Dishes and Guessing Game
Tonight I was having dinner at Il Pastaio with the fambam and I got inspiration for at least one of the things I want my blog to be about. While a lot of people talk about “great restaurants”, I find this view somewhat silly and narrow minded. For instance, while a restaurant might get a 27 on Zagat, you may go there, have a dish you don’t like and decide that the restaurant is no good (I’ve had this experience with my parents — I’m always trying to get them to try new places and I always end up hearing about how bad the place I took them was). On the other hand, now that we are given so much information via the Internet, we may decide to forgo a place simply because it’s not rated well. This is unfortunate because often times while the restaurant may not have all amazing dishes, they will have one or two dishes that are just really damn good.
I’ve actually thought about this topic at length, having discussed the issue with a good friend of mine over the years. He refuses to eat at chain restaurants with me — insisting that they are no good. I, on the other hand, am a fan of chain restaurants for several reasons. First, when you’re in Cleveland (or some other city with probably fewer great options than LA), it’s nice to know that a chain restaurant will offer a meal that you know will be consistent and reliable. There is something reassuring about that. Second, I think that while chain restaurants get shat on a lot, they often have some very very good dishes. For instance, I feel very strongly that the Thai Chicken Pizza or the BBQ Chicken Pizza at California Pizza Kitchen are excellent — I’ve always enjoyed them, and I think I always will. I also feel this way about the Chinese Chicken Salad at Chin Chin. Thus, having said all this, I think that there needs to be a greater emphasis on dishes, as opposed to restaurants.
As far as the dish that inspired my thoughts tonight (just drove home and thought about this for the blog), I will wait to discuss it in a later post, because I didn’t think to snap a photo at the time. If anyone can guess it first, they get a meal on me.
Clue: It’s either a pasta OR dessert
Also, if you are actually reading my blog, don’t be shy about guessing. I’d just really appreciate the readership. Maybe I’ll just throw something to the first person who guesses, just cause it will make me happy.
On a happy note — had a new baby cousin today!
