In two of the Italian chain restaurants I sometimes visit, they always give you seasoned olive oil in a small bowl to go along with your complementary bread. You are supposed to dip your bread in the olive oil. It’s delicious. One of the restaurants calls it “Italian butter.” And, I’ve also heard of people … Read more
In a restaurant setting, banquette is a word for a padded bench with a cushioned seat and back. This style of seating is used in “banquette seating,” which is often confused with booth seating. In fact, some restaurant owners may call the padded benches in their booth seating banquettes. However, banquette refers to a continuous … Read more
With the current frenzy around banning food additives, and particularly banning artificial colors, I thought I’d recount a little story about the impact of food additives on someone’s life. The story involves artificial food colors or “dyes.” A 4-year old boy named Trenton started pre-K. He started having nightmares and public meltdowns. His mother couldn’t … Read more
Sometimes, you’ll hear a chef describing the taste of a food as “vegetal.” For instance, I recently came across a chef claiming that green bell peppers were “vegetal” while red bell peppers are sweet and slightly spicy. How does this differentiate the two? Well, the truth it, it doesn’t. Bell peppers could also be described … Read more
I want to share an unpopular opinion from Reddit. It didn’t get much attention, but you may be surprised to hear that I share in this opinion. It involves dry-aged beef. There are chefs and restaurants that, in my opinion, owe their entire reputation, and perhaps careers, to a time-consuming and wasteful process that renders … Read more
Americans do not eat as much fruit as health guidelines suggest. According to available data, in 2022, the average American ate 116 pounds of fruit. On average, consumption lies around 115 pounds a year of fresh fruit, but a lot of this fruit data may include fruit juice. Among all the fruits Americans eat regularly, … Read more