The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
May 17 - Dining Farther Up the Food Chain
Our meal choices on this trip have ranged all over the spectrum, from gyros at Lucky's to tavernas to impromptu picnics on the terrace. One of my subscribers, a restauranteur on the neighboring island of Naxos, said he had heard good things about a restaurant called 1800. We had passed it several times on our strolls around town. It was the most professional-looking place we had seen, also the most expensive -- not really a candidate for a group meal. But we were on this trip to enjoy ourselves so Rick and I thought, "Why not?" so while Don and Sharon opted for a Greek salad farther down the street (undoubtedly on a terrace with a water view), the four of us dined.
The restaurant is located in a sea captain's house that was built in 1835. It is a supporter of the slow food movement, an idea that started in Italy and has spread through Europe and more recently to the US, although still in a small way. The idea behind slow food is to take the time to do it right, both in the selection of the ingredients, the preparation of the meals and the pace of the meal itself. No convenience foods, no pre-prepared ingredients. Do it right and do it from scratch -- all in all a very civilized idea!
Much of the house is furnished -- decorated might be a better word -- with items original to the house. There are wonderful stories to tell about this place aside from whatever culinary adventures it offers. We know some of it because we asked, but without the stories, what could we tell you about 1800? That we had a wonderful meal? That's not much of a tale to tell.
Was it expensive? Sure it was. We paid more per couple tonight than we had been paying to feed all six of us in other restaurants. Was it worth it? Absolutely ... and it would have been an even greater value if they had told us more about the building, the furnishings, the slow food movement, the chef, the owners, the recipes ...
My colleague Phyllis Ann Marshall was once the food writer for Orange Coast magazine. She said that she visited a lot of restaurants that gave her absolutely nothing to write about. The food was good, the service friendly but they had no stories to tell. Never underestimate the real dollar value of a good story ... or two ... or twenty. There is no word-of-mouth without something to talk about.
© 2007 Restaurant Doctor
[