by Ted Onulak

Created on: August 17, 2008   Last Updated: March 28, 2009

When we ask if an expensive restaurant is worth it, it seems that we are talking about some sort of cost/benefit relationship, and in the process, talking about personal preferences.

If you grew up in a home where good food was a high priority and the choice and preparation of ingredients was done with great care, you have a bit of a head start on the appreciation of good food.

But if your Mom, like many busy American Moms was a whiz with cooking chicken with canned soup, frozen broccoli and Velveeta and pizza delivery on Fridays I don't think you are going to have a fine food frame of reference.

Unfortunately, even mealtime in the home, whatever it is, is not particularly valued in contemporary society, therefore food itself is something you get when you are hungry and you just want it fast and hot. This becomes the kind of food you just get used to and begin to crave.

Food is culture. You can tell more about someone from what and how they like to eat than anything else. I really thought it was hilarious that when the Brazilian football team went to Paris to compete for the World Cup, they brought an abundant supply of black beans, rice and sun-dried meats to a city that is famous for great food. Maybe it was an athletic thing, like keeping their diet stable, or maybe they just wanted some comfort food from home around. It's probably the latter.

On a lot of levels, it's difficult to justify crazy restaurant prices. I came from a hard-working blue-collar family where we always tried to eat well on a budget. Surprisingly, that meant not going out for meals, except on special occasions.

To this day, my Mom doesn't think there is a plate of food on earth worth $20. But, she will complain like heck if the food doesn't come out hot, and be of reasonable quality. I remember one time, when she got a cold gristly piece of steak, she called the waiter and said, "I'll pay for this meal on one condition, that's if your manager will eat it in front of me!" I think she would have made a heck of a food critic.

When we took her for an expensive steak dinner at one of the more famous national steakhouse chains, she declared "This is the best steak I ever had in my life!" but when the bill came, it was more like, "What are these guys crooks (I have left out a very important adjective, for the benefit of our younger and more sensitive readers), At this price, I could feed the whole neighborhood on steak! And it would be better than this, too!"

Clearly, to that customer, there

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