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The Bad and Good of the Chain Restaurant

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There are a lot of good things to say about dining out in a chain restaurant, and there are a lot of dreadful things as well.  Let’s start with the good.  Let me think…oh yeah-average, lackluster food and automaton service.  Now don’t get me wrong, the service is great in some of the chains, but it is usually because the server is brand new with a personality that hasn’t been tarnished by the banality of the job, is passing through to better things, or a company drone with a 401(k) that is just biding their time until they are fully vested in the company and can one day reprieve themselves from serving the same dull food day after day after day, like a beat cop waiting for the day his pension kicks in.

And then there is the food.  You can’t blame the cooks and chefs for the dreary fare that is taken from box to plate and prepared with all the imagination of a factory worker on valium.  They bake, broil and grill whatever the corporate goons sitting behind desks 300 miles away decide.  And it is usually a trend or three behind the culinary curve.  If anyone remembers the great pesto obsession of the early 90’s then you know what I am talking about because it is probably on some chain restaurant’s menu right now..  They don’t create food trends they just copy them, and the chef should not be blamed for that.  Most chain restaurants are a great training ground for those just starting out in the culinary field, a boot camp for those out of culinary school who believe they will be an executive chef in Switzerland with a six figure income at a 5 star hotel when they graduate.  I know quite a few that ended up at Applebee’s or Denny’s to learn how the real world works because it wasn’t explained to them in school that there are long hours and you might just get your chef coat dirty while waiting for a phone call from the Food Network.

 

I recently moved to an area in Minnesota that has one of the largest malls in the metro area, and there are chain restaurants far and wide.  My wife and I have eaten in our share of them, because it is difficult to find a unique restaurant or bistro, and convenience is always a huge factor.  But we are bored and almost in tears to find a place that will excite us and make a distinct impression.  After eating breakfast at a place that must have had a job fair at the local trailer park, we both said “enough” and are on a quest to find decent digs at which to eat.  Hence I am writing this story to exorcise the demons.

 

Give me a chef driven restaurant that uses local produce and out-of-the-box ideas in the kitchen, with servers that labor for their tips out of love for the industry and the food.  Give me a ponytailed chef with tattoos and a lip ring that has figured out a new way to prepare calamari or a tapenade, and can make caramelized onions and a béchamel sauce without looking in the standardized corporate cookbook.  Give me a chef that has worked 12 days in a row, but still comes in to work because this is where they belong.  Give me a server that loves their customers and can do their job well without the benefit of the company manuals to show them how.  All of us would benefit greatly.  Especially the culinary field.

 

 

 

 

Pleasing a Vegan in a Restaurant

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The grill is full of chops, steaks and hamburger patties and the waitress comes back into the kitchen and tells you there is someone out in the dining room that doesn’t eat meat and would like to know what you can make for them.

Here are some questions the chef should ask:
-Are they lacto ovo vegetarian? Lacto ovo vegetarians exclude meat fish and poultry, but include dairy products and eggs, which means they eat eggs, milk, cheese and yogurt and foods made with these ingredients.
– Lacto vegetarians? This is the same as above but they also exclude eggs and all foods made with eggs, but still can eat cheese and dairy.
– Vegan? These people avoid eating and using all animal products and their by-products.
-Pollo vegetarian? They avoid red meat and fish but eat chicken.
-Pesco pollo? Avoids red meat but eats chicken and fish.
-Some other examples include fruitarian (fruits and nuts) and a raw food diet is an adaptation of vegetarianism; eating only raw uncooked foods.
So once you are knowledgeable of the needs of your customer, you should be able to prepare a delicious and nutritious meal, as most restaurant s are well supplied with an abundance of alternative foods that will suit any classification of the above.
Some examples would be a fruit and cheese platter, vegetable Kabob, most salads, chicken breast with grilled vegetables, or fish and barley risotto. You being the chef should talk to the customer if you have the time, to be sure you are doing it exactly right and they will certainly appreciate your concern and extra effort.
Depending on the skill and experience of the chef, and the time factor, you will be able to have a happy customer leave full and satisfied, with the promise of coming back again.

Dealing With the Heat Without Losing Your Cool

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This has so far been a very warm summer. Humidity levels are high and tempers are higher. People are doing everything that they can do to stay cool. Dealing with the heat takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to this year’s record temperatures and humidity levels. Here are some helpful hints for how to deal with the weather without losing your cool.

