Why top restaurant menus all look the same
 

This article struck a chord with me. I find so much dining these days is technically very good but just boring. I'm glad to see that it is in fact a thing and not just me. I think quitting alcohol has probably highlighted it for me. I have noticed that 95% of restaurants these days are built around offering charming surroundings to sell alcohol with inoffensive yet unmemorable food. It seems like this could be applied to a lot of products these days.

Do you agree? I would much rather hunt out the different than the same when it comes to eating out. What about you?

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%...e%2520kingfish.

I get this to a point but food is trendy, similar to fashion. If something is popular, people are going to want to eat it as much as they're going to want to wear it. I don't begrudge restaurants from offering things that people want to eat.

Thankfully, many places have an incredible diversity in the cuisines offered. Yes menus at Italian restaurants seem to be similar, and not very old world Italian at that, but having so many different cuisines to choose from doesn't seem like a rut to me, and is a vast improvement over the offerings of a generation or 2 ago.

It's like sun-dried tomatoes in the '90s.

Never really cared to follow food trends, as I am a food traditionalist and prefer things the old, boring way. When going for fusion and other modernist or fad food pitches (including “reinventions/reintroductions” of “the traditional”), it has typically been upon the insistence of others; and I’ve generally not been impressed by all the fancy food and menu description games or pomp and circumstance that seem designed to get people to pay up more and/or to drive forward the celebrity chef/restaurant game but leave me no more wanting to return to such “look at me” restaurants than to the street-side meat grillers in polluted, poorer corners of the world.

That said, the world is a more interesting place nowadays than it used to be when it comes to eating. And more options nowadays — even if gravitating toward the same kind of stuff and ways — is better than the relative desert of yesteryears.

A couple years back, we ate brunch at one of the nicer nearby restaurants. I noticed that there was a couple a the bar who ordered pretty much everything on the menu. Being a curious sort, I approached and asked. They admitted they owned a restaurant, somewhere to the south in Orlando-land. They may not have gotten the recipes but they sure got the the basics and names. I have no doubt much of what they tried showed up on their next menu. It is the sincerest form of flattery after all.

My wife is excellent at copying meals we eat elsewhere. That is why we so seldom need to eat out. :)

Ah, yes, when even convenience stores had sun-dried tomatoes in stock!
(hey, it was Silicon Valley, trendy food was everywhere)

I tried to buy them recently, and neither Trader Joe's nor Wegman's (regional upscale markets) nor even the produce stands at Reading Terminal Market had them. Might actually have to try making them myself, if the backyard tomato crop is good.

Imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery.

Trader Joe usually carries 2 different kinds packed in a jar plus a shelf stable one in little cello bags...were they just temporarily out?

I think the quoted article is a little harsh. There are only so many different foodstuffs available and genuinely new items (eg a new vegetable) doesn’t come along that often.

Of course most menus reflect trends as not too many chefs can set them. To me the real issue is that there are far too many restaurants with ideas way above their station. They churn out copycat food to a high, but not exceptional, standard but charge exceptional prices for it.

I enjoy doing this as well. But there are certain things that either a) I can't make cost-effectively for 2 people or b) I don't have the equipment/time/etc. to do it like a restaurant. These are the items I gravitate toward when we eat out. Not always, but if I see something that falls into one of those two categories, it definitely gets consideration.

There's a restaurant near us that does a 6-course chef's menu (pairing available) at a reasonable price - maybe $80 US, I can't remember. It doesn't aspire to be a high-end Michelin-starred-type restaurant with expensive, fancy, hard-to-source ingredients. Most people would know every ingredient on the menu. But it's creative, artfully plated, and delicious. I would love to see others like this, that stay "within their station" and keep it affordable and classy.

Foam: selling the essence of the food for three times the price of the actual food.

WHich restaurant is this?

Nope. The local TJ's doesn't carry them - I was just there today. Apparently they think there is no demand for them in this area.

Proxi?

How odd. I too made a note to check today & they had....shelf stable in the little bags clipped to the hanger. Jarred julienne cut packed in oil. I didn't notice the halves packed in oil this time. I would ask the store manager what's up. They take customer feedback seriously.

Inovasi, in Lake Bluff, IL.
https://inovasi.us/
They don't put a price for it on their website, which is why I can't remember, but it's under $100 for sure. It may go over $100 with the wine pairing.

We've taken my in-laws, who are in their late 70's and like nice restaurants, but have the typical generational aversion to "weird" ingredients, to places like Girl and the Goat, and there were only limited menu items they'd try. So it's not worth the money. We're taking them to Inovasi for a birthday next month, because they'll get a similar experience, but will enjoy whatever course is served, and we won't worry about wasting money!

Thanks, unfortunately, Lake Bluff is just too far of a schlep from West Loop to go for dinner when I'm in Chicago.

I'm probably closer in age to your in-laws than to you; however, I love G&TG, both in West Loop and the Arts District in Los Angeles; the Chicago location is walking distance from my daughter's place.

