‘Fined’ Dining
I’VE ALWAYS wondered why ‘Fine Dining’ is called as such (have you?).† What I couldn’t seem to reconcile in my simple mind is how come ‘fine dining’ is synonymous with ‘expensive’ when the dining is just, well, fine.
A dinner date with my ex-girlfriend on Valentine’s Day may have provided me the answer to this question.
We chose Lolo Dad’s at the ground floor of 6750 building in Makati for our dinner date (facing Glorietta).† Lolo Dad is classified as a ‘fine dining’ place.† Or at least we assumed it is.
The place was neat and quiet.† There was an air of opulence inside albeit the interior decor wasn’t that grand.† ‘Must be the people inside.† The other diners seemed to belong to the affluent class and for a while I felt a bit uncomfortable.
Food presentation was classy.†† The food itself tasted okay.† Quite good enough (nothing extraordinary, if I may add).
Then came the bill.† And it hit me.† I was not paying for the food (the food could not have cost that much).† I was being fined.† Fined for what?† I don’t know.††Maybe for dining in a place where I clearly do not belong.
I am not trying to be melodramatic or sarcastic, or both.† I have dined in even more expensive places, that’s a fact.† But I’ve never† quite understood, and I still don’t quite understand, and probably never will I quite understand how food that is just fine in a place that is just fine would be so extraordinarily expensive.
“Fined Dining” seems like the best explanation I found so far.
Maybe you are paying for expensive Chief
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