We went out for dinner on Friday to 100 King, which has recently been taken over and now "concentrates on steak and seafood" (which is what I thought they did before, but hey!). I have to admit the steak was pretty good! Stephen had a New York Strip which seemed to be around half a cow on his plate! I had the petite fillet - very petite as it turned out!! They were obviously compensating for Stephen's plateful!! Anyway, it was small but delightful - just like me! It came served with garlic mash (yum) and broccolini. Now, I've been served broccolini a couple of times in restaurants over here and I have to say the I keep trying it hoping that I'll someday love it...but no! It looks like long thin broccoli and just tastes foul!!! I've just looked up Wiki to see what kind of genetic mutant the Americans have created and its a cross between broccoli and Chinese kale and, get this, is supposed to taste sweeter than broccoli. NO WAY!!!! I find it really bitter - which is what Stephen has been telling me he tastes when he eats peas, so I get it now! He's probably not just making that up!!
Do you remember the scene in Miss Congeniality when Michael Caine is having lunch with Sandra Bullock and he says she eats like a masticating cow? Well I had the pleasure of looking across at that very scene for most of the meal (not Stephen - a lady on another table).
Americans are taught a very different style of table manners and using cutlery. They hold the fork in their right hand to eat and keep their left hand under the table. If they need to cut meat then they transfer the fork to the left hand and pick up the knife with the right, cut one piece and put the knife down and transfer the fork back to the right. It looks very awkward and cumbersome to me - probably to all Brits - but this would be good American table manners. (Incidentally - just read a news groups posting which said that the European method was pretentious, so they obviously have issues with us too!!!). Sadly table manners are slipping here (as they are in the UK) and younger people don't seem to know how to use cutlery properly.
Now don't get me wrong...if I'm eating a burger then I'm not going to do that with a knife and fork (when in Rome...), and I'm not going to start eating my banana with a knife an fork (only Royalty have to know that trick!), but there are limits!! I have seem some things over the past few months which have made me wince! I saw someone eating a Caesar salad topped with a chicken breast...the breast wasn't pre-sliced so they just speared the whole breast with their fork and gnawed off a mouthful!! Stephen saw the worst one though!! We were in the Warehouse (which is a fairly posh restaurant) and he saw a young lady pick up her steak with her hands and take a bite... which makes the "masticating cow" of Friday quite delicate and well mannered!
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