Consumer surplus at The New French
Last time we gathered here today, the word was flatulence. Well actually we talked a little bit about perfect substitutes. Today let's talk about consumer surplus. Maybe right now you're wondering why all the economic terms the last couple of posts, and I'll get to that shortly. For now, we'll forgo the why and just talk about what consumer surplus actually is... So basically the idea is that if you are willing to buy a pizza for $20 dollars, but there's a special sale and you can get the exact same pizza for $10 dollars, the difference in price is the consumer surplus. I wonder about this and whether it applies to other areas as well. For example, Steph and I will sometimes walk up to a popular restaurant and say something like, "If the quoted wait time is less than xx minutes, then we'll wait." The surplus in this case would be time... and I wonder if time qualifies as a surplus. A couple of weekends ago, we stopped by one place and the wait was too long; there was no consumer surplus to be had. We went with the backup plan and stopped by The New French.
We got lucky with The New French because it wasn't packed and we were able to get seated right away. I ordered some sunny side up eggs with potatoes and a side of a salad. Steph got some french toast sticks and we shared a mimosa. When the server came back with my eggs, he realized that he didn't even have Steph's order in the system... He apologized profusely and expedited the french toast order and in less than ten minutes, we were both able to start brunch.
The eggs were perfectly fine but the highlight of the show was definitely the potatoes. It's rare that I encounter potatoes during a brunch that I really really enjoy. These were great though. I liked that some scallions were part of the dish. And there's nothing a Chinese dude likes more than scallions. Mmm... green onions.
Steph was delighted with her french toast after it finally arrived. She said it was one of the better ones that she's had. The beauty of french toast sticks is that they give you more surface area for crispiness. It's the same idea behind fries I think. No one serves deep fried whole potatoes, do they? I have yet to see that. The ratio of surface area to innards is an important thing if you want to maintain textural contrast throughout the eating experience.
At the end of our brunch, we discovered that they comped the mimosa because the french toast took so long. I think it's great when restaurants make up for their mistakes. Of course it's important that they just hurry up and get your food out after their realize the mistake, but to be kind about a free drink is great. So here again, we experienced consumer surplus. We were perfectly willing to pay for the mimosa but when the check came, we realized we got more than we were prepared to pay for. That definitely sounds like surplus to me.
Now, time to talk about where all this econ talk is coming from. So lately I've been boning up on the number of useful podcasts that I listen to. There's the usual sports ones, and This American Life. And another new one I came across was NPR's Planet Money. It's a podcast that talks about economic topics in laymen's terms. I really enjoy it. In a recent podcast, they talked about whether a $30 dollar pizza from Lucali's was worth it. One guy on the podcast said he'd be willing to pay $50 for a good pizza. I'm not sure that's a price that I'd ever be ok with for pizza.... To each their own. I do however, want to know if there are some podcasts that you listen to on a regular basis that you can recommend.
The New French
522 Hudson St.
New York, NY 10014
212-807-7357
@FN,
I will have to write about freedom fries then... you know we don't have many foods with the word 'American' in front of it. Pancakes are pretty american but we don't call them American Pancakes.
@Caroline,
Ooooh Radiolab. I've never heard of this one before. I'm going to check that out. Thanks!
@James,
Ah.. Planet Money. I love that stuff. Another good econ one is Econ Talk. Both are really top notch, but Planet Money is totally more accessible.
Danny
January 13, 2010 11:01 pm
Imagine my surprise, after having returned from a long spell in France, to see a post about a place with France in the name and an order of toast of the same name! I say "no France" - enough already. It's all pizza, bagels and hamburgers for the kid!
FN
January 11, 2010 5:46 pm
Do you listen to Radiolab? I enjoy their podcasts.
Caroline
January 12, 2010 8:45 pm
I'm a huge fan of Planet Money, especially when they cover economics and decision making in health care. This post takes me back the freshman year of undergrad, learning marginal utility with the exampls of pizza and burritos :P
James Boo
January 12, 2010 10:03 pm