cutting corners

[pianistimo]

have you ever gone to a fancy restaurant and ordered salad and out comes the whole head of lettuce (abeit the leaves broken from the stem) with a little dressing on top?  you have to literally cut your salad.  or, you order a dessert and the recipie has modulated to the 'least amount of effort' to make the thing.  like we ordered a pecan tart with apricots in it.  i thought the apricots might be pureed or chopped at least.  you get the whole whopping apricot in the bottom of the tart and have to chew it as if it was beef jerky.  is this how restaurants make money nowdays.  eliminating steps?

[le_poete_mourant]

It depends on what you mean by "fancy restaurant".  As I see it, there are two categories: "fake" fancy restaurants, and "genuine" fancy restaurants.  The former is the kind that gets a name as a fancy restaurant because people assume that since it is expensive, it must be good, or at least it must make them upper class.  The latter is the genuine fancy restaurant: the food is not just a meal, it is an art and a science, the service is excellent, and you get exactly what you pay for. 

Sounds like you went to the first kind. 

[rimv2]

The latter is the genuine fancy restaurant: the food is not just a meal, it is an art and a science, the service is excellent, and you get exactly what you pay for. 
 

So they tell you

[prometheus]

Sounds like a cheap restaurant to me.

[johnny-boy]

Nothing beats home cooking. Besides, it's safer to eat at home these days.

So don't cut corners by eating out. Stay at home and prepare it yourself.

If you need to get out, go to a coffee shop and have a donut and coffee.

Best, John

[pianistimo]

the first time we went to this particular restaurant, i was impressed with the fresh herbs/tomatos and other ingredients that went into the items.  the food had good flavor and they used a delicious herb flavored olive oil dip with the bread (homemade).  it was a 'good' restaurant, imo, and one i'd come back to- maybe not top of the line as some but the most expensive lunch meal (not sure about dinner menu) would be probably $28. or something per plate.  i think i ordered some kind of chicken linguini the first time ($8-$9) with roasted peppers and tomatos.  it was really good and the tomatoes and peppers tasted fresh.

this time, the only complaint was the salad prep and the tart.  the leaves were obviously fresh and crisp and were not wilted,  BUT, the idea of having to cut your own salad leaves isn't really appealing when the price is so steep.  when a salad is ordered it should be bite sized pieces.  what kind of chef gives a person whole leaves?  are you supposed to cut the thing with your knife.  and, the tart the same way.  my older daughter was actually the one that ordered the salad - but she handed it to my husband because she didn't know how to eat it.

the whole lunch for everyone was around $65. (for four - 3 adults and one child)  agreed about the price not saying a whole lot - and more about the food prep and service.  the service was very good, but the little things in food prep really matter to me.  maybe it was a 1/2 fake 1/2 genuine restaurant.  agreed about home cooking.  it's much less expensive, too.

 

[prometheus]

I agree with Jonny-boy. People should put more value in the ritual of preparing a meal. Become more conscious of what they eat. Eating at someplace out of home has become very fasionable. But there is no solid logic behind it. Sure, there are some situations where it is a great idea to eat at some place. There are probably many places where one can have a great meal. But I just think it is very overrated and that is has become part of the way we live rather than a conscious choice.

[pianistimo]

the logic behind our eating out was that everyone was hungry and there wasn't even bread in the fridge for a sandwich.  when you have kids, you can't exactly take 3 hours - go shopping, come home, prepare the food - without a few complaints.  usually i cook - but sometimes i don't feel like cooking.  esp. on the weekend before shopping.  anyhew, tend to agree about cooking at home giving you exactly what you wanted to eat.

[johnny-boy]

As Prometheus stated; I also enjoy the ritual of preparing meals. Preparing meals can be a very creative and rewarding experience.

Best, John

[prometheus]

I understand your point, Pianistimo. Surely it can take a lot of time to prepare a meal. But that is kind of the point. I think that one should just make time for this. I mean, eating is one of the most basic elements of life. It should also be very important. It all comes down to stress and the speed over modern day life. People need to learn to enjoy the moment instead of chasing the dreams that are often created by the public relations and marketing industry.

And the whole food industry can be very nasty. It is impossible for me to buy everything I would like without financing things I find immoral. For example, there is no slave free chocolate in my local supermarket. Palm oil is part in almost every product and because of palm oil production in Indonesia the Orang Utang is driven to extinction. There are many things like this.

[pianistimo]

i read in reuter's that coconut oil might be used to make bio-fuel, too.  poor orang utangs.  prometheus, i'm afraid my writing style has rubbed off on you.  first restaurants and then orang utangs.  that was a cool segue.