I was watching Hell’s Kitchen yesterday and I suddenly wonder… when will I be able to dine in a fine dining restaurant like that? Yup, one meal would probably take up my entire salary… er… probably 2 months.
Sadly, there aren’t any real guidelines on what fine dining is. I do have my own guidelines of what fine dining is all about, and often I would laugh at many fine dining restaurant wannabes who claim that they serve fine dining just because they have classy ambience. Well, maybe I set too high of an expectation on “fine dining”.
In my opinion… yes… purely and entirely my opinion, a restaurant that qualify as a fine dining restaurant must have all of the below quality:
1. Reservation only
Yes… you are right. If you are that good, that great and that expensive… then why not. To me… it must be by reservation ONLY. No fuss, no waiting. And you know you will have a great personal time, without having the feeling of someone trying to rush you to finish up and leave.
2.Spacious and limited seatings
Right… of course it has to be spacious and thus, it gotta have limited seating. Ideally, you can hardly see any other human except for your partner or friends. Most importantly… they’ve gotta have white table cloth and napkins, perfectly ironed as well. And I mean napkins… not serviettes.
3. Valet parking
Hahaha… definately must have. Come on… good food and nice cars come hand in hand. With all the wine pairing… it’s always better to have some assistance.
4. Top notch service
Yes, it’s gotta be the best of the best service ever. And yes, the servers must be in their SUPER CLEAN uniforms, perfectly ironed and definately no stains. Not to mention,they gotta be highly trained… well at least no fingerprints on the plate. Knowledgeable and able to come out with an inteligent topic in regards to the food being served. And of course, no lesser than 2 servers to directly served the table.
5. 5 course meal ,wine paring and 2 hours of my lifetime experience
Yes… for me… it’s gotta be at least a 5 course meal with wine paring. Good food… wine… both just gotta work hand in hand. The menu is pretty much set. I don’t really have to think what to choose from and definately no combo meals and stuff. Best of all… no rush… everything is just slow and easy. Eat… chit chat… drink… chit chat… and life goes on~
6. State-of-the-art food and talented chef
All the food served gotta look like a masterpiece artwork. Each unique and different. You know you would spend at least 5 minutes of your time admiring the beauty and work. Not only must it look good… it must taste even better. And of course, we must definately thank the talented and professional chef. So yes, I do expect the chef to introduce himself after meal and ask me how’s food.
7. Top class Silverware and Glassware
Woohooo… yes… no stainless steel please. Only Silverware. It’s gotta be shiny and polished. Wine glasses made from crystals… and yes… matching and specially designed cups and plates. Ah… just so posh and classy.
8.Classy ambiance
Chandeliar, dim lights… that’s a must. Better still with some mozart music.
9. Priceless
Wee… as mentioned, I would have to at least spend my 1 month worth of salary in a meal. So yes… every attention to details count.
So, how many restaurant in KL actually falls under this few catergory. Do let me know if you know any fine dining restaurant. As I think I will have to save like 3 years to eat 1 meal. Now… is it all worth it?