Menus

There’s a delicious litany of menu faux pas in the NYTimes (Using Menu Psychology to Entice Diners) and much is said in the article and resulting comments, which are closed so I’ll rant here.

The day before Thanksgiving, an upscale bowling alley opened in our chic mountain community. It promised to have upscale food. Now, I’ve been to about five bowling alleys for five bowling experiences in my life. I’ve never eaten a bite at one, and the only thing I’ve considered consuming is a bottle of beer that I see the server take the cap off. I wouldn’t even use their glasses, it was enough that I was wearing their shoes.

I knew they were about to open because the soda trucks started to arrive, then SYSCO, and I knew that nothing in this place would be fresh. It’s all frozen and canned and I know because I see the trucks on my daily dog walks. So for all the SYSCO restaurants who call their food “fresh” that’s not a word that should appear on the menu.

As to menus, when you go real fast food, you know what you’re getting. Middle of the road is all SYSCO. Even upscale may be so. A menu is a definite clue. As to sit-down restaurants with service if there’s a laminated large plastic menu, there are fryers and microwaves “making” your meal. Specials are normally items that will go bad in the walk-in so they need to sell immediately. Notice they’re usually seafood. On these menus, the cook has no way to change anything because of corporate structure.

The menu I like to see is one that is made up daily, on paper that will survive the day’s diners, from what is fresh from the chef’s favorite markets. This is why we eat at home most of the time. I’m the chef and shop for fresh ingredients and cook them simply.

Happy birthday to Jim! His parents always made his birthday separate from Christmas so today a lovely robe arrived, handmade by his mother, no-wale corduroy on one side, a Navajo print on lapels and lining. It’s gorgeous and fits him and is toasty for this cold winter. It’s supposed to be a low of -4 and high of 15 on Christmas Day. It’s a blue that looks great on him. Thanks so much, Margie!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Dee