I love to cook (in case it wasn’t already obvious) – chopping and stirring, kneading and sauteing, it all gives me tremendous comfort and enjoyment. Buuuut… I’m also a big fan of kicking back with a glass of champagne, and let world-class hospitality experts stuff you full of lobster profiteroles, salmon and caviar, and chocolate-covered strawberries?

It was dear CS’s birthday (and baby shower!) this past weekend, and, as a special treat for the mama-to-be, her lovely parents took her, her sister, and me to high-tea at the Taj. We may not have really been able to kick-back (what with wearing a tight, little Milly dress and perching ourselves on Louis 16^th settees), but we did manage to oh-so-daintily stuff ourselves with all of the aforementioned delights and more.

What took me by surprise about high-tea was just how spectacular the tea actually was. As a devout coffee-drinker and real-tea virgin, I had no idea where to set my expectations, but the Vanilla Earl Grey tea that I ordered, served in a lovely porcelain (I think) tea pot, over a candle warmer, was soft, lightly-perfumed with vanilla, and had a silkiness that I had never experienced with tea before. To top it all off, the dessert tray came with scones so buttery that they make mine look dry, and quite frankly, kind of boring , along with some darling mini lemon meringue pies, chocolate cakes, and short breads.

As I said, the tea was extraordinary, but it did occur to me that the English obsession with tea may have something to do with the butter-laden pastries that accompany it. Either way, it’s certainly a tradition worth trying out… and keeping around. Check out the foodie pics below…

So, I’ve never been much of a gambling fan (if I can’t eat it, wear it, or visit it, I don’t want to spend money on it), but, after my first fun (not work) trip last week, Vegas has grown considerably in my estimation for 3 reasons:

1. The FOOD – when you’re slumming it with Mario Batali, you know you’re in a dining mecca

2. The sparkles – not on the slot machines, but the shopping…. there’s all sorts of eye candy on display to oooh and ahhh at. And, if by chance, you can’t stand to walk through a mall without hitting Chanel or Gucci, no worries – there’s one in just about every hotel (I’m not kidding).

3. The FOOD – it’s good enough to get mentioned again. Some of the more memorable items were:

1. 1. The foie gras special at Carnevino – it was light to the point of fluffiness and served with a citrus gremolata. Exceptional.

   2. CK’s 1-year-aged beef – if you closed your eyes and took a bite, you may have thought that you were taking a bit of cheese. The entire composition of the beef had metamorphosed and been re-invented as an entirely different and foodstuff. Extraordinary

   3. Brunch at Bouchon – If you’re a brunch fan, and I’m pretty sure I qualify as the biggest, this brunch is beyond spectacular. Beignets, perfectly poached eggs, and chocolate croissants were my highlight, but there’s about 50 other amazing items to choose from and love.

   4. A 6-liter bottle of pink champagne at LAX. Baller.

What really impressed and kind of stunned me about Vegas was the consistency of the quality of the food and service.

PT and I ordered our favorite weekend mid-afternoon snack, and, it wasn’t until the waitress sauntered away in her micro-mini (they all wear micro-minis) that the decision to order oysters in the desert seemed questionable. Living next to the ocean makes you a little spoiled and unaware in those regards. However, when our tray came out, bedecked with mini tabasco sauce bottles and lovely mignonette, they could have easily passed for the same you would find on the sea-side – they even managed to have sea water inside of the shells, which indicates that they are extremely fresh, or the purveyors are master manipulators. Either way, I was exceedingly pleased.

I can’t wait to go back, and, amazingly, I won’t have to wait long – heading back to LV in 4 weeks for CTIA (for those of you that didn’t know, I spend my days working in the wireless world). If anyone out there happens to be in the same boat, let me know.

]]> http://besottedgourmet.com/2010/02/24/oysters-pink-champagne-raspberry-beignets/feed/ 0 http://besottedgourmet.com/2009/10/13/where-did-the-%e2%80%9chospitality%e2%80%9d-in-the-hospitality-business-go/ http://besottedgourmet.com/2009/10/13/where-did-the-%e2%80%9chospitality%e2%80%9d-in-the-hospitality-business-go/#comments Tue, 13 Oct 2009 12:00:44 +0000 Jessica http://besottedgourmet.com/?p=2001

hospitality |ˌhäspiˈtalitē| the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers.

