A menu can offer many choices while leaving the cook with very little freedom.

Choice at one end of a system is usually paid for by constraint at the other. A long menu means someone in the back is holding every one of those options ready, repeating the same narrow set of motions all evening. What looks like abundance from the table looks like a fixed script from the stove. Freedom rarely appears without someone absorbing the rigidity that makes it possible.

When you enjoy an unusually wide set of options, spend a moment on who is keeping them open. If you design choices for other people, ask what your generosity costs those who have to deliver it.