Bring on the Mukbang!
Enough of the behind-the-scenes influencer restaurant reviews. Give me a car, a person, an order, and a camera.
Somehow, later in my middle school years, in 2006 or 2007, the Food Network boomed. My friend group became so deeply invested in cooking on television that we easily clocked the differences between the garbage Rachel Ray was churning out and the beautiful dishes being whipped up by a Giada or Tyler Florence. The ways Bobby Flay’s attention to detail on “Throwdown” would, or, occasionally, would not, carry him to victory over frequently cocksure local heroes. But one show won the race to leave an imprint on America forever. I can distinctly picture the perfect production of the red Camaro mixed with the bleached spiked hair in the opening sequence. Eyes cloaked behind sunglasses until, in the safety of a diner kitchen, they would end up on the back of Guy Fieri’s large smiling head, pointing backwards. I’ve seen hundreds of episodes of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. They’ve both caused me intense salivary responses and rocked me accidentally to sleep on the couch at 1:30am. They’ve led me on wild goose chases across the country for greasy spoon local favorites and around my own hometown to assess his choices. He’s usually right on the money. However, at some point in 2015, the average influencer stumbled into a local restaurant kitchen and became their own Guy Fieri. What started as harmless fun has turned into a seemingly dishonest quid pro quo of food for positive reviews and escalating gluttony turning honest food into a stunt. Thankfully, as many a recent American trend (see: pop music, movies), a South Korean fixture has saved us from the flashing lights, parlor tricks and cheese-covered drivel. It’s time to embrace the in-car mukbang and leave Triple D to the expert.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Renaissance Flan to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.