Food, Glorious Food

I’ve lived in Southern New Jersey for about 10 years now.  Trust me, I’m not bragging.

I used to get a subscription to New Jersey Monthly magazine.  They had a restaurant section that did critiques of restaurants in the state; most of them located in Northern NJ.  People, Southern Jerseyans would be my guess, would write in and complain that it was unfair that NJM only reviewed restaurants up North.  Want to know why?  Because by and large, restaurants in the Southern half of the state pale by comparison; OK they stink, actually.  On a recent trip to New Brunswick to see a show, my husband and I ate at a fabulous restaurant and remembered what it used to be like to have outstanding food.  The problem is, the longer you live in the Southern part of the state, the more you start to think the lousy food is acceptable. On the way home I cried and said ‘make sure it doesn't happen to us!'

One of the other things I notice down where I live is that waiters and waitresses don’t write down my order.  Do they think I’m impressed?  Because frankly I’m sick to death of these ink-less nuts who stand in front of me nodding their heads approvingly at my selection and making comments like ‘excellent choice’ and ‘it’s the chef’s specialty’ when I announce I’ll have the Fish Sticks and Curly Fries.  Get yourself a BIC pen and a wad of paper and write down what I say.  It’s not bad enough that I’m eating off a garbage can lid, I’m tired of getting Shrimp in a Basket and mashed when I asked for Chicken Fingers and baked.

And another thing, if they can have a No-Smoking section, why can’t they have a No-Kids section for people without children?  My husband and I eat at a restaurant in a hotel by the beach whose clientele is nothing but vacationing families.  This means that in the summer I am forced to eat my meal while kids in flip flops and shorts cry and carry on, hit their siblings and run around the place.  The sunburned, addle brained parents start to drink the minute they sit down and don’t stop until after the bill is paid.  They don’t appear to be the least bit concerned, or even aware.

I say it should be a state law that restaurants be required to install huge, steel, sound proof partitions so I can eat in peace.  If that’s not feasible I’ll take my chances and eat with the smokers.