Just taking a little poll here, okay. Does anyone else find Ordering Out a hassle? Hear me out. When it was first conceived, it was revolutionary. You've worked all day, no food in the kitchen, too tired to shop or eat out.
Voila!
Introducing Order Out
Prepared, hot food delivered to your door.
Restaurants even have the foresight to put in condiments i.e. ketchup packets, salt and pepper, duck sauce, soy sauce, even plastic utensil. Even if the food isn't up to par, the condiments and containers may entice you to be a repeat customer.
Welcome to the 21st Century. It's time to expand on this concept. Restaurants need to introduce "Order Out, Set Up." The delivery doesn't stop at your door. The delivery person comes into your kitchen. You'll point out where things are: plates, silverware, napkins, etc. In a couple of weeks, they'll remember where everything is located. Of course, there will be an additional Set Up charge.
If I were single, perhaps I wouldn't have thought of this niche. But with a family of four, there are lots of little boxes to open, condiments to tear, lids to come off.
For example, from China Fun Restaurant, we order soup, two entrees and a vegetable dish, along with brown and white rice. Right there is two separate boxes. For the soup, the broth and noodles are packed separately. I have to open the broth very carefully in the sink because it is filled right to the brim. I don't want broth on the counter and I don't want to burn myself. Also, by the time the food arrives, the noodles are slightly clumpy, so it takes a couple of additional minutes to shake them out with chop sticks before putting them into the broth, which has now been poured into deep soup bowls.
My kids like sweet and sour chicken. Once again, it comes in two different containers, sauce in one, chicken in another. The restaurant is rightfully concerned about their product arriving at its best. The kung po chicken sauce is already on the chicken, so only one container. Thank God! China Fun also throws in chinese noodles with duck sauce and hot mustard packets, which need to be opened and squeezed onto small plates for dipping.
Truthfully, some foods just don't transport well, even if it's only a couple of blocks. I like scallion pancakes, but only at the restaurant. Maybe they're still tasty when my door bell is rung, but by the time I open every little bag, packet, and container, they look like they floated in from the Gulf of Mexico. When they finally hit my plate, they are an oily, damp brown mass. If I had Set Up service, I could instruct the Setter Upper to give me my pancakes NOW! You see, he would know where everything is packed and wouldn't have to stand around the kitchen opening bag after bag, box after box.
Recently, I was anticipating the arrival of our dinner and my mother-in-law called. I told her I was waiting for Order Out. She sounded very excited about this prospect. I think in Beaverton, NC, Order Out is a novelty. I thought I'd disappoint her if I told her the truth: I was waiting for hamburger and fries (another thing that doesn't transport well), so I lied. I told her I'd ordered bhel poori, kadai bhindi, and aloo baigan from my local Indian restaurant. She sounded very happy for us and jealous.
I'm really not complaining. The containers the restaurants use for Order Out are delightful! They're fun geometric shapes: rectangular, square, circular, all different sizes and colors! My colleagues from the suburbs comment on my lunches, thanks to my containers. Apparently Manhattan has upgraded Order Out containers.
I guess if this "Order Out, Set Up" idea doesn't catch on, other options exist.
Sitting forlornly on my bookshelf, are nine cookbooks, along side two years of Cooking Light and Bon Appetit issues.
