There has always been buzz around big food trends. From cronuts to the new fish-shaped ice cream cones, we are surrounded by new ideas coming out of the woodwork. And Zagat has been there to guide us in our big restaurant choices, telling us which places are most acclaimed. But for one weekend, they were the total opposite.
Not that they were advocating bad food, just food on a smaller scale. Zagat's "Tiny Cafe" lasted one weekend and had huge crowds lining up to taste smaller scale versions of Zagat's self-proclaimed "most popular restaurant dishes."
While waiting in line, the cafe-goers could look upon and photograph displays of a variety of popular treats, like a mini GG's lasagna or meatballs, and Magnolia cupcakes.
The Tiny Cafe menu itself offered one choice per person, between Pizza Loves Emily's Emmy Burger, Luca Pizza, Jacque Torres' cookies or The Adobado Taco from Los Tacos. To say they were bite size would make them seem too big.
These treats may have been mistaken as made for mice. Before picking your tiny treat, you could even watch the real-sized chefs cook up your treats in a small exhibition kitchen like the videos you might see of tiny kitchens on Tastemade. The four dishes were so tiny, in fact, that they could all be held at once in the palm of your hand, and were so cute served on their tiny plates. Hard as we may try to recreate it, I don't think even we could get foods this small.
The whole experience was based on Zagat's new app which will offer 75-word "bite-sized" reviews of the best restaurants for people based on their preference in the type of meal. It's more personalized to your exact preference and, like the bites, you hold the power in the palm of your hand.
Sometimes bigger isn't always better.