Ailian Gan | >140

The highest craft

Over the weekend, I saw Jiro Dreams of Sushi, a very lovely film especially if you love sushi. It follows the story of an 85-year-old legendary sushi chef who runs a 10-seater restaurant near a Tokyo subway. Meals start at $300 (USD not yen). He has been awarded 3 Michelin stars. He has been making sushi for 75 years.

I was struck by Jiro’s commitment to this single specific craft. He has dedicated his entire life to perfecting this craft every single day. There is no room for being a generalist here. I think of how in schools, in career advising, we’re told we should acquire transferable skills, skills that are broadly applicable. So many of us are obsessed with keeping our options open. 

Jiro’s story preaches the opposite. Be a specialist. It matter less what you choose and matters more that you chose it and continue to choose it day after day. Put in enough cycles of 10,000 hours and you get to reach the rarefied air that is the top of your craft. (By my rough estimates, Jiro has put in more than 20 times of 10,000 hours.) 

Choose a craft you love and be an expert. Except that this is not about mere expertise. This is about artistry. Be an artist. Elevate your craft. Invent a new aesthetic. 

And that’s where we get to this notion of the highest craft. 

In Frank Chimero’s The Shape of Design, there is a story he tells where his favorite professor was reviewing his portfolio and pauses to say, “Needs more love.” Frank goes on to say:

At the time, I took it to mean that I should improve my craft, but I’ve come to realize that he was speaking of something more fundamental and vital. My work was flat, because it was missing the spark that comes from creating something you believe in for someone you care about. This is the source of the highest craft, because an affection for the audience produces the care necessary to make the work well. 

Is it about caring for the audience really? Did Jiro do any of it because he wanted to please an audience? I disagree. I adore Frank’s phrasing - the highest craft - but I disagree. 

I think the caring, the spark comes wanting to do the work right. Regardless of an audience. Above everything else.

Seth Godin writes of the wonderful Caine’s Arcade, the 9-year-old boy who made a cardboard arcade:

The first thing that made me smile was how willing Caine was to do his art regardless of how the world responded (it didn’t). Caine didn’t care. The goal wasn’t to be accepted, the goal was to do it right.

That kind of commitment, I believe, is the heart of the highest craft. 

I think about what I do at work. I think about what I do outside of work. I have to accept that I am not wired to be a specialist the way Jiro is. (I know very few people who are.) I will always be more generalist than specialist. But whichever I am, my work, whatever I choose it to be at that moment, could use more love.

So I ask myself, when was the last time you were performing the highest craft? When will you do it again? Why don’t you do it every day? 

How to interpret Yelp ratings

Yelp has transformed my travel dining experience. Its geolocation feature has made it possible to do no research beforehand and still end up eating great meals for almost every meal on a trip. Yelp has made it possible to drive through a tiny town in upstate NY of 2,000 people and find a good local joint. Yelp has also made it possible to entertain a dad’s request for decent pho even in a town like Monterey. 

Here’s what I’ve learned from using Yelp to navigate my meals for my last couple of trips:

1. Stars are just a first cut, you must read reviews. If reviewers say “everything here is awesome”, that’s a bad sign. It probably means the reviewers aren’t very discerning about food. Naming specific dishes that were excellent is a great sign, especially if a lot of people agree on the same few dishes. 

2. Negative reviews give you a sense of what a bad case might be like. Complaints about one specific server should be forgiven. A complaint that the food sucked because that reviewer ordered the vegetarian plate at a steakhouse is not bad sign. That’s a good sign! The steak is more likely to be really good. 

3. If it’s a small town and reviewers are rating an ethnic restaurant, discount ratings by 1 star. You need a large and diverse enough population for ethnic restaurant ratings to be accurate.

4. If the restaurant is running a Yelp promotion, discount ratings by 1/2 to 1 star. A particular restaurant was running a free clam chowder promotion. All anyone talked about in reviews was the free clam chowder. If you read the reviews carefully, you’d see that a few reviewers were not swayed by the freebie. They mentioned that the non-clam chowder dishes weren’t up to par. 

Other notes:

- As @waaramaa noted, Zagat + Yelp works even better.

- Nothing quite beats a recommendation from a friend with good taste.

- For the record, Ad Hoc’s Monday night fried chicken is amazing. I am a sucker for regular foods executed to perfection, and that fried chicken was exactly it. That meal took a lot of advance planning. It’d be good to have tips on reservation strategy on Yelp. (Or is there an app for that?)

My pick of Philadelphia good eats

I thought I’d compile a list of restaurants I’ve tried over the last 2 years that stand out. This is mostly for my own records, but perhaps you will find it useful.

My main gripe about Philly restaurants is that they are at a weird price-for-quality point. You tend to pay too much for mediocre food. See the point marked X below. I feel like I can pay less in NY and get better quality, or pay more in NY and get much, much better quality. A good eat should fall below the 45 degree blue line. The ones that made it to this list generally fall along my red Philly good eats line. 

Sabrina’s - There are many foods for which I think “the best version of this is in NY” - sushi, hot chocolate, breakfast waffles, truck waffles. Sabrina’s has the best French toast I have ever had. It is so awesome, I can’t bring myself to order French toast anywhere else. 

Bibou - The best dining experience I’ve had in Philly. Food, service, everything. This is a foodie’s kind of restaurant. The duck hearts? Amazing.

Chifa - What can I say, Peruvian Chinese works for me. 

Melograno - Probably the best value for quality deal I’ve come across in Philly. (I have no idea why my classmates go to La Viola so much. Melograno is way better.)

Garces Trading Company - A gorgeous space and really nice execution on the food. 

Mercato - Too crowded and loud, but everything we ordered was great. In addition to pastas, make space for both the meat and cheese selection and the chocolate molten cake. 

Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House - Surprisingly good, if you’re up for a hole-in-the-wall. 

I have a few weeks left to eat here. If you have a must-eat that hasn’t made my list, please leave a comment!