Cuisine is constantly being shaped and reshaped by ever-changing influences: customer demands, the availability of ingredients, chefs’ experimentation, even media play. “Unfortunately, the cooking of a lot of countries is disintegrating,” observes Alice Waters. “It’s hard to get those really simple and perfect dishes anymore. Everybody’s embroidering all kinds of things all over.”
Michael Romano has observed that all the Michelin three-star restaurants seem to have become very French—even those in Italy. “It’s probably all part of the drive for Michelin stars,” he speculates. Johanne Killeen also notices that, “the more [Michelin] stars an Italian restaurant has, the more Frenchified it is. It’s tragic. Michelin ought to take each cuisine on its own merit and judge every restaurant accordingly.” George Germon agrees: “It’s difficult to find food that’s pure. A lot of Italian food has become muddled, with no clear flavors, no focus. There are too many acrobatics, too much jumping through hoops.”
