Certainly there is nothing local, sustainable or healthy about what we've done here, and I can assure you that neither the chefs nor myself think that fine dining can come from a dollar store or that the foods carried at such a store are a good, healthy option for people on a budget. Additionally, it wasn't my goal to show how to stretch a dollar, it doesn't take a genius to see how that would have been better accomplished at a regular supermarket with a smaller amount of money using fresh food.

In the case of the NYT article that inspired this story, the chosen chef, Eric Ripert, was certainly not trying to encourage people to do their shopping at the dollar store. This is a folly folks, mere fun. Our regular readers know how hard we work to promote local markets and locally produced goods, and having a little fun doesn't diminish that effort.

Most of all, I admire two chef/owners from a popular and successful restaurant taking a risk publicly, a risk that not every chef I know would take. They also devoted a good amount of their limited time to my silly idea, letting me follow them around the store, snapping pictures while confused shoppers looked on and later preparing this meal between their hectic lunch and dinner service.

Please don't let a little fun set you off. We weren't suggesting that Americans should consume more processed food imported from China than they already do, just that two talented chefs with a sense of humor could turn some of the most unnerving and unattractive food around into something worth paying attention to, even for just a minute.