Insect Fine Dining

I found it interesting how most information I've researched on Entomophagy dining is somehow related to "upper-end dining."

These are questions for all my readers, chefs, culinary experts or eaters, etc. out there--have you encountered this upscale insect dining experience? Are there any restaurants (lower or upper) that is off my radar? If not restaurants, WHERE HAVE YOU EATEN INSECTS? How did you feel? Please share your experience(s). Thanks!

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Gastronauts

VIDEO // Fly in Your Soup? Yes, Please!

The Gastronauts in New York is a group club of self-professed adventurous diners who occasionally meet to explore varieties of global cuisines. Sunrise Land Shrimp's David Gracer also makes an appearance as the head chef of the their dining exploration.

Eating insects in Western cultures is still very new. The video mirrors both the openness and reservations that most of us still have about Entomophagy. Keeping an open mind and attitude, like the Gastronauts, can be helpful when exposing yourself to global cuisines and cultures, as well as understanding different ideas and related issues.

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Super Bowl Party

The owners of The Spotted Pig "gastro-pub" (a British subgenre bar serving simple, straightforward food) threw their hardworking staff a Super Bowl Party at La Esquina Taqueria in NYC this year. The menu that night served everything from whole pig to crab tostadas to chipalines baby crickets. The chipalines were served along side other bar snacks such as chips, salsa, and guacamole. The chipalines may not have been the main dish of the night, but just including it on the menu with more popular dishes is a way to introduce Entomophagy as part of normal dining.

Check out the Spotted Pig Dinner Menu

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Restaurants

Entomophagy seems to have also caught the attention of a few upscale restaurants.

Typhoon in Santa Monica, CA is one of them. Their menu is categorized by meat, and one of those categories impressively includes insects, right below the crab cakes and tuna tartar.

RADIO // Hear more about Typhoon and Entomophagy on NPR's Insects Get a Tasty Makeover report by Ki Min Sung, February 29, 2008.



Vij's restaurant in Vancouver, BC, Canada is a restaurant known for not serving food that is typically expected from most Indian restaurants. They may not have as an extensive insect option as Typhoon, but their Spicy paranta made with roasted, ground cricket and chapati flour sure sounds good.

Check out the Eating bugs fine in many cultures article in the Calgary Herlad. The article notes that Vij's paratha is temporarily off the menu, awaiting approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency since there are currently no regulations on insects as food.