Cutting the Fat Instead of Chewing It

The New York Times has an article titled Does Recession Mean Doom for Restaurants? - which did get me thinking a bit. As the Times noted “The average restaurant meal, after all, costs three times as much as one cooked at home, according to the NPD Group, a consumer research firm.“

While my husband and I are not affected by the recession (yet?), we have been in a mode of financial reservation. He is an entrepreneur who began a new business last year, so we are watching the numbers of everything we buy. Our restaurant expenditures have definitely taken a hit, but probably not as much as folks would expect considering our lack of a paycheck. The problem is that eating out is “what we do for fun”. Like many foodies, eating out is not just about eating. It is the entire experience - exploring different areas of the city, trying a new cuisine - maybe a new wine to go with it, meeting up with restaurateurs that we have gotten to know over the years. And we love taking our children with us on these outings. Sure, we have decreased the total amount spent per month eating out, but we are still eating out nearly as much.

Admittedly……we are most certainly frequenting our local Mexican joint here a lot more than we had in the past since the days of steak and sushi have passed us by…… Ahem.