Category Archives: General remarks

Sound makes your food taste different

Posted on 2015/11/09 by .

In a live demonstration conducted in 2006 with the celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, Spence found that when people were served a scoop of bacon-and-egg ice cream accompanied by the sound of sizzling bacon they described the taste of the ice … Continue reading →

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Is food the new music? (sentences to ponder)

Posted on 2015/08/23 by .

Jiro Dreams of Sushi Official Trailer Food has replaced music at the heart of the cultural conversation for so many, and I wonder if it’s because food and dining still offer true scarcity whereas music is so freely available everywhere … Continue reading →

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If you could know only one thing about a city’s food scene…

Posted on 2015/08/13 by .

No, it is not knowledge of the city’s best dish, nor is it access to all the Yelp reviews, or even an understanding of how the spices in that cuisine work together. I have a simple nomination. If you could … Continue reading →

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Rachel Laudan is wise about food

Posted on 2015/05/31 by ,

The still-underrated Todd Kliman interviews her: I’ve been given special powers, and I appoint you czar (funny, isn’t it, how we have so many appointed czars in this unaristocratic country) of food in the US. What is your first order … Continue reading →

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Is Scarborough, Ontario the dining capital of the world?

Posted on 2015/03/14 by .

Wednesday night I was taken on a restaurant tour of Scarborough — four different places — plus rolls from a Sri Lankan locale, consumed in the office of the Dean of UT Scarborough and with the assistance of Peter Loewen. … Continue reading →

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Why I don’t like desserts

Posted on 2015/02/09 by .

I’ve been challenged on this point many times in the last few days. People, let me stress there are two different propositions: 1. “I don’t like desserts.” 2. “I don’t like desserts (with economist’s hat on).” I meant mainly the … Continue reading →

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Are desserts in decline?

Posted on 2015/02/06 by .

I hope so. Todd Kliman writes: The problem is that restaurateurs are unwilling to charge more than $30 an entrée. That number has held steady for years, the Maginot Line of the industry. Forced to look elsewhere, they’ve sought to … Continue reading →

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Solo dining markets in everything

Posted on 2014/11/15 by .

A new pop-up restaurant in Amsterdam, which bills itself as the world’s first for solo eaters, aims to remove the social stigma of forking dinner without a companion. In fact, there isn’t a two-top in the joint. …”The taste of … Continue reading →

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Should a restaurant require prepayment for meals?

Posted on 2014/09/16 by .

This I found in a Quora forum on prepaid meals in China: We’ve actually experimented with prepaid vs postpaid meals in our restaurant. The verdict? Upfront payment increased table turnover by over 80%. The difference is that customers who haven’t … Continue reading →

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How has the restaurant experience changed in the last ten years?

Posted on 2014/07/13 by .

This is from a New York Craigslist post, from a restaurant owner who apparently viewed tapes of customers from 2004 and 2014, here is part of his account of the more recent behavior: 2014 Customers walk in. Customers get seated … Continue reading →

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