This probably doesn’t apply so much to the Americans, Australians and the other nationalities represented here, but we British at least, are food leeches. We assimilate foods from other nationalities into our diet without a second thought. Chinese food, Indian food, Italian food, Mexican food and all the others are evident by walking down the average high street. But do we really know much about the cultures that give us these foods?

This is a restaurant where after being seated and placing your (considerably overpriced) meal, a person comes to your table. They will then spend the time until your food arrives, teaching you the language of the country whose food you are to consume. You learn at your own pace or at the pace of the slowest participant at your table. There is no requirement to participate, and if nobody feels like learning, you can politely ask the teacher to stop. Of course, this wouldn’t make much sense as you would have already been charged the extra prices to factor in the teacher’s wages. With a few repeat trips, soon you will be ordering food in its native tongue with no difficulty.

I envision this as being a series of themed restaurants; however it could be amalgamated into one big “World Restaurant” (linked).
-- hidden truths, Jan 22 2006

World Restaurant World_20Restaurant
[hidden truths, Jan 22 2006]

The Perfect English Breakfast the_20perfect_20english_20breakfast
[reensure, Jan 23 2006]

...and every single lecture will start with the words, "what you've ordered is an Anglicized version of the original dish, which tastes nothing like this..." +
-- moomintroll, Jan 23 2006


being American, I still like this idea!
-- xandram, Jan 24 2006


I'm glad that the option to stop the teaching is there, otherwise I can imagine my momo's going cold.
-- skinflaps, Jan 24 2006


They could also teach the table manners of the relevant culture, e.g. eating with the right hand only in Arab countries. Sorry if that's a pathetic example, but i can't think of anything else.
-- nineteenthly, Jan 24 2006


Example 1: if it's a buffet, and you are Canadian, the proper behaviour model is to act like a child, sleep deprived, cranky, hungry and hopped up on Haribos.
Example 2: if there is a buffet and you are British, the proper behaviour to to stand meekly aside, looking pale and constipated, as colonial types barge in front of you.
-- calum, Jan 24 2006


This idea will greatly supplement the fortune cookies that try to teach you Chinese on the back.

And that's funny, I didn't know you guys had Mexican food over in England. America has all those food types too, but I suspect Australia only has kangaroo and wallabies.
-- notmarkflynn, Jan 24 2006



halfbakery