Callipygos

I've been getting back into the habit of using my string bag, too. But I do save paper bags, as I get them, for paper recycling. Speaking of recycling, because confession is good for the soul...I'm sorry, but aside from the paper, I actually don't. I'm supposed to, I know, I'm breaking a law by not doing so with plastic and glass, but: Look, in my defense, Bloomberg has made recycling such a bizarre issue in this city -- first we DID have to recycle plastic, glass and metal, then suddenly he STOPPED recycling on plastic, or glass, or metal (I think it changed a couple times), then a year later, he changed back again, and NOW he's instituting recycling on SPECIFIC DAYS, depending on which neighborhood you live in, day of the week, month of the year, etc. Seriously, I was just mailed a huge map of New York City divided up into little teeny-tiny chunks which would denote what the exact date of recycling pickup was in my area depending on my exact street address. I'm going to raise hackles here, and I freely admit this is horrible of me, but to truly get recycling to work, you need to make it WAY less complicated for John and Jane Q. Publics. And, because none of the above has anything to do with food, I'll stop there.

Yeah, about that -- personally, I find that a MUCH more disturbing reminder of the creepy side of life than seeing a guy in a sling.

Two things here: 1. Gallipygos is wrong. The smoking ban in restaurants and bars was enacted to protect restaurant employees from the preventable health risks associated with the inhalation of second hand smoke. Oh, I know, but if there weren't any smokers who were also rude prats, this could have been handled WITHOUT making a legal point of it. And it's "Callipygos", with a C, not "Gallipygos", with a G.

Aw, man. One of my FAVORITE memories was cooking with an old roommate, totally spontaneously. We'd just recently moved in; it was a lazy Saturday. He got up before me and was watching cartoons. I got up, watched a while, then at some point I got up to head towards the "kitchen" (this being NYC, the "kitchen" was actually "the corner of the living room where the oven is") to start making scrambled eggs. As I did, HE got up and started for the kitchen too. We stopped and looked at each other. "Uh, I was going to make some scrambled eggs, want some?" I said. "Actually, " he said, "I was going to make myself some hash browns. But, I'll swap you some for the eggs..." "Hey, yeah," I said. "And hey, I've got bacon some place..." "ooh, and I think there's some tomato, I can do something with that..." "Wait, I'll make some oatmeal as well..." We kept talking like this AS we were cooking -- gradually adding progressively more and more to this breakfast. And we ended up TRASHING the kitchen. At some point every last pot in the kitchen was being used. We set off the smoke alarm because of the frying bacon, and my roommate dealt with that by just ripping the thing out of the wall. We ended up with me setting out a tablecloth and brewing tea from scratch, and settled down in the smoking remains of the kitchen for a long, hearty, and leisurely brunch. We ended up making joint breakfasts for houseguests whenever they stopped by becuase it wasn't just food, we were the floor show.

There are indeed some who behave this way. THEY are the problem. You've got the smokers like my guy, who DON'T dismiss requests that they not smoke; I've seen him practically hang his ass out the window sitting far enough out on the windowsill so he could blow the smoke out the window rather than having it blow back into the apartment and bug people. Smokers like HIM, aren't the problem. It's the people like YOU mention that are. But, these people are cut from the same cloth as the people who talk in movie theaters, or the people who cut in lines, or the people who walk their dogs and don't pick up the poop...selfish twits, basically. Yeah, this whole law exists because some jerks ruined it for the rest of us. Like most laws have, I've found. Feh.

Okay. On the one hand, I am a non-smoker, and am not fond of cigarette smoke and having to breathe in an excessive amount of it. On the other hand, I date a smoker. However, he has no problem with stepping out in the hall/onto the sidewalk/out of my general range into more circulating air in deference to the fact that just because he smokes, it doesn't necessarily mean I have to as well. So the fact that he smokes has not been a problem. I think, then, that this is what it boils down to -- those who smoke, who also respect that non-smokers may have a REASON for not wanting to smoke, and are willing to work something out with them to make everyone happy, are not the problem. There are smokers, however, who are downright RUDE about whether or not their habit is inconveniencing and/or harming others. I have a feeling the smoking ban in restaurants was created, in part, to give restaurateurs the power to get these rude smokers to shape the hell up and show some damn respect. Please note, I am not implying that ALL smokers are rude (my dude isn't). Nor, by the way, am I implying that all non-smokers who request breathing room are polite about it either. (Some have a downright snit, I'll admit; they may have a reason, yeah, but you DON'T have to be an outright prig about it). But there are some people who are SO overly self-righteous about this whole issue, be it about their right TO smoke or the right to NOT smoke, that working it out amongst ourselves like actual civilized adults is, alas, not possible.

