Living in suburban London has its advantages: the quiet streets, easy commuting to the Capital, friendlier and more helpful neighbours (not always though!), lots of horses and sheep in the surrounding fields, and of course, farm shops.
There is one thing however that I find pretty questionable: restaurant food. Not all restaurants, mind; but are you, like myself disappointed with the lack of good service and quality grub in your town?
Well, of course we have the likes of Prezzo's, Pizza Express, Slurps, Nando's etc. The food in those places tastes just about edible, in a bland sort of way. Pizzas laced with sugar, salad dressings which calorific content defy magination, ready meals served in posh plates... To me, those places fare as low as fast-food joints, and I ignore them the best I can (No one's immune to the odd work do!) We all know however that they are the Frankeinstein fruits of ruthless executives who disregard the welfare of the animals that comes in the food they sell, their staff, their suppliers even, and their customers.
No, what makes my blood boil are the small businesses that thrive on mediocrity when they should be making every attempt to put those diabolical restaurants mentioned above to shame!
Now that we are seeing more and more people willing to increase their food budget in order to eat better quality stuff, restaurant and food business owners in middle-class towns never had it so good.
Maybe I am just a naive little French girl but I am very puzzled indeed...
London being one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, it is no surprise to find such an eclectic choise of cuisines, and I would not have it any other way. So why the need for employing people that are not only foreign to the type of food they are cooking, but also could not care less if your pasta was cold or your wine corked?
A few months ago, I decided to take my friend Lucy to my favourite Italian restaurant. Off we went to Ewell village for an indulgent meal at "Aroma". Disappointment set in quickly when I realised that the Italian had turned "Spanish". Sadly, the recession had had the better of them and their business was no more. After some debating on the pavement, we decided to give it a whirl.
We were shown to our table by what I think was the landlady. I took my coat off and handed it over to her, only to be told, as she pointed with her index finger towards a corner of the room: "you can hang it there". Not a good start.
Our order was taken by a Polish girl. The food was just about average. Neither of us felt pampered, and ordering anything extra, such as wine and dessert was a mission in itself! We almost felt sorry for bothering them!
It was Saturday night and the restaurant was empty. The only thing that was vaguely Spanish in that place was myself. Now I am not saying that employing staff of the same nationality as the food being served will guarantee success - and who am I to claim this! - but as a customer, I like to be served by someone who knows what they are talking about. Plus I like the feeling of cultural immersion. Would you like a white person to serve you in a curry house? So why do they do it in Spanish/French/ Italian/ Greek restaurants? Is it because very few of us can actually differenciate between a Pole and a French person? An Italian and a Greek?
Let's now talk about what goes on behind the scenes. Are we seeing the end of good foreign cuisine now that unqualified people - who dare calling themselves chefs - come cheaper than the real McCoy? Because, all it seems to take now is a person on the minimum wage to open a packet and stick it in the microwave. If they are really adventurous, they'll even use the grill. I am not just stipulating here. I spent a couple of years labouring (that is the word) in the catering and hospitality sectors. Pubs are the worst culprits, but restaurants just seem to thrive on over-pretentious "cheffy" food that looks ridiculous on a plate and tastes like sh**. Remember the infamous Pierre Victoire chains?
Restaurants like these still thrive because we are too happy to put up with the cheap and mediocre. Should we keep on accepting those poor standards, there will be many more "Aromas" to go bankrupt and we will be condemned to eat ready meals, lovingly "cooked" by a minumum wager and served by a stroppy waitress. As for myself, I'll go for a Chinese at the Mandarin.
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