Originally Posted by
bensyd
I have noticed in America that there is an emphasis placed on being able to customise a meal, even at more high end restaurants. When you order a dish the waiter will often rattle off a hundred different combinations and ways of preparing it.
Here's the rhubarb menu from Maude:
There are only 25 seats and the idea is that all diners get the same 9 courses. Notwithstanding what you said about catering to individual tastes, the specificity of these courses IMHO doesn't lend itself to that. Yet the woman felt that her whim should be catered to.