It has been said that great service can save bad food, but that great food can not save bad service. Recollections of Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi aside, I find that this adage of the hospitality industry to be both true and almost altogether dismissed by the industry itself. This is an industry that creates an elite of those that will spend a fortune to get a noteworthy designer to create ambience, stock 50 kinds of premium vodka behind the bar, and source its pig from farms down the street, yet it seems to take the most perfunctory and dismissive attitude towards the service it provides.

I’ve had the very good fortune to have been treated to some lovely dinners at some of New England’s finest restaurants lately (mainly in celebration of having edged one step closer to 30). A few weeks ago, PT treated me to a lovely meal at one of Boston’s finest restaurants, on a Monday night, no less (side note: there is nothing more decadent feeling than splurging for a great meal on an off-night). The food, ambience, and wine were fantastic. What was not-so-fantastic was the waiter asking 5 times if he could clear my plate; one time, I had just bit down on my fork, and had to swallow the food before I could answer – an obvious indication that I was not done – and several other times, he came back less than 5 minutes after he had previously asked. He apologized towards the end, noting our obvious frustration with having to tell him once again that I had not finished, but the damage had been done.

A couple of weeks later, PT was officially taking me out for my birthday (yes, I’m a lucky girl) to one of Maine’s most lauded restaurants. I was so excited for this meal, and had worked in a few extra miles at the gym that week, just so that I would be good and hungry for this meal. Everything about this restaurant was perfection – the bleached oak floors, the butter and biscuits were heavenly, rich, and certainly not the type to be dismissed as fare to merely hold you over until the real food came, they were a special treat all unto themselves. Our server was, at first, no where to be found, and then suddenly, would not leave us alone. She whisked our plates of food onto the table and was back to take them away before we had even begun; she interrupted obviously engaged conversation, and, like the other waiter, tried to clear my plate several times before I was done. I think I spoke to her more than I did to PT, and that was, rest assured, not by choice.

Why would you rush this???

The piece de resistance was this past weekend when my friends took me out for dinner. There was a slightly catastrophic incident that ended with dry cleaning bills for two of my friends, thanks to a careless waiter, but, apart from that, I was astounded at how rushed to finish our food we were – and, as the aforementioned indicates, I’ve had quite a bit of experience with rushing lately. They were trying to clear plates that had food still on them when my friends were still holding their flatware and getting ready to dig in again. They placed dishes incorrectly and send over a 16 year old to act like a sommelier. It was infuriating.

I simply cannot understand this rush to clear everyone in and out, particularly because, in all three of these instances, the table was not going to be seated again. Perhaps the servers have someone they need to be, and our enjoyment of the meal takes a backseat to their late-night plans. Oh, one other memorable occasion from a couple years ago was when a server asked my date and I if we could finish up because she had some where she needed to be. The restaurant was still buzzing with activity, and it was one of the premier sushi restaurants in Boston. My jaw dropped to the table, and I refused to eat in the dining room of that restaurant again).

So, I’ve decided that I’m going in search of the best service in Boston (and any other city that I may be lucky enough to visit). While I don’t plan on slumming it in McDonald’s for this experiment, anything from pub food to fine dining will be included in my search, and I will report on the findings. However, in the spirit of trying to keep things positive, there will be no mention of any offenders, only places where the service is above reproach, as outlined below, will be noted:

1. I want food and/or drink in my hand within 5 minutes of entering the restaurant. I show up hungry and want that situation to be remedied.

2. I’d like my server to be pleasant and friendly, but obsequious fawning is unnecessary

3. We will let you know when we’ve made our selection by placing the menu on the side of the table. We have no met up our minds if we our talking animatedly while holding it.

4. Please, PLEASE allow a few minutes in between bringing the courses. I want a few minutes to digest, so bringing the entree while the staff clears the appetizer plates is too rushed.

