Before you try a new restaurant, do you check out the menu online? As a vegetarian, I always make sure a new place will have good veggie options. If someone else suggested the meet-up, I need to know if I should snack beforehand.
Checking out the menu in advance has another value: it builds anticipation.
Recently Dave and I went out to eat before a book talk by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Nicholas Kristof (see featured photo!). I searched restaurants within a few blocks of the venue for easy walking and found a Mediterranean place with good reviews. Falafel, baganoush, tabbouleh, YUM! Some of my favorites.
We walked through the neighborhood, scanning other menus along the way. We stopped into an art shop and ogled attractive (pricey) home decor. We landed at the spot I’d previously chosen and ordered the tasting menu.
My friends, we had the best red pepper hummus! Dave only tolerates bell peppers of any color and he agreed: so good! Some bites were better than others, which also allowed us to savor the best bites. I swooned: “This will go down as one of my favorite meals.”
It wasn’t perfect, and it was fabulous. If they had an outlet in my neighborhood, I’d be there often. In fact, though we arrived earlyish for dinner, by the time we left we could tell it’s a neighborhood favorite. I overheard one woman say that her parents brought her there as a child, and she was clearly on a date.
Anticipation allowed me to savor the food in my imagination, which enhanced my enjoyment of the food on the table. Anticipation builds the good, just like that…
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