Food Terms We Loathe/Misuse

[geoff]

As members of the culinary elite, can we please stop the following in 2005?

- calling vegetables "veggies."

- describing anything chocolate as "decadent."

- adding an "s" to "ravioli." It's already plural. You might as well say "bananass" or "veggiesies."

- ordering pounds of sliced meat at Salumi between 11am and 3pm. Better to call ahead.

- all utterances of "nage" and "amuse bouche."

- also forbidden: shortening "amuse bouche" to "amuse."

- weekend-morning queues outside overrated breakfast joints

- describing appetizers as "sharables" or "in-betweens"

(Additions are welcome and encouraged.)

[little ms foodie]

Since I am quite fond of amuses of veggies and decadent molten chocolate cakes I'm afraid I can not oblige.

[carp]

I hate the word veggies.

I also absolutely hate the term foodie, but I can live with it as it seems I am the only one who finds this term about as grating as sharp nails on a blackboard.

I do love an amuse bouche, though. It isn't the term I like, but rather getting an unexpected little morsel of something right about the time they take away the menu.

Edited to express additional hatred for the term foodie.

Edited January 3, 2005 by carp (log)

[tighe]

Are you proposing that instead of amuse bouche we call it something like the little two-bite thing that the chef sends out to every table before the food that we actually ordered to make us think we're getting something for free? One must not proscribe without offering alternatives.

The use of sammich in place of sandwich in speech or writing always provokes an unpleasant visceral reaction from me. Then again, I know there are plenty of things I do that bug the shit out of other people, it all comes out even in the end.

Edited January 3, 2005 by tighe (log)

[MsRamsey]

Describing food as "healthy." The word is HEALTHFUL.

The use of "eatery" in a restaurant name or description.

Those are the only things that really bug me.

[olivina]

I promise to have the waiters at my restaurant stop saying "you guys" to the customers. As in "Can I get you guys another veggie antipasto?" At least they don't say raviolis. And at least we don't serve an amuse.

What things do waiters say that drive you crazy? Can we rant a little?

[SeaGal]

I promise to have the waiters at my restaurant stop saying "you guys" to the customers. As in "Can I get you guys another veggie antipasto?" At least they don't say raviolis. And at least we don't serve an amuse.

What things do waiters say that drive you crazy? Can we rant a little?

←

I really don't like "you guys", but it seems to be the norm these days. I was raised to say "you folks" or just "you". Good luck in changing your servers' ways--ingrained habits die hard

I also don't care for the "are you still working on that?" question, but have resigned myself to it.

Amuse or decadent don't bother me, but I don't really like foodie. One term that really grates is the abbreviation "guac" for guacamole. It sounds so..., I don't know, guackish

None of it really bothers me that much, though, if the food is good and the service is pleasant and efficient, the rest is all just little stuff. (unless I'm at a high end place, of course, then it matters more)

Jan

[tighe]

What things do waiters say that drive you crazy? Can we rant a little?

←

Don't even get me started on this one...

- Waiters who touch me

- Waiters who feign wine knowledge they don't actually have. Sorry, but a Gigondas is not "just the same" as a Cotes du Rhone and no, a white Bordeaux is not a Chardonnay.

- Soliciting compliments on the food

[olivina]

I had to run the front door one night (big mistake) and asked a man who walked in:

"Are there two of you, tonight?"

Without missing a beat he said, " As far as I know, there is just one of me but my wife will be joining me for dinner."

This is why I stay behind the counter.

[MsRamsey]

I also don't like, "Are you still working on that?" It sounds so coarse. My mental answer: "Yes, eating this *is* a lot of work! Give me a shovel and a pick-axe, will ya?"

Also, a hostess should NEVER say to a solo diner, "Just one?" For some reason, that little question always makes me feel like a total loser. There must be any number of nice ways to determine whether someone is eating alone.

Edited January 4, 2005 by MsRamsey (log)

[ScorchedPalate]

"Are there two of you, tonight?"

Without missing a beat he said, " As far as I know, there is just one of me but my wife will be joining me for dinner."

←

<laugh>

This reminds me of my favorite retort:

Server: "My name is Susie if you need anything."

Me (not out loud): "And what is your name in case I don't need anything?"

[kiliki]

"Sharables?" People SAY that? Ugh.

[SeaGal]

Don't even get me started on this one...

- Waiters who touch me

←

Where have you been dining?

[reesek]

What things do waiters say that drive you crazy? Can we rant a little?

←

i absolutely hate it when servers don't listen or ignore my cues. there are times i want to be guided, and will ask for advice - please have some to offer!! there are times i want to be left alone. please pay attention!! body language is very clear.

agree with jbonne on feigned knowledge - it's obvious - and it's absolutely fine to say, "i'm not sure, let me check." but to be lazy and try to fake me out helps neither of us.

my number one pet peeve though, is when servers clear plates before everyone has finished. it's so rude to the slower eater(s). stop rushing me!

</rant>

[MsRamsey]

my number one pet peeve though, is when servers clear plates before everyone has finished. it's so rude to the slower eater(s). stop rushing me!

</rant> 

←

It's bad form for someone to take your plate while you're STILL CHEWING your last bite. That happens a lot!

[tighe]

Don't even get me started on this one...

- Waiters who touch me

←

Where have you been dining?

←

It doesn't happen as often now, but I still have servers touch my shoulder or arm while talking to me. Often goes along with the "Hi, my name is.....(and I want to be your best friend so you'll give me a big tip)" type.