5. This is a big one, so please pay attention – if there is food in my mouth, a fork in my hand, or less than 10 minutes has passed since you just served the food, I’M NOT DONE YET!! I’m somewhat familiar with restaurant etiquette and will place my napkin on my plate or push the plate away from me to indicate that I’ve finished. Most notably, I won’t actually still be eating, chewing on food, when you ask.

I’m looking forward to seeking out and finding the best service that Boston has to offer!

Don't be fooled.... it's not as appealing as it looks.

Congratulations Budapest, you did it!

Yes, Budapest, you bested me…. you served me something that I could not only not stomach, but had to politely, and as discreetly as possible, spit into my napkin.

Now, before I describe this offensive spread, which, along with gifelte fish, deserves its own Fear Factor episode, I will proudly state that I am not easily offended in the culinary department. I’ve watched Anthony Bourdain eat a live snakes heart and throught “Damn, I want to DO that!” There are foods I don’t care for, but very little that I can’t or won’t eat. Until this past week, the list was restricted to the aforementioned gefilte fish, but no more….

PT and I slumped into our hotel in Budapest around 10 o’clock at night – hungry, weary, and not particularly picky about our choice of dinner venue. Luckily, there was a bright, cozy, and impressive-looking bistro right next door to our hotel.

We sat down, agreed that we were quite lucky to have had this delightful restaurant so close to our hotel and were instantly impressed with the menu. After ordering appetizers and drinks, our waiter brought us some freshly baked bread and a ramekin filled with an interesting-looking spread that the waiter seemed to take a great deal of pride in and assured us was a Hungarian specialty. It was unidentifiable, but flecked with bits of bacon and parsley… so far, a winner in my book.

I spread a generous amount on a slab of bread, bit down, rolled the bite over in my mouth…. and instantly spit it out into my napkin.

“It’s bacon fat,” I choked out to PT, in between gulps of water.

“What?” he responded, and, in the mysterious ways of boys, ignored the warnings and bit down himself. “Oh God!” he exclaimed.

Yes, we were served solid bacon fat (with some very pretty flecks of parsley) to spread onto our bread, in lieu of butter. The waiter looked a bit crestfallen to see that we had barely made a dent in the generous portion he had given us and hadn’t found his country’s delicacy as delicious as he did. We tried to make amends by being overly-laudatory of our meal, which was, very delicious, but I’m not sure he fully forgave us.

Nonetheless, should you find yourself in an upscale Hungarian bistro and are served an interesting, though unfamiliar spread, best to let it alone and enjoy the bread plain.

This was my lunch of Rice Pudding and fresh raspberries on our first day in Budapest. Delicious!

As I did with our Spain trip in the Spring, I’ve posted a few of my favorite dishes from our Vienna & Budapest trip below.

One of the most special meals was at Baraka, a restaurant that Concierge.com called the best restaurant east of the old Iron Curtain. While the food was not as technically accomplished as I would have expected, the ambience was lovely, service beyond reproach, and, for such an elegant restaurant, a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, the dinner was also romantically staged outside with only candle light, so the pictures are under-exposed, but they should give you an accurate portrayal of the mood that Baraka sets.

Aside from this very special dinner, the eating and drinking in Vienna & Budapest was among some of the best and most easily come by that I have ever had while traveling. With the exception of Baraka, we did not seek out the cities’ best restaurants, but merely stumbled upon an establishment or let our Lonely Planet be the guide…. and the result was consistently excellent food with authentic regional flavors.

Below are a few recommendations, if you ever travel to Vienna or Budapest:

1. Get the Riesling… every time. I am not an oenophile, as I’ve stated before, but the Riesling was superb in every restaurant and cafe we patronized.
2. Goulash is a lot more delicious than the name suggests…. definitely try it.
3. Vienna is a city that celebrates its hot dogs, sausages, and beers – it would be insulting to go and not indulge.
4. Coffee is typically served as a dessert with all sorts of creams and confections, unless you order American coffee… it’s best to just go with the flow.
5. Neither PT nor I speak a lick of German (aside from Ich bin ein Berliner), and we ended up at a restaurant in Vienna without an English translation. We ordered blindly with very little idea of what would turn up on our plates, and were delighted. If it hasn’t already been made apparent, you can’t go wrong eating in either Vienna or Budapest.
6. Get two desserts. It’s not the most gastronomically appealing, unless you’re into eating competitions, but I really liked this picture of the butter dish from our meal at Baraka.

