In revisiting the classics of food writing, I was reminded recently of a novel idea from that paragon of unfussy good taste, M.F.K. Fisher, whose major works are collected in the volume The Art of Eating, pictured. In a not-entirely uncharacteristically self-congratulatory tone, Fisher recounts a dinner she planned at a restaurant for an eminent epicure and tells of how, to her guest of honor's great approbation, she arranged the entire menu ahead of time instead of spending time at table ordering from the menu. Apparently, this was at one time not uncommon practice. I've certainly never encountered it, though, and while one would be denying one's dinner guests their choice of menu items, there is a certain practical wisdom in it.

I, for one, am always thrilled if a fellow diner, who is knowledgeable about food in general and about what a given restaurant does best, takes charge of ordering for the table. I'm not the least bit fussy as an eater, so it's a relief sometimes to be saved the effort of deciding, and better yet, often I'm pleasantly surprised by something that I wouldn't normally order myself. But even when someone steps in to order everything, there is still the interruption of relaying those wishes to the waitstaff. In Fisher's model for hosting a dinner out, nobody forgets what they were talking about before the waiter interjected with "Have you made any decisions?" The party is saved from that all-too-common problem of saying you need another minute and then not seeing the waiter again for more like fifteen minutes.

The effect, as I imagine it, would be to transform the restaurant experience into something much closer to the atmosphere of a dinner party at home (minus the dirty dishes), when, after all, the host has also determined the menu ahead of time. How relaxing, and how uncommonly pleasant.