Everyone Hates Fine Dining's Most Silly, Overwrought Tradition. So Why Are We Still Paying for It?

"The tasting menu, the staple format of fine dining, is almost begging you to roll your eyes at it. I'm guessing you're picturing too many forks in prim rooms with overdesigned bites of food that still leave you hungry. You are trapped in a bad play, orchestrated and performed almost without you, where there's not even the mercy of an intermission during which you may sneak out."

"In 1998, restaurant critic Ruth Reichl chronicled a particularly bad experience, saying 'by the time you have slogged through an appetizer, soup, entree and salad, you may dread the arrival of dessert.' In 2012, Pete Wells lamented that 'expensive tasting-menu-only restaurants are spreading like an epidemic' across the country. In 2013, Corby Kummer wrote in Vanity Fair that 'a diner's pleasure is secondary' where tasting menus are concerned."

"Geraldine DeRuiter's experience at the Michelin-starred Bros. in 2021, which she described as being 'as though someone had read about food and restaurants, but had never experienced either, and this was their attempt to recreate it.' This exemplifies how tasting menus can feel disconnected from genuine culinary experience and diner satisfaction."

The tasting menu, a dominant format in fine dining, faces persistent criticism for its excessive length, small portions that leave diners hungry, and orchestrated nature that prioritizes chef creativity over guest experience. Common complaints include meals lasting over three hours, too many courses, and overdesigned food that sacrifices substance for presentation. This criticism is not new—restaurant critics have documented these concerns since at least 1998, with notable complaints from Ruth Reichl, Pete Wells, Corby Kummer, and Geraldine DeRuiter. Despite widespread negative feedback about tasting-menu-only restaurants spreading across the country and crescendoing to 20, 30, or 40 courses, the format continues to dominate high-end dining establishments.

Read at Slate Magazine