Daily Inspiration Quote by Marian Burros

Burros lands her point with a neat New York double-feature: Broadway and restaurants, two industries that sell “the experience” at premium prices, both powered by labor that the audience rarely sees. The intent is consumer-minded and quietly radical. She’s not arguing that mistakes are unforgivable; she’s arguing that “new” is being marketed as finished, and diners are being asked to underwrite the learning curve without consent or discount.

The subtext is about asymmetry. In theater, previews are openly labeled as provisional: the show is still being tuned, the cast is still finding its rhythm, and the ticket price signals that bargain. Restaurants, by contrast, often treat soft openings as a private internal phase, then flip the sign to “open” and charge like they’re already operating at peak. Burros punctures that sleight of hand. If a meal is a performance, why pretend the audience isn’t part of rehearsal?

Context matters: Burros wrote as a journalist steeped in the economics and politics of dining, when high-end restaurants were becoming more like cultural events, complete with hype cycles, influencer buzz, and reservation scarcity as marketing. In that climate, pricing isn’t just arithmetic; it’s messaging. Full price tells diners: this is the real thing. Burros suggests that honesty should be priced in, or at least acknowledged. It’s a critique of an industry that wants the glamour of opening night without the humility of previews.