Uno's and Authenticity
So we're in Fort Wayne this week, and today we had the most remarkable experience. I'd like to say it was good, but mostly it was disconcerting. Hallie and I and the kids plus cousin Jackson were looking for some pizza after hanging out at our new place downtown after church. We drove a few blocks to Toscani's, only to find it closed on Sundays. Bummer! So we headed away from downtown Fort Wayne north until we happened upon Uno's Chicago Grill.
Wow! What a great place. Great food, great prices, great atmosphere, semi-great service. Really nice. And especially so on Sundays with kids, who only have to pay for their meal by their poundage. (They actually weigh the kids upon entering [47lbs., 29lbs., 55lbs., etc.] and then give them a $4 pizza or anything else from the kids menu for that amount in cents!) So cool!
But after a few minutes, I looked at Hallie and said, "Something's not right here." And then it hit me: what made this place so cool - primarily it's atmosphere - was... well... inauthentic! Yes fake! Oh of course it was richly detailed and wonderfully arranged and meticulously cared for. But it was all... shall we sake... fake! You see, this was a brand new building out in the sprawling suburbs on a lot surrounded by parking spaces that was intentionally trying to look and feel a hundred years old. I mean everything: rusticated brick (fake 1/2" slivers on Sheetrock, of course, with no structural capacity in the slightest), exposed wiring and exposed ductwork, wood ceiling joists (metal web joists clad in dark-stained wood trim, of course), and old framed black-and-white photographs from the turn of the (20th) century, etc.! Everything in that place - which is only about five years old - was designed and built to look as if it was 100 years old. Augh!!!
So what's the problem, you ask? It's simply what people want, right? We want to feel connected to our past, part of our history, more than just the sum total of developers' temporary, capitalistic schemes to separate us from our money. No! We long for richness, history, substance! Even authenticity! But wait... Uno's Chicago Grill on North Clinton is anything but authentic. The chicken and fries may have tasted great, and the amber ale quenched my thirst quite well. But the experience was not authentic.
Now why did this bother me so much? Because I had just come from downtown FW, where there still exists a decent (though, sadly, not great!) amount of older, authentic buildings which could easily house an Uno's Chicago Grill, or any number of period-style restaurants. In these, by God, customers could actually sit in booths abutting real brick walls, and real exposed ductwork and electrical conduit. Customers could actually look at and touch the heavily-varnished wood tables that bear the scratched-in names of patrons from generations past, rather than ones simulated by a factory-worker somewhere in China! And then, miracles of miracles, they could walk out the door and stroll a little, and enjoy - on foot, no less! - the sights and sounds of real, raw life! An experience, to be sure, the original Uno's (see below) didn't have to fake.
So the point? The point is let's not just have great simulated experiences. Let's have great authentic experiences. Let's be done with fakes, phonies, and frauds (for all you Dittoheads out there!). Let's get real!
For reference:
Inside of a typical Uno's Chigago Grill (chain restaurant). Obviously meant to look "old".
Outside of typical suburban UNG
Original UCG. Couldn't this still happen downtown FW?!?!
Founder of UCG. How much you wanna' bet that's original brick behind him?
11 comments:
lunch this week? wanna do a ride-along?
How long will you be in town Scott?
When are you moving to the Fort?
You have a VERY interesting take on Uno's. I can tell that you really do have a lot of passion about this issue...
There certainly COULD be a restaurant like Uno's in Downtown Fort Wayne if people who live in Fort Wayne had the willingness or the desire to go Downtown; alas, they do not...
Believe it or not I actually like a lot of the same things as you. I spent about a week in a French City a couple of years ago that had an entire district that was soley for pedestrians and it was great! It was a really neat area...
I do not think that will work in Fort Wayne because a majority of poeple do not want to walk. They would rather drive their cars...
Let me give you a quick example.
I live in a neighborhood that includes 23 houses on the north side of Fort Wayne. Each lot sits on about one acre.
We have an annual social gathering in the neighborhood. My family attends it if at all possible. We always walk.
This year it was in February and it was cold outside. We still walked...
About half of the poeple in the neighborhood DRIVE to the gathering...
Mike Sylvester
When my Rattlesnake Pasta arrives, I am oblivious to the surroundings, hehe!
Scott, I think you would like the book "Simulacra and Simulation".
It's all about fakes and forgeries that try to be authentic and how people tend to favor the fake over the real because it is more idealized.
Uno's seems like a great example of this.
Hmm... I'll have to respond to this post of yours later this week, on my own blog.
Not that I disagree with you, but I have a different perspective, perhaps. Or maybe it's just another layer of cheese!
Anyway, hope to get together with you again before you leave town.
The restaurant with the best atmosphere in my opinion is the Munchie Emporium on Broadway. I'm not sure exactly how old the building is, but I can vouch that the place existed for at least 20 years because I remember going there when I was little. There are genuine antiques there, like an old pop machine that sold bottles of 7up for a nickel. There is wear and tear on all the artifacts on the walls.
Sometimes I think people start restaurants just so they have a place for the old junk in the attic that they don't have a use for but don't want to throw out.
All the cool old buildings in FW are on the South Side. But everybody is too scared to come down here...
Don't worry, most of us South Siders don't bite, at least not until the third date.
Great hearing all the comments. Funny which posts generate the most comments.
After meeting with Mitch for lunch and seeing Jon's comment, I guess I should clarify my concern. And it's not so much that there's a certain authentically old look, like brick, exposed systems, etc. Because as Mitch rightly pointed out, old places rarely exposed their brick or anything else. But still, it's true that Uno's (and others) are trying to seem old by employing those techniques. Because even if that's not first generation old, it's certainly second generation old, in the renovation sense. Renovated building often "expose" things in an attempt to bridge the old and new. And that's great! But what the Uno's example shows is they're simply going for a "look" - regardless of the period - and authenticity be damned.
Fort Wayne and the surrounding area have many very authentic eateries.
The downtown Coney Island. Powers hamburgers (if it's still there...)The old Candlelite on State Street if IT'S Still there.
Atz on North Anthony. If it's still there. Hall's Gas House.
How authentic do we expect an Italian restaurant to be when it's smack dab in the midwest? Fort Wayne is a river town, a factory town, a university town. Its people are predominantly Germanic, with a few Brits, Celts and Macedonians thrown in.
I realise that your primary focus is the architecture,and I appreciate your initial points. But Fort Wayne is a culture of its own, and does have a few authentic restaurants that echo its culture.
Of course, they aren't exotic enough for most Fort residents.
Scott-- it's a good vision, one worth pursuing. New York will miss you, as will I.
I sincerely hope that places like Unos DO NOT end up downtown. I would much rather see locally-owned restaurants downtown than the worthless chain restaurants that seem to dominate the suburbs.
I suppose I'm a food snob but I like downtown BECAUSE there are no Unos. Toscani has the best pizza in town by the way...
Scott,
Blessings on your new and your new city.
I think you will be strong catalyst in making downtown Ft. Wayne a livable, delightful place again.
I picture your family like a verdant garden, transplanted to a new place, eventually sending out shoots and making everything around you beautiful.
May Christ beat down Satan under your feet.
--Alan
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