    

   

   This was an interesting starter at the restaurant next to our hotel in Budapest. It had Spanish flavors of chorizo (or another spicy sausage), tomatoes, and peppers, but was made decidedly Hungarian by a liberal dosing of Hungarian Paprika. Wonderful!

    

   
   My mid-day caffeine infusion in Vienna… spectacular!

    

   

   A terrible picture of the Baraka chocolate volcano, dessert #1 for the evening.

    

   

   And a slightly better picture of the Passionfruit Mousse with milk chocolate ganache, caramelized peanuts, and banana caramel – dessert #2 at Baraka!

    

   

   Seared duck breast with a spaetzel-esque savory fried dough that stole the show for PT and me.

    

   

   I needed a nap after a lunch of garlic cream soup and fried bread smothered in cream and cheese.

    

   

   Chocolate creme brulee and melty coffee ice cream – yum!

    

   

   It was so good, it deserves in encore – “iced coffee” means cold coffee mixed with ice cream and topped with a heaving helping of whipped cream and cocoa!

    

   

   Vienna exalts encased pork products – here, my lunch of hot dogs and fresh horseradish.

    

   

Trying to undo the damage with some oatmeal, fresh fruit, yogurt & honey… doesn’t taste healthy, but it is.

I know that from the looks of things, we did nothing more than eat for an entire week, but I assure you, there was ample museum-going, shopping, and excursions to make us hungry for the meals you just saw. I don’t want to bore you to death with the details, but I can’t resist adding a few pictures of Castle Hill in Buda. It was one of the loveliest spots in our trip and well worth the hike up the side of the mountain (or very large hill) to get there.

This picture does the castle no justice – it is merely a snippet that attempts to reflect the castle’s grandeur.

The view of Pest from across the Danube on Castle Hill in Buda – absolutely stunning.

As always, if you’re planning a trip to either Vienna or Budapest and are looking for restaurant or meal recommendations, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at jessica at besottedgourmet dot com.

This is what passes for a caffeine-infusion... what a wonderful city!

When PT suggested Vienna and Budapest for our latest vacation, I couldn’t sign up fast enough. Vienna has been on my list of places to go since I was eight years old and caught glimpses of the beautiful and tragic Amadeus on TV. Since that moment, Vienna has embodied for me everything that a city should be – sumptuous, brooding, refined, and cultured. My fantasy was augmented by its reputation for world-renowned music and opera, their elevation of the hot dog and sausage to high cuisine, and, of course, the coffee….

Vienna is in a class all its own when it comes to beverages. Go to any restaurant in Vienna and take a look at the menu – a full half of a 12 page menu will be dedicated to drinks of every sort – coffee, liquor, non-alcoholic beverages, any liquid concoction you could dream of, and it’s on just about every menu. For any given restaurant, the coffee options occupy their very own page, it’s amazing!

I was very pleased with my daily coffee from a lovely outdoor cafe near our hotel, but there are a couple of coffee highlights from Vienna are truly unforgettable….

In the States, when we order an iced coffee, we are accustomed to receiving brewed coffee that has been chilled and poured over ice. When I ordered iced coffee in Vienna, I was given a coffee float, sitting atop a generous mound of coffee ice cream, mit schlag (one of my favorite Viennese terms that means ‘with whipped cream’). And the thing is, everyone was drinking one of these, in the morning, in the middle of the week, and thinking nothing of it. Adults having ice cream for breakfast – what a wonderful culture!

I wasn't upset about the misunderstanding at all!

Whilst shopping in the southeastern section of the city, PT and I drove by an interesting looking store. I didn’t know what they sold (if anything), but it looked like exactly the kind of store I wanted to patronize – all dark wood and copper that oozed venerable craftsmanship. We stopped in, and it turned out to be a coffee-roasted (jackpot!). There was a man in the corner, hunched over what seemed to be a one-man conveyor belt, picking off beans of unacceptable quality and sporadically jumping up to check a batch of beans that were roasting in a fin-de-siecle-looking contraption next to him.

