Great question! It usually comes down to how much garlic they're using and how they're cooking it — not magic, just boldness and technique. Restaurants typically use way more garlic than home cooks think is safe. They're not afraid of it. A restaurant might add 6 cloves to a dish where you'd add 2. That concentrated flavor reads as "fresher" and more vibrant. They also have industrial burners that get very hot, very fast — so garlic gets a quick, aggressive sear that develops deep, sweet caramelized notes before it has time to turn bitter. Your home stovetop might cook it more gently, which can sometimes leave it sharp or one-dimensional. There's also the freshness factor: restaurants go through garlic constantly, so theirs is usually younger and less papery than what's been sitting in your pantry for three weeks. The fix? Use more garlic than feels reasonable, get your pan genuinely hot before it goes in, and keep an eye on it — you want it golden and fragrant, not brown. Start with a recipe that calls for 4 cloves and bump it to 6 or 8. You might surprise yourself. What kind of dish are you making — something where garlic is the star, or a supporting player?
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