Why is good simple food so hard ?

[Noger]

Was just adding a comment to the Good Food list to enthuse greatly about The West Beach in Bournemouth, and it struck me how rare places that that are.

I am a big fan of the haute cuisine end of the market, but for everyday eating simple is best. So why do restaurants find it so hard to do ?

The West Beach is basically a fairly nondescript beachfront place that specialises in fish. And very very good fish it is too. But they key is that it is not mucked about with.

On Monday we had Local Bass, with some grilled courgettes and crispy parma ham. Just 3 ingredients. And some oil drizzled on. It was perfect. But so many places would have not been confident in their abilties, and bunged a load more stuff on. Garnished it up to the eyeballs.

Is it confidence in your product that allows you to do this (and charge quite a lot for it, but for a Monday lunch in September the place was packed, so they are doing something right) ? Or is it other place's pander to their clienteles need for carrots and cauli in a little dish on the side ?

[dougc]

The quality of ingredients can make or break a dish. If you are confident in what you are cooking with, all the fancy crap is simply a distraction to the main event. I also think that there is a lot of poncey rubbish written and spoken about food and some places feel the need to pander to this market.

Some of the best meals I've ever eaten (especially fish) have been nothing more than what you describe - they also tend to be cheap and in the oddest looking of bars/restaurants/cafes etc in the weirdest places but they're generally all the better for it.

Ever eaten at a French truckstop? Can remember going on holidays as a kid, driving to the South of France or Italy and stopping at these places. About 65FF per person got you 3 courses each. Always tasty and always in enormous portions, with a carafe of rough as you like red wine. Brilliant.

[biglepton]

It's a three stage process:

1. Best local ingredients.

2. Confident and talented chef.

3. Sufficient local clientele who appreciate less is more.

[missdiane]

I think fresh herbs and spices make or break a dish too, more than anything else, I hate the dried crap you get, good for expense and convenince but the taste difference is too much.

[Noger]

It is interesting that people think it is more to do with the clientele, and the chef pandering to what they think their guests want. Sad but often true.