A dining minority

When I first heard about Princeton Restaurant Week, I was confused. Posters, emails from USG, articles in the ‘Prince,’ even USG president Bruce Easop ’13 at David Drew’s All-Nighter Talk Show — a must-see, by the way — were all very proud of the fact the USG had negotiated with 10 restaurants in downtown Princeton to get them to offer Princeton students a prix fixe three-course meal for $25. I was confused because I had eaten at participating restaurants like Mehek and Mezzaluna for much less than $25. My confusion turned to frustration when I continued to see those involved congratulating themselves for getting the price down to a scant $25, in my opinion way too much to spend on a single meal.

So yes, this deal would certainly save me money at a place like Elements, but that’s like going into a fancy clothes store and seeing a T-shirt that was originally $100 marked down to $50. Sure, it’s a lot less than it is apparently “worth,” but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re looking at a $50 T-shirt.

And yet almost everyone I talked to, no matter their background, was excited about this opportunity. Many said it gave them the perfect opportunity to splurge and go out to eat with their friends. Sarah Schwarz’s column last week argued that it gave Princeton students the much-needed break from their hectic lives, and apparently over 3,000 Princeton students took part. It has been hailed as one of the greatest accomplishments of this USG administration, and I applaud them for what seemed like a logistically difficult task, so why did it seem to rub me the wrong way?

I think I was bothered precisely because no one talked about this as anything but getting much-needed good food to some poor college students. But you aren’t paying $25 for tasty food — I defy you to find any dish on Nassau street tastier than the $7 half-pound Cheeseburger at Cheeburger Cheeburger — you are paying for the excitement of three whole courses. You are paying for a classy and sophisticated atmosphere. You are paying to not have to worry about buying too much since it’s a fixed price. In short, you are paying for a night of living “how the other half lives.”

I understand that, if you don’t have this perhaps irrational sense of discomfort I have about seeming to be at a higher socioeconomic standing and instead think that is a lifestyle worth emulating, at least some of the time, you will think this is something that is worth your money. That’s fine; it’s your money. The point I am trying to get across is that, for those out there that felt a little weird about calling a $25 dinner a bargain, you were not alone.

And though this opinion may be in the minority and based on uncommon assumptions, I think it is important to express them. I had an excellent conversation over lunch with some friends in which some of my friends hadn’t even considered the negative reactions that another friend and I had to Princeton Restaurant Week. They learned why they were in favor of it, something they had until then taken for granted, and I came to understand my own qualms enough to write this column. So, at the end of the day, this is a conversation that, I think, should be had around a table both at Blue Point Grill and in the dining hall.

Luke Massa is a philosophy major from Ridley Park, Pa. He can be reached at lmassa@princeton.edu.