Restaurant Portions
On June 2, 2006, the US Federal government declared that restaurants should reduce portion sizes in the meals they sell, cut the amount of fat and calories and serve more fresh fruits and vegetables. ABC News shows restaurateurs expressing anger at Federal "interference" in their business while watching their waiters serve individuals platters of food large enough to feed entire families in the Third World. Personally, while in many ways I am a libertarian in philosophy (the government should stay out of our lives as much as possible; we can take care of ourselves and government programs--especially social programs--are inherently evil), I applaud today's suggestions. Restaurants offer horrendously oversized portions. I have been getting to feeling downright rebellious about them. I really do not want to schlep home a doggie bag. I want to enjoy a complete meal at the restaurant and not deal with leftovers later. I also want the pleasure of tasting several things from the menu, including appetizers and dessert, but monster portion sizes usually preclude this.
Unless you have your restaurant buddy. Mine, my dear late husband, is now feasting from the Tree of Life in Heaven. We used to enjoy going to restaurants and choosing several things to share from the menu. What is a lot for one is lovely shared. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, we enjoyed a restaurant down at the Jersey Shore; if memory serves the name was Zabar's or something similar. Unfortunately, it went out of business, I think as the result of a fire. Zabar's was famous for its steak and seafood dinners. The steaks they served weighed half a pound (225g) or more, some over a pound. Stuart and I considered that enough for a family, not an individual (450g). Both of us preferred to enjoy a small portion of steak, maybe 4-6 ounces (120-180g), accompanied by salad and other vegetables. Zabar's offered what they called the "small appetite platter". For an appropriately small price, you could order only the sides and eat meat from a tablemate's monster steak. We loved to do just that. Stuart would order one of the smaller steak platters and I the small appetite platter. We asked the waiter to have the chef cut a 4-ounce (120g) portion for me to be cooked Pittsburgh style (blackened on the outside and still bleeding on the inside) and the larger remaining piece done medium-rare for him. We would order a cup of soup and ask for an extra cup so we could share it. We ordered one or two appetizers and shared them. The restaurant did not lose bit by this. We ended up spending the same as if I had ordered a whole steak, but he and I enjoyed our meal more. We did not feel as heavy and bloated and downright dog-breathed as we would have if we had each ordered a full meat platter but skipped appetizers and soup, knowing we would have no space to put them. This way we enjoyed more of the menu, and lighter food. We left feeling good rather than like jackals after a kill.
We never saw another restaurant that made such an offer. We still enjoyed sharing plates, however, so we could taste more of the chef's handiwork. Any restaurant that served main dishes big enough for a family of four and then charged a $5.00 fee for sharing it found us bypassing the main dishes in favor of a row of salads and appetizers that could be shared without asking for the extra plate. Then we never returned. In Philadelphia, you only need to return to a restaurant if you like it; you could eat out every single day for two or three years and never visit the same place twice. We were delighted on night when we went to a new Asian fusion restaurant a few blocks from home and had our request for an ssortment of dishes to share greeted with a friendly smile and full cooperation. At one point I noticed that a man sitting at the bar but not touching his drink had been looking at the diners and then he focused on our table. I ignored him at that moment. As we were preparing to depart, he approached us and introduced himself as the owner. He told us that he had noticed us sharing everything, something he loved to see. We expressed our delight with how good the food was and how reasonable the portion sizes were, allowing us to enjoy as many different tastes as we did. How often do you think we went back!
I have been with my mother and brothers to the chain steak houses in suburban Delaware that they favor on their birthdays, for Mother's Day and the like. Most of the steaks weigh from 16 to 20 ounces (450 to 550g), again, enough to feed a normal family of four. The senior citizen platter is a "mere" eight ounces, still twice as much as my 80-something mother wants to try to eat all at once, and quit frankly more than I want at a single sitting, although I am not a senior citizen. The restaurants do not seem to like the idea of splitting an eight-once portion, so doggie bags are always part of the order. So annoying, but it is worse to waste good food.
Pasta portions are often just as bad, with mindish pasta platters looking like something intended for an entire extended Italian famiy and sides like a main dish for two. For a person whse serving of chicken at home usually consists of a single thigh, an entire half chicken at a restaurant is fr too much. Only fish and seafood sem to be served in reasonable portion sizes.
I find it sheer arrogance on the part of these restaurants to increase their profits by planning platters that contain far too much food just so they can sell more inventory. Furthermore, they seem not to understand that smaller portions would lead to people eating the same amount of food--and spending the same amount of money--when they choose appetizers (and please, not in main dish portion sizes!) and desserts that otherwise go unordered because they know they cannot eat so much. I am convinced that if restaurants reduced their portion sizes and their prices accordingly, they would not lose a cent of profit and might even gain. They would certainly gain good will because diners would enjoy their meals more.
One of the restaurateurs who had a sound bite on ABC News said that people eat modest portions at home but when they go to a restaurant, they want to feel festive. I wondered who feels festive after an excess of meat clogs the system without any vegetables to help it through.
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Comments: 11
People believe if they are going to pay a huge price for food they should be getting a good size portion.
Which brings to mind; what of these 5 star restaurants that charge outrageous prices tiny portions of food. I think that's outrageous. If restaurants are going to charge outlandish prices for small portions then that small portion better be on a take home plate made of gold or silver.
Actually, the marginal cost of large portions is minimal. Large portions are more about providing increased perceived value. On the other end of the spectrum, many very expensive restaurants provide relatively little food and offer perceived value in the form of food styling.
Kevin, I appreciate the styling and creativity far more than the sheer quantity of mediocre food. In addition, the better, pricier places with the reasonable portions usually take greater care with the freshness of the food. I know idiots fall for the increased perceived value thing--my own brothers do. Sigh. As for cost, I'd be very glad to be offered half the portion size for 3/4 the price, or even 7/8 since you consider that it takes s much labor to grill a 6-oz. steak as a 20-oz. one, and maybe acually more.
However, if I go to a reasonably-priced restaurant who happens to have large portions, I personally love bringing home my leftovers! As an unmarried 20-something, cooking an entire meal for just myself is a rare thing; so I relish the times when I can come home to some leftovers that I can just reheat in the microwave. Therein lies my value to eating out as well: if I can eat twice for the same price, hooray!
Me too, although I do like lots of great food.{g}
I am glad that some places encourage sharing, but there are none of those in my town. They charge high prices and bring you a huge amount of food that no one could or should eat in one sitting. There is one exception in southern Ontario - The Keg. But it is expensive and not somewhere we can afford to go often.