It's one thing to read about it, and another to actually see it.

New York is really depressing to see. I've never seen it so bad. I've walked into a half empty Nobu, We made last minute reservations at Sushi Yusada, there was now ait at Cheesecake factory, where there was usually an one hour wait. Upmarket food retailer Dean and Deluca had four shoppers on a recent Tuesday evening as the work day closed. We all looked at eachother wondering if in fact the store was closed.

Trends towards gourmetaizing the humble burger, hot dog, sheshkabob stand or a bahn mi is not without intention. It's asserting we have superior taste without the budget.These are modern luxuries; we can't afford to buy the 'it' car, but we can afford this meal as luxury.

New yorkers are not going to let down their air of taste-makers.

These are hard times, though you wouldn't know it if you were in Asia. In 2009, there was a parade of world-reknown chefs touring through our parts looking for a oppurtunity. Sam Mason of Taylor's in New York said this at a guest chef event at Amber: "I'd like to open a place here to support my restaurant in New York."

Hong Kong restaurants are still quite full, and though you might not see a top tier wine being order as often any more, the dining rooms are still quite healthy. And that message is being spread across the wordl, especially to top-branded chefs whose business model relies on building a restuarant based on their names, and who loves brands more than Hong Kong?

The message is also that we are willing to spend $988 per person at dinner on a Wednesday night, and that is still socially acceptable to do so in these parts.


Same in London.

My dad who doesn't really care if he is dining at the hottest eatery or having a bagel in his car, was standing in line at McDonald's one morning. There was a man in front of him who was trying to redeem a hot breakfast with a coupon, which had expired the day before. The cashier would not honor it. The man said, what am I going to do? I don't have enough money. This was his only meal of the day. Ultimately, my dad purchased his set meal.

What are reviews about: it's about knowing if you should spend your money with an unknown product. Not about taste making.