possible bite for your buck, dining out can be intimidating. How can you guarantee a good meal, considering
the wide array of menu items available? Fortunately, professional chefs love to gossip
about the restaurant industry, offering up handy "Do's and Don'ts" for puzzled diners. Here are a few restaurant foods you should
steer clear of, according to the pros. Truffles and caviar If you tend to enjoy the finer things in life,
you may be better off savoring them at home.
Luxury food items have a higher markup and
are almost never worth the extra cost. Chef Tim Carey told Salon: "I avoid high-end ingredients like white truffles
and caviar, because as a chef, I can get them wholesale for much cheaper. However, for guests, they may find that these
ingredients are less costly outside of a restaurant at retail stores." So if you love this high-end fare and simply
have to have it, source it yourself and eat it at home. The markup just isn't worth it.
Cheap salads Another item not worth ordering, but for the
opposite reason, is the simple wedge salad. Chefs don't bother wasting a good night out
ordering something they could easily and cheaply prepare at home. We talked with celebrity chef Ariane Resnick,
and she said "You're literally paying over ten dollars
for a chunk of iceberg lettuce, often with prefab commercial dressing." If you love a big salad for dinner, order
one with a bit more imagination and quality ingredients worth the markup. Or stay home and eat all the wedge salad your
heart desires.
Chef Kayson Chong told Reader's Digest it's
best to also skip the house salad. "I prefer to have something special that a
chef created with seasonal products and interesting combinations. I like experiencing new and exciting things
to eat when I go to other restaurants, not something I can find easily anywhere." Valentine's day menus For many couples, Valentine's Day dinner is
a pretty big deal. You have to make a reservation weeks ahead
of time, and if you happen to forget until the day before, don't even bother trying.
The irony is that Valentine's Day is actually
the worst time to try out a new restaurant. The preset Valentine's menu is never a good
move, and chefs avoid it. Gordon Ramsay told Town & Country: "Valentine's day is the worst day of the year
to go out. Busy kitchens with tons of diners means you
don't get the true feeling of the restaurant.
You should be cooking on Valentine's. What's more romantic than a meal cooked for
your partner with a good bottle of wine?" "I just want to kiss my wife." "Awwww." Substitutions Unless you're allergic to a specific ingredient,
one chef says it's best to never ask for substitutions, especially at a high-end restaurant. Chef Christopher Faulkner told Delish: "Unless you are allergic to something, never
sub-out one ingredient for another on a composed dish. In a trusted restaurant, the chef knows what
he is doing, and a great marriage has been pre-arranged." Chicken Parmesan Chef Ryan Ososky told Reader's Digest he steers
clear of chicken while dining out because it's typically overcooked.
Chef Phil Pretty, however, doesn't mind ordering
chicken in restaurants, as long as it is not Chicken Parmesan. He told Salon: "I would never, ever order Chicken Parmesan. It's always frozen before cooked and tastes
like a gross version of chicken nuggets." Anything, if the bathrooms are filthy If you're trying out a new restaurant, don't
be afraid to check out the bathroom before ordering. According to Anthony Bourdain, if the bathroom
looks bad, the kitchen probably looks worse.
He noted in his book Kitchen Confidential: "I won't eat in a restaurant with filthy bathrooms. This isn't a hard call. They let you see the bathrooms. If the restaurant can't be bothered to replace
the puck in the urinal or keep the toilets and floors clean, then just imagine what their
refrigeration and work spaces look like." "Oooh.
Not good." Thanks for watching! Click the Mashed icon to subscribe to our
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