20 June 2011
Food is Entertainment
Philadelphia well deserves its reputation for good restaurants. But that renown can sometimes go to the head of a waiter.
Our server listened to my suggestion that the option ought to be offered to guests at a Rittenhouse neighborhood establishment to assemble their own pizzas at the table. He replied argumentatively that the highly regarded chef of the kitchen takes pride in conceiving and executing imaginative combinations of flavors, textures, essences and presentations of the delights on his menu. “Why would you want to substitute your own (mundane) creation?”
The reason might be that restaurant patrons come to food emporiums for a wide variety of entertainment—not only for delights to the taste, but also for a comfortable or lively ambience, an attentive wait staff, and even for a challenge to their own creative instincts. It’s not an insult to the chef that a customer want more from a restaurant than just what is on the menu. Noisy dining rooms, crowded tables, slow or forgetful service, and unkempt lounges can be just as off-putting as an aspiring restaurateur’s dismissive attitude towards the friendly suggestion by a guest that he and his friends be invited to collaborate in building simple recipes for one of the features of the menu. Eating what the customer has a hand in creating can make the entertainment experience of a restaurant memorable and longed for. If a good meal is not a diversion, it’s not a work of art.
Philadelphia well deserves its reputation for good restaurants. But that renown can sometimes go to the head of a waiter.
Our server listened to my suggestion that the option ought to be offered to guests at a Rittenhouse neighborhood establishment to assemble their own pizzas at the table. He replied argumentatively that the highly regarded chef of the kitchen takes pride in conceiving and executing imaginative combinations of flavors, textures, essences and presentations of the delights on his menu. “Why would you want to substitute your own (mundane) creation?”
The reason might be that restaurant patrons come to food emporiums for a wide variety of entertainment—not only for delights to the taste, but also for a comfortable or lively ambience, an attentive wait staff, and even for a challenge to their own creative instincts. It’s not an insult to the chef that a customer want more from a restaurant than just what is on the menu. Noisy dining rooms, crowded tables, slow or forgetful service, and unkempt lounges can be just as off-putting as an aspiring restaurateur’s dismissive attitude towards the friendly suggestion by a guest that he and his friends be invited to collaborate in building simple recipes for one of the features of the menu. Eating what the customer has a hand in creating can make the entertainment experience of a restaurant memorable and longed for. If a good meal is not a diversion, it’s not a work of art.
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