Are you an old salt?

So I’m sitting at Toscana Kitchen + Bar one night for dinner and my pal stops in the middle of the conversation to look around for the salt shaker. It’s not there.

We look for one on another table. Again, no salt. In fact, there’s no salt anywhere.

In recent years, the salt shaker has been disappearing from tables in fine-dining restaurants. It’s starting to become as rare as a New York strip steak that’s barely touched the grill.

So what gives?

A few chefs I’ve talked to said that feel that their food has already been well-seasoned in the kitchen and, therefore, doesn’t need anymore salt. OK, I'll buy that. Reaching for the shaker can be bad habit. I’ve watched people - in restaurants and at dinner parties in my home - start salting before they ever take a bite. Maybe, I’m being a little thinned skinned here, but I find it insulting. But, then again, if I’m paying for a meal, I don’t want someone playing salt police and hoarding the salt.

Almost every restaurant will hand over a shaker if you ask. But a friend’s mother solves the problem quite easily: She always carries a salt shaker in her purse.