jobs,
sort
of
middle-aged
men,
not
too
young,
not
too
old.
They
go
around
a
lot,
find
one
of
them
and
ask
them:
don't
ask
concierge
it's
all
corrupt
or
they
don't
know
it's.
Finally,
like
you
know
a
38
year
old
male,
who
gets
around
a
lot
and
ask
that
person
where
to
eat
in
most
countries.
That's
your
best
bet.
You
know
if
Yelp
can
help
you
out
fine,
if
you
interpret
the
reviews
correctly,
so
it
depends
where
you
are.
A
You
know,
if
you're
in
somewhere,
like
Italy
I
would
just
say
you
know,
look
for
tutorials,
it's
hard
to
go
wrong
worth
to
it
in
Italy.
It's
in
Rome
barnes
in
Venice,
which
can
be
pretty
dismal
everywhere
else,
is
awesome.
You
hardly
even
have
to
try.
Food
stalls
are
usually
great.
I
love
singapore
love
india
to
eat,
I
love
roadside
food
in
Mexico.
A
F
A
No
evidence
that
it's
actually
true
the
be
kill
off
is
somewhat
mysterious.
You
know
the
evidence
on
GMOs
is
they
have
increased
yields
they've
made
it
possible
in
some
cases
that
crops
don't
have
to
be
doused
with
as
much
stuff
they've
lowered
the
price
of
food.
The
beach
calif
is
a
mystery,
but
there's
not
a
serious
research
paper.
I'm
aware
of
the
ties
it
to
GMOs.
You
find
a
lot
of
false
claims
about
GMOs
in
the
literature.
It's
an
area
where
there's
a
great
deal
of
pseudoscience.
A
A
A
Use.
Twitter
use
Yelp,
see
what
people
say
about
food
trucks
and
try,
but
I.
Actually,
myself
I
don't
need
to
eat
at
them
very
much
because
I'm
ensconced
out
there
in
fairfax,
lower
density
I
have
to
drive
east
to
Arlington,
really
to
even
see
a
food
truck,
so
I'm
living
in
a
somewhat
different
world.
So
on
that
try
the
internet
would
be
my
main
advice
and
look
for
lines.
Of
course.
A
H
Was
just
wondering
what
your
experience
is
about
asking
concierto
hotel
for
recommendations,
I
I've
experienced
somewhere,
it
seems
like
they
kind
of
get
paid
off
and
they're
just
going
to
a
place
for
recommending
places
that
aren't
necessarily
that
great.
But
maybe
a
restaurant
that
you
know
might
be
trendy
I
was
just
wondering
if
that's
something
you
ever
do
or
do
you
just
recommend
going
out
on
your
own
I'll.
A
Go
out
on
your
own,
never
ever
trust
the
concierge
first,
they
might
be
corrupt,
as
you
mentioned,
but
also
you
know
it's
like
the
people
in
the
restaurant.
He
doesn't
or
she
doesn't
trust
you
and
there's
actually
a
fair
degree
of
contempt,
because
their
job
is
for
other
people
to
give
them
a
hard
time
with
questions
that
are
often
I,
don't
want
to
call
them
stupid,
but
frustrating
or
the
people
are
never
happy
or
they
want
the
impossible.
So
they're
going
to
send
you
somewhere.
A
That
is
like
maybe
okay,
but
the
tourist
experience
so
never
ever
do
that.
If
there's
a
way
you
can
get
the
concierge
to
actually
trust
you
with
extended
dialogue,
a
lot
of
them
do
know
a
lot
and
if
you're
sure
you've
reached
that
zone,
then
it
can
be
great,
but
you've
got
to
put
in
like
time.
You
can't
just
say:
hey
trust
me
tell
me
where
to
go
so
avoid
them.
I
A
I'm
not
actually
that
big,
an
enthusiast
of
heat,
although
maybe
I
am
you
know
by
some
of
your
standards.
So
if
I
go
to
a
Thai
restaurant
for
me,
thai
food
is
the
spiciest
like
you
go
to
Thailand.
They
serve
you
some
soup,
it's
like!
Oh,
you
know
you
don't
say
anything.
It's
like
putting
a
lit
match
to
your
tongue
and
there's
been
plenty
of
food
in
Thailand
that
I
just
really
can
eat
and
I
never
asked
for
it.