The equipment... something tells me this isn't what Folgers uses.

Starbucks... eat your heart out!

We spoke a little bit about the coffee that he sold, but after this brief demonstration, I didn’t need a lot of convincing to know that the coffee would be superb, and that his recommendations would be spot-on. PT & I bought 3 bags and I just tried the Indonesian Sumatra – it’s a lighter roast than I’m accustomed to, but delicious, nonetheless, with very light, fruity, perky notes. It goes perfectly with a little raspberry cake that I made a few nights ago, and a little Facebook photo uploading.

A perfect pairing with my Viennese coffee

Cheers!

When I started spending more time in airports than on my laptop… I`m writing from an internet cafe on our first full day in Vienna, getting ready to glut myself on gooey pastries and world class coffee for the next 3 days before we head off to Budapest.

It was no small feat getting here, made only slightly less small by a frustrating European airline that begins with Air and ends in France, but we are here, and already thinking that Vienna might be the dark horse of European cuisine.

Using no more than our Lonely Planet Guide to Vienna, we found a charming and convivial pub/restaurant just a short evening stroll from our apartment.

I had remarked to PT earlier in the day that this was my first time spending any significant time in a country whose language I did not have even a weak grasp – incidentally, I confused ´Bitte` and `Danke` within 10 minutes of our arrival. So, when it came time to decipher a menu without an English translation, it looked a lot less like a foodie going to dine than a round of ´Let´s Make a Deal´.

PT handily won the evening with a spectacular Goulash, featuring beef so tender that it nearly fell apart when you looked at it, and the best damn sausages that I´ve ever tasted. I tried the Tafelspitz …. A side of beef rump, also incredibly tender – so much so that it squirmed out from underneath my fork every time I went to stab it – served with a side of mashed and fried potatoes (deconstructed latkes, if you will), with sour cream and chives and the freshest, most pungent horseradish that I´ve had the good fortune to try.

We were too exhausted for dessert and retired to our room for a good 12 hours of sleep, but now we`re out and about and ready to eat some more. Stay tuned…..

Being a food writer(ish) comes with its privileges. My darling, thoughtful, and generous friend, Dez, got me a pass for Taste of the Nation in Boston a couple of weeks ago. The irony of this event is that attendees glut themselves to an extreme rarely seen outside of a Roman vomitorium in an effort to bring awareness to and alleviate childhood hunger.

Irony (and attending guilt) aside, it was a flawlessly executed event, with over 100 Boston restaurants, wineries, and food purveyors offering their fare for attendees to nibble (read: gorge) on. And, the best part is the proceeds go to Share Our Strength and combat childhood hunger.

Now, before you start to do the math in your head… non-profit + charitable event + restaurant sponsors = bland fare that tastes like leftovers, just know that every restaurant we sampled pulled out all the stops. There was an 8 foot long oyster bar from Neptune’s, choice Rosemary pate from EVOO, a mesmerizing deconstructed tiramisu from L’Espalier, and, our unanimous favorite, Truffle soup with potato foam and bee pollen from Gargoyle’s on the Square. I haven’t eaten so well since… well, probably Iceland, but this had the notable advantage of being state-side and working for the benefit of hungry children.

Neptune's Oyster Bar... PURRRRR

Just as an FYI, Taste of the Nation is not limited to Boston and holds events all over the country. Check out their schedule here to see when they’re coming to your area.

Below are a few choice photos from the event….

Smoked gouda empanada covered in Mexican chocolate sauce from Masa in the South End.

Fat, juicy, salty, and briny... just the way I like them.

Rosemary pate from EVOO, topped with Concord Grape jelly and a pickle.

Homemade sausages and pates from Sel de la Terre, my new favorite restaurant in Boston.

Our unanimous favorite - truffle soup with potato foam and bee pollen from Gargoyle's On the Square

 And for dessert…. 

Tons of cannolis….

Cupcakes….

And a deconstructed tiramisu from L’Espalier…

I can’t wait to go back next year!

