Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 62: What Does a Serious Eater Do with Restaurant Leftovers?
I should have known the moment I landed in New Orleans last Friday night that lots of restaurant leftovers were looming.
Why? Because when I order in a New Orleans restaurant, I convince myself that I might never get to that restaurant again. Which, of course, is preposterous and absolutely untrue. I have been to New Orleans probably 20 times in the last 30 years, for nonfood business purposes, on assignment to write about the city's astonishing food and music culture, and with my family.
So convincing myself I might never get to these New Orleans restaurants again is the ultimate overeater's rationalization. It is true, however, that these days, now that I'm in eating-everything-just-less-of-it mode, I like to order lots of things just to try them, even if I'm with only one or two friends. Either way, I end up with a ton of leftovers.
How I dispose of those leftovers, and whether I should even lay claim to them, are two questions that loomed over every meal in New Orleans. Hell, they loom over every meal everywhere. How do other people deal with the restaurant leftovers problem?
So there I was Friday night in Mosca's, one of my all-time favorite New Orleans-area restaurants (it's about 15 miles outside the city in Waggaman, a town most people would never get to otherwise), chowing down with Jane and Michael Stern and the rest of their Roadfood crew. There were no baked oysters left over. There never are. But we had ordered too much chicken grande, roasted with tons of fresh rosemary and garlic and doused with olive oil, so there I was, facing a leftover quandary the first time I had stepped foot in Mosca's in at least 20 years. It was a do or die moment for my diet, or so I thought.
Our server at Mosca's came back with our white plastic container of chicken grande leftovers, and since nobody else seemed to want them (they were all a helluva lot smarter than me) I said I would take them. It was Mosca's Chicken Grande, for Christ's sake, I may never get back there again, I thought to myself.
I took it back to my hotel. By the time I carried it up to my room, the take-out container had started leaking. The bag and the box were an unholy mess. I put it in the bathroom in my room. The next morning I opened it, grabbed a piece of chicken, and took a bite. The chicken was dry and greasy. It turns out that chicken Grande from Mosca's doesn't travel well at all. I realized I was at a New Orleans crossroads leftover-wise. I took a deep breath, grabbed the bag with the chicken, and brought it down to the street, where I unceremoniously dumped it in a garbage can at the corner of Royal and Iberville in the French Quarter. It was a leftover liberation moment for me. I had licked my New Orleans leftover problem, at least for the time being.
Two hours later my friend Pableaux Johnson and I were eating lunch at Bozo's, one of my favorite places for fried seafood po-boys in New Orleans. Bozo's had moved from city to a nearby suburb Metairie about twenty years ago, and I hadn't been there in nearly that long, so we ordered a lot of food: gumbo, barbecued shrimp, oyster po'boy, shrimp po'boy, and a cheeseburger po'boy. I took a few bites of everything we ordered and-gasp-neither of us took the leftovers out of the restaurant. It was another small step for serious eater kind.
On Saturday night I ate with my friend Lolis Eric Elie at the great Louisiana chef Donald Link's new Butcher Shop, where he serves seriously delicious sandwiches made with house-cured meats and sausages. We ordered a duck pastrami sandwich, a beef pastrami reuben, a muffaletta made entirely with housemade cold cuts, a pizzetta, and a couple of other tapas. Lolis needed those leftovers to fuel what was going to be a late night of writing, so he took all of our leftovers home.
Having at least temporarily licked my New Orleans leftover problem I resolved to also come to grips with my New Orleans final solution issue. Whenever I leave New Orleans I usually stop at some classic New Orleans spot on my way to the airport to pick up something to eat on the plane. I have eaten everything from ham biscuits with debris from Mother's to pecan pie and red beans and rice from the Camellia Grill on airplanes. Messy, maybe. Delicious, definitely.
This time I had the cab take me straight to the New Orleans airport without stopping. I bought two bananas at the airport. I don't know if I have licked my New Orleans leftover problem for good, but during this week of Passover it was good to find out that at least this time, this trip to New Orleans was not like all the others.
