The Cheeseburger Litmus Test
If you are traveling and find yourself at a restaurant where you don't know what to order--or worse, you’re highly skeptical about how good the kitchen actually is--always order a cheeseburger.
Hear me out. The cheeseburger is the universal baseline of the culinary world. It requires minimal culinary experience, but it does require basic execution. It’s the ultimate control variable.
If a kitchen manages to mess up a standard cheeseburger, it’s a massive red flag. If the bun is stale, the patty is a hockey puck, or they somehow butcher the cheese-to-meat ratio, there is absolutely zero chance they are pulling off that "pan-seared duck breast with a balsamic reduction."
Think of it as a safety net and a litmus test all in one. If it’s good? Great, you got a solid meal. If it’s terrible? You just saved yourself $30 and a lot of disappointment on a more complicated dish.
