Oink
I got this e-mail from a reader recently:
I know that restaurant owners and chefs know that many portions are way too big these days. Don't they care that most people will eat everything on their plate and thus eat way too much. Don't they care that they are contributing to the obesity problems in this country. Don't they have a conscience?...
(Myung J. Chung/Los Angeles Times)
I can't presume to speak for restaurant owners, but from what I've read, consumers say they want smaller portions (see this article from QSRMagazine.com), but they also perceive big portions as good value -- even when they don't clean their plate -- and resent not getting it. Just look at the lines at the Cheesecake Factory, known for its heaping plates. If it ain't broke...
The other reasons I've heard are all economic. That is, food is relatively cheap, but if you give bigger portions you can charge a lot more. And whether restaurants offer small portions at a lesser price or bigger portions that they charge more for, their fixed costs are the same: the staff salaries, rent etc.
Finally, if I were a restaurant owner, I'd probably be defensive about the whole question and say, "What am I -- the food police?"
Comments
An example of why portion sizes are too large is right in today's Sun, where Sam Sessa's fried calamari shootout disses Mezze because of smaller portion size. Interestingly, no mention was made of whether or not the Mezze calamari tasted good.
Posted by: Hal Laurent | May 16, 2007 4:41 PM
To me, the bigger issue with large portions is how much food is wasted/thrown out at the end of the day. After all, you decide how much food you want to put in your body.
Posted by: Kate | May 16, 2007 6:33 PM