An anguished tweet showed up in my timeline the other day said Trader Joe’s is no longer stocking poutine. Could poutine’s hipster star be fading?

Well, maybe not hipster. If I know about it, it’s not hipster any more. I prefer to say a food has been gentrified.

Many of the same rules apply in both neighborhood and food gentrification.

Something that is already upscale can’t be gentrified. This is why Park Slope can be but the Upper West Side can’t. Chicken and waffles can, but lamb chops can’t.

In addition, the dish or neighborhood... More