Restaurant pairings

[rjwong]

I've been planning my next culinary vacation for a while and because there are so many restaurants I want to try, deciding which restaurants to go to is not easy.

As a result, I was thinking about eating two meals, one right after the other, in one night. This is different from going to have dinner at one restaurant then head on over to another place for drinks, apps or dessert. I'm talking about eating two full meals (apps, entree, dessert ... or tasting menu).

First, I was thinking, "Isn't this a bit suicidal?" I know that there are so many restaurants and so little time, but this little piggie wants to enjoy himself in the process.

Second, I remember doing this before. In Las Vegas, dinner #1 was at Bradley Ogden in Caesar's, followed by dinner #2 at B&B Ristorante in the Venetian. During a Northern California trip, dinner #1 was at the General's Daughter in Sonoma. Afterwards, I drove over an hour to have dinner#2 at Cyrus. I've eaten two meals in one evening before, perhaps I can do it again, right?

For my vacation in Nov., I'm scheduling two nights of restaurant pairings. One night will be two different Italian places. I'm working on the other night.

Has anyone else ate their way like this? What were the restaurants involved? Similiar cuisine, like all-Italian or all-Japanese? Were the meals the usual 3 courses or the multi-course tasting menu? Was location a factor? How much planning did you do? Or was it more spontaneous?

[Carolyn Tillie]

Russell, you are a man among men.... I know of no one else who has the stamina and fortitude to do this sort of thing (okay, maybe Tupac17616!)

[LPShanet]

I've been planning my next culinary vacation for a while and because there are so many restaurants I want to try, deciding which restaurants to go to is not easy.

As a result, I was thinking about eating two meals, one right after the other, in one night. This is different from going to have dinner at one restaurant then head on over to another place for drinks, apps or dessert. I'm talking about eating two full meals (apps, entree, dessert ... or tasting menu).

First, I was thinking, "Isn't this a bit suicidal?" I know that there are so many restaurants and so little time, but this little piggie wants to enjoy himself in the process. 

Second, I remember doing this before. In Las Vegas, dinner #1 was at Bradley Ogden in Caesar's, followed by dinner #2 at B&B Ristorante in the Venetian. During a Northern California trip, dinner #1 was at the General's Daughter in Sonoma. Afterwards, I drove over an hour to have dinner#2 at Cyrus. I've eaten two meals in one evening before, perhaps I can do it again, right?

For my vacation in Nov., I'm scheduling two nights of restaurant pairings. One night will be two different Italian places. I'm working on the other night.

Has anyone else ate their way like this? What were the restaurants involved? Similiar cuisine, like all-Italian or all-Japanese? Were the meals the usual 3 courses or the multi-course tasting menu? Was location a factor? How much planning did you do? Or was it more spontaneous?

←

I did the very same thing last night. In that case it was Japanese. I also did a bit of this in Spain, though in some cases the first dinner was a tapas crawl. I'd say the main factor is trying to get enough time between the two so that you can digest, and not doing the tasting menu at the first one. Also, meal pacing plays a big part...if the courses come too far apart, you get full quicker.

[docsconz]

I would not be too judgmental on either meal after the fact, especially the second, which is bound to be less satisfying than it otherwise would have been. Good luck!

[jgm]

I think it would be helpful, also, to watch how much you're eating of each portion. You won't enjoy the second meal much if you're still pretty full from the first one. I think my first meal would consist of 1/2 to 2/3 portions.

[onocoffee]

I've done that. One of my close friends is a chef and our trips to New York are always an eating frenzy. A rush to sample and taste the cuisines of different restaurants.

In January, we did the full tasting menu at WD-50 at 6pm, then went to P*Ong for a couple of courses and ended the night at Momofuku Ssam Bar for another four courses plus soft serve ice cream.

I laid in bed on the verge of misery til about 4am.

Our next trip in April had us eat another early dinner at The Oyster Bar, then a couple of light dishes at Cendrillon and then the full tasting menu at Eleven Madison Park. That one we timed a little bit better and I didn't suffer like the January trip.

The logic behind these tasting evenings is unique. If we consider that normal people would eat one meal a night then our romps would have taken six nights. At over $200 a night for hotels, the financial investment would be considerable. This way, we taste a variety of approaches and save money in the process.

At least the logic works for us!

