Photo by Bonnie craven Francis
There is actually a restaurant in Dallas that serves pre-portioned, packaged meals that you buy and microwave right there in the restaurant. It’s like the Lean Cuisine aisle at the grocery store, but not frozen. I’m not kidding.
Okay, so the restaurant was founded by a personal trainer whose clients wouldn’t or couldn’t follow his nutritional advice. That’s cool, actually: See a problem, do something about it. I can respect that.
So how is the execution? Well …
According to Alice Laussade on City of Ate — The Dallas Observer Food Blog:
But, hell. The meal program they’re selling promises to help you lose weight. It doesn’t promise you’ll want to actually eat their food. I threw away half of my small portion. Aaaaand now I see how the program works.
Yeah, I think I’ll stick to my meat, eggs and veggies, cooked from scratch in my own kitchen, thank-you-very-much.
[PS: That picture up top was not taken at the restaurant I’m talking about.]
Haha! This is pretty funny and I can’t imagine actually going out to eat a place like this. BUT, am a huge advocate of pre-portioned meal plans. My mother and I started using Weight Watchers and even better found huge discounts for the program using weight watchers coupons we found from a really cool discount site, CheapSally.com.
Anyway, its worth checking out! I really enjoyed reading the post:)
I’ve become a bit dismayed at how many so called restaurants now a days are really just “heat and serve” joints. We went to a popular downtown cafe in our small city not too long ago because it claims to have home cooking. Despite a menu with items like poblano cheese sauce and onion gravy… there was NO SMELL of actual food cooking. French fries were obviously bagged frozen from Orida. Chicken fried steaks were perfectly round disc, each just like the other. The veggies were straight from cans. The gravy tasted like beef bouillon cubes. gag. So I’m finding that either we go to an expensive high end restaurant with a decent Chef or we might as well eat at McDs. Later we found that their reputation for homecooked food was based on the fact that all their pies and cakes really were made on the premises (although I doubt they are from scratch). Also they still cook breakfast.
I think I’ve been to that restaurant. :-/ Actually the one I went to it was the veal Parmesan. Just like your chicken fried steak, each one perfectly round and identical to all the others.
I worked at a fast food restaurant as a teen (years before microwaves) and still remember the sound of the frozen hamburger patty hitting the grill.
Ever been to a good Mexican restaurant where the fajitas come out sizzling on the platter? You are waiting for a table and the smells are so good that you think you won’t live til you can place your order? Or you are sitting at your table rethinking your order because another table’s food has come out and it looks so good and smells so great you now want _that_?
Any time I go to a Mexican place for the first time I get the fajitas. If they can’t get those right, it’s not worth a second visit. And yes, the sizzling skillet is part of that.
Amen!