Is the New Fast Food Really Gourmet?

I live in Berkeley, California, a town so dedicated to gourmet food that if you wanted to find artisanal cheese made with milk from a grass-fed goat that received daily shiatsu massage and affirmations from its own spirit coach, you might have to go to two stores to find it.

There was a time, before sushi hit strip malls, chai hit Starbucks, and Iron Chef hit the airwaves, that this was considered peculiar.

What’s an arugula and why does it cost 10 times as much as good old iceberg lettuce? Berkeley prides itself on being peculiar, so all was well.

Things have been changing, though, as things do. I don’t go to Sizzler that often, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t used to have baby spinach and blue cheese crumbles to go along with the iceberg lettuce and shredded cheddar.