Food optional. Experience mandatory.
We are good cooks in my house. We don’t need to go out to get a good meal. So when we do go out, we are more frequently than not disappointed by what we end up paying for. But on a good day, that disconnect is ok because the experience of being out, of being with friends, of being served food we didn’t have to shop for and prepare is well worth it.
But on a bad day, even the experience doesn’t make the effort worthwhile. On those days, not only has the food been disappointing but so has the service. And possibly even the conversation at the table. On those days, I wish I had just stayed home. Saved myself the trouble.
Because when trouble is made to have an experience centred on food and then the experience disappoints, it’s a lose-lose situation that diminishes not only the bank account but also my motivation to try it again.
What am I looking for in a restaurant experience? Good company at my table. Good service to my table. Good food on my table. Two out of three, I can live with. One out of three, I might put up with. But zero for three, and I’m one step closer to being a confirmed non-restaurant customer. And two steps closer to being a COVID-convert to hermit status.
All that said, I am so looking forward to the opportunity to experience a restaurant meal with friends again. In the post-COVID world, I know I’ll be one of the first to call you up for the chance to see how many check marks we can apply to our restaurant experience together.
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A Post a Day in May No. 21 For the past two years, I have posted something to this blog every single day in May. This year, I hope to do it again.
I agree with everything you say about restaurants. In the past ten years we have gone out with friends for a drink and appetizers more than for dinner. The latter are something I almost never make at home other than at a holiday. They are usually good, almost always interesting, and definitely different from our usual fair. And the portions are large enough to share and make a meal.
ReplyDeleteThis cocktail hour experience also means we are home by dark, so to speak! Not always literally, but usually by 7-8 o'clock. My favorite time of the day is going to bed with a good book. Julie prefers to stay up late, watch TV or read in the living room. Anyway, an early evening works well for us.
And speaking of cocktail hour, how interesting that this is having a renascence here. For years it was that thing we did on Friday evenings after the work week was done. Then came the devotion to wine and, perhaps, a more civilized experience. Now mixed drinks are the rage once more, although the wine devotees are still going strong. In honor of this new trend, we call our evenings out "'tini night."
I agree, the service and ambience is (almost) as important to me as the food and I only go out with interesting, enjoyable and entertaining friends.
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