Spicy
and
obviously
I.
Don't
look
like
I'm
tie.
A
So
if
I
go
to
a
Thai
restaurant
here
and
if
they
have
four
categories
and
the
four
is
Thai,
spicy
I
want
level
three
which
is
pretty
hot,
so
you
could
just
say
you
know
like
for
thai
food
spicy,
but
not
thai
spicy
and
they'll.
Get
that,
like
they
all
know
the
phrase
thai
spicy
and
then
what
about
other
cuisines?
From
my
point
of
view,
none
of
them
are
really
that
hot,
like
some
things
in
lotion
or
a
bit
like
thai,
they
can
be
hot
I,
don't
know.
Do
we
have
spicy
food
around
here?
A
You
got
to
be
where
it's
often
efficient
to
get
your
food
spicier
than
you
want
it,
because
if
you
tell
them
not
too
spicy,
maybe
what
you
mean
is
like
downgrade
from
a
92
a
seven,
but
what
they
hear
is
downgrade
from
a
five
to
a
two
and
they
lose
respect
for
you.
They
lose
trust
and
even
maybe
a
bit
of
contempt,
re-enters
the
equation,
and
even
if
you
want
for
like
it,
may
be
worth
eating
six
to
get
the
meal
you
desire,
so
you've
got
to
calibrate.
A
J
So
my
wife
and
I,
we
like
German
food
and
beer
and
recently
a
friend
of
my
wife's
who
lives
in
Munich,
invited
us
to
come
there
for
oktoberfest
this
year.
We
were
wondering
how
do
you
eat
well
in
a
in
a
city
when
there's
a
tremendous
number
of
outsiders
who
have
kind
of
temporarily
descended
on
the
city,
especially
if
you
are
one
of
the
outsiders.
J
A
Tough,
of
course
this
will
sound
odd,
but
you
want
to
avoid
the
beer
gardens
when
you
go
to
munich
for
oktoberfest
they're,
not
bad
you'll
get
like
decent
via
schnitzel
there
and
the
like,
but
Germany's
a
great
food
country.
It's
very
underrated.
It
has
a
lot
of
great
French
food,
good
ethnic
foods
of
many
different
kinds,
although
not
too
much
good
Chinese
food.
A
German
food
is
excellent.
Vegetables,
very
good
meat,
and,
if
you
get
like
you
know,
a
Michelin
Guide
avoid
the
starred
places
just
go
to
like
a
Michelin
to
forker
somewhere
a
little
out
of
the
way.
You'll
get
a
superb
German
meal
and
the
other
oktoberfest
tourists
probably
are
not
going
there
and
you'll
eat
very
well
in
munich
or
you
know
almost
anywhere
else
in
germany,
I
would
say:
look
for
quality
of
vegetables
in
germany,
they'll
be
correlated
with
other
good
things,
get
a
little
bit
off
the
beaten
track.
A
I
use
the
Michelin
Guide,
but
not
for
the
like
fancy
super
expensive
places.
Just
like
those
moderate,
24
kurz
or
get
like
time
at
munich,
go
to
the
newer
places.
They'll
be
very,
very
good.
So
you
know
the
beer
garden.
You
can
go
there
later
Davina
schnitzel
in
the
Munich
beer
garden.
It's
actually
still
not
that
bad
as
mass
food
goes.
You
could
do
a
lot
worse,
yes
and
the
front.
A
A
There's
a
lot
of
good
food
in
New,
Orleans,
still
I,
think
where
and
how
you
find
it
is
changing.
There's
a
lot
of
like
new
bistros
springing
up
outside
of
the
French
Quarter
that
are
really
quite
good,
and
not
necessarily
that
famous
the
old
standby
places
I
think
are,
on
average,
getting
worse,
I
think
it's
still
a
vital
seen.
You
just
need
to
mix
up
how
you
used
to
find
things
again.
Look
for
places
out
of
the
way
avoid
the
French
Quarter
Garden
District
has
a
lot
of
wonderful
food.
A
Sometimes
it's
just
served
out
of
a
guy's
house.
It's
things
like
sausage.
They'll
just
have
one
or
two
dishes:
it's
mind-blowing
Lee
good.
It's
like
some
of
the
best
food
in
the
whole,
us
even
the
whole
world.
It's
super
cheap
if
you
can
get
their
way
better
than
New
Orleans
it'll
blow
your
mind.
