While most of us have always enjoyed takeouts and deliveries, it wasn’t until the recent months that it was because we had to settle for them instead of heading out to our favorite eateries. With the pandemic still upon us, it’s just better to eat at home to be on the safe side. Restaurants deliver and offer takeouts anyway so you can still enjoy your favorite restaurant meals.
Sadly, the experience is just different. If you’re more about the food, then good for you, as you can still enjoy your takeout without feeling like something else is missing. However, those who treat dining out as an experience might already be getting tired of receiving their food in boxes and microwavable containers.
If you want to treat yourself not just with a nice takeout from Benihana (view Benihana prices here) or Mastro’s Steakhouse, here are a few tricks that you can try at home to elevate your dining experience:
Create the perfect ambience for your meal.
The perfect ambience can make any meal more enjoyable. But since you’re mostly stuck at home, you might be wondering how you can create the perfect space for your takeout meal?
It’s all about the atmosphere. If you’re trying something different for your meal, try setting up a temporary dining space in a different spot in your home. If you have some outdoor space, you can whip up a cozy al fresco dining space with just the stuff you have at home. Changing up the lighting in your dining room might also do wonders in making the room feel a bit different and new.
Dressing up is also a great way to change up the atmosphere of your home. If you’re getting some fancy takeout, convince everyone of having a formal dinner, complete with outfits. This will surely change the vibe of your meal.
Use some nice tableware.
Most households only use their nice china on special occasions and it’s quite a shame. If you want a nice dinner that is featuring your favorite restaurant’s meals, why not change things up a bit and bust out your nice tableware? This can completely alter the mood and feel of the meal without you having to exert a lot of effort.
Why do this when you can just eat straight out of the containers? Well, for starters, you need to take your delivered food out of the containers they came in anyway to minimize contact with others. Times have changed so it’s more of a safety measure to use your own tableware than eat from the packaging.
As the good folks at the restaurant (and the person who delivered your food, if you didn’t pick it up yourself) surely touched the containers, it’s best to get rid of them as soon as you can to prevent viral transmission. Since you’re already transferring the food elsewhere, why not use your nice tableware to make the dining experience more special?
Try plating your food nicely.
Next to using special plates and other pieces of tableware, plating your meals is another great way to add some pizzazz to enjoying your takeouts at home. As experts put it, lots of us eat with our eyes first, so making your meal look pretty before consumption would be an excellent way to make it more enjoyable. They do the same thing in restaurants, so it’s certainly something you can emulate.
Unfortunately, it can be tricky to plate delivered food. Why? They could get jostled and smushed up in transit so they might not look their best when they get to you. If you’re worried about this, then maybe it’s best to order something that’s easier to deconstruct. That way, you can take out components more easily and plate it in a whole new way at home.
If you don’t know how to plate, there are tons of tutorials for basic plating that you’ll find online. Check them out and you’re sure to pick up a trick or two.
Pair them with wine.
A nice beverage can change your dining experience so it might also be a good idea to pair your takeout meal with some vino. Almost anything can be paired with wine since there are tons of options available, so you don’t have to worry about your choices. You can practically order anything from sushi at Benihana to the veal chops at Mastro’s and still find a nice wine to pair them with.
If you already have a nice selection of wine at home, maybe you can look up what kinds of food items will suit them best then base your decision on where to order from there. You can, of course, also just opt to pick up a bottle or two while you’re out to get the food yourself.
Combine all of these tips and you’re sure to enjoy a different dining experience at home.
