Upscale restaurants will have one table in the back where diners can experience the food and atmosphere at great discounts. The only condition is that you can only eat the food that other diners have left over.
When a party at another table fails to finish their meal, the remainder is sent back to the kitchen, where trained leftover chefs rearrange it and fluff it up, perhaps add some more sauce, regarnish it, and create a visual masterpiece fit for a gourmet. They then deliver the dish to your table with a flourish.
While you do not have as much choice over what dish you will receive as with a traditional menu, you will be more than pleased at the small financial impact that dining out at a fancy restaurant can have on your wallet.
Water and drinks can be ordered a la carte. They do not have to be leftovers.-- phundug, Aug 29 2003 Scraps Family Eatery http://www.halfbake...s_20Family_20Eaterylooks redundant [FarmerJohn, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] Garbage Eaters http://www.indymedi...n/2001/04/2948.htmlBasically this, but with walls and waiters [DeathNinja, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004] Yuck. // pleased at the small financial impact //? I wouldn't do this if they paid me.-- waugsqueke, Aug 29 2003 I dunno... does this restaurant serve prime rib?-- DeathNinja, Aug 29 2003 Maybe just serve wrong orders or refused food.-- Cedar Park, Aug 29 2003 "I'd like the Tertiary Chicken with the Second's Soup, please."-- k_sra, Aug 29 2003 But think how cheap it is! All those bread baskets going back half full. Flounder going back half-baked.-- phundug, Aug 29 2003 Give me your retched refuse.-- thumbwax, Aug 29 2003 what will the poor pigs get?-- po, Aug 29 2003 _love_ this idea! Sure, initially it seems pretty gross. But if you watch any of the exposes that reveal how (poorly) our full priced entrees are treated in some restaurants, it makes sense to risk a bit more infectious material in exchange for a nice healthy discount. But I would like it more if the leftovers table were in the front window of the restaurant. Then folks could gape in from the street, and ask "Are they really going to eat that?" .... there might even be wagering! BeeBee-- BeeBee, Aug 29 2003 I would not have posted this idea if I weren't willing to try it myself.-- phundug, Aug 29 2003 I must admit that I'm not at all disgusted by the idea either. But then I once worked in a café and their idea of providing me with lunch was to put the customer leftovers in a toasted sandwich. I was too young to realise I should complain and instead enjoyed such delicacies as grated carrot and chips toasted sarnie.
So (+). It would also make me feel less bad about leaving food, as I'd know that someone would get to enjoy the rest of it.-- Taika, Sep 01 2003 Although you then run the risk of only being served the things that everyone left over like sprouts, broccoli and capers. Eeee (Idea so gross it's *almost* good by the way).-- squeak, Sep 01 2003 So you get all the vitamins the high paying diners leave behind! Now that's a marketable benefit...-- Taika, Sep 01 2003 I'm in, for sure. Would some class this, tho, as a disgusting degustation?-- Elvisatehere, Sep 02 2003 In the middle ages, this form of feding the poor was common: One would use no plates at feasts but slices of bread. And when the party was over, the slice with all the leftovers on it was given to the peasants. So this was baked quite a few centuries ago, if not in a restaurant.-- Saruman, Sep 03 2003 ...and maybe we could have the 'Pre-Chewed Food' section to cater to old people that can't afford false teeth?-- vendetta, Sep 03 2003 man, I remember being on the punk scene in TX, and table-scoring fries and half-eaten steaks, and it was food, yes, but you could catch some nasty stuff offa that food -- but on the other hand the bussers LOVED us!-- Letsbuildafort, Sep 03 2003 ummmm, i've worked in countless restaurants where left over gobbling was common practice among staff.
Obvioulsy not the half eaten stuff; the tbone that someone's taken a bite out of already, but the amount of stuff that comes back that hasn't even been touched, it would almost be morally wrong to just chuck out.
When large banquetting parties finished a course, there would be a sudden migration of reception staff hovering round the kitchen hoping to highjack a plate for a quick snackette.
Honestly, I don't think a left over biscuit/cheese selection ever made it all the way to the wash up with anything left on the plate.
Wine too, that always got stashed away for cash up at the end of the night.
Seriously, why are you lot so disgusted by this?-- daaisy, Dec 07 2005 As Anthony Bourdain points out in his great book "Kitchen Confidential":
"Where do you think the butter comes from for all that Sunday Brunch Hollandaise sauce, anyway?"-- bristolz, Dec 07 2005 No way. I am one of those people who will snatch something off someone's leftover plate, and eat it. You can do this at pretty much any "city" area where they have outdoor seating. Just cruise by, get a roll, maybe slice away half of their meat, and you have a tasty sandwich. It's free and quick. If you institutionalize this, what will cheapskates like me do for fun?-- wildgift, Dec 08 2005 There was an article on BBC1 recently about "Trashcan Dining". He showed you how to get a top notch picnic by scavenging food from bins outside restaurants and shops. This sounds even worse, but if you know what you are doing you can get very good food for free!! Shops have to throw out all the salads that they don't sell each day, and most are still very edible...-- Minimal, Dec 08 2005 Not to take the wind out of your sails but the liability factor is always something to consider. First of all the patrons will demand first class service even though they didnt pay the first class price. Secondly you will attract a large segment of the riff-raff urban population which would make it harder to attract the full price customers who only want a quiet comfortable place to eat.-- Jscotty, Dec 08 2005 [Jscotty] as a representative of the urban riff raff, I find your statements offensive. I expect a full appology.-- MikeOxbig, Dec 09 2005 Please accept this bowl of lemon slices that came out of the ice tea glasses.-- Jscotty, Dec 09 2005 Mmm, tasty.-- MikeOxbig, Dec 13 2005 random, halfbakery