A shallot is a milder onion. A morel is a mushroom. Don't know what a banyul is and I dislike scallops. When you get to the restaurant , glance at everyone's plate on the way in for a preview of what looks good.

Also, is the food expensive? Is someone else paying? Then shut up and enjoy it, babe.

Banyul is apparently a fancy french wine (which is where they get the fancy vinegar from).

Ask the server what they recommend.

Those always recommend something that in English means, "lobster penis in a cow puke sauce."

And that just makes me sad.

Someone else BETTER be paying. Feh. Fancy schmancy food.

diver scallop is probably a bigger scallop collected by human divers, instead of farmed.

I think it's an eco-friendliness issue. If you dredge for scallops, you mess up the sea bottom something fierce; diving means that only the scallops that actually get eaten get interrupted in their spineless little existences.

Suela would know for sure.

I love shallots. I cook with them all the time. I guess they are, as Scrappy says, a "milder onion" but I think of them as more flavorful, but subtle.

I am a picky-ass eater and what I do is look for a main ingredient I like, like chicken, and then take a chance. the worst that can happen is you won't like the flavor--and you are more likely to have something which is a slightly new but really yummy taste.

The trick with cooking scallops is to get them to be not tough. That means you either cook them very very fast (frying) or slowly and carefully. Poaching means a nice tender scallop that doesn't bring bicycle inner tube to mind.

Robin is very wise, as usual. The steak is also usually safe -- most restaurants put a plain steak on the menu to cater to people who hate fiddly food.

I have some bacon wrapped scallops in my freezer and you people are making me want to go fire up the oven to fix them.