The Weigh-In
I of course took my trusty sidekick Thinner to New Orleans, so I knew that even with my new leftover regimen I had gained a pound or two there. But I have been ever vigilant the rest of the week. I was even really careful at my family's seder last night, though my sister-in-law Carol's brisket and matzo ball soup, and Vicky's matzo crunch and Lemon Nut Torte were seriously, seriously delicious. Between New Orleans and the seder, I would be happy with an even week. Here we go: 222.
I had lost a pound in New Orleans, probably a pound of leftovers happily left in the restaurants they were served in.
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22 Comments:
Great job Ed. I have lost 5 lbs using the ELMM (Ed Levine Moderation Method) One of my secrets? I don't take home left overs unless no one else will. My feeling is that I have already had a fair amount of what ever the dish is. I usually don't have a problem pawning off a prime rib eye steak on my dining partner, as you well know.
Nick Solares at 9:27AM on 04/10/09
You left the chicken at room temperature all night and then ate some? You are brave, my friend!
I battle with the leftover issue. I don't need to eat restaurant food two days in a row, but the thought of throwing food away makes me hurt.
ProfessorChaos at 9:40AM on 04/10/09
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! ELMM is definitely working...... (Sorry, I realize I stole/borrowed it from Nick above but I like the acronym!!)
Jbout at 10:05AM on 04/10/09
When I am traveling (and can't take my leftovers home to my own refrigerator) I always get them packaged up and find a homeless person to give them to. If I can't *safely* give the food to someone I leave it packaged up next to a garbage can where hopefully someone can find it. Makes you feel a bit better about 'wasting' the food.
kristyk at 10:15AM on 04/10/09
agreed, whenever I'm traveling, I get my leftovers to go, and find someone who can use it.
elara22 at 10:17AM on 04/10/09
Gosh, isn't there a way to be on a serious diet without wasting all that food? It seems like a shame to order way too much and then stick it in a garbage can.
Sisterrae at 10:26AM on 04/10/09
I think resteraunts really need to start offering tapas sized plates of their entree's for those of us who just want the taste of everything without wrecking our diets and or our health. Congrats Ed!
huneybumper at 10:36AM on 04/10/09
If I really, truly loved my meal, I'll bring the leftovers home. I like to indulge at my favorite Mexican restaurant, but I also know that I'll be getting a total of three meals out of one entree.
Kerosena at 10:54AM on 04/10/09
Like mentioned above, when my BF and I travel, we want to experience as much as we can of local food, so we often end up ordering something, savoring a few bites, then abandoning the rest so we can save room for more. Usually we do our best to locate the nearest homeless person and hand them a lunch, but every once in a while we can't find one and we try to leave it, clearly wrapped and looking like tasty food on the side of a public trash can. Let's just say on our last trip to NYC some very lucky bums may have found themselves, among other things: half a Katz' pastrami sandwich, some korean mandoo and a good part of a knish!
dagoose at 11:55AM on 04/10/09
When we travel, the leftovers remain at the restaurant. When we're near home, we take it home and the garbage can (my husband) eats it some time over the next week. If I don't care for my dish, I leave it at the restaurant, even if I have only taken 1 bite out of it.
My mother was all about portion control when I was a kid, which is why she was almost always under 100 lb.
Cassaendra at 12:20PM on 04/10/09
Leftover while traveling can be a problem for me because of the storage issue. If there's no method of refrigeration, I'm not taking it with me. At home, there are some dishes that I order knowing that I'm looking at dinner and two lunches. Which is fine. If the food isn't that good or won't reheat well, I won't take it. But if it's something good, I'm fine with having it for lunch.
One solution for the folks who want to order multiple entrees and sample them is to ask if the restaurant can do half orders. Obviously, they can't do half order of steaks but a lot of things could be cut back in portion size. And don't duplicate the salads and sides, either. Just get the naked entrees so you can sample them and not leave behind pounds of uneaten food. Ordering half-orders might seem cheap if there are two people splitting a single entree, but if there are 2 people ordering half-orders of 5 or 6 entrees to sample, the restaurant is going to make enough from your table that a little accommodation might be worthwhile to them.
dbcurrie at 2:12PM on 04/10/09
i've been known to give my leftovers (if i'm not near home) to homeless people and stray animals.
pooch at 2:59PM on 04/10/09
I too give my leftovers to homeless people if I don't intend to eat them. I do that in my own city.
