Mood or Food?

Wednesday, October 10, 2007  by Gregory Gronbacher
Category: Food, Mood, Blue Water Grill

Think about your favorite restaurant. Now ask yourself, is this place a favorite because of the quality of the food or the mood? Obviously, most of us will answer a little bit of both makes for a fine dining experience. However, some of us will tolerate a not-so-great meal for a wonderful view or pleasant environment while others will eat superb food in a place that is only days away from being closed by the Health Inspectors.

Personally, I favor mood slightly to food. Not that I am willing to tolerate a bad meal. But I tend to choose eating out at restaurants where the food is good, but so too is the atmosphere.

The same principles apply to home dining. Do we create a well-set table in the right lighting as well as offer our best culinary efforts? For me, part of the joy of entertaining goes beyond preparing the meal and includes setting a table and offering a "well-staged" meal.

If you have a moment, tell me about your favorite restaurants and why you like them. One of mine is the Blue Water Grill. It's close to my home, has good food, a lovely, modern, minimalist interior, and a view of small lake.

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Comments

# Beth Dornan said on October 10, 2007 10:38 AM:

Blue Water's lobster bisque is one of my favorite extravagances (extravagant because it has a whole day's worth of fat and calories.)  But I recently had one of the best meals I've ever had at North, which is in the Leelenau Peninsula across from Lake Leelanau.  Housed in a centennial farmhouse, it has wonderful art, an innovative menu, and fabulous food.  My husband and I recently celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary there and it was a delight from the moment we walked in the door through our coffee and dessert.

I, too, believe in making home meals special.  We always eat in our formal dining room (instead of the island or kitchen table used for homework and meal prep.)  While we save candles for the weekend, we always have placemats and cloth napkins because we view our meals as the anchor for our day -- a time and place to share and catch up, even if we're catching up over hot dogs and chips!  Right now we have a Halloween motif with a light-up pumpkin, skeleton candlesticks, a black table runner with embroidered skeletons and pumpkin placemats.  I have cream colored plates that will go with anything so we take advantage of different seasons and colors and themes to set our table -- I'm not a good seamstress but I can whip up placemats and napkins quickly and for a couple of bucks.  To me, it isn't what you spend but the ingenuity and creativity you bring to making mealtime special (this is coming from someone who's used curtains and bedsheets to set the table!)  

# Ben said on October 10, 2007 7:33 PM:

We have a place in Honolulu called Bravo which is a medium priced Italian restaurant. It's always busy! They have excellent food for the price and the server's are well trained. I think its my favorite restaurant because of the value you get with the quality of food and service.

The mood is okay, its a family restaurant and because its busy, its not the quietest. But it keeps getting voted "Favorite Italian Restaurant" by Honolulu voters.

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