I would like to think it's because people are sick to death of the assembly line-unimaginatively herd mentality induced foods produced by greedy corporations-
that forces chain restaurants to go out of business.
Our nation has such a cattle mentality we eat anything with a brand and say we like it.
Larger cities are the greatest sinners-average people herd themselves into Olive Garden, Applebees, TGI Fridays believing the gourmand in them is satiated by the deep fried macaroni and the bread sticks.
Over the past twenty years the decline of the mom and pop restaurant in most large cities hasn't been apparent to most of the herd. If they looked around they might have noticed that any originality in food has been usurped by the wealthy.
Only they have entitled themselves by paying out of this world prices for one of a kind cooking. Anyone who could afford to compete on the grid independently better have some bucks and originality.
Smaller towns survive this pablum induced state of feeding the masses for pleasure.
Mom and Pop restaurants seems to float along atop the appreciation and loyalty of people who get to know the owners and appreciate their efforts.
I am old enough to remember (as a kid) McDonalds was a rare enough sight to consider it special-never in my dreams of largess did I consider it would become a huge, disgusting mess of menu platitudes only made original by those who could screw up your drive through order with such consistency.
Perhaps the chains will become smaller, those managing to have survived this long only because of demand will finally take what probably started as a quality product(i.e. Wendy's) and tuck it away under the category of honest response. Honest response being of course that no crummy, nasty food should be able to compete and make a profit.
Creeping out of the corners of the food chain shadows may emerge those creative dreamers who love to cook and share their imaginative talents appealing to the yearning in us to be connected to real things smaller than a breadbox.
At present the only method of discovering our little gems of culinary artistes is the Food Channel scouting out off the road destinations.
I mourn the loss of human connected food experiences.
I dream and hope they no longer have to suffer the inequities of big corporations which force feed us and pay media to brainwash us .
We Americans are generally a stupid lot- led by the nose to the worst and liking it the entire trip.