CanadianFoodieGirl at 3:13PM on 04/10/09
Good for you, Ed! Ordering several items and sampling/sharing them is the only way to go. Although, I think one should always bring a parting meal or snack for the plane.
When traveling, I don't bring leftovers to my room, but if I am in a city, I will often take a doggie bag and give it to a homeless person on the street. I hate to waste it. I do, however, bring dessert to my room. :)
Sounds like you had a nice time in New Orleans. Tasty!
Chag Pesach Same'ach,
~ Paula
Paula Maack at 4:02AM on 04/11/09
I love leftovers and don't tire of eating the same thing too quickly so at home, this isn't much of a problem. if i have people in town or if i'm out of town, when a food itinerary is planned to fit in as many meals/snacks as possible, i end up leaving the packaged food on top of a garbage can. I feel good that the food isn't being wasted, and that no one has to dig through the trash to get to it. It's amazing how when you pull the car around a few minutes later, the food is already gone. It's an unofficial movement: http://www.replate.org/
dimsumlikeithot at 5:22PM on 04/12/09
Hi Ed,
You look amazing!!! Congrats on all your hardwork, and how you have lost weight using ELMM. I saw you on the Food Network last week -on Iron Chef, and I seriously thought you were a young Robert Redford (I mean it, I swear, I am not sayin this just kiss ass!)!!!
Continue what you are doing bc you are doing a great job!!
http://ask-kanwal.blogspot.com/
kanwal81 at 10:08AM on 04/13/09
Unless I'm picking, I'm usually a very neat eater (as in, nothing on my plate mixes...beans get their corner, rice grains gather on the other, and protein is usually partitioned along the grain or cut against it. So if or when there are leftovers, they're neatly packaged and I don't feel guilty at all offering it to a local friend to take home, or even a homeless guy on the street, because it's not a comestible moshpit.
po0pie at 11:15AM on 04/20/09
Due to surgery, I cannot consume anywhere near a full restaurant meal so I always box or bag up the extra food before I start eating, and then I do as others here have posted and give it to someone homeless or leave it near a dumpster. Someone gets a nice, fresh meal and my leftover dilemma is solved! :-)
skyeyes at 11:27AM on 04/20/09
I usually order an appetizer knowing how limited my eating capaticity is.
ghc630 at 5:57AM on 04/21/09
Luckily The New Orleans airport has a Felix's so we can take po'boys on the plane. The airport in Memphis is also great for pulled pork sandwiches. My only rule is to never take tuna on a plane because it's just inconsiderate.
I have this takeout thing down to a science. I request a small refrigerator at every hotel I frequent and have yet to be refused (I do need it for medication, but they never ask).
When I order too much food, just to take pictures of it because I am crazy, we eat them in the order of the impractical first and those that travel last. First to go is seafood. Soups, gumbos and and chowders are a no-brainer. Next to go is anything heavily sauced or gloppy. In my opinion, the best leftovers to take home are pizza, fried chicken, steaks, sandwiches, cheeses and desserts.
And of course items that don't need refrigeration like pastries and those damn Schimmel's kniches which really were just like rocks.
Kiki Maraschino at 4:17AM on 04/23/09
oops. I mean an Acme.
Kiki Maraschino at 4:18AM on 04/23/09
Since the kids did not get to NYC until the third night of Passover, We decided to go to Sammys for the first night. Suffice to say, the gave us everything with the 20 minute seder (which only lasted 15 minutes) as the the person officiating was working both rooms. The traditional portion of the seder ended with the singing of Roumania Roumania complete with pastramilla and a glasselle wine. We could not finish the broilings and after the egg creams we schlepped the skirt steak home. on Friday, I fired up the griddle on the 5star and plopped a little peanut oil to heat up. The steak went down with a bacon press on top and got turned over after we had a crisp exterior and still soft in the center. Turned it ionce. Heaven on a plate. As for other stuff, my wife forgets to lable the items and they grow weird stuff.
simplejew at 7:57PM on 04/27/09