Participant observation is a qualitative research method used to gain insight and familiarity with a particular space and the people that interact with that space. In my experience as a undergraduate feminist researcher, I have completed participant observation to investigate my visceral reactions to a food space that I would not normally enter. To accomplish this, I chose to observe my own reactions and the reactions of others to Indian food at a restaurant. The data generated in this experience was used to answer the following research question: What does it feel like to enter a food space you may have avoided previously?
​
Location: I went to lunch at Dosa Grill, an Indian restaurant located in Syracuse, NY just outside my hometown. The restaurant is located in a strip mall off of a busy road that leads into the city of Syracuse. The restaurant itself is a small sit-down restaurant, with about 20 tables (seating for about 80-90 people).
Rationale for choosing Dosa Grill: I chose this space because I have never been here before and probably not have entered the space if not for research purposes. I think that previously I was deterred by the exterior of the restaurant and by the type of food served, since I've never had Indian food before, and I could even go as far as to say I don’t even know what traditional Indian food is.
Date and Time of Planned Observation: I went to Dosa Grill on Monday 10/9/17 at 12:30 PM. I stayed for about an hour. I chose Monday the 9th because I knew it was a holiday that many people would have off from work and/or school so I figured there would be a good crowd of people at lunch.
​
​
Walking into the restaurant, I noticed that the interior did not match the “rough” exterior, it was clean, well-lit, and had beautiful traditional Indian style furniture and paintings. Servers were attentive and quick, we were seated right away. There were three servers in the restaurant, they were all Indian (#race). We were greeted by a server who was hard to understand, he had a heavy accent (#race, #culture). Looking around the restaurant, I noticed that the vast majority of the patrons were white (#white_bodies). In addition, I noticed that almost all of the patrons were members of traditional nuclear families (#families, #children). There were surprisingly a lot of children in the restaurant. I noticed several people coming in and out of the restaurant to pick up take out. One of these individuals looked like they were coming from work (#work, #neoliberal_capitalism, #convenient, #fast). We opted for the lunch buffet, which was $9.95 per person and was an all-you-can-eat deal (#class, #accessibility).
​
We went up to the buffet to make our lunch selections (#food_choices). The buffet had a number of salads, hot entrees, soups, and desserts available. There were paper labels on the top of the buffet that stated the name of the dish, however these were not very informative. Many of the labels only mentioned the name of the dish, which many were written in Hindi (#culture, #ethnic). I noticed one young man googling a dish on his phone while in the line. I noticed a sign that said gluten-free options were available upon request (#food_choices). I mainly picked out foods that appealed to my eye since I honestly had no idea what anything actually was. I used my sense of smell as well, and picked out several different things to try. There was a large group of women that appeared to be in their mid-50s who were confused by some of the dishes, pulling the server over to ask about the choices (#white_bodies, #ethnic). The food itself was absolutely delicious! I had chicken tikka masala, and a vegetarian chickpea curry sauce with rice. I also sampled the tandoori chicken and the soup of the day which was a spicy vegetable soup. We were served naan bread at the table which I used to dip in the sauce. The server came over to bring us “dosa” which is a traditional Indian pancake similar to a crepe. Most of the food had a distinct spiciness to it. I noticed a lot of cumin, curry and turmeric was used in the dishes and many had smoky flavors (#delicious, #smell, #taste, #spicy).
Participant Observation
​
-
#family, #children: large number of families present in the restaurant and a surprising amount of children (including very young children). This could be the result of the date of observation, a holiday, and many children did not have school.
-
#buffet, #food_choices, #vegetarian, #options: the buffet presents patrons with a vast number of food choices, by simply observing it is unclear what the underlying causes of patrons food decisions are. Many patrons chose an array of different entrees which may suggest that when presented with many food options, individuals like to try a little bit of everything. In addition, the buffet offered options for many different food preferences such as gluten-free and vegetarian options. The emergence of a vast number of vegetarian and gluten-free options could be the result of changing food preferences in society.
-
#white_bodies, #race: the restaurant space was occupied by a large number of white bodies. The servers were the only people in the restaurant that were of different ethnicity. This could potentially be due to location (the restaurant is found right near an upper class suburb of Syracuse that is predominately white). The servers were the only people who were of Indian descent. Many of them spoke with thick accents.
-
#class, #accessibility: the buffet was $9.95 per person, all you can eat. This suggests it is accessible food option. This could be connected to the large number of families in the restaurant.
-
#smell,#delicious, #spicy #culture, #ethnic: the food I tasted was delicious (to my palate), and had a lot of spice. The restaurant was filled with aromas of food coming from the buffet. The amount of spice present in each dish I tried suggests a trend in Indian cuisine. The food offerings were traditional Indian cuisine, served family style. This could potentially give insight into Indian cultural values.
-
#convenient, #neoliberal_capitalism: many people came in and out of the restaurant grabbing take out food. This suggests that patrons come to this restaurant because of accessibility to quick and convenient food. The take-out patrons looked like they were coming from work. The fact that these individuals chose not to sit down and enjoy their lunch implies that they are too busy at work to eat a full meal at the restaurant . This may suggest the negative effects of neoliberal capitalism which may encourage individuals to skip their lunch break to finish their work.
​​
My lunch at 'Dosa Grill'
Site Description
Field Notes
Emergent Codes
-
Why do white people enjoy eating Indian cuisine? Taste? “Something different”? And what draws white bodies into this food space? Why has it become a predominantly white space?
-
Does the popularity of the buffet have to do with the cost? The food options? The taste of the food itself?
-
Why do patrons choose certain foods over others? Are they making choices based on their sensory capacities (like me), or are they more knowledgeable about Indian cuisine?
-
What is the rationale behind choosing to eat food to go or sitting down in a restaurant for lunch?
Conclusion - Arising Questions
