Originally Posted by
robyng
I don't believe in stuff like cultural relativism. That all cuisines are equal - that all dining philosophies are equal - etc. And - after my close to 70 years on this planet - I have some strongly held opinions and think I'm entitled to them. But they're honestly pretty limited. I don't believe in long tasting menu only restaurants. I don't believe in overly salted food. I don't believe in "super sized portions"/amounts of food. You'll generally find the first only at high end restaurants. But you can find the second and third at any level.
When it comes to eating certain kinds of foods - there are some things I can't tolerate/don't like at all. Like extremely spicy food. Slimy food either (more common in eastern than western cuisines). I'll chalk that up to what my palate is used to.
But some things are simply preferences. My husband prefers pork to lamb. I am exactly the other way around. My husband doesn't care for game or so-called "little/game birds". He would always take fish instead. My husband doesn't like blue cheeses. I love them. I wouldn't care to spend $300-500+ on a meal where the main meat course was pork - and my husband wouldn't care to spend the same amount on a meal where the main meat course was well hung quail (funny term
).
I think you've been around enough to have developed some likes/dislikes of your own. Which may be different than mine. For example - in one message - you said you were surprised/disappointed that a particular restaurant (don't remember which one) *didn't* have a tasting menu. IMO - any high end restaurant worth its salt today ought to offer *you* the tasting menu you want - and offer a more "a la carte menu" to people like me. And - you seem to dislike more foods than I do (although I may prefer X to Y and love Z as opposed to either of them). Don't you think when you're going to a high end restaurant that costs a ton (or a half ton) - you should be able to avoid a beet salad and get a salad/soup that you would prefer a lot more?
FWIW - one of our more amazing meal experiences along these lines was the 100 euro lunch at Guy Savoy. No fixed menu at all. The maitre d' explored our personal preferences. And then we got a multi-course meal consisting of some "greatest hits" plus courses tailored to our personal preferences (game for me - fish for my husband). And then the most amazing dessert courses - complete with dessert trolley (have only run across dessert trolleys occasionally - and this was by far the best I've ever had).
You don't like beets - I don't think you should ever have to eat beets. And - if you want to experiment - do it at home - at maybe $5/experiment - not a course for $50+ (beets are super easy to cook at home). What are your favorite foods? The ones you most like to eat? What is your dream meal?
My husband says life is too short to drink light beer. I say life is too short to eat things you don't enjoy. Robyn
Robyn, I'm afraid your response just leaves me shaking my head. You've objected to a previous post indicating that fine cuisine is subjective. If you cannot accept that fairly obvious premise, then all else doesn't matter. Food is subjective, and you either accept that or go home. There are no absolutes.
You are a small person, so you don't like tasting menus since they so often over-stuff you. Fair enough. Now please stop deciding that fine restaurants should somehow cater to your appetite more than another's in order to better serve its patronage.
When I criticized Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, I did mention that they didn't even offer a tasting menu...but that would have been less of an issue had they suitably prepared the a la carte offerings we ordered--which they absolutely did not. Our meal was not good. Their service was poor, from the bar to the intro of their menu to the manner with which they handled our poorly cooked entrees ("we cook meat to a temperature and not a color or category" is not an explanation for an over-cooked or flavorless meat, no matter how you word or explain it). The lack of tasting menu was the last and least significant of many reasons for us to not like Dinner.
I don't believe that all cuisines are equivalent...but I also KNOW that not all people will agree on which cuisines are better. Cultural relativism is not the issue. It's pure subjective appeal, like was mentioned to you in previous posts and which you summarily dismissed. Liking cuisine or restaurants is subjective, and you seem unwilling to accept that anyone could find appealing that which you do not. You're just dead wrong.