What was a fancy food treat for you growing up that isn't fancy anymore?

[Anonymous]

Pistachios
Entenmanns “pastry”. - I thought it was so fancy,
Red lobster
Any type of restaurant that specialized in cuisine that was not “American”. I remember in high school, a bunch of us driving far away to eat at a Mexican restaurant and thinking it was so special (maybe Chi Chis). I never had Chinese food until college.

[Anonymous]

Going out to eat generally used to be far less common and routine but I remember thinking my family must have come into some money because one time we went to Applebee’s *for lunch.* Not even dinner, lunch!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fresh asparagus

This. We only had it once a year in spring for a couple of weeks.

[Anonymous]

In New Zealand we hardly ever had chicken, which was expensive.

Those tiny lamb chops that cost a fortune nowadays and come four to a pack - we used to get them frozen in bulk for next to nothing, and barbecued them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pistachios
Entenmanns “pastry”. - I thought it was so fancy,
Red lobster
Any type of restaurant that specialized in cuisine that was not “American”. I remember in high school, a bunch of us driving far away to eat at a Mexican restaurant and thinking it was so special (maybe Chi Chis). I never had Chinese food until college.

Yes. We drove almost an hour to go to a Vietnamese restaurant and I remember feeling so excited and cultured.

Pocky and other Japanese snacks.

French food, I think because that was fancy in my parents' generation so things like coq au Vin were special occasion recipes.

Red Lobster was fancy because seafood was still considered fancy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Häagen-Dazs or Breyers ice cream instead of generic. Fresh pineapple instead of canned. Cracker Barrel cheddar cheese. Bennigans, Chi Chi’s and Ruby Tuesday’s were celebration restaurants.

My grandparents would buy Häagen Dazs coffee flavor and we all considered it very sophisticated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trifle!

It was the fanciest dessert you could imagine. It still it very nice, not dissing it or saying I eat it every day.

But it was SO fancy.

What was the dessert in restaurants that was served flambe that was popular in the 80s? Did it have peaches or cherries or something with liquor? They would light it on fire at the table? To me that was fancy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Macadamia nuts. They were only gifts from people, rarely, traveling to Hawaii.

Oh, good one!

Macadamia nuts were my mother's fave, and they were very much a luxury. We rarely had them, and when we did they were hers lol -- we could have a few but that was it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trifle!

It was the fanciest dessert you could imagine. It still it very nice, not dissing it or saying I eat it every day.

But it was SO fancy.

What was the dessert in restaurants that was served flambe that was popular in the 80s? Did it have peaches or cherries or something with liquor? They would light it on fire at the table? To me that was fancy.

cherries Jubilee?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes to Ritz crackers!

We were upper middle class or higher and ate at country clubs and fancy restaurants all the time. When we traveled we stayed at top hotels and went to high end restaurants . I was used to ordering filet mignon, duck, lobster, snow crab, escargot , shrimp cocktail etc. However ritz crackers with some sort of cream cheese dip on them was a huge treat. Same for sliced hickory farms summer sausage. My parents would receive a bunch of these boxes from friends around the holidays. My siblings and I were thrilled.

Summer sausage and cheese was my fave thing about Christmas. And the Hickory Farms box would also come with some spicy sweet mustard that was delicious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And non-frozen orange juice. When I would babysit in the nicer part of town and the parents told me to eat what I wanted, I would savor the Tropicana.

This!

+2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Macadamia nuts. They were only gifts from people, rarely, traveling to Hawaii.

Oh, good one!

Macadamia nuts were my mother's fave, and they were very much a luxury. We rarely had them, and when we did they were hers lol -- we could have a few but that was it.

I only had these once in my younger life, when a relative brought them back from Hawaii.

Avocados were such a luxury that I didn't even know what one looked like until the 1990s.

[Anonymous]

Flip side is that we used to have beef tongue as it was an inexpensive food item that is now quite expensive!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Trifle!

It was the fanciest dessert you could imagine. It still it very nice, not dissing it or saying I eat it every day.

But it was SO fancy.

What was the dessert in restaurants that was served flambe that was popular in the 80s? Did it have peaches or cherries or something with liquor? They would light it on fire at the table? To me that was fancy.

Bananas foster. It is still fancy! Or crepes Suzette. New Orleans food was hugely fancy in the 80s, thanks to Paul Prudhomme who was basically the second celebrity chef.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Macadamia nuts. They were only gifts from people, rarely, traveling to Hawaii.

Oh, good one!

Macadamia nuts were my mother's fave, and they were very much a luxury. We rarely had them, and when we did they were hers lol -- we could have a few but that was it.

I only had these once in my younger life, when a relative brought them back from Hawaii.

Avocados were such a luxury that I didn't even know what one looked like until the 1990s.

Millennials get so confused about the boomer reaction to "avocado toast" lol ... but they truly were a luxury. Not at all like now.