> It isn't in general, and never was, is my point. Merely fashionable to think of it as so.

I disagree, and many chefs in the US have been trying to make significant inroads to that end: some more than others of course. Fashionable, well, that's the to be expected its called Culinary Art for a reason, and the whims of fashion are inevitable: if you go back to what was regarded as gastronomical Haute couture in the 80s it looks pre-historically antiquated and drab in comparison to something coming from someone like Ferran Adria, or René Redzepi from the last decade.

But just focusing on the synopsis of what was found in those menus in the US, I'd argue those menu's of the past are far more sophisticated then they are now and would be an improvement to revert to in just about every way:

> Freedman’s appendix lists 928 entrees served at New York’s Fifth Avenue Hotel between 1859 and 1865. Nine variations on calf’s head. Fillet of beef and fish, but also chicken, duck, goose, green turtle, grouse, lamb, mutton, pigeon, pork, veal, and venison. Almost all of those meats could also be found hashed. Fried eel and six variations of frog, including “fried English style.” If you hungered for lamb fries (which are testicles), there were at least five ways they could be prepared. Many wild birds were on the menu, including plover with Champagne sauce, snipe in cases, and rice birds with toast. For the nose-to-tail crowd, there were thirteen different tripe preparations.

> My local McDonald's probably does 20k+ days all week too. What of it?

Many things, not least of which is that its upholding to the standards of a more sustainable and nourishing business model, but also proving that doing things the right way, that is eating local, seasonally and organic can also be profitable.

It's incredibly hard work running for 8.5 months like that with 60+ hour work weeks and only one day off to recover, I had ran kitchens before but that level of volume was not something I had ever encountered until my last role where I had over 60% of the menu on the busiest station in the restaurant, but my aforementioned teammate, who worked saute, actually did 21 day runs at one point when we were losing everyone.

But looking back at it the reward is pretty significant, especially now that the Industry is literately in shambles and may never fully recover or go back to what it was. Which for some of us is ultimately a good thing.

If you have time to actually look into what this Industry is, as I doubt you have or will ever work in it given what you've said thus far, check out David Chang's Too Small to Fail podcasts [1] where both David Chang and Chris Ying interview some Restauranteurs/Chefs who have dared to defy the odds and try to make those 'inroads' on their own own dime. The episode with Ann Kim, a Korean immigrant chef who's family migrated to Minneapolis, spoke about the recent riots was f'ing heart heart-breaking and emotive.

I never wanted to launch my own restaurant, I had enough sadistic ventures being a boot-strapping fintech Founder for one Lifetime, but I could totally empathize with her story and plight.

1: https://open.spotify.com/show/0y4DksD5a6sJvcVR6okX5r?go=1&ut...