Another to add to the trite food list?
This week Tom Sietsema wrote a feature article about tasting menus. He posits:

They tend to be too much food and require too much of a time commitment. …

When I’m shelling out hundreds of dollars for dinner, I want an impression of more than the first thing I ate, the last thing I ate and the fact that the restaurant offered me a selection of salts from around the world. …

In those and too many other situations, I felt as if I were there for the amusement of the chef rather than the other way around.

He also includes responses from chefs who argue in favor of tasting menus, saying they allow a diner to get a fuller range from a chef, and the ability to taste rare ingredients that might be cost-prohibitive in larger quantities. But Sietsema comes down strongly in favor of a la carte menus.

Reading reminds us of a scene from the food nerd-fave Ratatouille. Remy, the rat chef, is explaining to his brother, Emile, how to taste – in the foodie sense. Remy brings Emile some cheese and tells him to close his eyes and take a bite. Emile promptly shoves the entire piece of cheese in his mouth and swallows. Remy smacks Emile on the back of the head and says, “No, no, no! Don’t just hork it down!” Seems like exactly what many tasting menu chefs are saying to their patrons.

Tasting menus are an invitation to slow down and savor food, to enjoy the entire experience and converse with friends. Komi, one of the restaurants mentioned in the article, has about one and a half seatings a night, which is suited exactly for such purposes. And if you feel extremely full in the end, it might be because your stomach has had the time to feel full, something you’re less likely to notice when you’re doing the overhand fist hold on your fork and shoveling it down.

Photo by LaTur