December 7,
2009Spritz seem to be either very easy, or very frustrating. The trick is to make sure the dough is fairly soft. It's one of the first cookies I bake, to get me into the swing of things. Mostly my shapes are traditional: trees (often green) with multi-colored non-pariels and a silver dragee for a star, hearts, diamonds, red and green pinwheels, and blue camels. Hey, I didn't say it was everyone's tradition.
At one suburban workplace, the lunch choices were fairly limited and all involved a bit of a drive. Deciding what and where to eat for lunch was such a chore that I wrote a spreadsheet to randomly toss out one of the seven places we frequented. These handy flowcharts will give you an answer with more analysis.
One of the advantages of a chain restaurant is that it is consistent and predictable. The menu, ambiance and quality are identical from location to location. Pull off the interstate into a national or regional chain, and you're almost assured of finding something you like, or can at least stomach. (Caveats for anyone with allergies, medical conditions, religious restrictions or eating raw foods.) Then again, you're assured of never finding something really great either.
So when people write of the wonders of the Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs, Krispy Kreme, In and Out or Tim Hortons, I wonder, is it really good, or is it just really good for a chain?
The Cheesecake Factory and PF Changs do serve better-than average food, not greasy, with actual fresh vegetables, and meat that's not dry or rubbery. It's not spectacular. Really good for a chain, but not really good. Krispy Kreme's secret seems to be deep-frying and letting customers know when the doughnuts are hot out of the oil. Anything fried is best immediately, something anyone who has tried to re-heat tempura or onion rings knows.
Sarah, our exchange student, loved going to nearby Applebee's with the swim team. The main factor of her attraction was probably her teammates, a fabulous group who made her one of their own. And when you're 16, it doesn't matter that you eat at a great restaurant with your friends and without your family, only that you eat somewhere with your friends and away from your family.
My own fond teenage memories are of going to TGI Fridays, especially to celebrate winning the scholarships that let me go to the college I want to attend. The food was exciting at the time (fajitas!), but nowhere near as good as what I've had in Santa Fe, New York or Hoboken. Hoboken.
And that is the crux of the matter: that the chains are lauded, but don't measure up to many local restaurants, and yet they push the locals out of business. Tomorrow I'm shopping with a friend at the biggest mall in the area — one of the biggest in the country, and there is not a restaurant in or next to it that isn't a national chain. The company makes up for it, but it would be even better to have great food too.
Copyright 2009 Susan J. Talbutt; all rights reserved.
Last updated December 2009