I don’t want to bore you to death with details of our wonderful trip to Spain, but a web log of some of the more interesting dining experiences does seem warranted, or will at least allow me to justify the 10 pounds I packed on there.

I had studied in Spain a number of years ago, and, while excited to return, speak the language (i.e. show-off in front of PT), and re-visit a number of my favorite sites and cities, I was apprehensive about the gastronomic experience. As a poor student, I had subsisted on low-quality, hastily prepared chicken croquetas (essentially, chicken fingers with cream of chicken, instead of whole meat), tortilla espanola, and ooey-gooey pastries. The last two were quite good, but not exactly a well-rounded diet for 10 days.

However, since my stay there, Spain has undergone a culinary revolution, and is now arguably challenging France as Europe’s country of avant-garde cuisine. Led by Adrian Ferra, Spanish cities now proudly boast restaurants that I would technically deem “fancy-shmancy,” meaning that not only would it be a good idea to break out the cocktail dress and heels, but that your meal will consist of more than potatoes, egg, and olive oil, and the preparation will be inventive, eye-appealing, and delicious.

The following are a number of lush and luscious photos of some of our favorite meals and snacks from the trip. For those of you thinking about traveling to Spain, I’d be happy to furnish restaurant and cafe details for any of the photos – just e-mail me at jessica at besottedgourmet dot com or post a comment with your question, and I’ll happily respond.

Naranja Amarga

Life is short… eat dessert first. PT and I did not skimp on desserts and pastries throughout our stay, but this remains my favorite. Naranja Amarga – a rich, orange-flavored crème anglaise, baked in a tart shell, with chocolate and a candied orange piece on top. Rich, not too sweet, with an adult bite from the tangy Sevilla oranges.

Served with a glass of vino tinto, these are the perfect mid-afternoon snack.

Olives were are most-oft ordered snack. These aren’t your typical jarred cocktail accompaniment. Juicy, meaty, and full of flavor, Spanish olives are as fresh as you can get.

The fish being prepared right next to our table.

PT and I ordered a whole fish, baked in salt. Little did we know that the waiter would bring the aforementioned fish to our table for our inspection prior to cooking, and that ‘baked in salt’ literally meant buried in salt. The cooked fish was deboned and filleted next to our table, and the resulting meat was moist, light, and surprisingly unsalty, considering the 10 pounds of salt it had been cooked in.

A pastry or candy shop greets you on every corner of every Spanish city. You can watch calories later, indulge here while the profusion of excellent sweets and treats is so readily available.

White Bean Gazpacho - This may look simple, but it's had me in a tizzy ever since I took the first cool, luscious bite.

This braised ox tail was incredibly tender, rich, and flavorful.

Soft & sweet cinnamon flan and icy smooth lemon gelato

The Tasting Menu we had in Cordoba will go down as one of the best meals of my life. I’ve become obsessed with our first course of white bean gazpacho, and the intoxication only increased from there. We had eight luscious courses, culminating in the orange gelato in olive oil that I featured as an excellent dessert for entertaining.

This is as good as it looks, and the best part is, it's considered breakfast in Spain. What a great country!

The Berlinesa was our breakfast of choice for quite a few days (yes, I know, it looks like dessert, but we were on vacation!). It’s the lightest, freshest doughnut, filled with custard, and rolled in sugar. You really can’t argue with the Spanish bakers when it comes to the superiority of their pastries – they are in a class all their own.

Everything but the kitchen sink in a spicy, garlicky broth.

Sopa Espanola is a classic Spanish dish in the tradition of the French cassoulet and Italian Minestrone – essentially, a dish without a set recipe that can contain any number of variations of meats and vegetables that are in season or otherwise readily available. This version included chorizo, ham, carrots, garbanzo beans, grean beans, and potatoes in a spicy, rich tomato, garlic broth.

Tender, juicy suckling pig.

This hunk o’ meat is suckling pig, served at the oldest known restaurant, and one of Hemingway’s favorite haunts.

Last, but not least, PT and I found the best bakery cafe in Sevilla and visited them daily. The desserts were out-of-this-world… just beyond beautiful to look at and better to eat. We enjoyed this pomegranate topped orange-soaked poundcake after a delicious meal.

