One Of The Worst Things You Can Do At A Tasting Menu Restaurant, According To Dave Chang

David Chang (also known as Dave) is a well-known author, television and internet personality. His international culinary and restaurant expertise is highly regarded across the industry, opening and influencing a number of restaurants across NYC, Toronto, and Sydney. When it comes to tasting menu etiquette, he expresses that there's one critical mistake to avoid. On his podcast "The Dave Chang Show," he said that a cardinal sin many commit when participating in this style of dining, which he refers to as "a dance," is asking for a second helping of any one course.

Ordering seconds can affect the tight timelines the kitchen is working around, negatively impacting your and the other guests' experience. You may find yourself a bit out of your depth if you've never encountered this type of dining before, which is why it's important to do a bit of research on how restaurant tasting menus work before you sit down and start trying to make modifications to the strategically set courses. Essentially, the chef is often working with seasonal ingredients, and therefore limited quantities. Each dish is intentionally set out at a pace and portioning relevant to that restaurant's expected number of guests on any given night. Additionally, each dish is often designed to serve a distinct purpose in line with the stride of the meal. Meaning if you are to order more than one of a dish that is designed to be singular, you risk running the whole restaurant off the rails and disorienting your personal palate.

The original tasting menu experience is known to have European origins, particularly present in various fine dining contexts. Though a tasting menu is not to be confused with Spanish tapas, which present a very culturally different story. Over the years, the notion of limited choice as a means of exploring new culinary pathways has risen in popularity, specifically as this style of dining is both praised as more sustainable and endlessly photographable. Enthusiasm for layered, memorable dining has boomed alongside the uptick of social media documentation via platforms like Instagram and TikTok, which are photo and video driven. 

Many vie after culinary adventures that are as delicious as they are beautiful. The tasting menu creates an opportunity for both the guest and camera to be left "wanting more," which Dave Chang notes is the core purpose. Since the beginning of this dining style, we've seen fluctuation in price point and portion control. Where many beginners could have been thrown off by its limited options, one may begin to wonder about the difference in menu cost state to state. Though accessibility (both in price and diet) has been changing in recent years, now many menus allow room for more nuance in dietary accommodations.

Whether you're a first-time tasting menu enjoyer or a seasoned professional, remember to appreciate each course as it arrives. And despite how yummy something may have been, try your hardest to hold off on seconds. A final word of advice: If you really can't get the dish out of your head, Dave advises the appropriate time to ask is at the end of the meal so as to not disrupt the delicate flow of the sequence.