We read a lot of material these days concerning the totality of the guest's experience going far past the actual food on the plate. Anything from wafting aromas, to uniform colors, to unusual interaction and instruction, unexpected stimuli, and imposed free will can be used to influence the dining experience. While this is largely true, but ignored by most to an extent (like an artist focusing on the architecture of the studio as much as the painting itself) the benefits are there if one chooses to employ them. Tableside has gone through some interesting phases over the last century. We often use some degrees of plate finishing in front of the guest and simple conversation and explanation during Paradigm dinners. This is a great buffer. The structure and size of the dinners allows us to do this, and it has become expected. It would be interesting to do an experiment of offering equal dishes to 2 different tables to be rated... one simply served with brief interaction or menu name and the other with the chef going into detail about his inspiration, the techniques, or even stories about the product sources or utilizing some 'smoke and mirrors' hocus pocus to enhance the experience. What would the difference in ratings be?
Try not to cringe at the following photos...
We went 'betty crocker' recently with a ham component for a dish. A petite heritage ham from D'Artagnan was prepped and baked to look like a picture from the 1955 version of the popular cookbook of the era.
Mini canned pineapple rings and cherries studded across a scored ham glazed in mustard, soda, and fruit juices. We carried it into the room on a small Boos block and sliced it for the guests. Although the dish was simple and by no means anything to write home about, it garnered some of the best feedback of the night. The ham itself wasn't even that great, and not much better than one from Publix. The only gleam of greatness it touched upon was later ending up in some Cuban-style black beans and a Peruvian chaufa arroz. Why the warm response to it? Is this the short stick that we have drawn? Are we locked into this now that we've opened the box?
Betty Crocker... you smooth talker.