Food-Ethnic Restaurants

                 On Sunday, November 07, 2010, I went to the Irondale Café, known as The Original Whistle Stop. I had never been to a Southern meat and three restaurant before or eaten true southern food. So, my parents told me about the Irondale Café. Yes, this is the restaurant from the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes, as it says on the restaurant’s menu. I remember watching the movie a few years ago, and I was excited to get to experience this historical place in Irondale, Alabama.

                When I first got to the place, I wasn’t sure what it was going to look like on the inside. However, outside the restaurant, there were train tracks and trains passing through the town. It was a rather small town; whereas, I live in a larger city. So, I had to shed my feeling of superiority of my usual culture, also known as ethnocentricism. I walked inside, and all I could focus on was how good the food smelt. So, I tried sweet potatoes, fried chicken, and fried green tomatoes. I must admit that all of the food was very good, especially the fried green tomatoes.

                To learn about a culture, one of the best ways is through its food. I think it’s a way of expressing one’s own culture. Food, in a way, has a social form. It brings people together through a common, shared experience. Almost everyone loves to eat, so food is a way of bringing people together to do something they love the most.

I think that food could also be argued as a visual art. People tend to eat certain foods by the way the food looks or appeals to them. The food at the Irondale Café, to me, looked very appealing. To describe something as art, there are certain criteria that must be met. The food at the café may not necessarily be practical, and it definitely created a response. Ingredients must be used in the making of food, therefore the food is transformational. The food was symbolic because it represents the south, and it also represents the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes. Talent is also needed for the people that are making the food. So, I believe that food is a representation of art.

I enjoyed my cultural experience at this restaurant, and I do believe that I may have to go back to eat whatever I didn’t get a chance to eat Sunday.