Banned Words for 2014

Craft Cocktail Program.

What exactly is the difference between a "craft cocktail program" and a drink menu?

Other than about 14 pounds of pretentiousness.

And $3 or $4 bucks a drink.

A craft cocktail program is curated.

This is cracking me up... or, rather, LOL! (another expression -- though not food-related-- that I find ban-worthy!!)

"Just like a sporting event, concert, or theater ticket all sales are final."

Also, I sure hope the 15 minutes is up for "Ramen Burger".

mixologist and farm-table (all food is).

gastropub used to mean something. I'm not sure it does anymore.

Housemade, or was that last year?

A perennial dislike of mine, that refuses to roll over, is the expression "cooked to perfection". As if something imperfect can be made perfect by simply applying heat.

Can this topic be expanded to include banned ingredients? If so, I vote for arugula, a ubiquitous and gratuitous green whose day has come and gone. Of the thousands of leafy greens in this world, are chefs really too lazy to find another? I vote for Mache (nusslich salat), a much more interesting green with a complex "nut-like" flavor.

Besides, some individuals are deathly allergic to Arugula (my mother for one). It is so pervasive that she cannot eat in certain restaurants at all, lest a stray bit finds its way onto her plate. What is worse, very few servers know what the stuff actually looks like (sort of like dandelion or mustard leaves). So, if good flavor is not enough to make chefs change their lazy ways, maybe the threat of a lawsuit will work.

d4v3 wrote:A perennial dislike of mine, that refuses to roll over, is the expression "cooked to perfection". As if something imperfect can be made perfect by simply applying heat.

Can this topic be expanded to include banned ingredients? If so, I vote for arugula, a ubiquitous and gratuitous green whose day has come and gone. Of the thousands of leafy greens in this world, are chefs really too lazy to find another? I vote for Mache (nusslich salat), a much more interesting green with a complex "nut-like" flavor.

Besides, some individuals are deathly allergic to Arugula (my mother for one). It is so pervasive that she cannot eat in certain restaurants at all, lest a stray bit finds its way onto her plate. What is worse, very few servers know what the stuff actually looks like (sort of like dandelion or mustard leaves). So, if good flavor is not enough to make chefs change their lazy ways, maybe the threat of a lawsuit will work.

Personally, I'm not in favor (at all) of banning arugula. I love its flavor and its peppery assertiveness compliments a lot of dishes really well, which is why it is used so often--something the mild flavor of mache could not do. On the other hand, if we would ban the use of the word arugula from our vocabulary, using the actual English term, rocket, I would have a marvelous 2014.

To quote myself:

Crazy Locavore Guy wrote:Rocket is not only correct, it is awe-inspiring. Rocket means men on the moon and blowing things up. Concepts that made America great.

This article thinks innovation is overused. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1 ... 1411310502

Words for the Dumpster - Using best practices to determine whether you are literally out of world-class, artisan Kumquats:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/opini ... pster.html

And if servers stopped saying "Enjoy" when they presented a dish, I might actually enjoy it, rather than being annoyed for the next fifteen minutes.

GAF wrote:And if servers stopped saying "Enjoy" when they presented a dish, I might actually enjoy it, rather than being annoyed for the next fifteen minutes.

Once a few years ago at Chicago Chop House we had a young lady who used the word "enjoy" every time she offered up a choice. "Do you enjoy fresh ground pepper on your salad?" "Do you enjoy gravy on your mashed potatoes?" Not would you enjoy, mind you, but do you enjoy. It was so weird in a dated sort of way that we actually enjoyed it!

'Literally' just makes me sad.

Pie Lady wrote:'Literally' just makes me sad.

"Literally" also makes me sad. When some knucklehead uses "Amazing" and "Literally" in the same sentence, my head explodes (not literally).

Amazing should have been tarred and feathered and set on fire long ago. This always makes me laugh, but the most pertinent bit comes around 1:34.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzwXqkGApBk

"Not a problem" is still a problem for me!

Fusion Cuisine - scares the crap out of me.

Vital Information wrote: On the other hand, if we would ban the use of the word arugula from our vocabulary, using the actual English term, rocket, I would have a marvelous 2014.

To quote myself:

Crazy Locavore Guy wrote:Rocket is not only correct, it is awe-inspiring. Rocket means men on the moon and blowing things up. Concepts that made America great.

My objection to Arugula has nothing to do with the culinary value of the green itself. It has to do with the obsessive overuse of the stuff. I have seen menus where nearly half the dishes list Arugula as a main ingredient, sharing headliner billing with the featured protein. Chefs seem to consider the plant's trendiness rather than its flavor when deciding to add it to a recipe. In other words, they give more weight to how the name appears on paper than how the ingredient tastes on the plate. Therefore, I think using the name "rocket" (besides being really cool sounding) is an outstanding idea. Henceforth, I will always call arugula, "rocket", and I call upon chefs and restaurateurs to do the same.

I am concerned, however, that people (like my mother) who are allergic to the stuff, may not know that terminology. Most servers don't even know what arugula (let alone rocket) looks like.

boutique juice bar

"Off" as in "cooked off" or "baked off". Were "cooked" and "baked" somehow insufficient?

Same for "served up".

Dave148 wrote:Fusion Cuisine - scares the crap out of me.

There was actually a restaurant in Janesville,WI named "Fusion", I bet it took them at least 5 minutes to come up with that name. In its short existence, it was a very trendy hotspot featuring food served in "towers", squiggly lines of sauce and powder "dustings".

My husband hates "Have a good one." "A good what?", he asks. I can't stand, "How is everything tasting?"

My former workplace published a book called Great-Tasting Potatoes. There was something I couldn't put my finger on that drove me nuts about that title. They weren't really great potatoes, but they were made to taste like they were all right? Like they were loaded with artificial butter additives? I dunno. Hated it.

Xiao long bao. Seriously, lth. It is a soup dumpling. You've had better outside of Chicago. Get over it. Move on.

Just a personal pet peeve.

"paired with"

"and" would do the job nicely, thank you.

Davooda

"au jus," as in "I'll have the roast beef with au jus."