A matter of taste

Is eating out the new eating in? The answer depends, of course, on whether or not the satisfaction of eating out measures up to the kind of meals prepared and consumed in the comfort of one’s own home.

Not to mention the fact that one’s kitchen is a familiar place to return to at the end of the day. It is the place to look forward to when you wake up after sleeping in on a Sunday.

Take, for example, how the arrangement of the waiter-less restaurant pans out in these two contrasting venues. There is a place in Bruges, Belgium, where the chef-owner does the cooking on an open fire, in full view of the clientele.

Taking pride in dishes prepared with artisanal commitment, the chef then proceeds to serve and wait on each table. The distance between kitchen and dining room is overcome by a setting which is practically domestic at heart.

In Germany, at a restaurant in Nuremburg, on the other hand, diners request their meal at the touch of a screen. A host is always standing by to explain the intricacies of placing orders via the restaurant’s computers. Other than this, however, there is little human contact during the experience.

Whether a diner is on their own or in the company of family or friends, customers are basically on their own for the length of their meal as regards in-house service. The dishes themselves are delivered via metal rails whisking down to the dining area from the kitchen which is located on another floor.

When it comes to Mediterranean dining, the event is as much a celebration of food as it is a coming-together of family or friends. It is not unusual, in fact, for local restaurants to be teaming with large, extended family parties or groups of old friends.

According to Jill Dupleix, author of New Food, “good eating starts at home, as everything does”. Her simple credo – buy only what is fresh and in season – points to one of the ways in which dining can be an enjoyment of real flavour, whether eating in or eating out. “When we learn to taste,” she believes, “there will be less fast food, more slow conversations [and] more families sitting around tables”.

If eating in is associated with the luxury of winding down in the familiarity of one’s own home, there is always a person (or more than one, for that matter) toiling in the kitchen to make it all happen.

Dupleix proposes recipes that are short and simple, including just a few that are long and simple “for those with a whole weekend stretching out ahead of them”. It is, in fact, not always possible for the person who normally prepares the family’s food to have enough time to go through the motions of a slow-cooked meal. The alternative would be fast food ordered in or picked up on the way home.

Perhaps eating out is a way of democratising meal-times, allowing each and every person a moment to pause and take a breather. Gone, also, is the worry of having to answer the door-bell or pick up the fixed line. And, perhaps, the idea is for everyone to sit down together at one and the same time without interruptions like comings and goings which generally spoil a meal.

At a restaurant, diners have the luxury of being waited upon. They may also enjoy the front-of-house hospitality which a properly-run outlet can provide time and again. At such a place, they can savour their favourite food and take their time to eat it.

Such a place is different from food joints where seating is uncomfortable and the lighting is harsh for a purpose: the sooner a diner leaves the table the better. The more customers served, the better the turnover.

As far as eating goes, does the cost of feeling at home away from home have to be exhorbitantly high? Not necessarily. A couple of years back, when the global markets were in freefall, the Financial Times noted that less-formal sounding names were being used for newly-launched restaurants because the majority of customers had no money to spend on pricey meals.

While the word ‘coupon’ became a respectable word and using coupons a respectable means of survival, entrepreneurs were shying away from using the word ‘restaurant’ in favour of more homely-sounding names like ‘trattoria’, ‘bistro’ and ‘café’.

The reason? In the minds of customers looking for a place to eat, these terms are associated with hospitality in a relatively laid-back atmosphere at a reasonable price. That is not too much to ask from the restaurant of your choice, I guess.