Dinner Was Too Slow
We had a meal recently that went too long. I wont tell you where because it isn’t about that. It was interesting for my brain to contemplate the idea that even amazing slow food can actually be too slow.
Eventually at about 8:00 pm, we got the appetizer which was an absolutely gorgeous single scallop. But it wasn’t enough. We were hungry for too long. More bread? No, we really should try to hold out for the food. There was a smoked trout course that was very nice with roasted tomato, eggplant, and peppers that were out of this world. There was another course that was a white fish that was yummy. Then came the veal ribs that were served rare and were gorgeous. They were served with Jerusalem artichoke paste and crispy artichoke. Magnificent. The meal finished smoked chocolate and meringue and dessert was an apple tart with crispy caramel ice cream. Delicious.
The meal was great. I couldn’t fault a bit of the food. But overall it didn’t feel good. We left about 11:30 so we had been there about 5 hours. We were a table of 6 and it was fun to be with our friends but this meal pushed the limits of casual conversation. First of all, it is difficult to have fun when you are ready to eat your table-mate’s right arm. It is also hard to be “stuck” for that long. It was interesting to find this limit for me. It was completely unexpected. I really thought a dinner couldn’t go on too long for me. Now I know. It is also phenomenally interesting to me to consider this effect of timing on pleasure. It was just too long to be pleasantly hungry. The lateness of the food service made us try too hard to be “good sports” and we were fatigued by our effort.
Now, to be fair, this was a culinary school so it was a learning environment.
Not sure what the moral of the story is, but I may start carrying a snack in my purse. Although that would have been awkward too. Maybe sometimes it is just a struggle to have a good time. Even despite the best of efforts, even the perfect meal can be imperfect.
As a side note, I was so off-kilter and hungry I forgot to take pictures. Too bad!
