next »

[I love food]

Oh my god, picky eater, grow up! Surely you can envision yourself ordering plain rice, or noodles, or a salad! So what if they chose a "very specialized" ethnic restaurant? Perhaps it is widely viewed there as one of the best restaurants in town!

You have already painted a very vivid picture of what it might be like to work with you on a faculty... I suggest a drastic attitude adjustment before you go on any more interviews lest you come across looking like the baby you seem to be here.

[Vegan]

So what, picky eater? I am a vegan. I have been taken out to all kinds of different restaurants on job interviews. If there is nothing on the menu you can stomach, just ask the waiter/waitress to have the chef whip something up for you. At good restaurants, the chef takes this as a challenge rather than as an annoyance.

Plus, I have to add --- grow up. Be an adult. The search committee is going to show you a nice time at a restaurant they like. Of course you don't have to obsessively worry if what you say or do will piss someone off, but you DO have to be polite. Have you read, "All I Ever Needed to Know I learned in Kindergarten"?

[Allergic]

Navigating dining experiences has been a challenge for me because I have a severe food allergy to a very common ingredient. In Picky Eater's case, it sounds more like a preference than an allergy, but as others have suggested, you could feign an allergy (if, for example, the restaurant is Thai or Chinese, an allergy to sesame would get you off the hook as many Thai and Chinese dishes use sesame oil). Because my allergy is so severe, I make it known well in advance, sending a polite e-mail to the chair (or whoever called to invite me) and cc'ing it to the adminsitrative assistant making my arrangements. Not only do I detail what I can't eat, but I specify which cuisines are the best for me. To date, this has worked out flawlessly, and no one has batted an eye. It sounds like Picky Eater missed the window of opportunity to make any food restrictions known as the interview sounds quite imminent. Because I never know for sure if I'll be able to eat during my interviews, I pack a significant snack supply that includes items that are safe for me to eat. If I have to, I snack in the bathroom during a pee break, and then finish up back in my hotel room (instant oatmeal made with a hotel room coffee maker works--or you could spring for room service).  But it is hard to imagine that there is nothing you could eat at pretty much any kind of restaurant--a bowl of plain rice (claim a stomach ache?), a simple soup, or some basic noodles are available almost anywhere.  

In defense of search committees, I do think it's unreasonable for candidates to expect to be asked about their dining preferences. Search committees choose the dinner restaurant to showcase what they think are the best restaurants in town and/or to pull candidates into a particularly lively neighborhood. I agree that a steakhouse is probably a bad choice, but I don't expect to be asked if I would prefer Thai or Greek. I also think it strange that several of the posters here seem to the think "ethnic" food (what ISN'T ethnic food?) is going to be more problematic than traditional American fare.  Most of the people I know would rather end up in a Japanese restaurant than a burger joint.

[maybe...?]

Of the hypothetical guesses that have been made, the ethnic restaurant in which one would have the least chances of ordering something altered or Americanized seems like it would be sushi/sashimi. Of course there would be miso soup and seaweed salad or green salad, and probably edamame, but certainly the main offerings would involve uncooked fish and shellfish. (OK, you have your California rolls, but the veggie options are limited.)

In a case like that, I might email the SC chair and say, "Thanks for sending the itinerary -- I'm really looking forward to having dinner with the committee at XXX, but I wanted to let you know that I am unable to eat raw seafood. Do you think this will be an issue at dinner, and if so, how would you suggest I handle it?" A question like this might well prompt the SC chair to say, "oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize -- let me change the venue." Alternately, he/she might say, "I'm sorry, but this is the only restaurant in town big enough to accommodate our party [or whatever other excuse], but I will make sure the kitchen can prepare something that is safe for you to eat." ... etc., etc. I think complaining about the problem is the wrong approach -- instead, ask for his/her help solving it.

For my part, I can't eat Indian cuisine because some of the more commonly used spices make me sick, and I can't even stand to be in an Indian restaurant because just the smell makes me queasy. I certainly wouldn't want to do a dinner with a search committee in such an environment if there were another option available.

[Moo Goo]

There are people starving in China!  Get over it.

