Food Bloggers Giving Restaurant Owners Heartburn 311
crimeandpunishment writes "Call it the invasion of the pasta paparazzi. Food bloggers are so excited about sharing their experiences, especially at trendy, popular restaurants, that they're too busy taking pictures and video to enjoy the food when it's at its best. Many signature dishes come out at the perfect temperature ... take a few minutes to capture what it looks like, and your palate won't be nearly as pleased. Some restaurants have taken the step of banning cameras, or at least have established a 'no flash' rule. Others just want to make sure enthusiastic reviewers are still enthused after eating their food."
Boy oh boy! (Score:5, Funny)
This story looks magnificent, I love the arrangement of the words and the punctuation! Hang on while I read it... ... meh...
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poor analogy.. typography and graphic artist geeks will be glad to point out why.
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Disturbing the other guests (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Disturbing the other guests (Score:4, Funny)
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Yeah, I'd be pretty annoyed if I were at some high end-restaurant and someone next to me was setting up a tripod with flash to photograph his food. Taking a photo with your iPhone or whatever is fine, if a bit gauche, but setting up a whole production isn't really something people with decent manners should do in someone else's establishment, at least unless they've cleared it ahead of time.
Minutes? (Score:5, Insightful)
...a few minutes? What is this, the 1840's?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_photography [wikipedia.org]
Re:Minutes? (Score:5, Funny)
People really do this? (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know about anyone else, but when I have to wait at a restaurant to get seated and then wait for food, the only thing on my mind when that food appears is eating it. Sure I'll talk about how good it tastes and how great it looks, but that's gonna happen while eating it. I'm not going to go "Sweet! That's EXACTLY what I wanted and I'm starving, oh it smells so good I'm just going to whip out my iPhone and start blogging about it." No, I'm hungry gosh darn it, GET IN MY BELLY!
Re:People really do this? (Score:4, Interesting)
Agreed. The only time I'd use my phone whilst in a restaurant would be a) to take a photo if it's a birthday party or celebration, or b) if there was really bad service or standards of hygiene, and I wanted proof to back it up when I reported it. Ok, technically there's also c) to take a call, but I would either switch the phone off or put it on silent or vibrate, to avoid pissing off everyone around me.
-MT.
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I get that often, but that's for when I just chow something down at a cheap place or at home or a fastfood joint. If I go to an expensive restaurant, I don't go there that hungry. For one the portions are rarely that big, secondly what's the point of blowing the cash if it'll barely touch your taste buds on the way down? Had to do that recently because of a misunderstanding so we had to leave early, what a waste of delicious beef when I barely got more enjoyment out of it than a trip to Burger King. At leas
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I've taken photos of my food twice: Once when I thought it'd be something spectacularly large, and once when trying to capture the preparation of "fireball icecream". I think it makes sense to give it a try when you think it's going to be something memorable. It took me maybe 30 seconds both times.
But it never occured to me to actually set up a tripod at a restaurant. It just seems like an awkward thing to do, especially in a place where somebody else could run into it. Besides being an inconsiderate thing
New /. section? (Score:5, Funny)
Anxiously awaiting food.slashdot.org.
And the incessant whining from RMS about restaurants that don't publish their recipes.
Re:New /. section? (Score:5, Funny)
I have altered the soup. Pray I don't alter it any further.
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Now there's a comment that belongs on Slashdot.
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[Elsewhere]
I sense a great disturbance in the food. As if millions of diners salivated in ecstasy, then were suddenly tasteless. I fear something terrible has happened.
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Brilliant.
Re:New /. section? (Score:4, Interesting)
As for the actual preparations, well, nobody will stop you from reverse-engineering them. After all, that's the Open Source way.
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Anxiously awaiting food.slashdot.org.
And the incessant whining from RMS about restaurants that don't publish their recipes.
For some reason I don't see the term "open sauce" catching on that well. On the upside, I don't think food can be cucumbered by patents.
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Considering the average weight of a geek, food definitely is “the other thing that he likes very much”. :)
Then again, considering his food mainly consists of (forgive my lack of knowledge about US trash “food”) pop tarts and pizza... ;)
But I already thought: Why is there not a /.-like site for all areas of expertise? One for cooks. One for artists. One for porn stars... (no, you’re not allowed there!). Whatever. :)
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The word "blogger" tripped their acceptance regex. (:
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i don't understand why this is on /. either...
I can say for one it's for a /. person like me, a professional chef (20yrs) who is also a semi-pro photographer(15yrs) as well as a computer tech.
I would not get upset with someone taking pictures but a tripod is a no no. People might trip and my restaurant could get sued.
