Loading ...I often drive home all the way down 30th Street, ’cause I love it, and the last couple months when I go by our old location I’ve noticed that Sea Rocket has been quite busy. Last nite we went there for dinner, and it was obvious why they’re doing well. We had a great meal, and got totally in touch with the people who procured/grew it. Plus, they’ve broadened the menu quite a bit, which gave us lots of interesting options to choose from, that appealed to us.
It was a reminder of something that I think gets overlooked a lot, particularly in this bloggy moment — restaurants are living organisms (because they’re made of people) and, to me, the most profound joy in patronizing a restaurant comes not from a specific meal but from having an ongoing relationship with a personality that changes and grows.
When a restaurant has engaged people and a compelling reason for existing, it’s going continue to grow and change, and reward its community in new and interesting ways. This is an idea-fact Steven Shaw talks a lot about in his book Turning the Tables (a great read, by the way), but which, sadly, hasn’t taken hold much in online forums, restaurant-review blogs, or even traditional media in this town.
I think that, while user-driven review sites (Chowhound, Yelp) are obsoleting the role of star-wielding reviewer (except to the extent that his/her prose is fascinating and/or snarky), at the same time this void is a great opportunity for a print writer to make a mark by including the elements of time and growth in writing about local restaurants.
(I’ve stopped imploring Candice to walk that path, because I was afraid she’d start avoiding me so she wouldn’t have to listen to me go on and on about it. Now that I think about it, she probably already has.)
Anyway. Sea Rocket has added a lot of cool stuff to their menu recently, and our meal last nite was just super.