Dining Out – More is more – a New York Tradition
Among the many things that make dining out in the city an event rather than just dinner is the fact that the “dining out” is the event.It is a feast. There is more on the plate than we really can or should eat. Even in upscale restaurants, where there portions are more modest, the quantity – if one follows all the courses – is more than enough to fill the average belly.Yet we want the plates to not only look full but be full, or we don’t feel that we are getting out money’s worth. Money’s worth…
Interesting Factoid: Americans spend on average less than 10% of their income on food. The Japanese spend 20%.In much of the world, the poor spend 70%.
New York Lore
Long ago, when the Big Apple was known as the Big Oyster, dining out was not so different than it is now, from the bounteous point of view. New York harbor produced oysters in quantity and quality seen nowhere else.All-you-can-eat oyster cellars peppered the old downtown. There was a lot of whatever was on hand. And then there arrived the huge and gaudy catering halls that put out feasts capable of making even Henry the Eighth blush. It is also worth noting that only women of spurious reputation dined unescorted by a gentleman, except in a “ladies-only” eatery.
While the trend in haute cuisine has long been on the trajectory of less rather than more, New York thumbs its nose at this notion. More, apparently, is more. Witness Il Postino, where entire racks of animals are brought to the table, or even a typical diner’s Hamburger Deluxe.
One of the things that Europeans have always remarked upon after arriving in America is not just the portion sizes, which are impressive, but rather the sheer volume and variety available to us. Those poor starving Puritans who back home had insisted on white bread and meat soon learned that in America, there was a huge feast waiting for them. What a puzzling predicament they found themselves in – ascetics in the land of plenty.
Interesting Factoid:The average person needs between 1500 and 2200 calories per day to maintain body weight and activity levels. But Americans, if they eat three typical meals consisting of value added foods (pre-packaged, processed items) and soft drinks, they have at hand approximately 3800- 5000 calories.The fewer fresh vegetables in the diet, the greater number of calories from fats and sugars.
New York Lore
At one time, pickled oyster from New York harbor were shipped to the Caribbean as food for the salves who worked the sugar cane plantations. Free blacks in New York were often professional oystermen. After a time, there were no more oysters in New York Harbor, and the Big Oyster became the Big Apple.
One of my Swiss friends, Sascha, decided to come visit me one winter. He had never been here and was excited to get a taste of the city. Late one night, after we had visited a few East Village and Meatpacking bars, he announced that he was starving.
“I want to experience 24 hour food,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I hear that in the States, food is served 24 hours a day. In real restaurants.
What could I say? It’s true. Commerce stops for no one. It was three AM and he wanted to eat a bona fide meal. So I took him to what was then the Bendix Diner in Chelsea.
In addition to the lovely transvestite server dressed like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Sascha was impressed by the concept and quantity of the Meat Loaf Platter. It was, in his opinion, fit for a king. He ate all of it.The next day he told me, “If I lived here, I would so fat.”
While it is fun to go out once in a while and eat until you feel like a coma is coming on, it is a bad habit that we here have formed. But what can we do? Everyone tells us that we want it.
It’s not necessarily that we are gluttons. But we do have much food on hand. We waste more food than many other human beings consume. It’s not that we don’t care. It’s that we have always had such abundance on hand. This is a fecund country, a vast continent chock-full of good things to eat.
New York is especially lucky – fish, meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables and game thrive here. The next time you are at Murray’s or are ordering something from FreshDirect.com, check out the local products. You will find that amazing abundance so often remarked upon.
Interesting Factoid: New York state has several wine making regions – the Finger Lakes (Rieslings from Seneca and Cayuga lakes), Long Island (Cabernets) and the up-and-coming Hudson Valley The vintners in the Finger Lakes have been working for nigh five decades to nurture vines in this sometimes challenging environment. There’s nothing like a late frost to ruin your vintage.
New York Lore:Since the first huge catering halls opened up in New York, the art of dining has been an urban obsession. Opulence, decadence, affluence and exclusivity have always been attached to the act of going out on the town, and out on the town has always meant dinner at an exclusive hot spot. What was once Delmonico’s is now Per Se; what was once an oyster cellar is a sushi bar, what was one a food cart – well, even after all these years, still a food cart.
Maintain that tradition and glam it up and go out on the town in style. Get dressed up. Make it an evening. Order something scrumptious and leave the guilt at the door.