It was a long week on the road, with a couple of really good discoveries. I'm looking for some information on places I meant to write up before as well, but if I can't find them, well, then I'll just have to go back.
There are downsides to being on the hunt for good new food, not the least of which is 'wasting' a meal on something bland and generic. That happens a lot, and it's even more annoying when the blandness is wrapped in a place that is designed to convey innovation and gives you the same (or worse) than you would find at the generic chain restaurant.
For example, I spotted a place in Cape Cod this week that seemed perfectly to fit what I was looking for - a good spot that was focused on what they did best (Breakfast and Lunch only places, for example) that had some local flavor - in this case, seafood, since I was on the Cape.
Instead I found a fish-free menu with a wide selection that boiled down to three things - chicken, hamburger, or veggie. Nearly the entire menu was a remix of these things for both breakfast and lunch, and while the chicken panini was good enough (a little greasy, poor choice of bread, 'spicy fries' that were more salty than spicy), it wasn't worth recommending because, well, because I could have had the same exact meal at Denny's for $3 less.
That's annoying, especially since it was a wasted opportunity in a place I don't visit all that often at all. I made up for it later in the day, as you'll see, but if you are a restauranteur looking for a suggestion, let me give you one right off the bat - find yourself a niche based on local flavors, market your niche idea, and while you don't have to have a whole menu full of new and innovating tastes, you should have 4-5 dishes that make the adventurous diner happy he chose your place.
Adding pesto mayo to a greasy chicken sandwich just isn't going to cut it.
There are downsides to being on the hunt for good new food, not the least of which is 'wasting' a meal on something bland and generic. That happens a lot, and it's even more annoying when the blandness is wrapped in a place that is designed to convey innovation and gives you the same (or worse) than you would find at the generic chain restaurant.
For example, I spotted a place in Cape Cod this week that seemed perfectly to fit what I was looking for - a good spot that was focused on what they did best (Breakfast and Lunch only places, for example) that had some local flavor - in this case, seafood, since I was on the Cape.
Instead I found a fish-free menu with a wide selection that boiled down to three things - chicken, hamburger, or veggie. Nearly the entire menu was a remix of these things for both breakfast and lunch, and while the chicken panini was good enough (a little greasy, poor choice of bread, 'spicy fries' that were more salty than spicy), it wasn't worth recommending because, well, because I could have had the same exact meal at Denny's for $3 less.
That's annoying, especially since it was a wasted opportunity in a place I don't visit all that often at all. I made up for it later in the day, as you'll see, but if you are a restauranteur looking for a suggestion, let me give you one right off the bat - find yourself a niche based on local flavors, market your niche idea, and while you don't have to have a whole menu full of new and innovating tastes, you should have 4-5 dishes that make the adventurous diner happy he chose your place.
Adding pesto mayo to a greasy chicken sandwich just isn't going to cut it.
