Onam Sadya at a Michelin Star restaurant in Dubai
Pretentious AFWhat I've learned from watching The Bear is that a restaurant like this is almost like attending the theater. You go there expecting a show and an experience with some bite sized fancy food on the side. Obviously my credentials make me quite the expert on the topic. I even make the best omelette now because of watching The Bear, so watch out Gordon Ramsey!
a restaurant like this is almost like attending the theater. You go there expecting a show and an experience with some bite sized fancy food on the side
I understand why people want this. It gives the meal a sense of occasion. It's not just a meal but a spectacal, an event. For me personally I feel like this is a very unnecessary piece of performance art. I just want good food. I'm willing to overpay for it if it's good enough, but I'm just here for the food. I don't want to watch in an uncomfortable silence as I'm waited on by 10 different people (I counted) as they assemble my plate.
I understand why people want this.
I understand that there are people who want this, but I don't understand why.
My dad used to be a chef, and he taught me how to cook, so to me restaurants have always just been places where the food costs too much and I'm forced to interact with strangers.
Having to interact with 10 strangers putting on a show instead of just one person bringing me my food and occasionally refilling my drink seems like a bug, not a feature.
I'm also not big on getting pretentious hipster lectures about why I should like something.
People want to feel like kings/queens being waited on by servants.
I really want to give people the benefit of the doubt — to find a less-terrible explanation — but I think it really just boils down to putting servants in demeaning positions and having the illusion of being important.
Why do you need this conga line of unenthusiastic waitstaff? Are they dancing? Are they singing? No. The spectacle is having all of these people waiting on you, being tasked with perfecting the tiniest of minutiae for oh-so-important you.