A brief guide to getting a great value when dining out.

Bostonians have an odd sense of fiscal responsibility. It’s a schizophrenic sort of frugality, where we ruthlessly seek out bargains for the mundane, but spend lavishly on those items deemed worthy.

For example, my dear friend LN will think nothing of topping off a delicious Sunday brunch with a new Milly dress, yet she still tries to use her student ID (from 2004) to get $1 off at her yoga studio, and is indignant if her attempts are thwarted.

In other words, as individuals we determine which items are a worthy luxury and spend freely on them, and everything else is subject to relentless bargain-hunting.

Not surprisingly, food is the luxury item on which I will spend indiscriminately, but that does not mean that my value-radar is turned off. I demand the best experience and meal from the restaurants that I patronize and have found a few tricks for getting the most out of the money spent on a night out at dinner.

Order a dish in keeping with the restaurant’s genre.

Why on earth would you go to an Italian restaurant to order a steak? Go to a steak house.

If you’re in an Italian restaurant, order the pasta or a very traditional Italian dish; this is not the time to decide that you’re in the mood for steak. If you’re in the mood for steak, go to a steak house. It seems like common sense (because it is), but you’d be surprised how often people flout this very simple rule. This is not to suggest that your non-specialty meal will disappoint, simply that, like any other business, a restaurant has focused its resources on its core competency, and will perform better in this area than in others.

Ask your parents (or elderly neighbors) for recommendations.

I’m only half-kidding on this one. Look for restaurants that have been around 10+ years, rather than the trendy, of-the-moment haunt. They may not be the place to see-and-be-seen, but the food will likely be spectacular.

There’s a reason why the older generation is still around, and that’s because many people liked the food well enough to come back again and again, which is, at the end of the day, the most telling sign of a restaurant’s quality. In thinking about Boston’s best restaurants – L’Espalier (est. 1978), Icarus (est. 1978), Mistral (est. 1997), Hungry I (est. 1981) – one can’t help but notice that they have an “Old Guard” feel, which is notable in a city not given to rapid metamorphoses. The clientele will certainly be older, but you will likely get a superior dining experience for the money.

Order what could not be easily done at home

I worked in an Italian restaurant a few years ago and was amazed to see the speed with which our very basic chicken parmesan sold. This was a mid-priced restaurant that considered itself quite elegant, and the clientele in this well-to-do suburb of Boston also considered itself quite elegant, which made both parties’ selection of a basic chicken parmesan disappointing and neither was getting its money’s worth from this dish.

I estimate that I will pay 3-6X what it would cost to make at home for an entrée in a good Boston restaurant. For this mark up, I’m looking for more than someone to do the cleaning up. Any one or combination of the following signifies a good value:

Not impossible or inadvisable to get at home, but expensive and rare items like morel mushrooms are a better value than your run-of-the-mill ingredients.

Hard to find or interesting ingredients – I am not likely to pick up foie gras, black or white truffles, sushi grade tuna, or Colorado rack of lamb for a dinner to be made at home; nor am I likely to buy the profundity of ingredients that maximizing the flavor of these items would require. Compliment the restaurant on its excellent and exotic taste by ordering a meal comprised of ingredients that you would not readily have in your home cupboard.

Cooking techniques that I could not easily or successfully complete at home – I can make a good steak, but not like they do in a steak house, and happily leave this task in their capable hands.

Interesting pairings – I silently applaud an inventive chef when I see something truly original on a menu, and will encourage such creativity by ordering it. While I can manage to replicate a lobster macaroni recipe, I am not a master of restaurant menu re-creation, and consider it money well spent to let an expert execute an intricate and intense pairing.

Generally, chicken dishes are considered of low value for the patron – if your hankering for poultry is unsquashable, opt for a more exotic option like squab, Cornish game hen, or duck.

A pan-roasted chicken can easily be done at home and doesn't take advantage of a chef's talents.

At the end of the day, dining out is about the experience – if it was an enjoyable one, it was well worth the money, if it wasn’t, no amount of comped drinks and desserts will undo the damage.

I’d love to hear about restaurants that you find to be the best value, whether they’re in Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, London, or New York.