I'm not Grant Achatz but i have eaten at Alinea and see his point but there is really nothing you can do but restrict tripods IMO.
When a waitperson tells me someone liked my food so much they took a picture i give them a little somethi
Tacky? (Score:3, Interesting)
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I would be against the flash, that would only annoy those around you. It's possible to take good pictures without flash, and take pictures pretty quickly. I suggest that food bloggers learn how to not use flash, for one, for the annoyance, another, flash distorts the appearance of the surroundings with light that's only there for a fraction of a second, it's not the restaurant's normal lighting. It helps to learn how to be discrete too. Have the camera set up already, when no one is looking, take it out
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It sounds like some of the photographers in question are avoiding flash by setting up tripods, which somehow also seems pretty tacky to do in a restaurant, at least unless you're an official photographer brought in by the restaurant.
You are all missing the point. (Score:5, Interesting)
To do it right (Score:2)
If you're going to go clandestine go and eat and take copious notes. Then setup a photo shoot with the restaurant of what you had. You will have the time to set up your photographic equipment correctly and take good photos not some spur of the moment flash crap that makes the stuff look like roast corpse.
If you're not going to go clandestine set up a private room and explain who you are and why you're coming. Most TV stations do this. Most of the reviews I've seen the most effort expended on are the positiv
Food blogging in a different form (Score:2)
So I've begun to trust the raw number. 87% of people liked it out of
Sounds like an epidemic (Score:2, Interesting)
Perhaps the real reason (Score:4, Interesting)
Here was I thinking it was because they fear nobody's going to go to a restaurant serving a tiny portion size. The more the cook fancies himself as a great chef, the less you'll get on your plate.
Re:Perhaps the real reason (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh, you're one of those, who equate quantity with quality.
-dZ.
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Oh, you're one of those, who equate quantity with quality.
Serving a portion size unable to sate a common appetite misses the point of food and eating. Plating skill and preparation are distinguishing features on top of eating, unless one is attending an explicit 'tasting'. Or else it's an underhanded way to upsell dessert.
$10/oz meals that aren't using very expensive ingredients are for the Stockholm diners.
A few minutes? (Score:3, Interesting)
Are they using polaroid cameras?
Re:And once again (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually how it looks is just as important as taste and smell. When you eat a meal, the first part of your body that perceives the meal is your eyes. Most people will not eat food that looks unappetizing. Next is your nose (which strongly correlates with your taste buds). Many more people will not eat food that smells unappetizing. Only then does taste play a role. Almost no one will eat food that tastes unappetizing.
Want citations? Look 'em up yourself.
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I think it depends on expectations. Most of the time, I could care less what the food looks like. Presentation plays absolutely no role in 99% of the food I eat. If things like atmosphere and occasion are the primary reasons I am eating.. then sure, make it look pretty.
Also, a minor quibble, but you generally can smell food (cooking or being served) long before being able to see the food. Ever been walking through the mall and smelled the cinnabon? From 10 stores away?
Of course, the sight and smell are reas
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I have no sense of smell, you insensitive clod! *
*That's not a joke.
Re:And once again (Score:4, Funny)
I have no sense of smell, you insensitive clod! *
*That's not a joke.
Why is this modded "Troll"? I know someone with no sense of smell, and it seems to be a minor handicap.
I've also met far too many people with no sense of taste!
Re:And once again (Score:4, Interesting)
Without a sense of smell, you hardly taste anything... including if something is or might be poisonous, either because of its nature, or because its spoiled. You can't smell smoke, which is an early indicator of fire, and you can't smell a gas leak. Smell is pretty friggin' important to actual survival, so I'm not sure I'd classify it as minor.
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This is true. When I clean the cat box it is only because my eyes sting that I know the ammonia smell is very bad.
OTOH, irritating smells (like a co-worker's foot odor) doesn't bother me. And so far hasn't been harmful. ;-)
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Actually, there are fairly "standard" definitions for "minor handicap" (basically "reduced quality of life but able to function normally without assistance") and loss of sense of smell is squarely in that camp. Eating a poisonous item you can't identify by other means, or smelling smoke and gas are emergency situations that are pretty rare in modern life, ie. a minority of people would ever encounter anyway. Not that it wouldn't suck royally in the quality of life area not to taste most of your food...
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I think you'd be surprised just how much your sense of sight plays in your food choices. Most of it isn't even a conscious choice.
You are right, smell does sense further than sight most of the time. But in a restaurant with competing smells, it's only when you can see what you are supposed to be smelling (your own food) that it gets heightened and "zeros in" on your own food.
Not sure why you dislike seafood so much, but to each their own. (: I have yet to come across a food that I didn't like (or at least t
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You should always try foods at least twice. First reactions to new things aren't always reliable.