It's
where
a
lot
of
the
New
Orleans
stuff
comes
from.
A
K
So
if
you
look
at
how
food
has
been
made
in
the
past
200
years,
that's
changed
drastically,
but
what
we're
eating
hasn't
changed
drastically
when
you
look
at
moving
forward,
I,
don't
know
if
you've
heard
of
Soylent
a
man
in
California
says
that
he's
managed
to
like
take
the
minerals
that
you
need
and
make
a
powder,
and
then
you
mix
it
with
water
and
you
can
just
eat
all
of
your
food.
That
way
do
you?
Do
you
see
that
in
the
future,
do
you
see
like
almost
unrecognizable
food
50
years
from
now?
It's.
A
He
was
one
of
the
things
in
the
food
world.
You
know
I'm
less
crazy
about
this
than
a
lot
of
other
people
like
molecular
gastronomy,
I,
think
a
lot
of
it
doesn't
taste
that
good.
I
know
it's
Harry
dis
heresy
to
say
it
a
lot
of
it
tastes
good
but
like
not
as
good
as
Sichuan
Jin
river
dan
dan
noodles.
A
You
know
up
there
in
rockville
for
eight
bucks,
so
I
think
comfort,
food,
the
tried
and
true
classic
ethnic
dishes,
just
like
fat
is
pretty
good
and
it's
not
going
to
be
be
in
anytime,
soon,
I
think
not
within
our
lives,
so
the
soil
and
stuff.
It's
like
a
publicity
stunt,
I
blog
that
I
chuckled.
A
lot
of
people
commented,
but
no
one
like
wrote
me:
where
can
I
get
it?
A
And
you
know
from
a
purely
marketing
point
of
view.
I
wouldn't
have
called
it
Soylent
either.
So
no
I
think
food
will
stay.
Food
in
a
lot
of
ways.
Sued
has
become
more
more
like
food
than
it
was
ten
years
ago,
and
the
real
innovation
now
is
to
have
really
good
fast
food
done
in
a
chained
way.
Just
like
now,
a
new
fast
food
chain
version
of
kava,
like
the
kava
in
clarendon
and
the
fast
food
chain
version
cheaper,
quicker.
A
It's
now
in
merrifield,
I
went
there
last
week,
it's
pretty
good
stuff,
like
that's,
going
to
get
a
lot
better
and
that
you
know
like
Chipotle,
it's
pretty
earthy
food
and
that's
what
I
think
is
making
the
comeback.
I,
don't
think
our
future
is
molecular
gastronomy
where
you
eat,
like
some
purple
thing.
That
you're
told
is
derived
from
essence
of
flour
and
it
like
makes
a
little
sound
and
there's
a
puff
of
smoke,
and
you
have
no
idea
what
just
happened
to
you.
L
My
wife
and
I
spent
six
years
in
France.
We
came
back
in
two
thousand
seven,
but
I've
noticed
a
big
big
difference
in
just
a
food
culture.
I
mean
people
really
care
about
where
the
food
comes
from,
what
cows,
if
the
meat
came
from
or
where
the
food
was
grown,
I
mean
and
and
they
just
care
a
lot
more
than
Americans.
Do
what
I
mean
they
asked
those
questions
of
course
France.
You
know
if
they're
crazy
about
the
terroir
and
there's
some
hypocrisy.
L
Often
I
mean
there
are
big,
combines
and
France
as
well
as
little
farms,
and
they
pay
a
heavy
price
to
subsidize
their
little
farms.
But
but
when
I
got
back
to
the
states,
there
was
a
noticeable
difference.
I
mean
you
can't
get
a
decent
strawberry,
even
at
Whole
Foods,
it's
hard
to
get
a
DC,
strawberry
or
tomato.
You
know,
and
and
I
I
I'm
puzzled
by
the
evolution
of
food
culture.
L
It
seems
like
it's
hard
to
imagine
America
becoming
as
obsessed
as
the
French
by
where
something
comes
from
a
where
your
cow
cow
meat
came
from
and
talking
about
that
in
the
store.
I.
Just
don't
see
that
kind
of
change
the
foods
gotten
a
lot
better
I
mean
a
lot
more
interesting,
but
I
was
just
curious.
What
your
observations
were
about
that
you.
