Good is a four letter word too

I’m trying to write a review of a meal from last week and the only thing standing in my way is the completely unmemorable meal we ate.

The most enjoyable reviews to write are the great meals. The most fun to read are the terrible ones. Mediocrity is the death of inertia.

It’s so much fun to rave about a new or exemplary dining experience. Whether it’s the dizzying sorcery of Lucien or the trill tacos in the back of Perola’s, it’s great to get excited enough to tell people, “Hey, you gotta go check this out.” It’s demoralizing to eat a crap meal but at least the drama makes good copy.

But who wants to read, “meh…”? When it’s the same old mix of French, Italian and Asian influences in a yuppified setting with yoga-ass minimalist techno playing, what’s a fella to do? A shocking dues et machina? Bizarre conceptual review?

Eye has a five star rating system, each star with it’s own very leading, very loaded adjective: poor, satisfactory, good, outstanding, flawless. Over dinner we tried seeing how many different interpretations we could make out of good. With the right intonation it could be a compliment, a consolation, a dismissal or an affirmation. Hell, a good actor could probably turn “good” into a racial epithet.

But the voice of reason suggests sincerity cut with a little brevity. Maybe a cogent argument or two.

Blerg. Stupid maturity.

[FN1]
The above photo is from the Ghostface album "More Fish" featuring the single "Good" which is, in the best, most enthusiastic, sense of the word, good.