It’s a famous fact of life that are the most expensive restaurants in the world the portion sizes range from fairly small to microscopic. We’ll show you a few reasons which to explain this phenomenon.
1. The Pricey Cost Of Ingredients
This is probably the most common reason mentioned and it is based on truth but not that much truth. While it is true that high-quality ingredients cost more, they don’t cost that much more. Sure, caviar and truffles are extremely hard to get and therefore expensive; but we don’t eat a rack of truffles or a filet of caviar.
The extremely expensive ingredients are used as a seasoning and are not included in all entrees. So the cost of ingredients explains why the portions are not huge or big, but it is a mediocre explanation of their actual tininess.
2. Smaller Is More Elegant
Most people don’t go to these high-end places very often. They are mainly reserved for celebrating special occasions, business meetings, and romantic dinners.
Elegant restaurants eliminate many of the possible downsides of eating large portions. No pigging out and stuffing your face, no “are you gonna finish that?” and no profuse sweating and dashes to the toilets are expected.
Add the fancy settings and corresponding clothing and we can forget for a while that we are ravenous apelike creatures, which is pretty much the definition of elegance.
3. Tasting Menus
While most restaurants offer 3 or 4-course meals, fancy restaurants start at 3 and take it up to double figures.
The portions are so small so that we can enjoy the full spectrum of tastes that’s on offer, or at least that’s what they insist on.
4. Dishes Are Works Of Art
A great deal of care is invested in how the food looks when it arrives at the table. Some dishes are referred to as “creations” and “works of art”.
Decorative leaves and drops of sauce are placed just so in order to create a visually appealing plate. Preparing and serving a small portion of risotto or pasta takes just about the same amount of time and care as a larger portion does.
5. Perceptual Contrast
High-end places try to offer an experience as different as possible from low-end places like fast food joints.
The interiors are fancier, the cutlery is good enough to steal and the waiters are clever enough to avoid hot cooking oil.
6. Scarcity Increases The Attractiveness
We are all attracted to offers of real or perceived scarcity. We won’t think highly of a mountain of spaghetti if we are served one, but place a few strands of the same pasta in the center of a beautiful plate and we will pay it a lot more attention and will probably rate it much higher afterward.
7. Before Boredom Sets In
By serving portions that are only the size of several bites, we avoid boredom and have the food disappear before we take it for granted.
8. Cosi Fan Tutte: A Self-perpetuating Cycle
In time the image of the expensive restaurant with the minuscule dishes, which was not always the case, has become a part of our psyche. Most people go to a fancy restaurant expecting to be served little morsels and would feel cheated if they encountered man-size meals.
In turn, most of these restaurants try to meet these expectations and would avoid serving anything different.