byBen Winters
When considering the tools provided to us in the struggle for world peace, one should never underestimate the power of a good meal.
It is hard to imagine how even the fiercest Sinophobe can cling to his prejudices after sampling General Tsao's chicken, nor how the most deeply ingrained anti-Semitism can survive in the face of a tasty cheese blintz. One Chicago organization that's right on the cusp of the battle for mutual understanding through culinary adventure is the Traveling Diner, a grassroots supper club for the new world order. Helmed by mild-mannered native Israeli and ex-Canadian Moshe Tammsot, the Diner moves from restaurant to restaurant all over the city, surfacing once a month in a different locale, introducing yuppies to the joys of various ethnic - Romanian, Ethiopian, Colombian, et al - cuisines.
Tammsot, who founded the group a couple of years ago after a night of heavy socio-political discussion and heavier boozing, explains that the Diner's philosophy is simple: "So many people in the U.S. think of it as totally isolated, like it's just us in this huge sea. I figured we could use the restaurants in Chicago to travel around the world, have good meals and experience other cultures a little." Ignorance, as is often the case, gave birth to invention, and in January, 1997, the first Traveling Diner event took place, with fifteen or so people assembled at the Star of Siam Thai restaurant.
Tammsot revels in the whole dining-as-vacation trope, which finds its fullest expression on the Traveling Diner website and in its slogan, "Travel Locally, Dine Globally." He invites me to join them at the next "trip," always refers to the event's organizers as "tour guides" and provides "The Traveling Diner Passport," a list of the restaurants they've toured. It's the kind of cornball earnestness that has you concealing a smiling at first, but the next thing you know, there you are in a fancy Gold Coast restaurant on a Thursday night, surrounded by computer programmers and ad execs, watching a Korean percussion ensemble and eating Bi Bim Bap. And, I hasten to add, loving it.
As the Diner grew in size - it's now monthly and draws upwards of 100 people, with a waiting list - it also grew to include more elements of cultural education along with the entrŽes. At the South Korea outing at Woo Lae Oak, each patron is given a pamphlet which, in addition to the menu and schedule, includes info on Korean culture and a handy English/Korean translation guide. The basics are all there - "hello" is "yuh bo se yo", "thank you" is "gahm sa hap ni da" - but the favorites at my table are "I love that outfit!" ("jal uh wool li sip ni da!") and "Let's get together sometime" ("da uhm eh ddo man na jo").
All stammering efforts to make sense in Korean are interrupted by Jong Kyou Byun, the Consul General of South Korea, who addresses the group on certain aspects of his native culture, including the state of relations with a certain paranoid neighbor to the north. The Traveling Diner is no typical ethnic dining experience ("Pass the egg rolls. Can I get a fork, here, please?"); Tammsot's goal is to connect his patrons to the culture in question on some deeper level than just "experimenting" with some oddball country's cuisine.
It's unclear how successful this aspect of the Diner has been: the Consul's speech goes a little long, losing most of it's audience to hushed table talk about what exactly kim chi is, and many attendees start drifting to the coat-check midway through the percussion ensemble's post-meal stylings. Indeed, it appears evident that many patrons have motives less noble than cultural enlightenment. Tammsot assures me that the Traveling Diner is no singles party, but get a roomful of mostly unhitched 25-to-39-year-olds drinking foreign beer, and someone is bound to be saying "sa rang hap ni da" by the end of the night.
Whatever their reasons, people are coming - and they're making return trips. At least 110 people put up the $30 cover for the Korean excursion, and sixty-five attendees made it to the Ehtiopian Village for Ethiopia night in March. Tammsot has no plans to slow down. "For now it's just a labor of love," he says. "But we're looking at business models for possible expansion." He's had calls to organize tailored events for special interest groups, including senior citizen organizations and the gay and lesbian group Come Out and Dine. As for the existing group, Tammsot is considering adding "additional flights" to the same restaurant to accommodate all interested parties.
And there's no danger of running out of countries anytime soon. Of all the countries on Earth, the Traveling Diner has only made it to twelve to date. That leaves everything from Israel to Papua New Guinea to the Vatican. It will be a long time before Tammsot is struggling to find the appropriate restaurant for McDonald Islands night.
For more information about the Traveling Diner, call (312)944-9095; also, see MoChicago.
copyright 1999 New City Communications, Inc.