Quick Post About Olive Garden

[future_guardian]

Here's the thing: Sometimes I want my five cheese baked ziti and I want it from Olive Garden.  If you know me, you'll know I HATE spaghetti sauce.  As in, it makes me want to puke on the nearest spot on the floor.  Of course, that might have something to do with the way my family makes it. They like loading their sauce with carrots and onions and that completely ruins the flavor of an otherwise decent sauce.  Back to Olive Garden, because I actually like their five cheese baked ziti.

I mention this because of this link: http://gawker.com/#!5793849/olive-gardens-culinary-institute-is-a-sham.  This article is from April 20th, but I think it's worth linking to.  In short, Olive Garden's claims that they have a cooking school in Tuscany has been proven to be a lie (or semi lie, depending on whether you consider renting a hotel room and teaching stuff there a school).  On one hand, I feel super ripped off.  You know what?  If Olive Garden never mentioned that stupid not-a-school ever again, I'd be a happy woman.  I don't like being lied to and well, I'm not happy right now.

Here's the other thing: I am sick, sick, SICK of all the privilege in the comments.  A lot of folks who are otherwise good people (not really, but I tend to like their comments otherwise) say "Well I have loads of money and can afford to go to real Italian restaurants and Olive Garden sucks and anyone who likes them is a terrible person."  You know what?  You and your loads of money can shove it!  God forbid there are people in this world who honestly do not have the option to go somewhere "better"!  And what if, like me, you happen to like one of their dishes?  That makes me/us bad people?  Yeah, I don't think so!

The bigger problem is that all these privileged people call everyone out for, you guessed it, being privileged.  White privilege, male privilege, rich privilege, you name it.  But it's okay for them to be privileged because they're talking about Olive Garden.  Give me a break!

Comments

[brigid]

I totally love fancy food and I'm an awesome cook and my best friend's family comes from Calabria so I've had "real" Italian food... and I still eat at the Olive Garden. I make a pretty good recreation of their Tuscany Soup, but sometimes? I just want to hit the Olive Garden and have people bring me over priced American-Italian food. Endless soup/salad and breadsticks isn't that expensive, esp. when compared to a OMGREAL!!! restaurant.

I never thought too much about their Tuscany school, but I always figured it was shady. Like... they'd send people over for a class or something. Or they "recreated" Tuscany. Or they had the school in Tuscany, new Mexico. Something. Sounds like I was kind of right.