What's So Special About This?
When exactly did the daily specials recited tableside at nearly every restaurant in town from the most haute to the most plebian serve as a pretext for gouging the customer?
Once upon a time, these specials were not even daily events. Rather, they resulted periodically either when the chef saw something unusual or appetizing at the market that morning or, more likely, when seasonal delicacies appeared at a time when "seasonal" actually meant something. Other times, no doubt, the special addition to the menu reflected the chef’s decision either to experiment, revisit an old favorite ingredient or simply explore a recipe.
Bear in mind, the ingredients involved in most specials are rarely exotic or expensive relative to the normal fare, though occasionally with something like, say, shad roe, that might be the case. More often than not, however, the following experience is the norm. Recently, four of us ate at a well-regarded Italian BYO restaurant. Three of the four ordered specials that included a pasta dish that turned out to be as expensive as most meat entrées listed on the menu and a fish entrée of a variety (St. Peter's fish) that is common, inexpensive and decidedly not seasonal. This dish turned out to be as expensive as the restaurant's signature dish, also a fish dish.
As one can imagine, it is difficult for some people to ask the server in mid recitation "And how much is that?" and especially difficult when someone else at the table is expressing an interest in the item. Nevertheless, I ask almost as a matter of course but the other night we were treating my step-daughter and her boyfriend and didn't want to embarrass them.
More often than not the special has become a profit center, pure and simple. Instead of being a special culinary experience, it has become a perversion of a tradition that often leaves a particularly bitter taste when the bill arrives.
Once upon a time, these specials were not even daily events. Rather, they resulted periodically either when the chef saw something unusual or appetizing at the market that morning or, more likely, when seasonal delicacies appeared at a time when "seasonal" actually meant something. Other times, no doubt, the special addition to the menu reflected the chef’s decision either to experiment, revisit an old favorite ingredient or simply explore a recipe.
Bear in mind, the ingredients involved in most specials are rarely exotic or expensive relative to the normal fare, though occasionally with something like, say, shad roe, that might be the case. More often than not, however, the following experience is the norm. Recently, four of us ate at a well-regarded Italian BYO restaurant. Three of the four ordered specials that included a pasta dish that turned out to be as expensive as most meat entrées listed on the menu and a fish entrée of a variety (St. Peter's fish) that is common, inexpensive and decidedly not seasonal. This dish turned out to be as expensive as the restaurant's signature dish, also a fish dish.
As one can imagine, it is difficult for some people to ask the server in mid recitation "And how much is that?" and especially difficult when someone else at the table is expressing an interest in the item. Nevertheless, I ask almost as a matter of course but the other night we were treating my step-daughter and her boyfriend and didn't want to embarrass them.
More often than not the special has become a profit center, pure and simple. Instead of being a special culinary experience, it has become a perversion of a tradition that often leaves a particularly bitter taste when the bill arrives.
posted by Tom Goodman at 2:35 PM
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