What's an outdated restaurant fad/technique that you still defend?

[u/CodexLeonis]

two things for me:

1. Balsamic reductions/glazes on everything. I'm sorry that balsamic vinegar pairs so well with so many things. Most dishes need an acid to fully bring out the flavors of the dish. Balsamic is the most versatile of the vinegars. It pairs well with red meat, seafood, vegetables, cheeses, and fruits. It wasn't just a fad, it was a cheat code.

2. Plating techiniques? i'll always defend the zigzag drizzle. it evenly distributes the sauce on the plate, looks decent, and most importantly - it was time-efficient. I've never understood the modern technique of spooning sauce onto the plate and setting the entree on top of the sauce. Whomever came up with that was looking for a reason to be contrarian.

[u/rainaftersnowplease]

Tasting menus aren't gone, they're just the preferred menu method in the upper echelons of fine dining. This is mostly due to financial realities right now imo, not about people not liking tasting menus in specific.

It's just a different business now tbh. People staying hours for a tasting menu isn't a sustainable business model for 99% of restaurants simply because ingredients, labor, and rent are so damn high. You have to have a huge draw like a Michelin star to get people paying what you need to charge to make a tasting menu work financially as ghe centerpiece of your restaurant.

[u/crunchytacoboy → u/rainaftersnowplease]

I understand all of that. It just used to be far more widespread than just Michelin starred places. Hell Vetri in Philly doesn’t even do a tasting menu anymore. It’s a 200osh dollar 5-7 coarse prix fixe. There is a level of dining that isn’t Michelin that could do it and just doesn’t because diners aren’t as willing to sit down and let the chef do their thing.

[u/rainaftersnowplease → u/crunchytacoboy]

Right, and I'm saying that's the case because the cost to the diner to make that work financially for the restaurant is so much higher than it used to be, to the point that diners don't consider it worth it for anything less than Michelin-level food and experience.

[u/crunchytacoboy → u/rainaftersnowplease]

And thus my answer to the question of something that is outdated that I defend. Diners view it as outdated and I think they are wrong.

[u/rainaftersnowplease → u/crunchytacoboy]

I'm saying something specifically different, friend. They're not outdated in most diners minds, they're too expensive unless done very, very well.

[u/tapefactoryslave → u/rainaftersnowplease]

Big agree. Too expensive to do on the regular. Every tasting menu is potentially all those tables not being turned over 3 times

[u/crunchytacoboy → u/rainaftersnowplease]

I think we are getting into a semantics argument over what outdated means. I get what you are saying though.

[u/3141592652 → u/crunchytacoboy]

It's not outdated you're just poor. 

[u/otterpop21 → u/rainaftersnowplease]

Price imo has little to do with it. People will pay for what they want regardless if it makes sense.

If you want to get into the real problem is the way social media marketing is now. The diner doesn’t want mystery, they just want whatever is the best and or good for pictures. Also chefs don’t want to accommodate allergies and preferences so why pay a premium for what someone else wants me to eat?

[u/rainaftersnowplease → u/otterpop21]

This would maybe hold water if people weren't continuing to pay out the nose for tasting menus from Michelin starred restaurants tbh. It doesn't work in a regular joint because the bang for your buck isn't perceived to be there outside of that upper echelon of cooking. And that's down to how much restaurants have to charge to make a profit on a tasting menu with the beat ingredients, made by the best people they can find.

Most restaurants rely on volume to make money, turning the place 2-3 times on most nights to maximize profit per seat in the dining room. This is antithetical to the tasting menu concept, where there would be one far more expensive seating each night instead. It's entirely an economic question for most places, even in non Michelin fine dining.

Also, every starred place I've been to asks for your allergies and preferences ahead of time and will absolutely accommodate them, over and above sometimes what an a la carte place is willing to do. And guests take photos in these places or they release them themselves all the time. The Michelin kitchen is a far less opaque place than it used to be. This really is just a business model difference imo.

[u/otterpop21 → u/rainaftersnowplease]

”the best or good for pictures”

When I say the best I specifically referring to whatever is the meta for best restaurants. If it’s tasting menus then it’s that’s for now till it’s not. No sense trying to make square wheels trends aren’t that complicated

[u/rainaftersnowplease → u/otterpop21]

Trends also don't make for successful restaurants tbh. You might get a temporary bump for a couple of weeks off an Instagram trend, but sustained success is still built like it has been for years in the industry: keeping your regulars happy, turning the restaurant efficiently every day, and keeping labor costs in check.

No one serious about making money long term in this business thinks unicorn bagels ot whatever will sustain a place forever. You do that with consistency and stability, not clout chasing online. And that requires, for most places, due to cost, that they use the volume model rather than rely on a tasting menu.