What BS....you are the one paying you order what you want when you want it and if the palce can not or will not oblige take your business elsewhere. Look, no matter how hard all of you wannabes try to fit in you will always forever and ever be instantly identified as an American, Canadian, English, whatever tourist, so just get over it.

"I know that there is no class distinction in the USA"

Are you dreaming?

Crefloors, you made me laugh out loud!
Only a True Fodorite would say such a thing! I love it.

I didn't relize that top chefs were very ignorant people who don't realize that individual's taste buds differ.

Folks have varying numbers of taste receptors for different flavors: sweet, sour, hot, salty. That's why some people can gulp down very hot peppers that make most people choke and gasp--they have fewer "hot" receptors than average. And to one person the onion soup might taste just right, while another can't stand it because it's too salty--that can also be due to the number of salt receptors.

People do vary physically beyond just height, weight, and skin color--I really would hope that a truly good chef would recognize this and not think that what's 'perfectly seasoned' for his taste is 'perfect' for every human on the planet.

Hello blackduff - not only do some Swiss drink tea with fondue, we also dip our bread in Kirsch before dipping it in the cheese. Not every bite, of course, but try it sometimes. It's delicious ;-)

Waggis
I've heard about dipping the bread into the kirsch but I've never tasted this yet. But, I'm not so old that I won't get a chance.

Yummmm!

Blackduff

"I didn't relize that top chefs were very ignorant people who don't realize that individual's taste buds differ."

You are right, Rufus. Top chefs do know that and are generally happy to try to make their customers happy -- with some limitations of course. But there are a few wannabe chefs who are so ignorant that they think everything they do is perfect and everyone should have the same taste. If they own and run a restaurant, they won't be around very long. Even places like French Laundry, Spago, Per Se, Taillivent, etc. will gladly adapt dishes according to their customer's wishes. Don't get me wrong, they won't substitute peanut butter for hollandaise, for example, but they work to make their customers happy.

Anyone who says that "top chefs" won't adapt simply doesn't know anything about top chefs or fine dining.

"People who prefer soft bread are low class, and people who like firm bread are high class?"

This is one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever read on Fodor's, which is rather shocking since this forum is a usually a French farce.

I feel like ringing up Princess Michael of Kent on her mobile and saying, "No more soft bread for you, Sharon!"

I didn't read the comments regarding hard and soft bread and the
"lack of class distinction" in the states.

1. There is total class distinction in the US. There has been numerous documented studies about the lack of adequate veggies and fruits and general good quality meats in various poorer neighborhoods

2. While a chef should not completely redo his recipe to suit one diner, he should tailor it when possible.

3. Coffee is coffee. How I like to have it with my meal does not make me a stereotype of an American...whatever that statement means. It simply makes me a HUMAN BEING who likes her coffee with her meal.

Come on, it 2006, not 1946!

ImitationofChrist, I'm not sure how you managed to focus on that one silly idea. There are a number of the most outrageously wrong statements in this thread that I have ever seen assembled in one place.

Well then, go for it, blackduff. BTW, it also works as a digestive, and the ambiance at the table will most likely shift into high gear....so what's there not to love?

How did we get from coffee to rolls and vegetables?

I'm still wondering about the class implications of pappadums versus chapati. Or about whether vegetarian pad thai is high-class by virtue of not mixing meat and veggies on one plate. Or about when it's acceptable to drink fermented mare's milk or horchata instead of coffee. Maybe some of those who have infallible knowledge of the absolute universal rules can clarify.

Having just returned from a four day weekend in Paris, I saw both coffee with dessert and after. I have relatives who drink coffee with the meal, but it was just too hot for that. I prefer coffee during breakfast and with dessert for other meals. What struck me more was Americans trying to tip the waiter. Obviously, they didn't read up on the VAT.

Huh? What in the world does VAT have to do with tipping? Did you drink too much wine, tgditmer?

VAT is tax. It has nothing in the world to do with service. For that matter tipping a waiter for service above and beyond is a separate issue from included service that a restaurant charges and adds to the bill or includes in the prices. No it is not "necessary" to tip a waiter when service is included, but it is not at all unusual either.

It really does not matter what others drink....If someone *wants* coffee during dinner, he can master the French phrase, "Coffee now, please", say it when ordering and then again when the food is brought and repeat it, if necessary to the waiter as often as necessary until the wish is accomodated.

My dear, departed father never would have imagined drinking any other beverage w/his dinner, or any other meal for that matter.

What struck me more was Americans trying to tip the waiter.

You don't have to TRY to tip the waiter. He will gladly take your money.

Good night, Quentin

Yea, I kind of ignored that "trying to tip the waiter". What did that mean? The waiter kept refusing it? Not likely!

>>>>>
What struck me more was Americans trying to tip the waiter. Obviously, they didn't read up on the VAT.
>>>>>

Neo and imitation...did you see PALQ's thread on the VAT? perhaps this is a humourous reference to that thread in that a tourist paying the VAT would be giving a "tip"....the thread discussed if and how VAT is used for things that mainly benefit locals (eg the waiter).

My parents, and everyone they knew, washed down their meals with tea, and very occasionally coffee. (They also had breakfast, dinner and tea rather than breakfast, lunch and dinner.) I took this to be a working-class habit. Wine with meals, like the dinner party, was a minority taste in those days, and in any event booze of any kind was usually reserved for special occasions (or the pub).

I never see people drinking either tea or coffee with their meals these days, breakfast excepted, and Coke and other soft drinks are usually only provided for the kids. Iced tea, never. It won't come as any surprise that Australia has very few teetotallers, of course.

When we eat out a carafe of water (usually iceless, thank God) always turns up on the table, and while I tend to ignore it I've got used to the idea.