Despite the current economic downturn, the vast majority of Americans are still spending their money eating out. A recent article from USA Today explains that between 2007 and 2008 there was no change in the amount of people purchasing meals outside of the home. According to NPD Group, a marketing research firm, Americans bought 1% more meals at a restaurant in November of 2008 than November 2007.

As NPD vice president Harry Balzar states: "There hasn't been a recession in eating. We may postpone a car purchase or a new coat, but we won't postpone eating." The survey USA Today refers to deals with all kinds of eating out, whether it's at a three-star Michelin restaurant or McDonald's. I'd be curious to know how certain categories of restaurants are holding up through this economic decline. The article does point out that people are trying to save money and time, and, as a result, they are turning to "inexpensive takeout options."

Check out the poll below to let us know if your eating habits have changed.

In this article, a poll says that "43% of respondents are eating out less, 39% are choosing less expensive restaurants, and 35% are packing their own lunch for work, compared to six months ago."

Also, "Consumers are also spending less on vacations, hobbies, and entertainment. About 28% of respondents are attending more free activities and 26% have cut back on attending concerts, plays, and shows. Over 28% of respondents have reduced the number of vacations they take, and an equal amount have taken less expensive, closer to home vacations. Consumers are increasing "at home" occasions. Across all demographic groups, people are spending more time at home, with a 27% increase in home entertaining. In addition, 27% of respondents are watching more TV, and 25% spending more time on the Internet."

I know I am eating out less than six months ago. But for me it isn't really the economy. It's that I moved from an area with tons of great places to eat out, to an area that... sucks! I always make sure I can budget in some good meals. They are my treat to myself for hard work. I don't tend to eat out at the real high end places, but look for great quality hidden gems and ethnic eateries. So, because the restaurant scene is so mediocre in my area, I cook and entertain more than I did six months ago. I have become more conscious of my food spending. i look for deals when it comes to meat, poultry, and seafood. When the local market has some really nice looking rib-eyes, strip steaks, bonelss chicken thighs, or seafood on sale, I buy a few and vaccum seal and freeze the extras. Just lately lobsters have gone done in price because of panics in the market, so I am actually treating myself to them more often. just last week I got four lobsters for $15 and they were dinner for myself and lunch for two for two days.

What about you? Are you eating out less? What food/entertainment changes, if any, have you made?

To me the idea of eating in pitch darkness - were they give you unbreakable glasses 'cause you are bound to knock them over - is ridiculous. I want to enjoy my companions, one or two might be better if they stayed in the dark mind but perhaps I should pick better looking friends, not talk to a disembodied voice. And I certainly want to see what I am eating. Pretentious? You bet!

This seems to be the conclusion of the Independent reviewer of Dans Le Noir the London outlet of a French restaurant concept. It is so dark you can even get up to go to the loo without someone holding your hand. The reviewer raises a point too - they say they give you such and such a dish but how do you actually know if you can't see it? What if you knock the veg on the floor and didn't realise? And how do you fill up your wine glass without over-filling it?

Isn't one of the important concepts of eating out the delight in the food's presentation? If you cant see it what are you paying for? If I wanted to eat in darkness I'd have a packet of chocolate biscuits under the duvet thank you.

If you're interested in how the concept came about, check out our previous article.

Your son or daughter never eats bread crusts and refuses to tough either peas or pasta sauce. Picky eater, right? Maybe not. As children age they develop preferences about their food, based on flavor, texture and, eventually, political and nutritional preferences. Simply because a child refuses a food once, they are not necessarily a picky eater. Often, a food will have to be offered to a toddler or child from 5 to 10 times before they become accustomed to it. The kids who eat the foods are not really picky eaters. No child has been fooled into eating a carrot because it was crunchy like a potato chip – and any parent whose child was “tricked” into that had a child that wasn’t entirely averse to the carrot in the first place.

The really picky eaters are the ones who refuse to eat anything beyond boxed macaroni and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches well into their teens, possibly into adulthood. These eaters become more and more reluctant to try new foods.

But there is one thing that can convince them, even when parents cannot: the “cool factor.”

From the Times today, the top ten restaurants for Breakfast, and for once they actually venture outside London with a couple of recommendations -

• Fifteen Trattoria (London, N1) "Jamie Oliver';s buzzy and informal ground floor operation attracts more wholehearted praise than its grander basement sister" [website]
• Angela Hartnett at the Connaught (London, W1) "a wonderful treat" [website]
• FarmCafé (Marlesford, Woodbridge) "owned and run by local people and serving locally sourced food" [details]
• La Fromagerie (London, W1) "elevates the concept of the deli-diner to new heights of rustic chic" [website]
• The Goods Shed (Station Road West, Canterbury) "for breakfast you pay a £2 cover charge then each item is 50p" [details]
• Leon (London, W1) "a remarkable package: everything it serves is not only good for you, it's delicious and reasonably priced too" [website]
• Roast (Borough Market, London, SE1) "there is no faulting the raw ingredients that go into breakfast" [details]
• Sir Loin (London, EC1) "for breakfast meetings over a full English washed down with Guinness" [details]
• Troubadour (London, SW5) "this self-consciously beatnik café/bar has grown in to a suite of atmospheric dens lined with folksy artifacts" [website]
• The Wolseley (London, W1) "is great fro a bit of star spotting with many of the country's gillerati now using it as their canteen" [website]

British consumers are Europe's biggest spenders on eating out. They are expected to spend more than £300 each on eating out over the coming year. That is more than twice as much as Spain, a country, at least from a British point of view, that is reknown as a country that eats out.

It has been estimated that Britains consume nearly 3 billion less main meals at home with breakfast being the most frequently missed meal. Eating "on the go" is increasing.

This occurs despite prices having risen by over 137% since 1987. Interestingly ,restaurants in the Egon Ronay guide have not kept pace having risen 93%.