What happened?

Have I really become a snob? Last night, my dad took us to Wilmington for dinner and a show in honor of Anna’s birthday. I was excited to see Evita, and it was a nice bonus to have dinner beforehand. Our destination was Café Mezzanotte just about a block from the theater. I was looking forward to sampling some veal, having recently read so much about meat.

The restaurant was spacious, with Italian music playing and an otherwise quiet atmosphere. We placed our orders with Andy (obviously not his real name with his blatant Chinese accent) and were served shortly thereafter. The Calamari was quite tasty, served simply with marinara and lemon wedge- I don’t know if I’ve ever had pieces so big, usually they are all small and crunchy. It was fun to relish the chewy texture of the squid. But when our main courses arrived, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. The portions appeared meager on the large plates, garnished lamely with a little chopped onion greens or something.

My parents had both ordered chicken, Ashley the Salmon pasta, Anna had a nice plate of spaghetti with meat sauce and I sampled the veal. In my opinion, Anna's plate with pasta covered in red, mneaty sauce, was the only plate that really looked appealing. My three medallions were covered in a Fantina cheese of no distinct flavor, over bacon and sage all on a light, white wine sauce. While the sage provided something interesting flavor-wise, overall I was unimpressed. Of course it started with presentation: the veal looked boring under light colored cheese, all by itself on the big white plate. The little dish of veggies on the side was just pathetic: a couple string beans, about half a diced and spiced potato and three mini carrots that looked like they belonged in a bagged luch with some dip; they were hardly cooked. The meat was not very tender, there was some tendon-like gristle left on, and the potatoes were dry, overly starchy and over-spiced. Quite frankly, for $24 I was disappointed.

In fact I was actually a little angry- here we were about to drop about $150 on dinner (about 30 each) and all we could say was “that was ok”, by me, that’s not ok! Maybe it’s because I don’t eat veal that much and can’t really discriminate all that well, maybe it’s because I still see my parents somewhat as the country bumpkins and don’t want them to get ripped off, or because I have a sister whose husband is the head chef at a restaurant that was just named one of the best in the world by Zagat, maybe it’s because I had recently eaten out and felt a little guilty to begin with indulging myself again, but one way or the other I was thoroughly dismayed with the whole affair.

That, in and of itself, was dismaying, however. What have I become that I can no longer enjoy a dining experience that is less than excellent? Am I a food snob? Well, I’m coming to terms with the whole thing, and embracing the critic that I have within, and knowing that no matter what, I’ll always love the diners and the street meat. So I don’t think you can call be a food snob, just yet, and certainly not a picky eater, but that’s not going to stop me from having an opinion.