Not as bad as those examples shown, but twice I've ordered Panera's broth bowl and the spoon they provide was the size of a serving spoon I'd use to serve mashed potatoes. The first time, I thought it was given to me in error & went back to exchange it. Yesterday, I got the same big spoon. It felt as oversized as the character Edith Ann's rocking chair. Maybe I am just not hip, but it did seem like eating with a shovel.

On that note, flatware in general seems to be getting bigger. A new set of stainless we have has forks with tines that remind me of pitchforks. Wish I'd kept my Mom's old set...

Amck2, is your new flatware perchance European? There are differences. The forks are larger and less curved, with spaced round tines and the standard spoon in a three piece setting is what we'd call a clear soup spoon, and what we used to call a tablespoon. My flatware is Italian, and I never thought of it, but the forks do have a somewhat pitchfork look to them. :) The teaspoons in my set are nice for applesauce and ice cream, though, unlike many Euro teaspoons, the bowls of which are barely larger than demitasse spoons, though the handles are full sized. Europeans eat differently and have evolved different shapes (I once read a history of the fork, which also explained why we switch and they don't).

Jakkom, I LOVE when you post articles. They're always interesting and things I'd never find on my own. OMG!!! How do they get that crap clean? And WHY do they bother? Is the shock value supposed to cover mediocre cooking? Why would I want to eat in a public establishment from vessels that can't survive the mandated dishwashing routine? If there's a paper wrapper or plastic cup in there, like in some of the pictures, why do I have to have a nasty shoe to spill it on? Of course, L.A. County is the origin of letter grades for restaurant cleanliness, and they've been in most places in SoCal for a couple of decades. C is passing and perfectly fine, but restaurants compete for those A's, and no high end place can survive without one. I've been served on planks and rocks, but I can deal with that. :) In fact, I miss the old wood barbecue platters we used to get. I think some time back, before the better properties of wood were known, they were cut because they couldn't be washed at a certain temperature.

I guess if the food isn't enough of a draw, slap a mask on it and let it pretend it's a king.

This is too funny! I just googled #we want plates to check out the twitter page. Lots of funny pics and comments there. What a silly trend - seriously who thought this was a good idea. One restaurant served a fried egg on top of some type of veggies in a FRYING PAN. Seriously.

That was hilarious. Passed that one around work today...needed some funny.

Some are fine and traditional and have been served on planks and such for centuries but the odd new mini carts and rocks and buckets....and a trash can lid?! A plowman's breakfast on a shovel?

I get a bit crafty sometimes looking for ways to serve up a bbq for a crowd using my stacked bamboo steamer baskets etc but a restaurant that tries an odd container is a total 'fail'.