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Grouper (the real stuff) doesn't taste fishy if it's not old.
Raw tuna (preferably sushi/sashimi grade...) doesn't taste anything like fish, surprisingly. Salmon is nasty, though. I haven't tried any others.
It really is true, not all fish prepared right tastes fishy.
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... I should mention I can't eat anything remotely fishy. Makes me heave.
Oddly, Calamari is not among those things.
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Presentation betrays the care that was taken in preparing your food.
I think presentation is very important, but then again, I really enjoy going to more upscale restaurants. I'd rather go somewhere nice once a month (or every other month even) than go to places like Applebee's every week. If you don't care about presentation then you might fall into the latter category.
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You can make compost from vegetable waste, but it's very time-consuming and because the cellulose is tough to break down it's not as good. Ruminant digestive systems break down cellulose, which is why cow dung is wet and splattery and horse dung is dry and fibrous. Stable manure doesn't rot down as well as byre manure, but they both rot down a lot better than just dead plants.
Re:And once again (Score:5, Informative)
Most people will not eat food that looks unappetizing.
Obviously you're not from Rochester, NY. Our best known local dish not only looks ugly, but it has an ugly name as well. Then again, Nick Tahou's makes some delicious Garbage Plates.
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I'm not necessarily talking about presentation.
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Uh.. Just because it's not "dressed up" doesn't mean it's not ugly. Fancy restaurants might go overboard on the presentation, but the picture on wikipedia doesn't look any more unappetizing than any chili & sausage combo. I.e. heartburn on a plate, which is a bit of a mixed bag, really. Frankly, it's appearance is most reminiscent of your typical pot-luck dinner after you've walked through the buffet line.
Now, I'm sure Natto and Corn Smut are delicious, but I dare you to attempt to eat either one of
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Especially not after reading about them.
Beans & Mucus is bad enough by look, but then you find out they have been 'fermented' in a bacteria? Erm...
Fecal Corn is also bad enough. But then you get to find out it's moldy corn. Yay.
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And, to add insult to injury, it is not "polite" to use the braille method to "see" your food.
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Most people will not eat food that looks unappetizing. Next is your nose (which strongly correlates with your taste buds). Many more people will not eat food that smells unappetizing.
That absolutely does not explain ethnic cooking that billions of people eat every day that smells like the back end of a garbage dump in the middle of a hot day in July.
Re:And once again (Score:4, Interesting)
Have you ever been to the middle or far east? There's a whole lot of amazingly delicious foods that look, and sometimes smell, roughly like someone has already eaten them.
Re:And once again (Score:5, Insightful)
No, the point of food is to maintain health and strength. Whether you enjoy eating it is secondary to that.
Re:And once again (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:And once again (Score:4, Insightful)
To be honest, I keep flirting with taking a contrarian position, and insisting that people should stop worrying about whether food tastes good, much less whether it looks good. There seem to be so many problems with people eating unhealthy food, or eating too much food, and wasting food, and so on, that I sometimes wish people would just take a utilitarian attitude towards food.
Re:And once again (Score:5, Interesting)
I dunno. Healthy foods can taste *really* good, and look good too, with their vibrant colors. Unhealthy food only really tastes comfortable, and of course there's the slight bump from the fats and sugars that were once scanty in our pre-civilization diet.
It's also more expensive, though, which I think is the real problem. An overdone ground-beef patty, mayonnaise, some wilty lettuce and a slice of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils with some fat-soaked potato slices and tomato & corn syrup preserves on the side is not only cheap to produce, but the ingredients store well for long periods unrefrigerated.
I'm not convinced "taxing it" is the answer either, as then this comfortable, unhealthy mix will be unavailable to the poor, but they won't magically be able to afford healthy food as a result...
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Burn out taste buds and I bet your wish would be granted :P
Shame you can't selectively make poor nutrition taste bad while letting good food stay tasty. Also, less of a pain in the ass. I eat very poorly, because I'm lazy. If you could make proper food as easy/fast to obtain as a "taco" then I will sell you my soul.
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Food puritanism is just as offensive as religious puritanism.
And the veggies ain't done unless you've added the salt pork, old world style.
--
BMO
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It's not so much food puritanism, on my part, anyway. It's that I think food is intrinsically uninteresting, and I'd rather we got cooking and eating done quickly so we can talk about or do things that are actually interesting. There are simple, nutritious foods that taste good; spending more time on preparing food to trick it up into something more elaborate seems to me to be a waste of time.
Re:And once again (Score:5, Insightful)
You are obviously someone who has never had a good meal in his life.
