Chefs Want You To Think Twice Before Ordering Ice Cream At A Fancy Restaurant

Desserts are not only delicious but they are also popular among people all around the world. Confections of all types can be good sources of revenue for restaurants, especially if they offer diners something special. However, if you think you're doing your local joint a favor by ordering ice cream after a meal, you might want to think twice. If you love the sweet, cold, and tasty delight of ice cream — especially to cool off during the hot summer months — you're not alone. Everyone has their favorites out of the many ice cream flavors that exist, from the more common to the completely wild. You can grab your black raspberry or cookie-dough-flavored ice cream from a local grocery store. However, according to chefs, you should think twice before ordering regular ice cream at an upscale restaurant.

Beyond ice cream being a somewhat basic choice to order when dining out, as it's readily available in stores and specialty scoop shops, there are quite a number of issues with ordering ice cream when you're dining out. One reason stems from the very nature of the restaurant business.

As an ice cream enthusiast, you know that you shouldn't eat starting from the cone's base. Here's another valuable ice cream lesson: Ice cream is more expensive in restaurants. "Ice cream on the dessert menu will always be overpriced," Sarah Gunderson, a chef instructor at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, told Eat This, Not That, adding, "Not to say it won't be delicious. It's ice cream, c'mon!" Gunderson has plenty of experience working in high-end restaurants, such as Crawford & Son and Jolie in Raleigh, North Carolina. But all is not lost. Gunderson advises that you can still order this frozen treat if the restaurant makes its ice cream in-house or sources it from somewhere local. If the restaurant has a resident pastry chef, Gunderson suggests asking for a recommendation instead.

"It's hard to make money on desserts in the restaurant business today," Tyler Cowen, an economics professor at George Mason University, told The Washington Post. He argues that, for desserts to taste good, good ingredients are required and you can't convince customers to pay more for items you can find anywhere. Another important reason for exaggerated costs for ice cream in upscale restaurants is that customers may stay longer than they would have done if they didn't order dessert. So, if you've got a sweet tooth after dinner, order one of the restaurant's more exciting dessert options or just pick up a pint on your way home.