 |
| It all seems very luxurous, but by using fresh and local products the cook created a delicous but economic lunch |
Some
people just go out of their homes and enter a place at the moment they get
hungry. For them it does not really matter where they end up, as long as the
prices and looks of the location suit them. Others cannot go out without their
smartphone, acting like the crystal ball giving an answer to all your
questions. In case a smartphone lacks, a preparative internet search might offer
the same results: finding the best restaurant available for a certain price and
quality.
I can be
a bit of both. Sometimes I simply trust my intuition and hop in a place that
looks good and offers a menu for a price that seems worth the quality of the
products and service offered. But often, especially after some negative
experiences, I really want to be sure that I am going to spend my money well
and then a visit to a restaurant is preceded by a long internet search. Sometimes
successful, sometimes not.
You
would expect that in Italy it is easy to find a good restaurant. But nothing is
more true than that, especially not in the more touristic locations, which
aren’t always avoidable. The general rule is the simpler a place looks, the
busier it is and so the food is good. But these rules have many exceptions: it
might be cheap food with a similar quality, it might be very salty (to
compensate for the missing flavours), it might be expensive food with a cheap
quality, etc. So attention is needed even here.
During
the last months I had some reasons to go out for lunch or dinner. Most times I
was prepared and decided up front where to go or brought a list of good options
based on the opinions expressed on the internet. Visiting sites that host reviews
of restaurants and the like might be useful but it can also be really
confusing. If after five positive reviews someone is negative about something
that is important for me, I might decide not to go there. Poor man who owns the
restaurant, because this is only based on a single impression by someone I
don’t even know.
I
unfortunately (?) have found out that the price isn’t always a good indicator
for the quality of the food. Some weeks ago I enjoyed a very good three course lunch menu including wine, water and coffee paying only
10 euros a person! It was an incredible but positive surprise after eating such
a delicious lunch made with love, and local, seasonal products. While actually
it is just this simplicity that makes it cheap: a small choice of dishes (2
starters, 2 mains) and the use of products that are from close by and in
abundance. No waste, no transport costs and fresh quality. But at the same time
it might happen that you spend twice as much for a much less convincing
experience. And that is where I get upset.
In my
opinion, someone who decides to run a restaurant or works as a chef should only
want one thing: give his guests a good meal. He has off course the right to
make some money out of it, but he should not do that on the expenses of the
costumer. Personally, I rather pay fifteen euros for a good quality lunch than
ten euros for something that gets its flavour from the salt added.
However,
the choices I am making will remain difficult. Each day again I learn from the consequences
of the decisions I made. Maybe someday it will be easy, maybe not.