Where is this epicurean desert that you live in that I can avoid it?
Given the choice between some good labor intensive peasant food (I'm Polish) and "utilitarian food," I'm going to be loading the plate up with some pierogis thanks.
Saying that eating should only be for nutrition is like saying sex should only be for reproduction. I reject your outlook. It is without enjoyment. It is spartan for the sole reason of utility. It is a dour, rainy day in late November.
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BMO
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Speaking of Epicurus, my understanding is that while he argued that a good life was a life of pleasure, his attitude seemed to be that pleasure followed from avoiding pain, which basically calls for moderation: e.g., the pain that results from gluttony overpowers the pleasure of it, so you're happier if you don't indulge in gluttony.
Part of my attitude, I suppose, is that on the one hand, I've never known anyone who died, or really suffered much, because they danced too much, listened to too much music, wor
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I think food is intrinsically uninteresting
I'm assuming you're Dutch...
Re:And once again (Score:5, Insightful)
Middle class worry if it's tasty.
Poor people worry if there is enough.
Re:And once again (Score:4, Insightful)
Somehow I think the hunter gatherers would prefer the big macs too.
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"chooses Big Macs over the bean salad."
McDonald's has bean salad?
Woah.
--
BMO
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Maybe his choice happened before he left the house? Or sent his mom to go get it for him I mean....
Re:And once again (Score:5, Funny)
Going to McDonalds for a salad is like going to a prostitute for a hug.
Re:And once again (Score:4, Interesting)
What high-end clients pay for may surprise you. For example, according to my ongoing interviews of several hundred sex workers, approximately 40 percent of trades in New York's sex economy fail to include a physical act beyond light petting or kissing. No intercourse, no oral stimulation, etc. That's one helluva conversation. But it's what many clients want. Flush with cash, these elite men routinely turn their prostitute into a second partner or spouse. Over the course of a year, they will sometimes persuade the woman to take on a new identity, replete with a fake name, a fake job, a fake life history, and so on. They may want to have sex or they may simply want to be treated like King for a Day.
Re:And once again (Score:5, Interesting)
At home, I can not even look at a plate of this concoction, much less eat it.
Nothing like the ambiance of the mountains, day after day of dehydrated crud for food to make anything different a tasty feast fit for the gods.
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Tasting good is probably a step up from the usual long distance food. I remember a few lines from a nature show I watched about a guy who spent 365 days traveling the arctic cap. It was something like "For every day I get a northern pike so I don't have to eat porridge, I thank the lord. But every time I get a trout, I thank the lord it's not a northern pike." Oddly enough I've found some extremely good camping food produced by DryTech, apparently they also deliver the Norwegian field rations. Freeze dried,
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We always called it "hunger sauce," and it really does make the dried beans that are only partially re-hydrated much tastier. Funny how I could live on $3/day worth of food on the trail, but I spend more than that on coffee some mornings on the way in to work.
Re:And once again (Score:5, Insightful)
Nothing like the ambiance of the mountains, day after day of dehydrated crud for food to make anything different a tasty feast fit for the gods.
The taste of food is intrinsically linked to how much your body needs it. And it even goes down in more detail as to what kind of food your body needs. It is fascinating really. Especially how quickly the taste adepts once you get the needed mineral/vitamin into your system.
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People fail to realize that the point of food is to enjoy the taste. It doesn't matter how it looks, as long as it tastes good.
Well, that might be if you're going to a cafeteria or buying packaged food. At elite gourmet restaurants, it's a combination of taste, appearance, and atmosphere. Seriously, would you want to eat a "gourmet" meal served under harsh florescent lighting that looked ugly?
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How could it be inappropriate, when we have some of these super fancy restaurants running friggin game shows? I understand not using flash photography, a decent lens will get you around that, and if you are eating at a ''fancier'' place you should be able to afford one.
As to your second point, all restaurants are worthy of reviewing, the point of reviewing is not to look at places where the foods costs more then some people earn in a week, it is to scale the value, quality, cost and service into a meaningfu
Re:Perfect temperature (Score:5, Interesting)
Take the diner who recently ordered a signature dish, Hot Potato-Cold Potato, in which a marble-sized sphere of piping hot Yukon Gold is dropped into a bowl of 40-degree potato soup at the pull of a pin. Eating it at the proper temperature is key to the experience.
Desserts with something fresh out of the oven and ice cream on top are similar- wait even 5 minutes and the melting ice cream hurts the taste and texture noticeably. Now, if they were talking about typical dishes without built-in temperature differences, I might agree with you.
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Crispy things with a sauce on top often get soggy after a while. The more time you spend not eating it, the more likely that it will be soggy by the time you finally get around to it.
