Got to Go!
“Got to Go! So many buffets, so little time!”
So ends a frequent commercial on a radio show I listen to regularly. It jabs my sensibilities each time I hear it. I love to eat. I equate the word buffet, however, to a short step above a hog trough. An amount of (usually) not so good food is put out on a serving line and people line up to ensure that they ‘get their money’s worth.’ A lot of buffet’s are served for as little as a few dollars. I’ve seen them for quite a bit higher, $40 and up in the better establishments. But, in the places most people I know eat, $20 would be an outrageously high price.
People! If they were served a plate of food for $4.95 that contained the same food as that on most buffets, they would complain. Somehow, the idea of ‘all you can eat’ makes it OK. A restaurant is not going to lose money on a buffet. The food is poorly prepared. It’s made from poor quality ingredients. It’s put out on a serving line and left to come to room temperature. What should be hot is lukewarm. What should be cold is lukewarm. If the food is not good, why would having more of it make it better? I just don’t understand.
I can understand that some individuals simply want to ease their hunger. Nutrition or taste has nothing to do with it. You have to eat something and you have to eat it now! I’ve been guilty of that. I travel frequently and subsequently spend a great many nights in hotels. A buffet breakfast is available and I eat. I am never happy with what I eat, but I’m not hungry anymore. And I don’t have to get out and try to find a better breakfast at a time of morning when I am usually rushed and anxious to get on with my day. I do try to order off the menu occasionally. Then I watch in frustration as the waitress walks over to the buffet table and dishes up my order instead of having the kitchen prepare it for me fresh and using better ingredients. And I’m supposed to pay the higher, a la carte, price for the same food as that on the trough . . . er, buffet?
But on a normal basis, why go out of your way to eat something that’s not good for you? We are constantly bombarded with nutritionists telling us that the snack food and fast food that we eat is loaded with empty calories. I agree wholeheartedly! But can a buffet at a bargain price be any more healthy for us? I don’t think so.
I can understand a young mother with a car full of kids needing to get them through the day without blasting through her meager budget on a single meal. It’s something that has to be done. In the long run though, is it worth it? All she is doing is filling their stomachs. She isn’t providing them with the nutrition they need. In addition, like the individual in the commercial, she is promoting an unhealthy way of life to her children.
It’s not just buffets that are the culprits in this. A few of the New Orleans restaurants have quite a reputation. They are very popular with the locals. Do you hear anything about how good their food is? No! But they serve large portions!
Huh?
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Zane Melder EDGE Books Kentwood, LA |