Other favorite Chicago restaurants, in no particular order, are Monteverde, Kasama, Sepia, Gaijin, Alla Vita, Purple Pig, Parachute, Elske, Lula Cafe and Galit. To the best of my recollection, Sepia and Kasama are the only two of those that exclusively serve tasting menus, at least at dinner time. We've had great tasting menus at Smith and Oriole, however, those are considerably more expensive than the rest. Alinea was a disappointment and, in my opinion, is way overrated.

I've been to about half of those, and agree no way I'd have driven to Lake Bluff when I lived in the city! Even if it were awesome, there are many more options in the West Loop. Galit opened just before we moved out to the burbs. Couldn't ever get a reservation, and then we moved. Have to remember it's there next time I'm in the area. The place that might be worth a drive though is George Trois, in Winnetka. It's a small dining room off to the side of Aboyer, same chef and owner. I can't remember, but maybe fewer than 10 tables? Very intimate and personal experience, but it's a special occasion place, where you make an evening of it.

I just realized that I left out Avec and Avec Bar, and the Loyalist out of my list of favorites. I should be in Chicago towards the end of August, in addition to going back to one or more of those that I had listed, I'll probably try a few new places; Joe Flamm's Rose Marie is on my radar.

Mine too! We had such wonderful food in Croatia a few years ago that I was excited to see this open. The menu leans more toward Italian, but there are enough Croatian-style dishes on here (especially the octopus) to make it really interesting.

Well, he was the executive chef at Spiaggia before it closed and he went on his own.

I just realized that I misspelled the name of the restaurant, it's Rose Mary.

We're at opposite ends of the country. What sells in SoCal isn't necessarily the same as what sells in PA.

I don't think of sun dried tomatoes as exotic so I would still ask the manager. TJ carries many specialty items. No large grocery stores carry them either?

Interesting thread........I just spent 4 days in a resort town and every restaurant had 4-5 identical menu items without fail.

I don't know where you were, but let me guess...one of those items was a "flatbread"? I'm not sure if that's the most inoffensive food these tourist towns can come up with (besides the obligatory burger), but they must think so. At this point, if I see a flatbread section on a menu I instinctively pass right over it.

How about a flatbread burger?

David

LOL...I'm sure we've all seen a "cheeseburger flatbread" on a menu somewhere!

So I asked the manager at a local upscale market about sun-dried tomatoes.

"We haven't carried those since the '90's"

We had a good laugh over that.

I shoulda made one or more at the reception:

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David

It can feel like so many menus are playing it safe these days, and the food just doesn’t leave a lasting impression. After cutting out alcohol myself, I’ve also started noticing how many places are focused more on the atmosphere and drinks rather than the food. But I recently had an amazing experience at restaurants Circular Quay, specifically at Pont Dining Room, where the food was anything but boring. The flavors were bold, and the presentation was unique – it felt like they really cared about making something memorable. It reminded me that when a restaurant focuses on creativity and quality, it can make a huge difference!

Especially when alcohol pairings double the price or become pricier than the menu itself; kind of changes the focus from food to beverage. We also switched to non alcoholic pairings more often, or I'll order a glass of champagne and have the non alcoholic pairing for the rest of dinner.

For my taste buds, only a couple of restaurants have left a lasting impression that I actually want to fly back to or can't wait to try again: 1. Tokyo: Narisawa. 2. Dubai: Tresind Studio.

I find the non-alcoholic pairings prices even more difficult to swallow than the alcohol with a lot of the tasting menus that offer such a thing. They've dropped the price now but at a time one restaurant not far from us were £225 for the food, £175 for the wine or £125 for the non-alcoholic.

Given we are supposed to be talking about "top restaurants", and taking that in the context of the rest of this site, then wouldn't personally say that, in London at least, all the menus are not the same. If you go down several rungs then possibly more so assuming you are sticking within a certain cuisine. At the same time, I wouldn't necessarily go to a good steakhouse and except something revolutionary on the plate but more high quality and some small twists (our previous favourite but didnt make it through Covid did a horseradish/mustard blend thing that was great with the fantastic meat they sold).

There are certainly different strategies for the restaurant trade and certainly some will make their money off the drinks (alcoholic or otherwise) rather than the food event to the extent the food is a loss leader. Obviously depending on what price point you're aiming at you may decide to invest less in the food to reduce prices further or still offer good food at a sensible price and load the drinks. There are some upper good restaurants doing good quality fare at prices that people are surprised at because they're known for being fancy but you get absolutely hammered on the drinks. Obviously some use this to their advantage as per the previous trend to got to the all you can eat buffets (some of which are reasonably high end) and just abuse the food and only drink tap water (which in the UK cannot be directly charged for if a venue serves alcohol and no one bothers with the 20p notional charge for the glass/ice)

I noticed the same thing at a couple new spots in my neighborhood—menus felt like clones of each other. I think part of it could be how digital menu board companies set templates or trends that places just go along with, especially when they're trying to look modern fast. It's easier to copy what's working elsewhere than start from scratch, and those menus kinda fit the current food scene vibe.