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Ok maybe so, but what is snobbish about a souffle? They're amazing right out of the oven but turn into a rubbery omelet ten minutes later. They aren't complicated to make; I taught my elementary school kids to make them. The reason many people have never had them is because timing is critical. You can't keep them under a heat lamp.
Or take pizza. Most of us are accustomed to eating lukewarm pizza, but it really is much better right out of the oven.
Ever eat gravy on a slice of roast beef? Isn't hot gravy
Re:Perfect temperature (Score:4, Insightful)
Even if they did, they are expected to hold their taste long enough for them to be, you know, eaten?
Which, if you do it right, can take some time. Divide into bite-sized portions, not too big, convey to mouth, chew *thoroughly*, then and only then swallow. Then take a sip of your drink, probably engage in conversation for a minute, before repeating.
If taking a minute at the beginning of the meal to take pictures degrades the taste, then the taste will be degraded horribly by the time the diner finishes the plate. And people who take a moment to close their eyes and thank $deity for their food would be ruining it too. It's a bunch of nonsense.
Flash photography can be distracting and annoying, however.
Re:Perfect temperature (Score:5, Insightful)
I always though geeks were into cooking? First impressions matter. The first bite cements a flavor memory, that sticks with you as your food cools. Miss the window of opportunity and a great dish just becomes good or even meh. This is also why good food is generally served in small portions. Its like your first sip of coffee in the morning, if you waited tell it was cold or left it in the pot to burn you might just spit it out. But if you had a few drinks before waiting tell its past its prime you might just finish off that last gulp or two without any problem. Same thing.
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Anyone setting up a tripod gets what they deserve, although I don't see why it causes the food to be colder. It's not like you can't have the tripod ready to go before the food shows up. (And tripods are really what's slowing people down, then banning flashes is the opposite of what you want to do. Ban the tripods instead, they're probably a menace to navigation between tables anyway.)
Frankly the whole article smells of creating journalism out of a weak, rare concern. I've never noticed anyone else taki
Re:Perfect temperature (Score:4, Funny)
If taking a minute at the beginning of the meal to take pictures degrades the taste, then the taste will be degraded horribly by the time the diner finishes the plate.
The thing is, in restaurants expensive enough to be visited by people who review food, you barely get more than a few bites worth of food on your plate to start with.
Re:Perfect temperature (Score:5, Funny)
Many signature dishes come out at the perfect temperature
No they don't. Get over yourselves.
You sir, obviously haven't experienced the finer art of cooking. Last week I made a lasagna that needed to be served at the perfect temperature in order to be optimally satisfying. It needed to be so hot that it would scorch the taste buds right off of your tongue, or else you would be unable to stand the taste.
DE-LI-CIOUS! Hmmm. Nothing beats homemade cooking.
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Same hear, I call this the "not killing your mouth and taste buds with scalding hot coffee day in and out efect"
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Parent is modded funny (and I think that was discord5's intention), but some people like myself have a low threshold of heat pain. I've taken crotch shots, broken bones, and blinding headaches, and come away mostly none the worse for wear.
Are you sure you're following instructions properly when cooking?
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In fairness, the article cited a particular dish, called "Hot Potato-Cold Potato," for which the temperature was critical.
However, I can't imagine this being an issue at any restaurant that I've ever eaten. The perfect temperature? Customers taking twenty photos of their meal? Who are these people, and what is wrong with them?
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Many signature dishes come out at the perfect temperature
No they don't. Get over yourselves.
It's the whole idea behind the McDLT.
Re:Perfect temperature (Score:5, Insightful)
Obviously. First, a good restaurant chef will time things so that they get done as close to each other as possible. Second, some of the dishes will come off of the stove or out of the oven a bit hotter than the perfect temperature and need a minute or two to cool down; generally, those are plated first, so that by the time everything else is done, they're Just Right.
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citation needed (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Perfect temperature (Score:5, Informative)
Serious Foods: RE: Resting a Steak [seriouseats.com]
Presented to you is actual photographic evidence for the reason for "resting a steak".
Now, to point, if you rest a steak and the person gets it cold, then they fucked up. Using the argument of "resting a steak" is not a proper reason for a cold steak.
Rather the myth should be that resting a steak means letting it go cold. This later one would be the mark of a bad chef.
Re:Perfect temperature (Score:4, Insightful)
Look, if you think $12 a plate (e.g. Applebees) is high end, you're not going to the kind of restaurant where timing is critical (although applebees does still make an attempt to come out at the same time...). Not coincidentally, you're also not going to the kind of restaurant where people would consider taking a picture of the food.
Re:Perfect temperature (Score:4, Funny)