288895 Sun Apr 07 16:50:52 -0700 2002 18 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1561331 A couple of questions related to The Rogue's plaint about cooking too much, and Wendy Leonard's answer to it: What are you most likely to bring home from a restaurant? And what do you do with it at home (besides move it around in the fridge and watch it get fuzzy)? Sun Apr 07 16:50:52 -0700 2002 0 CTer 1 1561351 Most Thai and Indian curries taste great the next day. That's what I'm most likely to bring home. I think Thai salads are fine the next day too though not everyone may agree. If it's a restaurant that I know and trust like Sripraphai I'll plan on eating the curries for even three days but I feel most restaurant food needs to be eaten the next day. Part of my tendency to stock up at restaurants is because I live on Long Island where we don't, generally, have good restaurants. So leftover food from the ethnic restaurants I frequent in Queens is far better than anything I can get here. Sun Apr 07 19:06:29 -0700 2002 1561331 0 Wendy Leonard 1 1561355 When I was a chld, my mom would always bring home a doggie bag, but it usually just had the rest of her meat in it; sometimes a potatoe she'd fry up the next morning. I'd start nibbling on the meat by about 2 a.m. and continued until it was gone around noon. It was a real joy to find that charbroiled steak or prime rib and horseradish in the fridge. I don't know what woke me up at that hour and it was only when there was a doggie bag in the fridge. We had a built-in refrigerator that took up a half the wall and had about eight or nine little door compartments. If mom wanted her leftover's, she'd put them in a particular compartment so we knew. I also love to cook, so if I bring home a doggie bag sometimes, I will to use the leftovers in another recipe I try to make up. When you're travelling, though, doggie bags are kind of useless. Also, we ate out often when I was growing up and often travelled. Mom would strongly suggest that we children always order something we'd never had before. Then we'd often end up sharing each other's meals. Even today, a few of my very good friends and I will eat at each other's plate, too. One time, at Spago's in Las Vegas, three of us were even feeding each other. There doesn't seem to be very many leftovers when everyone at the table takes one or several tastes. Once, I tasted a recipe my Dad's friend made with chicken, corn tortillas, green chilis, and corn baked together with eggs and buttermilk. The week I got the recipe (that I wanted to alter a bit), I was eating in a Mexican restaurant and thought their tortillas chips tasted great. I wanted to bring them all home to put in the recipe, but was rather embarrassed to do it; feeling rather chincy. So we ordered some to go and the waiter just gave them to us. Sometimes you just can't get certain good ingredients anywhere else. Sun Apr 07 19:58:03 -0700 2002 1561331 0 kc girl 2 1561359 I hate the huge-portion-as-marketing trend. What I really resent is when these same places add a surcharge for splitting dishes. In effect, this tactic makes the light eaters subsidize the heavy eaters. Lots of places won't do half-orders, either. At places like Vinnie Testas (ugh), it's just assumed that you're going to take half your dinner home with you. Some people like the idea of getting two meals "for the price of one", but I'd much rather just save money on a smaller first meal and put the savings toward something else tomorrow. I don't like to waste food, but most of the time I just end up throwing away my doggie bags. The only exceptions are Chinese food and pizza. Sun Apr 07 20:54:44 -0700 2002 1561355 0 Lindsay B. 3 1561388 Actually, I feel the opposite. When I get served large portions at restaurants, I'll divide up what's on the plate right then and there, actually reserving a part to take home. I'm usually too busy to cook except on the weekends, and I appreciate having the extra meal (or two) that I can just heat up. I'll always use up my leftovers within a week, and I've never had any problems doing that, especially if I transfer the food from whatever the restaurant packed it in to my own plastic containers. Mon Apr 08 10:31:37 -0700 2002 1561359 0 Stephanie L. 3 1561408 You must realize that its costs the restaurant almost as much to serve you a smaller meal...as between the alternatives, it is better business to be overly generous. While the present economy may skew the ratios (and of course the trendy places don't count) I recall that the average restaurant spends 27-33% on the food, rest on overhead. Theoretically, the place can double the amount of food, and only charge 30% more on the total tab. I'm talking averages. When you are critical about charging for splits, the "other" diner is paying nothing, but soiling napkins, silverware, plates, drinking water, etc. Many people do not take advantage of splitting and waste much food. A smart restaurant will adjust meals to less portions, for the seniors, etc. A "half order" with 33% knocked off the price. Mon Apr 08 13:31:56 -0700 2002 1561359 0 Jim H. 4 1561421 I do realize that the food itself is a comparatively small portion of a restaurant's operating expenses. I think your "seniors" suggestion is a good one. What I'm complaining about is not the fact that 50% less food doesn't automatically cost 50% less. You're right that it's unfair to make the restaurant take a hit because of those of us with smaller appetites. I'm objecting to the general trend toward "super-sizing". I find unaesthetic and often wasteful. Sometimes the quality of the food suffers directly as a result. My local diner has recently up-sized their pancakes to the size of frisbees. The texture has suffered considerably as a result. I'm just dismayed by the