The older I get the more I realize that as far as food is concerned, simpler is
better. Classic dishes are classics because they're already perfect on their
own. Lavender creme brulee may be perfectly nice, but a creme brulee on its own
is better. Fries with nothing but salt have it all over seasoned fries, or
fries with garlic, or pepper, whatever else some enterprising chef decides to
put on them.

But chefs, like opera directors, just can't seem to leave well enough alone.
They have to innovate. Please, stop innovating, and just give us a perfectly
prepared Waldorf salad or Boston cream pie with no fancy frills.

I find myself saying this all the time, as I did this weekend. I sampled two
desserts at a rather expensive restaurant: Boston banana cream pie, and angel
food strawberry shortcake, both with disappointing results.

As is the custom nowadays, both desserts had been prepared in small circular
molds, with fancily decorated sauce surrounding them on the plate.

The Boston cream pie was not topped by a chocolate glaze, but rather by a thick
round of hard, rather tasteless chocolate. The cake itself and the cream were
quite nice, but the flavor of the banana overpowered them both. The banana was
a case of gilding the lily. Just leave the lilies alone!

The strawberry shortcake was encased in a shell of hardened white chocolate,
which, I'm afraid added nothing to the cake. The angel food cake absorbed the
syrup so that it was a soggy gop. The strawberries and cream were fine. The
truth is, a dessert of just strawberries and cream would have been so much
better!

To our restaurant chefs: Just stick to the basics and we'll all be better off.