Rereading your quote, I will concede that I may have misremembered his tone, but I don't believe he is overly scolding or reprimanding. He is an outsider and I still think he seems genuinely ignorant of the attitude within the culinary community, and at least initially, of his own. You seem to think it's put-on, I don't know, perhaps it is.

Also:

Do they ever think about their reluctance to think about it? After all, isn’t being extra aware and attentive and thoughtful about one’s food and its overall context part of what distinguishes a real gourmet? Or is all the gourmet’s extra attention and sensibility just supposed to be aesthetic, gustatory?

Is this not what the Slow Food, farm-to-table, movement is all about? People like Michael Pollan and Alice Waters encourage putting more thought into where your food comes from, so where do you draw the line? Why not consider how your food is prepared as well? or at what cost?

Given the context of where this was published, the intended audience, and perhaps what the assignment was, I could see why you would think this is a "shite lobster piece." Shouldn't you take umbrage with the editor instead though? If DFW was assigned a 1,000 word fluff piece on a lobster festival and turned in this, why would the magazine even publish it unless they wanted it in their magazine or found it compelling? Maybe they needed to fill pages? I'm honestly surprised that it happened and I'll admit that I find it a bit amusing.

This was the first thing I ever read by David Foster Wallace and I read it in the collection of essays that goes by the same name. His experience following McCain on the presidential campaign trail might be my favorite, but similar to this one, he goes a bit off the rails. In fact, thinking about all of the essays I've read by him, this is just what he does. I enjoy that. And regarding your comment about a video game review, I would rather read your proposed non-review than a blurb about "compelling game play" and "impressive graphics." That industry could use more thought and insight.

It's nice to see you around. I obviously don't always agree with you but I enjoy reading your comments.