Au Revoir to All That: Food, Wine, and the End of France

Well researched and fun (actually, more fun than I expected), Michael Steinberger "Au Revoir to All That" explores his thesis that French cuisine is slipping from its exalted perch and is no longer the world's de facto epicurean leader. Steinberger conducted exhaustive (and presumably calorie-infused) research, and managed to interview a number of France's top chefs, artisanal cheese makers, wine merchants and (gasp) the French head of McDonald's. The interviews provide fascinating insight into the inner workings of the French culinary world - from the infamous in-fighting between three-star chefs to the real reasons the French populace isn't as entranced with haute cuisine as it once was. The myriad reasons that France is experiencing a culinary crisis - working mothers, shorter lunch breaks for workers, children enamored of McDo's, a reluctance to spend exorbitant amounts in hyper-formal restaurants - have all contributed to the average Frenchman's laissez faire attitude towards haute cuisine. The recent controversies regarding Michelin stars are also covered. Written in an easy, conversational tone, Steinberger's book is much more engaging and amusing than I thought it would be, and is a great little read - even for those who favor McDo's over the Plaza Athenee.

As a longtime columnist for outlets as diverse as Slate, Food & Wine, Saveur, the Financial Times, and the Economist, Michael Steinberger is something of an enfant terrible when it comes to food and wine. Steinberger can leave targets withering at his wrath and those who agree with his blunt honesty will likely find little to criticize. Many recall him becoming persona non grata following his Slate article "Grape Rot: The New Wine Spectator's Distinct Aroma of Fishiness." back in 2002. Steinberger continues in a similar vein here, and much like Benjamin Wallace's "The Billionaire's Vinegar," "Au Revoir" criticises what the food world holds to be sacrosanct: French cuisine. Steinberger criticism of French cuisine serves as a metaphor for the broader ossification and decline of French society and culture over the past twenty five years, the period following the Trente Glorieuses. As someone who has read much on France, many of the thoughts and observations Steinberger expresses are ones that have crossed my own mind and which I've read elsewhere. Whereas once French cuisine set trends and initiated innovations it has now become rigid, inflexible and frozen in time. Whether restaurants, wineries, bistros, fromageries or farms, France has ceased to be cutting edge and instead is in a decline that appears to be accelerating at a frightening pace. Steinberger points out many of the usual suspects for this decline but uses illustrative examples to make his point, and to make that point quite persuasively. Indeed, Steinberger's writing and arguments are concise and most persuasive. Rather than focusing solely on the restaurant world, Steinberger takes a broadfield socio-cultural approach that incorporates economics, sociology, history and politics in looking at what has lead France to this place. The result is, sadly depressing and patently true. No matter how much I wanted to dispute or denounce his observations they are painfully obvious for all to see. Quite unintentionally I read this book at the same time as Susan Pinkard's equally wonderful "A Revolution in Taste: The Rise of French Cuisine" and found them to be appropriate bookends for each other. Pinkard traces the emergence and evolution in French cuisine (and France's society and culture) and Steinberger charts its zenith and decline. Ultimately the decline of French cuisine and society is hardly surprising; the same thing is occurring elsewhere as the pace of life changes and evolves, and in that respect Pinkard and Steinberger both make the same prescient observations: changing circumstances resulting in changing tastes. As Steinberger proves French society cannot hold back this sea change in individual tastes and preferences, chef and restaurateurs will have to adapt and change with the times or find themselves out of a job. In the end there is no salvation for preserving things in stasis. If you want to enjoy the old style of French haute cuisine you had better hurry bef