Rednecks Rejoice

If you are one of those linguistically and culturally challenged dorks who would like to impress a special date by taking her out to a fancy restaurant, but gets totally intimidated by the French-sounding menu, salvation is at hand.

Restaurants in Europe, the United States and Japan are testing technology to let diners order their food direct from a screen at their table. Welcome to the e-menu. Using existing touch screen technology, these restaurants are experimenting with glass-topped tables where all the available items are pictorially displayed. So now, a redneck who has no clue what a coq-au-vin is can touch a picture of a chicken and sit back, looking smug.

Purists may sneer at this as a gimmick, but, it appears to be boosting business. In Israel, privately owned start-up Conceptic has already installed e-Menu technology in sushi bars, pubs and family restaurants. The system is based on touch-screens already used in self-service canteens or for ticketing in airports and cinemas. Microsoft says its new Microsoft Surface system, which transforms an entire table into one big touch-screen, is due to go live in spring 2008 in some US hotels and casinos, letting customers order food direct as well as play music and games.

I’m afraid I agree with the gourmets. For a culture snob like me, who actually knows what pate de foie gras is, it’s a pleasure to order in flawless French. Impresses the waiter too. Now all some gauche Philistine has to do is point? It seems like sacrilege.