John Gilchrist answers reader questions about beer and more
ON RESTAURANTS SERVING UP WINE, BEER AND NUTRITIONAL VALUES
When last I answered reader queries, one of the burning topics was wine service in restaurants. Then, it was all about the temperature of the wine being served — often too warm — but RG writes in about a different element of wine service.
RG, a self-professed curmudgeon, doesn’t like anyone else to pour his wine for him throughout dinner. He likes the staff to present and open the wine, decant it if necessary and offer him a sample. He also is fine with the server pouring the first glass. But that’s it. Seems RG likes to pour his own wine. His logic is that he may or may not want more to drink than his wife and his dinner partners. And that it’s easier for him to gauge the needs of his fellow diners than the server.
Part of RG’S issue is that he claims to drink faster than the folks he’s dining with, and when servers see his glass at a low ebb, they want to fill it. He feels this may lead to unequal sharing, and he’s conscious that he may be receiving more than his fair share of the wine. For some reason he feels this especially keenly when he’s brought his own wine to the restaurant.
RG raises an interesting point. We do tend to drink — and eat — at variable rates. But it does fall within the server’s purview to pour the wine. But it’s also within the skills of their position to gauge who gets what and to perform the appropriate balancing act. I think it’s also OK to mention to the server that you’ll handle the pouring yourself if you want to. That’s just part of the increased casualization of the restaurant industry.
TVB writes in with another beverage concern. TVB likes his lager and what he calls the gentle fizzing action of the beer. His problem is that he finds many local establishments serve their beer in glasses fresh from the dishwasher. And that many of those glasses have the residue of dishwashing chemicals still clinging to them.
TVB claims that the chemicals flatten the beer and give it an off nose. I agree with him. The same thing happens far too frequently with wine glasses.
Dishwashing is a wellmonitored part of the restaurant business. The water has to be a certain temperature and there has to be a certain level of cleanser in the mix. Failure to comply can lead to an automatic closing of the establishment, so most restaurateurs don’t mess around. Some even overdo it on the cleanser.
Savvy restaurateurs then rinse their glasses with clean water to ensure freshness. And some then polish the glasses, too. There’s a real science to pouring the right glass of beer or wine, and a clean glass is just the starting point.
CF and MR wrote in with similar questions. Both are wondering if it would be possible for restaurants to include information on calories, carbohydrates, salt and fat content on their menus. Both have health concerns but enjoy dining out. And having seen similar info on some hotel and chain restaurant menus, they’re wondering what independent restaurants can do.
It’s certainly a challenge for restaurateurs to break down their food into components such as those requested. It’s not impossible, but given the constantly changing nature of restaurant menus, the numbers would, at best, be estimates. In the portioncontrolled world of chain restaurants, each dish is very tightly controlled as to size, weight, etc. But independent restaurants change suppliers more frequently and have greater variation in portion size and recipe content.
Some chefs say they could go back to their school notes to work out the caloric breakdowns, but that the food science side of their business is a big challenge. They also say they’re happy to work with customers to tailor dishes to their needs.
MR says she tried that at a local diner and received a less than welcoming response from the manager. She was surprised that a menu that catered to vegans and celiacs seemed to have no concern for diabetics. Let’s hope that manager was just having a bad day.