Is this something one has to specify at restaurants?

[ericwinters]

My solution for this growing annoying trend is to simply just tell the waiter take the appetizer back as now I'm on to the entree and won't need it.

 

Management, wait staff and culinary team can all figure out where the breakdown was, but honestly it's just not my problem and I've been in the hospitality industry for over 30 years.

[+ g56whiz]

I prefer to eat salad after the main course. It's like a neutral taste that won't impact the sweetness of dessert.

But what about the cheese course?

[+ g56whiz]

My solution is to only frequent those places where you put your plate on your tray, pile on the victuals and pay at the end of the line (hoping there’s an available seat at at a nearby table). Besides as a non-medicating diabetic all food is a necessary poison.

[+ poolboy48220]

I’m in the salad after main course camp or “Continental” as it is sometimes called. My Sicilian grandma always served salad after main and it’s what I grew up with. It’s certainly a healthier way of dining as the fiber does aid digestion. I’m assuming that’s why this practice developed in Europe over the centuries.

 

However, this practice short circuits a US restaurant very easily. Many servers find it odd, the looks I’ve received when requesting salad after the main have been funny at times. Rather than get frustrated and to keep from messing up the kitchen I’ve just accepted that the salad is coming out first and then will let it sit there till the main arrives and I’m done with it. Then I’ll switch the plates.

 

Yes, servers have asked “are you going to eat the salad” and I will explain all over again that I will after the main. Maybe it is an affectation on my part but it’s also the way I grew up and it’s my preference when consuming a meal.

maybe you could 'affect' a French accent when you say that?

[Rudynate]

I’m in the salad after main course camp or “Continental” as it is sometimes called. My Sicilian grandma always served salad after main and it’s what I grew up with. It’s certainly a healthier way of dining as the fiber does aid digestion. I’m assuming that’s why this practice developed in Europe over the centuries.

 

However, this practice short circuits a US restaurant very easily. Many servers find it odd, the looks I’ve received when requesting salad after the main have been funny at times. Rather than get frustrated and to keep from messing up the kitchen I’ve just accepted that the salad is coming out first and then will let it sit there till the main arrives and I’m done with it. Then I’ll switch the plates.

 

Yes, servers have asked “are you going to eat the salad” and I will explain all over again that I will after the main. Maybe it is an affectation on my part but it’s also the way I grew up and it’s my preference when consuming a meal.

 

 

If it's the way you grew up, it isn't an affectation-it's the way you grew up.

 

Let me say here that there is nothing inherently with affected behaviors. I have many behaviors which I have consciously adopted and which have become part of me. There are others, such as eating my salad after the main course, which seemed like extra baggage and I have let go of them. It's all a part of experimentation and self-discovery.

Edited December 5, 2019 by Rudynate

[Monarchy79]

Three chains that’s awesome with timing:

1.) Mastro’s

2.) Joe’s

3.) Del Frisco’s

 

The courses always are timed properly

[sexymonk]

I've had dinner at two restaurants during my conference that did something I find pretty annoying. I ordered a soup and a salmon dish at one, and they brought the two at the same time. Then, 2 days later, I ordered a side salad and a chicken dish, and they brought the chicken less than 5 minutes after the salad (which I wasn't half-way through). Should I be specifying when I order "...and please don't bring the main dish until after I've finished my soup or salad..."? I hate to have to state what I think should be obvious, but I find bringing the main dish while I haven't had a chance to finish my starter quite irritating.

I would say that communication is big part of human existence. Servers have to deal with varieties of customers. Let us make their life easy. And it is good to specify your need during giving order!

[Islesguy]

But what about the cheese course?

I don't think I have ever gone to a restaurant with a cheese course.

[+ azdr0710]

I finished the delicious greens; a brief, brief time lapse followed; then she brought me the hot sandwich.

 

That's the way it should be unless the diner requests having all of his order at the table at once, excluding the dessert (if he orders one).

 

I may be wrong, but I wonder how long the sandwich had been sitting under the heat lamp waiting for you to finish the salad.......

[Rudynate]

I don't think I have ever gone to a restaurant with a cheese course.

 

 

The cheese course usually precedes, or takes the place of, dessert. It's becoming more and more common, in upscale places to offer a selection of cheeses on the dessert menu.

[+ g56whiz]

I don't think I have ever gone to a restaurant with a cheese course.

Me either. On this side of the Atlantic. But I can hope.

[+ poolboy48220]

The cheese course usually precedes, or takes the place of, dessert. It's becoming more and more common, in upscale places to offer a selection of cheeses on the dessert menu.

In the last episode of "Downton Abbey", at Thomas's new gig, Mr. Stiles and his wife are finishing dinner and he announces "I don't think I'll have any cheese".

[Rudynate]

In the last episode of "Downton Abbey", at Thomas's new gig, Mr. Stiles and his wife are finishing dinner and he announces "I don't think I'll have any cheese".

 

 

The cheese course after dinner is usually tiny portions.