[Kitchen Table]

CHARLIE TROTTERS
Kitchen Table Menu
 
Eel Terrine with Hijiki & Shiso
Alaskan King Salmon with Hearts of Palm and Smoked Salmon Roe
Uni with Hearts of Palm & Sake Sorbet
Slow Cooked Skate Wing with Fennel Frond Sorbet
Red Cipollini Onion with Fingerling Potato
Tai with Watermelon Radish & Saffron Emulsion
Celery Root Soup with Truffle & Confit Shallot
Squid with Garlic, Tapioca & Meyer Lemon
Squab Breast with Chanterelle Mushrooms & Treviso
Jamison Farm Lamb Loin with Collard Greens & Black Truffle
Dry Aged Angus Strip Loin with White Polenta & Spiced Date
Fourme d'Ambert with Savory Fruit Cake
Pineapple Sherbet with Tahitian Vanilla
Forelle Pear with Candy Cap Mushroom Ice Cream
Sour Cherry & Venezuelan Chocolate Tart with Creme Fraiche
Mignardises
 
I turned the job down!!

[picky eater]

Many of you have mentioned I should grow up and just eat.  For your info, I will probably just suck it up and go.  I certainly have "played nice" with meals before when I just didn't particularly cared for a food.  However, with this cuisine, I am concerned about my VERY strong gag reflex reacting to the smell, taste, etc.  I'm guessing spewing the food all over the search committee would not leave a good impression...but at lasting one.

[Omnivore]

This thread shows strong evidence of why it's important to cultivate omnivorous tastes...

My wife is a vegetarian and so I've learned to deal with these kinds of issues, and we've ALWAYS asked candidates about their food needs and preferences.  However, as many have pointed out, there are ways to deal with this issue that work well, and ways that don't.  It's true:  when inviting people for interviews on campus, committees/chairs should say, "do you have any food issues that we should accommodate?"  It's not that hard.  

But:

The absolute last thing any candidate should do is give even the whiff of a suggestion that s/he's "difficult."  As anyone anywhere who's worked in higher ed knows, there's plenty of "difficulty" to go around, and there's a big disincentive to hiring more of it.

When I interviewed for my current job I literally had to BEG to be taken to a local Indian restaurant.  I could tell the committee people really wanted to go, but were afraid it was too "low end" for the occasion.  It was great.  Knowing that place was here made me want to take the job.

[Anon]

maybe...? wrote:

> Of the hypothetical guesses that have been made, the ethnic
> restaurant in which one would have the least chances of
> ordering something altered or Americanized seems like it would
> be sushi/sashimi. Of course there would be miso soup and

If it were Japanese, a grilled chicken option is always available, as is plain white rice.

Heck, plain white rice is available at most "ethnic" places.

Please, this person is just a whiner.

[T. Rolle]

Atta boy (or girl) picky eater, now you're thinking!

"However, with this cuisine, I am concerned about my VERY strong gag reflex reacting to the smell, taste, etc. I'm guessing spewing the food all over the search committee would not leave a good impression...but at lasting one."

It's all about leaving an impression.

[maybe... again]

Anon wrote:

>
> If it were Japanese, a grilled chicken option is always
> available, as is plain white rice.
>
> Heck, plain white rice is available at most "ethnic" places.

I have actually been to sushi/sashimi places in which no cooked food of any kind is available. Really. I was at another where someone asked to have something cooked and was given one of the frostiest looks I've ever seen by the waitstaff.

The OP's point, above, is well taken. Whining is one thing. Being surrounded by an aroma that makes you gag is something else altogether. As I said, if it were Indian food, I would have a really hard time. Yes, I would eat white rice and naan. But all the time I would be fighting back a gag reflex.

[Spork]

I have never encountered a cuisine that I could not eat SOMETHING from (Pedant can correct my grammar).  Even Italian -- despite having bad digestive effects from tomatoes, cheese, and/or oily foods, there's still pesto pasta or a salad.  Can't you find something non-objectionable on the menu?

["Ethnic"]

The image of the OP vomiting at the smell of "ethnic" food is a great metaphor for how academics can talk the talk of muliculturalism but can't walk the walk . . .

Maybe its a test of your committments and not your gag reflex.

[Anon and on]

If you can't even order, don't order anything! Just nibble on bread/rice/naan or whatever, order something to drink (non-alcoholic). Explain that you have had such an eventful day that you couldn't keep anything down.  Or say your nerves have given you an upset tummy. The search committee should then get the hint and maybe speed things along. Or do like the victorian ladies used to do and have a handkerchief in front  of your mouth and fake some sniffles.

[Science_Guy]

The OP needs to realize that a lot of people on these fora have not been (and will not be) invited to an on-campus interview this year.

To come here and complain that you don't like the type of free food you'll be served while on your interview is trollish, at best.  At worst, it's rubbing it in.

My advice to the OP is that if you REALLY plan to have an academic career, get used to swallowing things you don't think you can stomach.