The small stuff counts

Wednesday the Boston Globe’s restaurant critic Devra First reviewed Sensing, the Guy Martin restaurant in the Fairmont Battery Wharf Hotel. Her view was mixed, some good dishes, some not. But in her criticisms — the restaurant garnered only two stars despite the fact that the chef had been trumpeted as bringing Parisian haute cuisine to Boston — she didn’t mention an odd and yet crucial detail.

I’ve not eaten at Sensing, but have stopped by for a glass of wine. (Well, we did eat a few mediocre vegetable chips). But I did get a chance to look at the menu. I’m not commenting on what was offered.  However, why was the menu presented on  pieces of white paper glued (imprecisely) to the cardboard menu cover? The impression was very transitory — “We’re not going to be around long enough to print something more substantial? ” Many restaurants have day sheets — what’s fresh and great that day — but this didn’t look like this. Just cheap and cheesy. When you’re charging  $42 for lamb, a cheap-looking menu treatment won’t sell.