[emilyr]

I've never purposely done this, but I think if I did (I mean, when I will ) I would tend to go for 2 different ethnicities/genres of cooking. I'd be kinda worried about comparing the two Italian meals, but eating, say, BBQ early and Japanese later or Thai first then Italian would be great.

[hathor]

Russell, you are a man among men.... I know of no one else who has the stamina and fortitude to do this sort of thing (okay, maybe Tupac17616!)

←

Carolyn, you nailed it....Tupac is a force to be reckoned with! And skinny to boot....life can be so unfair.

[rjwong]

Russell, you are a man among men.... I know of no one else who has the stamina and fortitude to do this sort of thing (okay, maybe Tupac17616!)

←

Carolyn, you forgot the word idiocy audacity.

At fortysomething, I don't eat as much as I used to and I'm not young and svelte like some others (okay, I've never been svelte). So, that's why I'm planning this carefully by timing the two meals far enough apart so I can digest in between meals.

Besides, it'll be good preparation for all those holiday dinners with family and friends.

[markk]

Russell, you are a man among men.... I know of no one else who has the stamina and fortitude to do this sort of thing (okay, maybe Tupac17616!)

←

Carolyn, you forgot the word idiocy audacity.

At fortysomething, I don't eat as much as I used to and I'm not young and svelte like some others (okay, I've never been svelte). So, that's why I'm planning this carefully by timing the two meals far enough apart so I can digest in between meals.

Besides, it'll be good preparation for all those holiday dinners with family and friends.

←

I've never done it, though I'm sure I could, and now that you mention timing the two meals far enough apart like that, it makes perfect sense to me. (I'll have to try that sometime.)

[pastrygirl]

What about lunch? Gotta have a nice 3 or 4 course lunch in there somewhere. I tend to burnout on fine dining after 4 or 5 days of fancy lunch and dinner, but if you're only going for a few days, might as well cram it in!

[Fat Guy]

Two dinners is a common practice among food journalists who focus on dining. If you're traveling to a city and you have only limited time to get a good overview of the restaurants in that town you have little choice but to double (or triple) up.

I used to have the physical capacity to do this sort of thing with little forethought: no heartburn or other discomfort, no need to limit consumption, and near-complete disregard for pacing. Now as I near 40 I can't just shovel two big meals (or even one) down my throat and expect to have a decent night's sleep afterward.

Current strategy is: 1-Make the first reservation at the earliest possible moment (even if that's 5pm) and the second reservation late (after 9pm). 2-Avoid (or only taste) bread and any other non-essential extras. 3-Only eat about half what's on your plate and only taste desserts. 4-Order lighter fare (no short ribs unless they're the signature dish, in which case eat only part). 5-No wine, or just a glass. 6-Skip breakfast.

[Jeebus]

We did this a few years back on a trip to Chicago. We had 2 1/2 days to dine on the company ticket. The first night we went to one of the big steak houses whose name escapes me and then Topobolompo (sp), the second night Avenues and Tru for the full tasting menu and the third nght we just hit Trotters. It was a great time but the last couple dishes the first 2 nights werea little lost by the end.

[KennethT]

I think it really depends on the places and types of food that are involved in the restaurants as to the success of the evening...

When we travel, my wife and I (who can eat a lot we are told) commonly have problems - especially when travelling in france... our typical trip includes a 2 or 3* place each night... usually we have a very light lunch (just some mussels or a baguette) or sometimes even nothing... the problem is that after a few days of these big meals with snakc with champagne, pre-amuse, amuse, appetizer, main course, pre-dessert, dessert, petit fours - not to mention if we wind up getting the tasting menu - we wind up getting sated... the first night is always ok... even the second is ok... but after that, the satiety is just always there... we wake up in the morning and we're not really hungry - and not really hungry all day... then a little hungry by dinner time, but we could probably just have a light snack and still feel ok....

I think one of the worst experiences of my life was our 4 day trip to Paris where we ended with Guy Savoy... Let's put it this way - we were burping upon walking in the door, and said to each other in a hushed tone upon sitting down "I don't know if I can do this!!!"... It is a true testament to how good that place is that we ate everything on our plates (incluidng their bread pairing) up until the dessert trolley came by (after the normal desserts - and of course the cheese course)....

But, we always say that we would have enjoyed that amazing meal much more if we had actually walked in hungry...

Also, I find it amazing how satiety deadens the palate...

Just my thoughts for whatever they're worth...