I jotted this quote down because I had no idea what amuse-bouche was.

You either?

It’s a french word meaning to amuse the mouth.

Amuse-Bouche are single bite hors d’oeuvres served before the meal, courtesy of the chef.

Funny that they are not technically considered appetizers.

Because appetizers are paid for menu items. Amuse-Bouche is free.

I think I have eaten in a place that does this kind thing once or twice, tops.

I gotta get out more.

But one window into where it all comes from is the time he spent at Café Boulud with chef Andrew Carmellini. His job there was the amuse-bouche station—challenged to throw together an always-changing array of tiny and, hopefully, exciting bites of first-course freebies, mostly with ingredients at hand.

-Anthony Bourdain, Medium Raw