Markets even in things you can't imagine anyone would want

Read about restaurants where you do your own cooking, and no this is not just Korean barbecue. In some places you cook your own steak, at least they still wash the dishes for you.

The same article offers us some sad news:

Last fall, when almost 100,000 of the "surveyors" who contribute to the Zagat dining guides nationwide were asked what "irritates" them the most about dining out, 74% said service; only 6% said food.

And no, it's not because they're all dining at Matsuhisa.

That being said, I don't think poor taste is the only culprit here. Often we blame the person we can see -- the waiter -- more than the person we can't see, namely the chef. Economists have long understood the distinction between the seen and the unseen, let us not forget that the fallacy applies to other contexts as well.