continued triumph of quantity over quality. Nowadays, people feel ripped off if their restaurant portions aren't huge. I'm sure there are plenty of restaurants who feel pressured to deliver larger portions at comparable costs, which means that corners have to be cut elsewhere: like the quality of raw ingredients, or presentation. Mon Apr 08 14:56:13 -0700 2002 1561408 0 Lindsay B. 5 1561429 The Huge Portion syndrome may have actually had a positive rebound effect on me. Joined a friend for dinner a couple of weeks ago at a nearby place that is infamous for its oversized plates. They were having "prime rib night" and served it in half a dozen ways, mighty portions all. I took half of it home, and it really wasn't until the massive cut congealed in the fridge that I could see how incredibly white with sat fat the stuff was. I'm not sure that I was surprised (I'm not new), but I was completely aghast. It may have turned me into a vegetarian. The memory has yet to fade. Mon Apr 08 16:22:29 -0700 2002 1561421 0 Deb Van D 6 1561434 I don't like doggie bags because I usually don't go straight home when I eat out. I can't tell you how many styrofoam clamshells of pad thai my boyfriend has forgotten on the floors of movie theaters around North America. There's also the refrigeration issue. If you scrape warmish leftovers off the plate into the styrofoam container, you're creating ideal conditions for bacterial growth, especially if the food is going to sit in the car all evening. Mon Apr 08 16:50:11 -0700 2002 1561429 0 Lindsay B. 5 1561531 i desperately wish i knew where i could find the exact statistics, but the amount of food sold in a restaurant "serving" these days has so disgustingly drastically increased in teh past 20 years. (Do you want that Supersized?) the USDA also has a hand in our thinking about food servings, particulary meat/protein. one official serving of meat (chicken, beef, fish) is the size of a DECK OF CARDS. not the size of a plate. Tue Apr 09 14:58:11 -0700 2002 1561421 0 renee 6 1561551 Perhaps the increase in serving sizes has something to do with the increase in USA waist size. Tue Apr 09 16:43:23 -0700 2002 1561531 0 saucyknave 7 1561630 Gee, you think?? As much as I sometimes like large portions in US restaurants (when I'm looking to take leftovers home), I really appreciate the sensible portions in Europe. And that's not just in restaurants; when was the last time you were _regularly_ able to walk into a deli and get a can/bottle of soda less than 12 oz.? In Europe you can get a 6 or 8 oz bottle or can, and as I don't drink that much soda it's great to have smaller sizes. In this country the general preference is quantity over quality, hence the rapid rise in obesity over the last 20 years. Wed Apr 10 10:06:28 -0700 2002 1561551 0 Stephanie L. 7 1561632 that's ezzackly what i'm saying. we are taught to eat "everything on our plate" as children, eating often way beyond sated so we learn to eat until we're full, as opposed to eating until we're no longer hungry. No suprise then that obese people are often undernourished. the body can't process the nutrients, it just hangs onto the fat, and then makes fat from sugar. Wed Apr 10 10:33:06 -0700 2002 1561551 0 renee 8 1561638 It's interesting that young children will eat exactly the amounts and types of food that their bodies need. They will stop eating, not when full, but at the point where they have consumed a healthy meal. If a child is made to eat more than they need, the hunger receptors in the brain get taught new messages, which causes permanent malfunction. This leads to eating until full or overfull. It is very true that making a child eat, who doesn't want to, is a definite cause of adolescent and adult weight problems. The "clear your plate" message is extremely psychologically and physically unhealthy. It is mostly a control issue on the part of the adult / parent over the child. Wed Apr 10 10:50:54 -0700 2002 1561632 0 The Rogue 1 1561362 I'd love to bring home anything but I did it again, left the doggie box on the table. I also leave the dry cleaning hanging in the store as I leave. Sun Apr 07 21:35:17 -0700 2002 1561331 0 Marilayne 1 1561364 Some dishes just don't go home well. Others do... I take home the good stuff if there is enough to be worthwhile. The bad stuff stays... Usually there is nothing to take home because it was so good we couldn't stop eating. (I keep antacid and stuff in my car at all times, and it's needed.) Sun Apr 07 21:40:06 -0700 2002 1561331 0 The Rogue 1 1561424 I will usually ask for any and everything (except salad) to be wrapped up to go and then take it to work the next day for lunch. Yum. While I sit at my desk and eat, I relive the delicious memories of the night before. Mon Apr 08 15:21:52 -0700 2002 1561331 0 Jennie Sheeks 1 1561442 Pros: Sometimes a take home leftover tastes so better than it did when served...maybe too much wine or other distractions at the restaurant. Maybe it's the coziness of eating at home, in the light of the fridge, or feet up on the couch, whatever, more relaxed. Cons: Does any place still do those aluminium foil swan packages??? That's a ridiculous looking thing to be carrying around!!! Public transportation and doggie bags......not a good idea! Mon Apr 08 17:43:41 -0700 2002 1561331 0 ciaolette 1 1561455 We love to take advantage of "doggie bag" (when was the last time the dog saw any of the food). Most of the time the food is quite good and if we can make two meals of it - great! Also, our plan of keeping the leftovers is great for Chinese meals. Instead of ordering 1 or 2 items because that is all we can eat in one sitting, we order 5 or 6 items we enjoy to get great variety and plan to take most of it home for a few more meals. Mon Apr 08 19:09:33 -0700 2002 1561331 0 Ray