Helping Little Guys State their Case
Posted by mike | Filed under Meta
I’m going to go out on a limb with this post, and step outside the one-review-after-another format with a bit of a vision statement.
Beer Wars. I had a bit of an epiphany the other night while I was out watching Beer Wars with the members of one of our local homebrew clubs (TRASH). For those of you unfamiliar with the film, it’s a documentary on what you might call the “craft beer revolution” that has taken place over the past several years. The film followed a handful of craft brewers and did it’s best to get some camera time with the heads of the larger beer conglomerates. It feels like the goal was to present an ongoing battle, in which 1400 craft brewers fight to hold their own against the handful (now two?) major brewing conglomerates that produce 95% of the beer consumed by Americans.
This site has goals?Serving as almost a “mental backdrop,” the movie reminded me of my intentions for this site: promoting the little guys in the Pittsburgh food scene. I’m talking about the upstarts, the long-standing traditions, and the guys who have made it: everyone. The list of establishments is long and includes representatives of many different stages and trajectories, and I think it’s important that they all have an advocate on the web. Some of them have blogs or even a cult following and thus a voice of their own, but others lack any medium to state their case.
Huh? Their case? Yes: their case. By that, I mean the singular vision that keeps them going. The statement they try to make with their existence. In my experience, any small privately owned venture has a case to make to a would-be customer–what separates them from everyone else. I tend to be fascinated and inspired by each of those individual stories. Each motivating theme plays a tremendous role in the experience the provide and sometimes even explains any perceived shortcomings. Basically, I want to help give them a chance to be told.
What does this mean? Well, it explains why I was so taken aback when I managed to offend 21st Street Coffee. I think I have a pretty good idea of their motives, and I managed to attack one of their foundations. For the future, it means that I will be making an effort to bring some of those stories to this site. I won’t stop writing reviews (and hopefully, I’ll even pick up a little). I won’t stop being critical where criticism is required. I will make an effort to reach out to interesting establishments and get input from their owners and employees to explain their vision and dreams.
So is this a bad idea? A great idea? An idea that you don’t think I can pull off? I’d love to hear your comments. If you have any local connections (or run a local restaurant), feel free to contact me directly.
