andrew

andrew knowlton. restaurant editor of bon appetit mag recently doled out a few restaurant tips. a few were interesting. informed consumers get better meals. here’s how:

• the not so special, special. the ingredients used in the special may not be very fresh. “specials” are items the kitchen needs to move. keep away from chowders, stews or sauces. steer clear of shellfish specials.

• icky seafood. dont buy or order tiger shrimp. these are imported from thailand & vietnam. grown in nasty water pools and they eat their own feces.

• contaminated kitchens. get a vibe when you go into the restaurant. if the tables are dirty or the staff is dirty, that is a bad sign, move on. same goes for the bathroom; if it’s clean, the kitchen probably is too.

• restaurant menu markups. items in a box. menu items that have a box drawn around them is a restaurant trick to draw your eye to a more expensive item. another restaurant trick: menu items placed at the top right of a menu. these are menu items that restaurants want you to order. the eye naturally goes to the top right of the menu and restaurants know that.

• words like “signature”, “encrusted” or “fine” are there to lure you to order a more expensive item.

• wine: when it comes to wine, the 2nd cheapest wine is the wine you want to avoid. restaurants know you don’t want to appear cheap, so they will mark the cheapest quality wine 2nd to the cheapest and mark up the price of that wine. fact; you may not be getting a better quality of wine than the wine the restaurant has listed as the cheapest on the wine menu. you probably are getting the cheapest quality wine by ordering the 2nd cheapest. got it? good.

watch a video to see what Andrew predicts as the 2010 food trends:
meatballs
cuisine of the year: new austrian foods to go with artisanal beer
ingredient of the year: sriracha 

party food: vegetarian
dessert of the year: homey comfort