LUXURY DINING

The term “luxury” has been defined in various ways, including in very rational terms, such as

Prestige-seeking behavior. Prestige-seeking behavior generally stems from social or self expression motives that include a desire for conspicuousness, uniqueness, social interaction, emotions and quality. Other theorists frame luxury with an emphasis on aesthetic values related to uniqueness, quality, hedonics and the extended self.

Oh no! Why am I giving an academic explanation of “Luxury” while writing about Luxury Dining? Actually when I started thinking, end number of concepts, incidents crowded my mind. To channelize the juice properly I first dried it up.

I heard from my father to have mutton & rice as a dinner was a luxury dining for him as my grandmother was a widow and very rarely  agreed to cook meat for him. For me, when I was young eating out or my birthday treat with a lavish ten-fifteen course home cooked meal was a luxury dining. Even now sometimes when I cook more than what I need and present that to myself nicely, I feel like I am having a Luxury Dining.

For a young boyfriend to spend an evening dining with his girlfriend could be very luxurious.

"A perfect date it would have been, 

with flowers in her hair

The sun would shine upon us so, 

I think at her I'd stare

I'd marvel at her thoughtfulness, 
her words would be so kind I'd feel the happiest man alive, as we sat and dined."

Weddings for upper middle class families all over the world are perfect examples of luxury dining.

Now time has changed. An important aspect of luxury food experience is no doubt restaurant dining. Billions of money is spent for this all over the world. But what are the expectations from Luxury Dining? A research suggests, “Quality of the relationship” between the restaurant and diners provides the primary determinant of commitment, loyalty, and word of mouth. The study suggests a restaurant experience rests on three information categories: functional (technical quality of food and service), mechanical (ambiance), and humanic (employees), though humanic clues may be more impactful than mechanic ones. As beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so the quality of a restaurant is in the experience of the diner. And so any attempt to rank the world's best restaurants is bound to produce as much disappointment as elation .The winners are the proprietors whose top places guarantee tables fully booked for years ahead.

Apart from Europe the prominence of rising culinary ambitions is visible in Peru, Russia, Mexico, Brazil and many other countries. This reflects the future of fine dining and the restaurant business with new clientele.

In 2008 UNESCO incorporated oral culture in their Intangible Cultural Heritage list intending to safeguard immaterial cultural heritage. French Gastronomy is one of such food cultures inscribed. According to UNESCO some of the reasons why it was selected : important elements include the  careful selection of dishes from a constantly growing repertoire of recipes; the purchase of good, preferably local products whose flavours go well together; the pairing of food with wine; the setting of a beautiful table; and specific actions during consumption, such as smelling and tasting items at the table. 

The gastronomic meal respects a fixed structure, commencing with an apéritif (drinks before the meal) and ending with liqueurs, containing in between at least four successive courses, namely a starter, fish and/or meat with vegetables, cheese and dessert.I consider this  to be Luxury Dining.

Now when I think about Luxury dining here in India what comes in mind first is all dressed up, eating on a table with fancy tablecloths, beautifully folded napkins, and a multitude of silverware on the table, a menu that is high quality and beautifully plated. Of course not less than a five course menu. What is common about Luxury Dining whether East or West is that the bill extracts a big chunk of hard earned money from everybody’s pocket. What we look for in return probably is something superior in kind, quality, and appearance; outstanding, very good to look at; showing special skills, detail, or intricacy especially in artistic work; subtle delicacy.

Some specifications of Luxury Dining.

Dress Code: Semi formal and formal dress code is followed, no slippers, denims, shorts.

Atmosphere: One should feel pampered, sitting arrangements should be comfortable with eye pleasing decorations  and ambiance should be properly designed with a soothing music. The pacing of the meal is leisurely but consistent. Only sounds should be forks and knives upon china.

Plating: Presentations is an important part of fine dining. It’s art combined with food. Along with plating extra ordinary clean and elegant flatware, hollow ware and stemware is a must on the table.

Food: High quality food with visual presentation is a must. Expectations are in respect to delicacies with subtle taste which would be something outstanding. Luxury Dining demands the showcase of the special culinary skills of the Chefs.

Service: Is always beyond taking orders and serving the food. Server should be faultless, precise and exquisite. At least one smartly dressed server would be dedicated to a table. They escort patrons to the table, holding the chair for women should have knowledge about the menu, ingredients, cooking methods and are willing to answer all the questions and ready to make recommendations. Clearing the table of crumbs in between courses, replacing linen napkins if a patron leaves the table, serving food directly on the plate at the table is what is expected.

To quote Pakistani food blogger Farah Kalam“Restaurants need to be very careful labeling themselves as ‘Luxury Dining’ as in a Luxury dining there is no room for excuses!!! It is beyond a term, a complete experience and anything less than that is just an expensive dining.”

In course of writing what came to my mind is the Roman stoic lifestyle and Catullus. The "life of luxury" is an important dimension to Catullus' poetry, as the former Roman stoic ideal lifestyle gave way to extravagance and ostentatious display of wealth in the Late Republic and Early Empire. Nightly dining parties and finery of all types marked the luxurious life of the elite class. The vocation of the poet in itself implies comfort and leisure, so that Catullus may write: "At leisure, Licinius, yesterday/ We'd much fun at my writing-tablets/ As we'd agreed to be frivolous./ Each of us writing light verses/ Playing now with this metre, now that,/ Capping each other's jokes with toasts,"

 Is Luxury Dining suffering an Identity crisis?

In recent years, the rise of street food, upmarket fast food and quality casual restaurants have triggered a marked casualisation of good food.

Many restaurant owners think: the food's at a very high level, but everything else isn't. When people think of fine dining, they think of waiters in suits, tons of cutleries, being expensive. We tried to break all that down. We want guests to have a laugh and enjoy the food. We have to be accessible. If people come in jeans and jump suits, their money is as good as anybody else's.

To criticize Luxury Dining : What is not liked about Luxury Dining  is the stringent menu and the dictatorship of the Chefs as to what we should eat. Even many criticizes about their attitude as they love to consider themselves more as artists rather than service providers.

I conclude the article with a classic example by Josh Ozersky:

“Now that I am old, I probably can’t take it for granted that everyone remembers the iconic scene in Five Easy Pieces, when Jack Nicholson wants to order a plain omelette with tomatoes instead of potatoes, and a side order of toast. The waitress, a stand-in for all the inflexible authority figures that loomed so large at the time, tells him he can’t get toast as a side order and that there are “no substitutions.” Nicholson calmly adds to his order a chicken-salad sandwich on wheat toast and tells the waitress to hold the chicken — between her knees.”