Frank Bruni, restaurant critic for The New York Times, offers several pieces of advice for restaurant goers in his final column. Amongst them is the best, safest way to navigate a menu:
Scratch off the appetizers and entrees that are most like dishes you’ve seen in many other restaurants, because they represent this one at its most dutiful, conservative and profit-minded. The chef’s heart isn’t in them.Pretty sound advice, although I have had several great dishes that incorporated truffle oil. I have one of my own to add here as well: Look at the menu. If it has pictures of the dishes printed on it lay it back down on the table, get up and go to a better restaurant. You're welcome.
Scratch off the dishes that look the most aggressively fanciful. The chef’s vanity — possibly too much of it — spawned these.
Then scratch off anything that mentions truffle oil.
Choose among the remaining dishes.
(via)
4 comments:
So if the menu is laminated, contains pictures and is at least 5 years old, you're saying that's a bad thing? Maybe the "chef" has spent the past five years honing his skills on those dishes. Maybe the pictures are there to help people who can't read. You're such an elitist jerk. Me? I'm headed to Denny's.
Dude, I really wanna try that new Grand Slamwich they serve...Uh, I mean, "truffle oil" and "Meritage" and "Greek mythology" and stuff... Elitism! Woo!
While I've always been one of the biggest fans of your California elitism JBW, you must take into accout that guys like me from the mid west need pictures. I can neither pronounce or have any idea what half the stuff on the Olive Garden menu are. I ain't taking any chances Buddy.
For someone who doesn't want to take any chances T101, I'd say you're taking a pretty big one going to Olive Garden. And yes, I know about the bread sticks, amigo.
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