“It’s the end of the world as we know it”, so the words of a popular song go, and this could be very true of the fine dining concept.
Report by Mark Mair
On how many occasions these days do the men don the black dinner suit and dicky bow tie, the ladies the slinky little going out number, the heels and the flashy jewellery and sit down to a beautifully laid table, resplendent in all its white linen, silver cutlery and delicate white china livery?
Not too often any more, I’ll wager, and when we do, how often do we say “we must do this more often”, and then after the dinner, engineer our busy lives so that there will be less than a snowball’s chance on a hot tin roof in Kariba during November of it ever happening again any time soon?
The advent of seriously advanced communication technology has fast-forwarded our lives so much that we have little time to breath these days, let alone catch our breath.
Not so long ago mail used to be delivered into your mailbox that was perched on the gatepost at home, having been posted by the sender a few days before.
Now you receive it in your electronic inbox within seconds of it being “posted”. Our lives have been sped up so much that it has intruded on the time we have to enjoy and savour the finer things in life. Take eating out for example. We are so busy nowadays that many households rely on fast foods and takeaways. Lucky is the family that has a mother or father who insists on at least one home-cooked meal per day. Unfortunately, preparing a good home-cooked meal takes time, time that we have increasingly less of, day by day.
Going out to a restaurant is certainly the personification of that these days. Not so many years ago the fine dining establishments held their own. Dinner jackets, ball gowns, resident orchestras, set menus, and conversation flowed, time was of no consequence, and although it did cost more than the corner fish and chip shop, it was something one did on a fairly regular basis.
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Dining out was a great way of entertaining and of celebrating in elegant style.
Time waits for no one, life is dynamic and change is predictable, but it isn’t always for the better. However, the restaurant and hospitality trade has certainly benefited via the new electronic communication technology by the massively increased public awareness of new and exciting cuisines from all over the world.
Television programmes highlighting culinary delights from around the world, popular global chef (and junior chef) competitions have awoken palates to new flavours and taste sensations, and advanced delivery and transport logistical techniques have brought fresh, exotic and previously unattainable food products to the domestic and restaurant dinner table, but… it is still one of the great pleasures in life to go out to enjoy a good meal!
The phrase “horses for courses” comes to mind here, as the selection of restaurants available for every expense account has exploded of late, but sadly the fine dining concept has declined and morphed lately into something totally foreign.
Casual attire is now the accepted norm in upmarket establishments serving incredible food fusions, from nouvelle cuisine to sushi. I can’t help feeling that the brilliant presentation of fantastic food is let down hugely by the diners’ casual attire, but I am a self-confessed traditionalist.
The image of the well-dressed couple seated at a beautifully laid table, sipping champagne and munching on caviar waiting for the table d’hôte menu to arrive, while others sway gently to the muted tones of background music from the in-house orchestra, is sadly fading into the shadows of history and nostalgia.
So, if you do get a chance to dress up for a fine dining experience, don’t turn it down.
Should the establishment offering the meal be top class in the traditional sense, it is an experience that everyone should enjoy at least once in their lifetimes. Spoil yourself.
If you have the discipline to turn off the ipad, the willpower to put down the ipod, switch off the cellphone and pull the television plug out of the wall— just do it.
There may come a time quite soon, when those few and far between opportunities will be no more.
