Meredith Ashton
Restaurant Review Expectations
21 October 2016
The Grand Lux Café:
An “Upscale-Casual” Eatery?
The phrase
“Grand Lux” inspires images of soaring white columns, well-dressed waiters
bearing bow ties (and perhaps English accents), and a menu so extravagant it
couldn’t possibly be written in a language as common as English. Conversely,
the term “café” bespeaks sipping coffee and nibbling on fresh pastries at a quaint
wooden table overlooking the French countryside. These two contrasting images
are my first impressions of The Grand Lux Café, the restaurant I have chosen
for my first (and hopefully not last) culinary review.
With a
little internet investigation, I learned that The Grand Lux Café was created by
the founders of The Cheesecake Factory, a restaurant that I have visited with
my family several times. My experience with The Cheesecake Factory can be
summed up nicely by the phrase “luxurious excess.” It is soaring white pillars
and chandeliers dripping with fake crystals and salads that towered so high I
moaned thinking about eating the ensuing entrée course, let alone the famed
dessert itself. I did, however, always find room for that Chocolate Raspberry
Truffle Cheesecake at the end of my Cheesecake Factory escapades. Drawing upon
this past experience, I expect The Grand Lux to embody a similar excess of
décor and portion size.
Upon
further research, I learned that the Café boasts an incredible diversity of
international cuisine, calling itself “a world of food.” As such, I expect a
menu overflowing with unique ethnic flavors, speaking to my desire for the
exotic and unknown (all in the comfortable familiarity of an American chain
restaurant, of course). I am hopeful that the plethora of international cuisines
will serve as a gateway into new culinary dishes and experiences for myself and
my readers. Because The Grand Lux is a national chain, I anticipate that the
food, while foreign, will be created and marketed so as to be edible and
familiar to Americans across the country. This bounty of other-but-familiar
food has the potential to be overwhelming, especially as the sheer variety of
cuisines will make it difficult to pick specific dishes from the menu for my
review. In addition, the pictures online speak to the Café’s decadent
architecture and layout. I’m thankful to have done a bit of initial research,
as this will help me steel myself against the seduction of the Café’s
impressive grandeur.
It seems as
though my initial contrasting images of the business were even more complex
than I originally postulated. Any restaurant describing itself with the phrase “upscale-casual”
is bound to blur the lines of traditional eatery expectations. Furthermore, I
am both skeptical and curious to observe if the restaurant can pull off its
theme of, well, representing the entire world. How can I, as either an avid eater
or an aspiring restaurant critic, put a distinctive flavor to an establishment
that claims to offer every desired taste and cuisine in the world? If I am
truly preparing to review “a world of food, then I will strive to enter The
Grand Lux Café with an open mind and an empty stomach.
Meredith, I am excited to read your review of the Grand Lux Café. I love the Cheesecake Factory and had no idea that the founders of Cheesecake factory have yet another chain of restaurants. It will be interesting if you perhaps plan on comparing or drawing on your past experiences from your encounter with Cheesecake Factory food. The fact that the restaurant describes itself as “upscale-casual” also perplexes me. What exactly does that mean? I hope you eat lots of delicious food and I look forward to reading your review!
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