…at risk of pulling a CocoNUT…
When Thor and I review restaurants on cVillain.com, we often talk about our servers’ decorum, interior design, the crowd the business attracts, and wait time for our meals. We have precious little control over these elements, if any.
But I still have control over my enjoyment of the most important elements of dining out: my company, and the meal itself.
Since I can’t offer up the identities of my favorite dining companions so you can ask them out (or my own identity, oh happy day!)…
For years, I resisted the soup at Revolutionary Soup in favor of wraps and salads, only because I’ve never been a soup person. (My mom bought those awful vegetable minnestrones growing up– scarred.) But when I finally surrendered to the fact that it’s not claiming to have sandwiches of epic proportions, but, rather SOUP, I started to enjoy my experiences there. Now when a friend invites me to Revolutionary Soup, I soldier in and order bisque. And it’s fantastic.
Similarly, when I ate at Escafe, my dining companion (who is definitely reading this) ordered the crabcake sandwich. Everything else about Escafe’s menu suggests that the crab cake sandwich is relatively marginal as a dinner entree, from the braised lamb to the dessert wine. I ordered salmon over seafood risotto, and I have not had salmon so perfectly medium in so long that I’d stopped ordering it. I was awed.
I rarely ask servers what their favorite menu item is. What if they’re (gasp) a vegetarian? Also, if a chef is eager to sell off the last of a halibut order, the pan-seared halibut will likely become every server’s “favorite” item on the menu that evening, if not already a “special.” (Trust me, I’ve said it many times.) Tastes are subjective. I order to my own. I try to watch food come out to nearby tables to see the presentation and saucing, and I am never afraid to ask a server to describe an entree in detail or to request not to cook the scallops through. Fennel and saffron are strong flavors I’d want to know about.
One note about substitutions: in some cases, it is asking a lot. Chefs may make an exact number of polenta cakes to go with hangar steaks, for example. Side substitutions can often be accommodated, though, and you have my blessing to request to change one fish for another or one cut of beef for another, but you will look foolish. (A Duner’s chef once came out of the kitchen to see who could possibly be so bold, then did it. I am rather bold.) If I had to draw the line of when not to request a significant substitute somewhere, it would be at $30 entrees, menus with five entrees or less, a review in a publication with circulation over 500,000, or a top ten spot on opentable.com for its city. Good luck with that.
I started by asserting that my enjoyment of a meal is something I have a lot of say about. I believe in self-fulfilling prophecies (amazing how often they come true). It’s important that I go in to every restaurant with an open mind. If I just go by what people say about a restaurant, in the office or on a “gossip” site review, I might miss out…
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Tagged as: Charlottesville, French Food, Raves, Restaurants, Restaurants/Bars, Reviews
if you want to talk about crowd, design, servers, wait times, it’s absolutely in our control.
Let’s call it cVillain disobedience. If I don’t like a restaurant I don’t have to go there and I certainly will let everyone know.
Sorry Lilith, maybe I’m missing deeper meanings but that post is a whole lot of nothing. It’s not bad, it’s just a … void. What were you trying to say again? Eat what you know/like except when you shouldn’t?
That’s okay. If I have more than a 50% success rate with what I post, I’m happy.
Basically, “don’t order the cheeseburger at the Chinese restaurant and expect a great cheeseburger” would say the same thing.
Why are we hating on Chinese cheeseburgers?
Yeah, I don’t know. The satay is one of my favorite dishes at South Street.
What is wrong with me?! Hump day is my “on” day!
Hump on, lillith… hump on.
You do raise a good point, but if it were 100% true, we shouldn’t believe any food/movie/book critics. I always wondered who got to decide what made classic litterature so dam classic. Who was to decide the top 10 books of all time?
Personally, I try to be really open minded and objective when dining in Cville…I am not saying I am the end-all, be-all of food critique in the city, but I think I have a sophisticated palate and can discern through the bullshit that most Cvillains take for truth.
That being said, I think we always welcome people to challenge our reviews…I always look forward to my next meal in Cville to try something different…if its really good cVillain will definitely hear about it. This sets us up for a future “best of” Cville post!
And yes, HUMP ON!
Well, a reviewer should have some basics in food prep, service and the industry itself. Someone gets upset because the Steak Tartar was too rare, well, you get my drift. Order white zin or fussy martinis and you fit the bill.
Additionally, reviewers that hit on amateur nights or follow the crowds are suspect as well. Personally, I give little credence to anyone who provide dining advice while not knowing how the places work.
That said, in my sommelier days when asked what the best wine is…I always replied it was the wine you enjoyed the most. Just make sure that you know that your taste is unique to yourself if you cannot tell a chianti from a full sangiovese. Know your limits of knowledge and experience.
Danpri, you are a fount of insider knowledge on the restaurant biz! For my edification, exactly what construes “Amateur Night”? Is that when the chef/sous chef is off, and you’re getting your meal prepared by the new line cook? Will the food and service be at its peak on Friday and Saturday nights?
BTW, on my early morning walks with the mintypup I am now employing your proxy method of eying the trash piles and recycling bins left outside restaurants to determine which places are busy or on death watch, but I have to get out before the trash trucks arrive.
Along with danpri, I’d add that you also have to be cautious when reviewing a place during the first month it’s open. It can go either way, with the chef and/or owner being super on top of everything until the grind of running a restaurant breaks down their spirits and the food and service becomes uninspired OR a restaurant newbie who didnt fully appreciate how much he was undertaking or didn’t have the time/foresight to have a few friends and family run throughs to work out all the kinks/know how much food to order/train staff. Unless a place is comepletely repelling, I try to go at least twice before I solidfy my opinion. If I were disciplined I’d be sure to go on different days of the week and space things out by two week for establishd places (to ensure new batches of food - a great appetizer on Monday probably has the same batch of sauce on it that Friday, so you need time to test consistency) and at least one month for new opens, but until I convince someone to pay me to eat out, I make no promises.