Italiano
Are you still convinced that all you have to do in the catering business is simply cook good food? Well, then you have probably never heard of the Single Burger Prank, also known as the Blind taste experiment.
This is what happened: in April 2015 two brilliant Masterchef Italy contestants, Maurizio Rosazza Prin and Andrea Marconetti, opened up a new business in Corso Como, one of the poshest streets in central Milan. It was, they announced, a new gourmet -hamburger restaurant, named Single Burger.
“So what?”, you may say. This was surely not the first time someone presented an old street food in a new, fashionable way. But slate-like serving dishes, vintage-style gravy boats, stem glasses and posh cutlery can really make the difference when serving a hamburger. Especially when it’s a hamburger from… McDonald’s!
Yes, McDonald’s. Along with its burgers, the new restaurant’s main dishes were the Bacon Clubhouse and the Chicken Prime – two novelties that the biggest fast-food related company in the world was planning to launch in the Italian market. This supposed new eatery lasted just two days, and then the scenery came down, revealing to customers that they were eating nothing more than a McDonald’s hamburger, served and cooked by McDonald’s staff. Those cooks and servers must surely have enjoyed watching patrons’ satisfied faces as they dined on dishes that would hardly be considered a gourmet meal if eaten under the big yellow ‘M’, or in a car seat, or on a bench in the middle of the park.
So, what do we learn from all this? The Single Burger Prank clearly demonstrates that the way you ‘dress’ your restaurant and its food is way more important than the food itself. Don’t get me wrong: the food must be good. But that’s not enough. The customer expects the food to be good. It is what’s surrounds said food that really hits the spot!
