One Plate Wonder

[plumtreeblossom]

I've come to the conclusion, after a recent string of good but largely unfinished restaurant meals, that I do not like the course-by-course dining template. Naturally, this is the only available template for most cuisines of the world.

The reason is that I fill up pretty quickly. Too quickly to still be interested in more food after I've finished the soup and salad. Add an appetizer to that, and you can just forget it. I'll be unable to do more than taste one bite of the most important part of the meal -- entree and dessert.

Also I think course-by-course encourages overeating, particularly with ginormous American portions and short mealtimes, because people feel obligated to continue eating even after they're stuffed, to get to "the good part." I've kept my weight in check all these years with portion control. No, I don't weigh food or measure, but I can eyeball something and know whether it's all going to fit inside or not. It's become a way of life. Anyone who has cooked for me knows to only serve me about half of what they serve themselves, or basically, a portion you'd give a 6-year-old child. I adore food. But I only want what I can finish.

What I like is for all courses to be served at once, so I can free-float through the different courses; bite of salad, taste of soup, nibble of dessert, bite of entree. I don't have to miss any for being too full.

Aside from breakfasts, the times I have been able to do this in a restaurant is exactly zero. I don't even ask -- I've waited tables and know how this would fuck things up for the kitchen, and I refuse to be the asshole eccentric customer. But I used to do it all the time in the college cafeteria.

Fellow Student: "Why are you alternating bites of jambalya and banana creme pie?"
Mare: "Cuz it rocks!"

Comments

[gilana]

Are there any places that have good buffets? That way you could control both size and timing of your food.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

There are buffets, but not good buffets. Actually wait, yes there are. Some hotels do exquisite brunch buffets. I love those, though the cost makes it only an occasional treat.

[komos.livejournal.com]

Why wouldn't you alternate bites of jambalaya and banana cream?

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I was alternating. Read again. :-) And it rocked.

[komos.livejournal.com]

Oh, I understood. I'm just surprised someone would ask.

And yes, Bento rocks my world.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I love bento boxes for that reason. It's all right there in one place!

[a-chara.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. bring it all on and let me graze!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm. Graaaaazing....:-)

[heliopsis.livejournal.com]

As a much larger person, I am often able to enjoy appetizer, entrée and dessert—but not always. I have been known to have portions of both entree and dessert wrapped to take home, which is absurd. On the other hand, I have been known to serve guests portions substantially larger than they want, because I serve what seems like a sensible amount to me.

You should try Cuchi Cuchi, a restaurant run by the same family as Dalí. Although they insist it's not tapas, you can think of it as a kind of pan-European tapas: small plates of delicious food sampled from all kinds of European cuisines, all of it à la carte. Go with friends and graze to your heart's content.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Oh, where is that? I'd love to try it soon!

[(Anonymous)]

It's just off Central Square, on either Main or Vassar (I always get those mixed up). If you know where Toscanini's is at Central Square, just keep walking down that street a couple more blocks towards MIT, and voila! It's beside the Bertucci's and across from the Royal East and Salts.

[heliopsis.livejournal.com]

Oh blast, that last comment was me. I hate LJ's new habit of assuming I want to post anonymously, rather than as myself.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

I've always had the problem you describe, too -- but it's much worse now. It seems like I can hardly finish a reasonable portion of anything. And I like food, so that's tough!

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested to hear your reaction to, for instance, the Craigie Street Bistrot, on Craigie Street outside of Harvard Square. It's a French bistrot with a couple prixe fixie menus available. You end up getting a BUNCH of courses, but all of which have only a small amount of food, so that, if you eat everything, you end up just about pleasantly full when you finish dessert. They actually give you an amount of food that is appropriate for a human being for one meal.