Chef Benjamin Bailly, steak tartare, tomato dip, the bar at Fraiche (Photos by Peden + Munk for Angeleno)

“I don’t want you to think I’m judging you,” the waitress says. And then she pauses, searching for the right words. It’s a long pause. “But… I think… you might be ordering too much food.”

We laugh, and she laughs with us. Still, she looks concerned. I’m dining with a semiprofessional eater, and between the two of us, we’ve ordered what we consider to be a typical dinner: a jar of Birkshire pork rillettes to start, followed by a couple of pastas, and then the duck confit and braised Kobe beef cheeks. Continue reading →