I talked with a friend today about the concept of the meat-and-three restaurant.
I can eat at a meat-and-three. If you invited me to lunch next week and said “how about (insert meat-and-three here)?” then I’d say yes, and I’d be there, and I’d eat, and I’d get full.
But wow, do I burn out quickly on meat-and-three food.
Look, I’m not a small man. Statistically, it’s unlikely I’ll ever be a small man. I love to eat. But if I’m going to eat, I want it to be stuff that genuinely blows my skirt up. That’s probably going to be spicy. It’s going to be any of several Asian cuisines, or something from Latin America, or Cajun, or Greek, or maybe Italian.
At meat-and-three places, lots of stuff is deep-fried, and lots of stuff is drenched in butter. Sometimes it’s both. It tastes good, but it never quite tastes worth it to me. Do you know what I mean? I’m obviously not averse to a high-calorie meal. But when I evaluate a meat-and-three meal, I think things like “I could have had a beer if it weren’t for all this fat.”
I’ve blogged about part of the problem before. Lea’s family is from rural southern Indiana, where the Amish-owned meat-and-three restaurant dominates the landscape. Basically, you eat there, or at McDonald’s. It’s a long drive to sushi or pho tai.
I occasionally eat at Tim’s. I like the étouffée, but I really go so I can have turnip greens and black-eyed peas, because Lea doesn’t like turnip greens or black-eyed peas.
Such is a good use of the meat-and-three model.
If you’re going to commit a gustatory sin, at least have a good reason.
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