The Restaurant Review

Consider the experience of eating out --whether it's a fine restaurant, a food cart, a fast food joint. The key word here is experience. Eating out isn't just about the food, it's about the atmosphere, the other diners, the smells, the location, the service, the accoutrements. How easy is it to get there? How was the wait?

The point is, everything about dining out--from the first moment you consider a possible place to the actual meal--engages the five senses on some level.

Some tips:

1) Pay close attention. Seems obvious right? It's not so easy. Take the time to ask yourself: What am I seeing? What am I smelling? How does this makes me feel right now? Remember our first class? How many people missed the sweeping, gothic stairway into the main lobby of the Woolworth Building?

2) Take copious notes, if appropriate and not disturbing to other diners, take a photo of the food to remember later. In this age of smart phone cameras and food obsessed social media, this will hardly be cause for eyebrow raising.

3) Ask questions. If you want to know how something is prepared--ask. If the menu doesn't tell you enough, ask. And speaking of the menu--look at it critically. Does it do it's job? Is it appealing? is it confusing?

4) Eating with others? Ask their opinions too. Is there a quorum on how something looks, tastes, feels?

Please post your 300 word review of Northern Spy Food Company here prior to our last class on July 26th.  Please comment on one another's reviews as well.

Thanks

Ramin