The Trouble with Dining Out

This past Friday, my wife and I snuck into a very nice restaurant in Cincinnati to grab dinner before going to the theater. We only had about 45 minutes and decided to sit at the bar thinking it would encourage faster service. I had a martini and my wife ordered a cosmopolitan. Well, the homemade pasta dinners were outstanding. I asked for the bill and started to pull out my plastic to give to the bartender. I normally don't cower over the bill. This time I did take a moment and discovered that we were charged $10 each for my martini and my wife's cosmo. Twenty bucks for two mixed drinks was a little spendy as my in-laws from Minnesota would say!

Since when has it become standard practice for restaurants to charge patrons double digits for a modest amount of gin and a splash of dry vermouth? Or for some cranberry juice, vodka and triple sec? It also has become a standard practice to charge patrons $9 or $10 for a glass of wine. Where have I been for the past ten years? Is my short-term memory that bad? It seems just a few months ago, a little ice, spirits and various flavorings was a $5 investment.

My wife can attest to my gastronomic leanings. I am not a cheap person. I enjoy a great evening at a wonderful restaurant. It is reflected in my increasing girth and age-related lethargy. As someone who is a Food Network junkie and enjoys cooking, I do appreciate the skill involved and commitment to high standards in fine restaurants. When training, creativity and quality ingredients come together, dining out can be a transcendent experience. My American Express card bill reflects my weakness for gastronomic adventures.

Recently, I had a rabbit ragout on a bed of homemade parpadelle. This was wonderful dish! The ragout had great depth of flavor. And the parpadelle? It was wonderfully fresh tasting with just enough bite. This primi dish was priced over $20. I was happy to pay for it. I have some inkling of the time and energy that when into preparing it. It really reflects a wonderful balance of artistry and the best ingredients.

However, my enthusiasm wanes and my Scrooge tendencies become more pronounced when I order a few mixed drinks and my bar bill is equivalent to the amount Rush Limbaugh spends on drugs during a wild weekend in the Dominican Republic! I guess I do not fully appreciate the mixologist's craft. I am more than happy to tip a bartender who makes a good martini. Hopefully that tip goes directly into the bartender's pocket. I just don't understand how the basic elements of a martini have become so spendy!

Who out there wants to join me in a crusade to stop martini inflation? It really is becoming harder for someone to destroy his or her liver with the proliferation of over-priced mixed drinks. Social movements don't happen overnight. It takes one courageous person willing to step up to the bar and demand a reasonably priced martini. We can win this battle if you too are willing to stop buying over-priced martinis when you are dining out.

Dining out can be a wonderful experience. When did gin become so expensive?