(Looking up from her NEW YORK TIMES to blink at you in some disbelief) Speak for yourself, dude. Say, another question just occurred to me, one I'd like to address to the Staff Of Rocco's that currently lurk in here. Precisely which entity is paying you -- Rocco's? Or NBC? Because, to my mind, if NBC is writing your paychecks, then I would understand all of the plot massaging going on. But if it's ROCCO who's writing your paychecks, then I don't understand why he is letting an outside interloper affect what you do and don't do, and what does and doesn't happen in the place. And I KNOW they are. And if they are, in some attempt to affect your work because it makes good drama, I'm curious if anyone has told them to stuff it because ROCCO is your boss, not NBC. And this is going to sound somewhat cruel -- this is about the runner, whom I have been told was named Brian, who waxed rhapsodic in last week's episode (I believe his exact words were something like, "It's like, you go in and it's a four-star place, but you get served in the paper banana boats and people are like 'what the f*ck is going on' and it's just AWESOME, man!"). ...I have worked with directors like that that got caught up in the concept. I've always secretly believed that they were licking some pretty weird stamps.

Just wondering where you found the true definition of chowder. I did a search just now, and found many definitions, some saying it must have milk or cream, some saying it can be anything from tomato base to cream base, some have seafood, some don't... A couple cookbooks I have discussed the distinction, and the resultant controversy. One of them mentioned the chowder-cream connection. I will admit once, and only once, that my bias towards the "proper" definition of chowder is influenced by my New England upbringing, and its sympathy towards any doctrine that would reinforce New England style as the One True Clam Chowder. So mote it be.

I think it's been said here before, but seems to me that the show aspect is a gimmick to get people to eat at Rocco's. They'll end up with a Hard Rock Cafe style clientele (which is probably why the food is so mid-brow), and they'll be crowded for at least a little while. Eh, I know...at some level, I do know this. I think part of this is motivated by my general ire towards the very notion of reality shows in general. Sorry. As you were.

Which is precisely my point. The place was not staffed to provide for the highest quality staff. The place was staffed to provide for the most conflict and drama. At the expense of the quality of the staff, it seems to me. Rocco got the best staff he could in Central Casting Land. But pretending that the same rules apply in the real world is just dishonest. If you wanna do a show about the challenges of setting up a restaurant with all the conflict, WRITE a show and make it FICTION. If you want to actually start a business and contribute to a city's economy and employ people, then DO THAT.

1. Many Japanese snack foods. Shrimp chips or crab chips come to mind. What exactly precipitated the link between seafood flavoring and fried snacks? And what exactly is the thin styrofoamy substance said chips are made OF? IS there in fact any actual shrimp in shrimp chips? And even weirder -- once came across a bag of "squid peanuts", in which peanuts were enrobed in that same extruded-foam-snack-substance. This time, yes, flavored like squid. Squid and peanuts. Why? 2. Purple ketchup. 3. But the big one I don't get -- which is guaranteed to set off a storm of controversy, I'd wager -- WHY do people persist on referring to "Manhattan Clam Chowder" as a CHOWDER, when the VERY DEFINITION of "Chowder" involves dairy products and "Manhattan Clam Chowder" CONTAINS NONE? The only "clam chowder" in existance is the New England variety. It has milk. That other kind doesn't. So why call it chowder? there.

Hopefully Rocco will now be free to concentrate on hiring quality staff. I have read Rocco quoted elsewhere as saying that he opened up the hiring to an open call because "it's just hard to find the right people." This is a DERANGED statement to be making in a city with an enormous unemployment rate, especially in the restaurant trade. And in the talent pool seeking work, you have someone like my SO. He is a sommelier with several years' experience, including a stint at Tavern On the Green. He is gregarious, personable, well-mannered, even-tempered, and knowledgeable in the extreme. For Rocco to say that it was 'hard to find the right people" when people like THIS are desperately seeking work, was just offensive. And it only raises doubt in my mind that "quality staff" was really what he was looking for.

Some of it is Italian, the crudo, the fritti. Italian - American is spaghetti and meatballs. I've just always gotten the sense that "spaghetti and meatballs" has crossed that realm into "generic American" cuisine. Kind of how "chop suey" is no more like "authentic Chinese" cooking than I to Hercules. Or, maybe just the thought that Rocco is probably charging through the nose for this that just gets my dander up. Anyone know?...I'm one of those frugal people that snorts, "hey, if you're charging me 20 bucks for spaghetti, you better be serving it on a gold plate and juggling the meatballs for me first" or something.

Actually, I was somewhat taken aback to learn that they were making "Italian" fare that my IRISH CANADIAN mother made. Ah well. I've been watching for the snark factor -- my SO is a sommelier and I'm learning things about the inner voodoo of the restaurant biz from him that I never knew of before. Heh; I actually had meant to tell him about the open casting call and forgot, and told him after the fact and he was a little disappointed and said he wished I'd told him; after the premiere, I asked him, "do you still wish I'd told you about this?" And he said, "Actually, not anymore...."