The Culinary critic.

Food, for me is one of life’s greatest joys. The sights, smells, and tastes that one can only find brewing out of someone’s kitchen are unrivalled with anything on this planet. Food is a celebration of ingredients culminating together to form an explosion of flavours in your mouth. Personally I feel that the whole notion of food is so much more than sustenance one puts on their plate in a an obligatory manner to survive. Food is a celebration of all that is pure and each meal should be acknowledged as a unique dining experience.

One thing I have noticed, in a number of restaurants that I have eaten at; is that these establishments are either too worried about the food they are going to serve, or they are stressed about all the bells and whistles that go along with restaurants i.e. the setting, lighting etc.  They neglect to find a happy medium between the two and thus fail to provide their customers with a truly unique culinary experience. Over the years I have attended hundreds of restaurants, some good, some not so much. What makes a good restaurant you ask? Don’t mind if I answer.

A good restaurant is somewhere that is warm and welcoming to people, Regardless of the area in which a restaurant is set there should always be an atmosphere that is happy and pleasant to be a part of. Customers should feel safe, and relaxed when eating in a restaurant. A good restaurant should boast a unique and current menu that is appealing to their respective customers. In saying that, I can’t help but feel that so many restaurant owners are obsessed with modern, trendy cuisine that they forget about what people actually want to eat. Each cook should cook to their strengths, if frying a steak is as creative as your chef gets, then fry the living daylights out of that steak and make sure it’s the best dam steak in town. Do this, as opposed to forcing a slightly incompetent chef into adapting to a menu which he/she is not comfortable with just to make your restaurant ‘current’ and ‘trendy’. My point is: stick to what you do best and adapt those dishes to make something slightly more modern, as opposed to producing food which is below par. So many restaurants are too ambitious, and expect too much from their cooking staff. Keep it simple people, less is more.

Service and staff are massive ‘make or break’ factors when it comes to restaurants. There a few things worse than a waiter who takes forever to serve you, or a manger that is rude and unfriendly. In the restaurant world the over used but very appropriate “a smile goes a long way” cliché couldn’t be more appropriate. How can one expect your customers to be happy and satisfied when your waiters and waitresses are not?  Personally, I find the setting of a restaurant can be crucial in its respective successes. Many customers, (families in particular) often flock to restaurants that serve mediocre food, simply because of the fact that they are dining in a beautiful setting. In my mind a restaurant that is able to combine all these factors, would be a restaurant worth dining at. You need to find a balance between modern/trendy foods and homey, well-cooked delights. A little bit of everything goes a long way, balance is essential.

I suppose you are wondering about my bizarre obsession with restaurants? Allow me to explain myself. Over the next few weeks I will be reviewing a restaurant a week. Each restaurant will be somewhere new and hopefully exciting. Watch this space for a fresh, new insight into the happenings of restaurants in South Africa. Enjoy.