by Fiona Clements

Created on: February 23, 2009   Last Updated: February 24, 2009

A trip to a restaurant is an occasion, a treat, or a celebration. The aim, and ask any restaurant manager, is to please. Not only is the goal to please the customer, but there are certain traditional aspects to restaurant eating which should not be defiled. I, for one, do not want to be accosted with the details of how many grams of fat is in my dauphinoise potatoes any more than I want to know the details of the slaughtering of the unfortunate animal I am about to sink my teeth into. If I want to know any of these facts, I will do the research on my own time.

If I happen to be on a diet before I enter a restaurant, then I am pretty confident that I will already know which foods I want to avoid before I even sit down at the table. In the same vein, if I am not on a diet before I go out to eat, it would be pointless exercise looking at dietry aids while trying to decide what to eat, because I am not on a diet.

It would in fact be much more useful to have on the back of your menu at a restaurant, a list of kitchen hygene observations carried out by the establishment on an hourly basis. This at least would give the customer some confidence in eating to enjoy the food. My guess, based on my own thoughts on the subject, is that 'watching your weight' while going out 'enjoy a meal' is contradictory to the intention.

Granted possibly there are some people, the same people who like reading the back of the packet while eating cereal, who would idly glance at the calorie list, for the something to do factor. But on the whole I am convinced that anyone who is seriously watching their weight will already know their stuff.

So, no, I do not understand the point in having a list of fat grams and calories on my restaurant menu, unless the restaurant was attached to the students canteen at the University for Diet and Nutrition, in Studiesville.

A good comprimise might be a seperate menu which was given out by request only. Where those who feel strongly about the issue could have their calories counted for them as an extra service.

But I do not think the service should be universal, as they might end up losing more of their traditionally minded customers than gaining health conscious ones.

Ultimately I think the choice should be left with the restaurant owner. There are so many rules and regulations set out already that this would be an extra and unnecessary burden.

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