Just a jumped-up pantry boy...
Ah, the soulless restaurant.
I'm sure you know the type. Just to erase any possible confusion, let me explain.
To me, a soulless restaurant serves dishes that are unexciting, unimaginative, and inoffensive. However, due to some pretty packaging, location on prime real estate, and other trappings of perceived value for those who know no better, they seem to be the real deal. For people who have more money than sense, these places are a dream; they don't challenge, and they're only too happy to part you from too much money for too bland and unexciting a meal.
As an example: these are the sorts of places that will also not blink an eye at serving you a "Kobe burger" when there's no possible way what they're serving you is genuine Kobe beef. For one, you aren't going to get a half-pound Kobe beef burger at $14.95 anywhere---here or Japan. For two, it isn't really Kobe beef if it hasn't come from Kobe. The beef you're getting here is not, I assure you. It's entirely likely the beef in question came from American-raised Wagyu cattle, which is the same breed of cattle which produces proper Kobe beef---when raised according to a strict set of rules and diet, in Japan. In the case of the American "Kobe," if this weren't an obvious case of parting fools from their money, they'd let you know where your meat is truly coming from. However, they consider that you, their patron, are too dumb to know any better, and therefore what you don't know won't hurt you.
It's entirely possible they're right, too. I'd like to think such cynicism doesn't have a place in a restaurant, but as long as people patronise mediocrity and pay too much for it, people will be happy to take your money for that mediocrity you so desire. As long as you're happy with the arrangement, there is a perception that no one gets hurt.
What is maddening to me in such situations is the perception that greater expense automatically equals greater value. Those shoes cost $400? They must be the best shoes ever! It's one thing if the technology inherent in those shoes is actually useful enough and worthwhile enough that $400 is justifiable. A lot of the time, this isn't the case. You're simply paying for brand recognition, and you, my friend, are a chump. Get off the train now. You're only dragging the rest of us down, and the same goes with food. Food will only be as challenging as you make it; it isn't just up to those who prepare your food. You, as a patron, have that responsibility.
You, as a patron, also have a right to not be looked down upon by disgruntled waitstaff who go out of their way to make you feel less of a person because you didn't grow up eating their lobster tails all your life. Such behaviour is unwarranted and only shows your waiter is a small-minded jerk. You should be kind and let him know this after you're sure he'll be having no further contact with your food. If you're feeling particularly generous, you might also let him know that unless they're cooking dead lobsters back in the kitchen, it's really rather difficult to screw lobster up, as when it's to be served in traditional American fashion, it's relatively easy to prepare. Therefore, if your lobster tastes good, thank the lobster and the purveyor. The kitchen of your establishment may be deserving of your thanks as well for choosing a quality purveyor and doing quality control inventory when receiving their stock. They may also of course deserve credit for cooking the thing properly, even though it shouldn't be terribly difficult. (You did, after all, choose to go to a restaurant at least in part because for whatever reason, you didn't wish to cook yourself at that time.) The waitstaff member who brought your lobster to you may be deserving of thanks for bringing you your food in a timely and careful manner. However, if they treat you like a jerk? All that goes right out the window, and that member of waitstaff is last in the chain. If that person's doing front-of-house duties, it is their JOB to be personable If you have done nothing to provoke this sort of behaviour from that member of waitstaff, that person is not doing their job. It is no reflection on you, except if you choose to accept such behaviour unquestioningly. If you do, you deserve to eat there.
I'm sure you know the type. Just to erase any possible confusion, let me explain.
To me, a soulless restaurant serves dishes that are unexciting, unimaginative, and inoffensive. However, due to some pretty packaging, location on prime real estate, and other trappings of perceived value for those who know no better, they seem to be the real deal. For people who have more money than sense, these places are a dream; they don't challenge, and they're only too happy to part you from too much money for too bland and unexciting a meal.
As an example: these are the sorts of places that will also not blink an eye at serving you a "Kobe burger" when there's no possible way what they're serving you is genuine Kobe beef. For one, you aren't going to get a half-pound Kobe beef burger at $14.95 anywhere---here or Japan. For two, it isn't really Kobe beef if it hasn't come from Kobe. The beef you're getting here is not, I assure you. It's entirely likely the beef in question came from American-raised Wagyu cattle, which is the same breed of cattle which produces proper Kobe beef---when raised according to a strict set of rules and diet, in Japan. In the case of the American "Kobe," if this weren't an obvious case of parting fools from their money, they'd let you know where your meat is truly coming from. However, they consider that you, their patron, are too dumb to know any better, and therefore what you don't know won't hurt you.
It's entirely possible they're right, too. I'd like to think such cynicism doesn't have a place in a restaurant, but as long as people patronise mediocrity and pay too much for it, people will be happy to take your money for that mediocrity you so desire. As long as you're happy with the arrangement, there is a perception that no one gets hurt.
What is maddening to me in such situations is the perception that greater expense automatically equals greater value. Those shoes cost $400? They must be the best shoes ever! It's one thing if the technology inherent in those shoes is actually useful enough and worthwhile enough that $400 is justifiable. A lot of the time, this isn't the case. You're simply paying for brand recognition, and you, my friend, are a chump. Get off the train now. You're only dragging the rest of us down, and the same goes with food. Food will only be as challenging as you make it; it isn't just up to those who prepare your food. You, as a patron, have that responsibility.
You, as a patron, also have a right to not be looked down upon by disgruntled waitstaff who go out of their way to make you feel less of a person because you didn't grow up eating their lobster tails all your life. Such behaviour is unwarranted and only shows your waiter is a small-minded jerk. You should be kind and let him know this after you're sure he'll be having no further contact with your food. If you're feeling particularly generous, you might also let him know that unless they're cooking dead lobsters back in the kitchen, it's really rather difficult to screw lobster up, as when it's to be served in traditional American fashion, it's relatively easy to prepare. Therefore, if your lobster tastes good, thank the lobster and the purveyor. The kitchen of your establishment may be deserving of your thanks as well for choosing a quality purveyor and doing quality control inventory when receiving their stock. They may also of course deserve credit for cooking the thing properly, even though it shouldn't be terribly difficult. (You did, after all, choose to go to a restaurant at least in part because for whatever reason, you didn't wish to cook yourself at that time.) The waitstaff member who brought your lobster to you may be deserving of thanks for bringing you your food in a timely and careful manner. However, if they treat you like a jerk? All that goes right out the window, and that member of waitstaff is last in the chain. If that person's doing front-of-house duties, it is their JOB to be personable If you have done nothing to provoke this sort of behaviour from that member of waitstaff, that person is not doing their job. It is no reflection on you, except if you choose to accept such behaviour unquestioningly. If you do, you deserve to eat there.