The Pre-Meal Lecture

Before the first bite, there is the briefing.

Tonight’s bread is not to be touched until the sommelier completes their pairing description. The kitchen requests you consume course three in one bite—but not before they explain the three-day koji cure, the ethical provenance of the duck, and the emotional relevance of the plating.

You're here to eat. But first, you must listen.

This isn’t hospitality. It’s a performance contract.

Somewhere along the line, restaurants stopped serving meals and started issuing manifestos. Allergies, yes. Preferences, fine. But when did dining become a seminar? Why is every dish an origin story? Why does it feel like you’re being tested on it?

It’s not just about education. It’s about control.

The more we explain the food, the less we let it speak. The more we choreograph the guest, the less they can wander. We’ve swapped hospitality for guidance, context, narrative—anything but silence.

And if a dish needs five minutes of exposition to land, maybe it wasn’t that good to begin with.