Yes, early clearing, especially while still chewing is very annoying.

I'll also add in one of scrat's....touching the rim of the water (or any other) pitcher to the lip of the glass.

Edited January 4, 2005 by tighe (log)

[ScorchedPalate]

The one that always cracks me up is "I'll be your cashier when you're ready" -- as though I were going to head to the front of the restaurant and look in vain for the little blue-haired lady to ring me up. (Have only seen one of those in the last 10 years at Cyndy's.)

This phenomenon seems to be unique to Seattle. I almost miss it when we travel. Ok, not really.

~A

ps: And -- as you may have guessed from my current sig line -- the pet peeve du jour is servers who correct my pronunciation. Especially when they are wrong.

Edited January 4, 2005 by ScorchedPalate (log)

[reesek]

my number one pet peeve though, is when servers clear plates before everyone has finished. it's so rude to the slower eater(s). stop rushing me!

</rant> 

←

It's bad form for someone to take your plate while you're STILL CHEWING your last bite. That happens a lot!

←

yes yes!! the worst. the vulture server! also usually found swooping down to take my credit card before my hand has left the check.

[jbonne]

I also absolutely hate the term foodie, but I can live with it as it seems I am the only one who finds this term about as grating as sharp nails on a blackboard.

nope, you're not the only one. ugh.

i happen to think "amuse-bouche" is completely legit, given that it's a standard part of a meal in many corners. it's far less irksome than an Americanism so ingrained i often fall prey to it: using "entree" to describe a main course, when in fact linguistic propriety should dictate otherwise. (also, my blog name would suffer should we stop saying "amuse-bouche.")

shorthanding it to "amuse," however is a huge pet peeve, similar to Bourdain's degradation of "mise en place" to "meez."

[madziast]

paninis

veg, veggies

vegetarian diet does NOT include fish or chicken (but it might dairy)

not ordering meat does NOT make one vegetarian or on some punishing diet where only steamed vegetables are allowed. and with no salt or any seasoning(earth to San Domenico)

if i order foie gras followed by tofu, don't roll your eyes and make faces

if i order a vegetarian meal on the plane, do not tell me i'm not allowed to have a snickers bar afterwards b/c "it's not very vegetarian" of me (disapproving BA flight attendant)

don't serve an older red "cellar temperature" if my cheese has already arrived and can't enjoy them more or less together (especially if you promote yourself as a serious wine lovers' destination)

aaahhhhhh, that felt good!

[andiesenji]

I don't mind "veggies" or even "veg" because sometimes it is so much easier to abbreviate a long word in either speech or writing. The term foodie is not difficult to understand and certainly describes me to a "T".

"Amuse" does not amuse me - I prefer "starters" to the other terms as it makes me feel as if my palate is being primed for the later courses.

I don't like servers grabbing my plate or whatever while I am still holding my fork.

I prefer to have my salad with my dinner rather than before, sometimes after. It is annoying to request that the server return my salad to the table, or, in one recent case, get me a new one because he set a bowl in the salad before picking up both of them.

I also will no longer give my credit card to a server. My boss went to a well known place near his home in Calabasas and a day after giving his card to his server someone tried to order 3000.+ worth of sound equipment on his AMEX card. Fortunately we have a hold on anything over a certain amount that requires AMEX get a verbal authorization from either me or the boss. We complained to the restaurant, the only place he had used the card in a several week period, and later learned a server had been arrested for using a pocket scanner in order to clone cards.

I leave a cash tip on the table and carry my check to the cashier for processing.

I will not accept service from a server (usually female) who has very long fingernails as I believe they are unsanitary and virtually impossible to keep clean in the short time they have available for hand-washing.

[chezcherie]

"shorthanding it to "amuse," however is a huge pet peeve, similar to Bourdain's degradation of "mise en place" to "meez." "

we can't say meez??! i think i have saved three years with that verbal shorthand.

Edited January 4, 2005 by chezcherie (log)

[chuck]

My pet peeve is a bit more sweeping than the ones I've seen listed so far.

It's the urge of servers, managers, restaurant workers, and those familiar with the restaurant business to force the lingo on people who, unless they have worked in food service, have a hard time understanding what the hell the conversation is about. 'Two-top'? No one who is paying a hundred bucks a person (and owns half of the buildings downtown) wants to have that explained to them. The most important person in the dialog is the one paying to eat and drink, even if it is me. Just like being touched on the arm in a fancy restaurant (shudder), it ruins the fantasy of the whole thing. The diner is important, happy, rich, pretty, whatever. I think everyone, at least in the beginning of the diner/restaurant relationship, wants to feel special, like they are being served.

If it's ten dollars an ounce on my plate, it ain't 'foie'. Seriously, I'll make it $11 if I can get a 'gras'.

[Really Nice!]

Without getting specific there's a certain waiter at a restaurant here in Seattle who, after bringing the dish that you ordered to the table, proceeds to point at each component that makes up the dish.

"We have pork loin, mash potatoes, that's some of the garlic that makes it 'garlic mashed potatoes'... butter drizzling on the side of it, we have green beans with almonds and a little sprinkling of fleur de sel, a brown sauce with a twist of black pepper, two chive tips for garnish in the potatoes and sprinkling of tomatoes on the pork loin marinated in balsamic vinegar."

Drives me frickin' nuts.

[chuck]

Well, that's tremendously annoying too. It shows a good understanding on his part of the composition of the dish, but still...

Just a little hint. C'mon.