If you’re like me, you probably heard about the Cheesecake Factory opening and thought, “Hey! Another strip bar in Rochester, how nice!” After all, with more and more people attending college these days and tuition skyrocketing up and up, we need more places in which to meet the heaving bosoms of all those hard-working grad school strippers we’ve all heard so much about. And a place called The Cheesecake Factory seems like a really nice, clean, friendly place in which to view the exposed mammary glands and scantily-clad gluteal clefts so much a part of our American heritage in all their buxom glory.
Well, allow me to disabuse you of that errant notion. The Cheesecake Factory is in fact a large chain restaurant. The women that work there are comely, no doubt, but they are waitresses and hostesses. So, a heads up, fellas: careful where you put your singles!
The wife and I were out and about on this beautiful summer afternoon and decided to go to the opening of The Cheesecake Factory, just for giggles. Whatever else people might be into carping about, the food was amazingly good. The wait was atrocious but then, it always is for new restaurants. At least the people-watching was fun. In fact, former mayor Bill Johnson was in the booth right in front of our own, the ex-executive donning a disconcerting pair of white shorts. I didn’t say anything to him, I couldn’t imagine what I might say. No suggestions, please.
Sarah had the Bistro Shrimp Pasta and a pomegranate margarita. I had the Cajun Jambalaya Pasta with rice instead of pasta and a Margarita Del Ray. Both dishes were phenomenally tasty, with fresh shrimp and chicken perfectly seasoned. I especially liked the jambalaya with red, green and yellow bell peppers, onions and fresh, tasty tomatoes. The Bistro Pasta had a lemon-basil sauce that was out-of-this-world.
Both of our drinks were quite tasty, though the pomegranate was a bit strong for my taste in Sarah’s drink. I suppose it damned-well should have been, for the price. Either way, I tell you this: I am so freakin’ sick to death of cheap-ass, lazy bar service that insists that those stupid mixers are an acceptable substitute for a real margarita, I could just spit Mexican jumping beans. This misapprehension is demonstrably false and evil, and mixers are in fact an affront to good taste; at least the Cheesecake Factory knows it. The drink was nowhere near as well-mixed as a Salina’s ‘rita, but it was a damned fair-sight better than most of these pasty-white suburban restaurant chains for sure.
I finished off with a nice caramel latte and we brought home a Kahlua cheesecake slice for some later treat. Don’t plan on this being a cheap date, as it set us back a good eighty bucks, but it was totally worth it in my book.
Now, as for the complaints against this foundry of cheese-based ambrosias. Itchy is a guy I’ve never met, but he’s commented here often enough. He seems like a good guy, and I can’t pitch a linked bitch at him without at least a reasonable, well-ordered riposte. Plus, I think it’s cool he’s blogging for RT these days.
So, the chief complaint is that they don’t publish the nutritional information of their food anywhere, and by extension, that the food is in fact loaded with calories and fat. Well, OK. It would certainly be nice if they released that information to the public.
But if the storm of negative comments on RT are to be believed, then McDonald’s is a paragon of nutritional and informational virtue, whereas the Cheesecake Factory, Hogan’s Hideaway, the Martini Grille and others are establishments of near-Cheney-like secrecy and comestible malcontent. Somehow, that doesn’t seem right.
The fact is, you knew when you walked into the Cheesecake Factory that it wasn’t Jenny Craig or Whale Watchers. Don’t pretend to be surprised that a dish clearly labeled, “Parmesan Crusted Chicken Cutlets Served Over Pasta Tossed with Mushrooms, Peppers and Onions in a Spicy New Orleans Style Sauce,” was not an entirely healthy choice. You don’t need a nutrition grid, you need to pay attention. You can’t eat food that rich and think you’re doing yourself any real favours, health wise, so why beat a dead horse’s head?
Shut up and eat.
By contrast, McDonald’s posts it’s nutritional information right on the wall like a decree from King George III, himself. And like those regal decrees of yore, there’s very little redress available to the readers. See, the difference between Cheesecake and McDonald’s is: there’s a whole mess of folk of modest means going to McDonald’s every day because they don’t have a lot of choices, much less healthy ones, in this country.
It’s cheaper to eat at Micky-D’s, no matter what anyone tells you to the contrary, and in eating cheap food as a primary source, those folks are poisoning their bodies. For real. I’m living proof, actually. Conversely, rich people in the suburbs have many options, and the option of the day may not always be the Cheesecake Factory. Reforming the policies of a restaurant where people pay upwards of eighty dollars for a two-person meal isn’t exactly a populist calling, it’s asking for even better treatment from a company that already caters to the rich.
For a fun exercise, try writing down all the places you can eat for under $7 a person, then list out all the places where you can eat for over $10 a person. Now find out the average nutritional value of a meal in each of those establishments and divide by the number in each category. See? And I’ll betcha you could graph posterior size to income level at a fairly high level of confidence.
Yes, I’m as aware of the huge portion problem in the restaurant business as anyone. And irritated by it, too. But again, the impetus that brings you to Cheesecake or Carrabbas is much different than it is for Mick’s or high-school lunch rooms (also a den of dietary iniquity, also with readily-available nutritional information). The “choice argument” does not always fit every situation, but in this case, it does. You made the choice to go drop >50 bucks on dinner, you chose the meal, and you know when you are full.
So, shut up and stop eating.
I agree with what you wrote about large portions: Stop eating when you are ready. The Chinese say that their exceptionally high life expectancy comes from “Eating until you are 80% full”. Sounds like a good idea for us Americans too.
Then again, I do like being able to order a petite portion of food, since I never reheat my leftovers. But that is a story for another blog = )
hello…my name is bob. i work at the above name ‘cheese factory’. they do pay me well…although no amount of detergeant can remove the smell of cheese. i once met a tom…he wast you…he was more…cheesy. anyway this is how you do random…i no because i work part time in a random clothes distributing music estaablishment for old age guineapigs…i feel a bit violated though because you are talking about my fellow cheesebuddy’s…they dont get paid well… i think its because they are half cheesianarian…i have complained but to no avail…i hope you will take this matter seriously…mwa..ha..ha
yours sincerely…robert (bob) J. cheesinheimer..stein..mccackengruber