A
Know
I,
agree:
I,
don't
think
we're
ever
going
to
do
the
French
model
other
than
like
eating
a
lot
of
french
fries.
It
doesn't
fit
us
culturally.
We
have
too
much
big
agribusiness,
it's
too
big
a
country
and
so
on.
But
if
you
go
to
a
lot
of
other
wonderful
food
countries,
you
know
you
go
to
Singapore
you
go
to
most
of
Asia,
no
one.
There
talks
about
tear
our
weather
in
french
language
or
their
own
languages,
they're
obsessed
with
quality
of
what
you
eat,
but
they're,
not
like
Oh.
What
province
did
it
come
from?
A
How
did
they
massage
the
Cour?
It's
just
like
how
good
is
this?
You
know
this
grandmother
runs
a
food
stall.
She's
awesome,
here's
their
best
dish,
so
as
food
here
continues
to
get
better,
I
think
much
more
in
an
Asian
direction.
The
content
of
food,
but
I,
don't
just
mean
the
content.
I
mean
how
we
think
about
food.
A
Asian
food
is
mostly
served
quite
quickly
with
exceptions
not
as
long
Chinese
banquet
and
all
that,
but
there's
tremendous,
quick
food
in
just
about
every
Asian
country
and
I
think
we
will
go
that
route
rather
than
the
French
slow
food
sit
down.
They,
like
you,
know,
brought
you
the
artichoke
right
from
the
field
value.
L
A
M
M
You
know,
given
that
it
the
only
way
to
truly
understand
the
risk
is,
maybe,
if
you
take
the
plunge,
and
actually
you
know
consumer
over
the
long
term,
if
a
country
believes
that
our
society
believes
that,
how
do
they
properly
assess
that
risk
and
deciding
whether
or
not
GMOs
are
right
for
them,
and
also,
if
you'll
indulge
me
I'm
Chinese,
my
beautiful
wife
is
Indian.
If
you
had
to
give
up
one
of
those
cuisines
for
the
rest
of
your
life,
which
one
would
it
be.
A
Let
me
take
those
in
reverse
order:
all
cuisine
is
regional
cuisine,
so
there
is
no
Chinese
food.
There
is
no
Indian
food
I
would
give
them
both
up
and
have
all
the
foods
of
the
regions
and
be
just
as
rich
as
before,
but
on
GMOs
and
risk
most
of
the
food
we
eat
is
in
some
way.
Genetically
modified,
like
corn,
is
not
something
which
exists
in
nature.
It
was
bred
by
basically
nawa
farmers
in
central
Mexico
thousands
of
years
ago,
and
they
took
a
weed
and
they
turned
it
into
corn.
A
So
there's
a
lot
of
that's
a
lot
of
genetic
experimentation
with
food
going
back
a
long
way
and
the
main
effect
is
that
it
increases
yields.
The
main
environmental
effects
can
be,
it
may
push
out
other
crops.
Presumably
the
food
is
more
valuable.
A
few
hundred
million
people
levy
in
GMOs
in
the
US
now
for
over
20
years,
there's
just
not
evidence
of
any
health
problems.
If
you
think
about
what
GMOs
do
it's
just
not
that
different,
there's
nothing
in
theory
to
lead
us
to
believe
it
should
be
harmful
to
people.
A
I
mean
the
simple
point
that
like
rice
is
rice
is
still
basically
true.
You
know.
The
real
future
of
GMO
rice
is
to
fortify
rice
with
vitamins
like
vitamin
A
and
lower
the
rate
of
blindness,
mostly
in
Asia,
and
this
is
starting
to
get
under
way,
we'll
see
how
far
it
goes.
So
I
think
the
risks
are
on
the
side
of
not
using
GMOs.
A
The
natural
state
of
man
is
to
starve
or
to
die
at
30
or
40
and
be
in
a
Malthusian
world,
that's
kind
of
the
risk.
So
when
you
weigh
that
risk
against
the
GMO
risk,
rather
than
thinking
like
GMO
risk
against
a
perfectly
safe
world,
then
I
think
you
see
the
problem
somewhat
differently
anyway.
I
think
we're
bad
out
of
time,
but
thank
you
all
off
for
your
questions.
I'll
be
here
off
a
book
signing
and
the
like
and
I
appreciate
your
coming,
and
thanks
also
to
the
library.