[mike carey]

I am surprised that a cheese course is in any way surprising, different countries, different ideas I guess.

[Rudynate]

I am surprised that a cheese course is in any way surprising, different countries, different ideas I guess.

 

 

In the US, cheese is conventionally seen as a before-dinner thing.

[mike carey]

In the US, cheese is conventionally seen as a before-dinner thing.

Less so in a restaurant meal, but in a mass formal dinner I would expect there to be a cheese plate after people retired from the dining room. With port or cognac.

[MikeBiDude]

In the US, cheese is conventionally seen as a before-dinner thing.

Agree, but I’ve been to dozens of restaurants in the US that offer an after dinner cheese course. Mind you these aren’t Denny’s but rather fairly expensive dining...but the cheese course has been here for years and years. I often order it in lieu of dessert.

[Rudynate]

Agree, but I’ve been to dozens of restaurants in the US that offer an after dinner cheese course. Mind you these aren’t Denny’s but rather fairly expensive dining...but the cheese course has been here for years and years. I often order it in lieu of dessert.

 

 

Agree completely.

[Rudynate]

Less so in a restaurant meal, but in a mass formal dinner I would expect there to be a cheese plate after people retired from the dining room. With port or cognac.

 

 

That would be extremely unusual here.

[Islesguy]

Agree, but I’ve been to dozens of restaurants in the US that offer an after dinner cheese course. Mind you these aren’t Denny’s but rather fairly expensive dining...but the cheese course has been here for years and years. I often order it in lieu of dessert.

I have been to restaurants that offer cheese plates on the dessert menu, but that's different than a course like you might get if you to one of those etiquette classes where you learn how to eat a multi-course meal.

[MikeBiDude]

I have been to restaurants that offer cheese plates on the dessert menu, but that's different than a course like you might get if you to one of those etiquette classes where you learn how to eat a multi-course meal.

I’m talking about a cart, loaded with cheese, wheeled over to your table for you to choose. And it’s a course between the previous course and dessert. Not a cheese plate on the dessert menu.

[Rudynate]

I’m talking about a cart, loaded with cheese, wheeled over to your table for you to choose. And it’s a course between the previous course and dessert. Not a cheese plate on the dessert menu.

 

 

Just generally, that sort of restaurant is a thing of the past. Years ago, I was a waiter in the fine dining room at the Petroleum Club in Denver on the 38th floor of the Anaconda building. When we got hired, the club sent us to a tailor and we had two tuxedos made. We prepared dishes tableside, boned fish tableside, carved roasts tableside etc. etc. flaming desserts, flaming coffee drinks, cordial cart wheeled to the table after dinner, cigar service and so on. That type of restaurant simply doesn't exist anymore. So of course its going to be rare to see a bunch of cheeses rolled up to the table on a cart and the waiter peeling off a half ounce of cheese with a slicer.

[BSR]

The cheese course after dinner is usually tiny portions.

Less so in a restaurant meal, but in a mass formal dinner I would expect there to be a cheese plate after people retired from the dining room. With port or cognac.

Agree, but I’ve been to dozens of restaurants in the US that offer an after dinner cheese course. Mind you these aren’t Denny’s but rather fairly expensive dining...but the cheese course has been here for years and years. I often order it in lieu of dessert.

 

Although I've never ordered cheese in lieu of dessert (too much of a sweet tooth), I've been to a few restaurants that offer a cheese course at the end of a meal. All of them were posh spots on the Las Vegas Strip. While I've heard of the tradition at private affairs, I've never attended a dinner party with a cheese course. @mike carey must have fancier friends than I do

 

I think the custom stems from cheese's affect on blood sugar. A diabetic friend (type 1) says cheese helps keep his blood glucose in check. It has to be a high-fat cheese, and he doesn't need much. So it makes sense to nibble on some cheese after a rich meal, whether at a posh restaurant or a fancy dinner party.

[+ poolboy48220]

Just generally, that sort of restaurant is a thing of the past. Years ago, I was a waiter in the fine dining room at the Petroleum Club in Denver on the 38th floor of the Anaconda building. When we got hired, the club sent us to a tailor and we had two tuxedos made. We prepared dishes tableside, boned fish tableside, carved roasts tableside etc. etc. flaming desserts, flaming coffee drinks, cordial cart wheeled to the table after dinner, cigar service and so on. That type of restaurant simply doesn't exist anymore. So of course its going to be rare to see a bunch of cheeses rolled up to the table on a cart and the waiter peeling off a half ounce of cheese with a slicer.

I worked at a restaurant like that in college. One of the waiters really really worked hard at making a Caesar salad tableside for a party of two attractive young women; so hard that he sweated into it. He apparently didn't notice, but the women did; they didn't touch their salads.

[mike carey]

@mike carey must have fancier friends than I do

A reasonable conclusion to draw but not necessarily accurate (I don't know how fancy your friends are). I've been to a few formal dinners and the like where people adjourn to the bar after dinner and a cheese plate would be set out along with coffee.