Friday, October 16, 2009

Fine dining

Fine dining: Is it worth it? Is it worth 75 more of your dollars to have the chef shake your hand when you walk in and not leave you alone for the rest of the night? Is it worth it to have little paper doilies underneath the lemon wedges on a platter they bring out for your ice water? To have the suit-jacketed owner lurk unctuously about your table and recommend the shrimp cocktail? To have two forks to choose between? I think not.

Food: How good can it be? Is the $35 entree really that much tastier than your favorite comfort food or mom-n'-pop ethnic restaurant? Are you paying for stuff tasting better, or are you paying for poor lighting, artistic presentations and too many modifiers in ingredient names (lightly pinkened baby Chilean portobello mushrooms braised in summer red Mallorquín grape wine served with a delicate sprig of tenderly seared sesame-crusted plantation mint)? Yes, chefs create unique specialties -- but so do cooks, without knowing that they're doing it. A good cook chips away at a recipe with his own changes over time until it becomes something completely different. All new dishes must be a variation on some well-known theme -- so what is the difference between a chef and a cook, really? Is there an answer to this question?

And where does creamed corn figure into the workings of the universe?

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