Trends

Rick Nichols Comes Out of Retirement to Tell Us He Feels Farm-to-Table Fatigue

Talula's Garden
Talula’s Garden Photo: Collin Keefe

Apparently we’re not the only ones feeling fatigued by the bumper crop of farm-to-table restaurants that have sprung up recently. Rick Nichols emerged from retirement today — with what we hope is the first of many freelance pieces in the Inquirer — to deliver a glowing assessment of Aimee Olexy’s newly hatched Talula’s Garden. In it he says the “farm-to-table shtick is getting a little tiresome.” Sure, his critique is kind of a bummer, because supporting local farms and turning out dishes composed with the freshest possible ingredients is pretty awesome.

And there are plenty of restaurants doing exactly that without copping the farm-to-table stance. Going forward, we hope Nichols remarks will inspire chefs and restaurateurs to push past the clichéd concept and deliver something original.

Meanwhile, Inquirer restaurant critic said in his online chat Tuesday that he intends to visit the bounty of new spots with the words farm and farmer in their names, but says there are enough now to keep him “busy for at least a month.”

Rick Nichols: Intimacy writ large [Inquirer]

Rick Nichols Comes Out of Retirement to Tell Us He Feels Farm-to-Table Fatigue