A few things I am sick of:
Truffle Oil: Enough. Please, stop. Not every restaurant in town needs truffle oil on the mac and cheese. Or on the fries. Or all over the fish. Or, for Pete’s sake, on the salads. It’s enough already. Adding truffle oil to an already perfectly good dish (like mac and cheese) is the equivalent of adding a super-violent scene to an already perfectly good movie-in other words, a cheap, eye-rollingly boring ploy. My rule: Truffles, yes. Truffle oil, no.
Mussels: I know they sell well and that people really like mopping up the broth. But mussels have become ridiculously ubiquitous, and not enough of them are memorable.
Things in threes: Too many menus lately have things like “mushrooms three ways” or “shrimp three ways” when the truth is, one way would do just as well – if not better. As a diner, I’d much rather be wowed by a perfect execution of one way, rather than medium-good preparations of three.
A few things I’d like to see more of:
House wines: I’m tired of long lists of lovely sounding wines that are beyond my budget. Good restaurants should commit to, and sell cheaply by the bottle and the glass, a solid house red and a solid house white. Sure, change it by the season or the year if you must, but offer me a glass of good wine for under $5. Wine should be a no-brainer part of everyday dinners out, not just a special-occasion addition for big nights.
Better vegetarian options: I’m a meat eater, but I’m tired of seeing the words “grilled seasonal vegetables” or “portobello burger” tacked onto the end of the menu as the only vegetarian option.
Every cuisine in the world, from East to West, North to South, has a rich, complex tradition of vegetable-focused dishes, and not all of them need bacon to make them taste good. Maybe it’s my current cholesterol count talking, but I think it’s time for kitchens across the state to put a lot more brains and energy into creating and executing more innovative, robust and delicious entrees that don’t include meat.
And it’s time for us, the dining public, to start ordering more vegetarian dishes.
Shorter menus: Days are long. So come suppertime, on nights when I’m off the clock, I am completely task-averse. When I’m handed a multipage menu covered in 10- point type, my eyes glaze over in anticipation of the entree-choosing chore ahead. Bring me a concise, confident bill of fare with a handful each of apps and entrees, and you’ll have me at hello.
So, that’s my two cents. What dishes and practices are you sick of? What would you like to see more of? Hit and add your two cents.
Dining critic Tucker Shaw can be reached at 303-954-1958 or at dining@denverpost.com.