1. Dress cool. I don’t mean to dress what is hip or to wear skimpy outfits, but simply dress appropriately for the weather. Wear clothing that is loose and light weight. Do not wear the over jackets if you do not have to. Skip the long sleeves for a shorter sleeve shirt if possible. Do not out looking like a slob, but do try to be comfortable.
2. Tank tops look great when they have a little bit embellishment. This is true for women only. Men, do not embellish you tanks and say that this blog told you to. Please. Women, a little ruffle on the tank top or a fancy collar goes a long way to make a plain tank top fancy and work or dinner appropriate.
3. Shorts are not un-appropriate when dealing with this weather. If you are going to work, clear it with your boss or the company rule book before you wear shorts, but in most cases a pair of khaki shorts is acceptable. Just make sure that the shorts are long enough. The shorts should not come much past the knee for both men and women. No hot-pants please. They do not look good on anyone.
4. Cheap flip flops are not a good way to keep your feet cool. Not only do they look bad, but they are bad for your feet. Instead, consider a fancier slide or sandal that is more appropriate for adults. Wear shoes that fit you for your comfort. Wear socks with your shoes if appropriate. Skipping socks in athletic shoes may seem like a good way to keep your feet cool, but instead you will find that your feet sweat more and are more uncomfortable.
5. Stay hydrated for your comfort and health. It may seem almost unfashionable to go walking around with water, but there is nothing further from the truth. Carrying a reusable bottle full of water has become a hot trend in environmentally conscious cities and should be one in your city. Staying hydrated is essential to your health and a reusable bottle is essential to the world’s health.
6. Keep to the shade whenever possible. There is a huge craze for tanned and bronzed bodies. This may look good when the person is young, but the tans will turn to crinkled skin in time. Not only will sticking to the shade help you feel cooler, but it will also help to keep your skin young. If you are going to go into the sun, consider wearing a sun block, even if it is just for a quick walk to the coffee shop.
7. Enjoy a frozen beverage. Everyone knows that ice is cold. A cold coffee or frappachino is a great way to beat the heat and enjoy a flavored beverage. Have one with friends and combine a great beverage with great company. Enjoy the summer and have fun. That’s what the summer is all about, right?

Taken Handles: Mounting Frustration

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There is one major problem with the internet growing. Handles are being taken but not actually used. This means that other people cannot use that handle and this can cause a lot of frustration. Unused handles take up room in a website’s database. They also eliminate that handle from being used by other people who would actually use it.

Not sure what I’m talking about? Here’s the low down. A handle is the name that a person uses over the internet, on radios and anywhere that their actual names should not be used. This handle, or user name, is paired with a password to ensure that no one but the person who logged on with that name uses it. This handle is rarely ever deleted from the database and therefore it takes up room on a website’s database.

If the handle is one that is being used, than this generally is not a problem. If it was a handle that you wanted and you signed up late, then there is nothing you can do about it. You cannot make someone give up a handle that they have been using consistently. However, if the handle is not being used and you want it, why shouldn’t the website let you do so? Why shouldn’t the handle be made functional again?

It is very frustrating to find that a handle you want simply is not available because some else signed up for without actually ever using it. It should be a simple process to delete the handle and the information attached to it so that it can be used again. Having these handles brought to the attention to the webmaster should be rewarded, rather than punished.

An example of this is Digg.com. Digg absolutely refuses to let people use handles that have not ever been used. They can say that an infrequently used or old handle might have old information attached to it, but if the handle was never used? They should be happy that someone is asking to use a handle that has never posted. After all, doesn’t that mean that if the person was eager enough to contact them about it that they would then want to post? Isn’t content the reason that Digg exists? Maybe they should consider actually allowing people to use these handles and actually post content.

Applying Make-Up Well

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The application of make-up is an art. There are many who say that it is a science, but that’s not true. Any time a person has to paint and do something artistic, it is art, not science. There is some semblance of science to the application of make-up but in truth, it is an art. Make-up is an art that anyone can master with just a few simple rules.

1. Always take your time applying your make-up. There is no sense in rushing to apply your make up. If you rush, you are more likely to apply the make-up unevenly and your lines will not be strait. It takes more time to fix a make-up blunder than it does to do it right the first time.
2. Choose colors that complement you, not your outfit. If you are wearing a green dress, do not wear the same shade of green eye shadow. To do so will only make you look like a clown. Instead wear eye shadow that complements your eyes. After all, that is the point of make-up, to make you look good, not to match your outfit to your face.
3. Go easy on the colors. Please realize that the face does not look right with bright pink blush and brilliant blue eye shadow. Just because the models do it when they are doing fantasy shoots and it looks good, does not mean it will look good for every day wear. Choose colors that look natural and that complement your skin and eye color in order to get the best effects.
4. Heavy make-up is acceptable for evening wear, but looks silly if it is worn all day long. Heavy make-up during the evening looks good only because the lighting is softer, making the make-up appear softer. If you wear evening make-up all day, you may appear too formal or too sever.
5. Do not use permanent make-up. It was a short lived fad, but it is still out there for people who are interested. This is make-up that is actually tattooed to you. The idea is that the make-up is then always on perfectly, even in the dead of night. The downside to this, besides it hurting really bad, is that it is then impossible to change the make-up. Please, just take the time to learn how to use make-up.