Mayhaw Man

I can't help the visual that pops into my head when I read the title to this thread. Highly motivated bagel fans stoning each other with stale bagels and yelling in exaggerated accents about their favorite doughy, boiled and baked treats and insulting each other with barbs about ancestry and neighborhoods............... It would make an excellent cartoon.

While I think that you made a nice start sticking them in an out of the way place, I think that the moment that the child was placed on the floor with a handful of toys that it was incumbent on the restaurant to gently tell the parents that this was not acceptable and that if the toys were an important part of the meal, perhaps they should consider other dining arrangements for the evening. "Excuse me sir, but we have safety and insurance issues with children playing on the floor. Do you think that you will be able to control your child and keep him in his chair? If not, you will need to find somewhere else to dine this evening. We certainly appreciate you coming in this evening, but some because of safety and health reasons we will not be able to allow your children to play on the floor and out of concern for our other patrons we will need your children to behave at the table. I am sure that you understand" Next, right after they finish yelling at you and telling you how their children are better than the other kids-You grab Dad and throw him out on his ass. His family is sure to follow him out of the door and the problem will be solved and you will be a hero to the other diners and to your staff If reservations are difficult, maybe you could have offered to give them another at a time when the children could have been elsewhere? It is a very difficult thing. Seats are hard to fill and every cover counts, but on the other hand it is just as difficult to get repeats and a screaming child unchecked by anyone is a good way to make sure that some of your other customers will not return.

That would make an excellent visual for a battery ad.

Actually, he was on our farm in Morehouse Parish, LA. The bad part was that there were two boys (Miles and his 16 y.o. cousin) in the stand (a tree) and that they had passed on a really big deer thinking that it was early and it would get better. It didn't and they got the deer (it was a doe day in North Louisiana, no bucks allowed) just at dark. While it was hardly the first one he has ever gotten, it was the first one with no direct adult supervision. He was VERY proud of himself. They are both extremely responsible and have been hunting since they were very small, so putting them on a stand was really no big deal, but they thought it was, and that is what counts. I was proud of him too and look forward to a little fresh venison and some great sausage. Incidentally, I am very lucky to have a father in law who is an orthopedic surgeon. He makes a bang up butcher . Saves me a lot of work and is a lot faster than I am. The sausage will be processed at home with my swell new sausage stuffer attachement for my Kitchen Aid. I am looking forward to that more than anything. I love making sausage.

Apparently my college experience was a bit different than his. I used to moan about not being able to afford decent scotch. No parents of any friends ever filled that need however.

A whole bunch of small items from BBand B. All of which I already had (it's the thought that counts ), so I will be heading there to make returns and get the kitchen aid mixer attachements that I really want but am too cheap to buy for myself. I did get tons of silpat though. WOOHOO. I love that stuff but can never bring myself to buy enough to make it useful. I did get a paperback of J. Steingarten's new book. I started it last night and really like it.

Exactly. I need to learn the art of brevity.

My 14 y.o got a Bambi on Christmas eve. I am cooking a hind roast tonight. I will post the results (and hopefully some photo evidence) tommorrow.

Grain Alcohol. I think that this song by Texas singer/songwriter Pat Green sums it up nicely.

And, since my answer was not exactly keeping with the topic (although I do believe my answer would make the subject matter here moot) I will address the actual topic. I think that the burden is on the parents, but since some people are so callous towards the rights and privacy of others that there needs to be policy. Seat them as best you can away from other diners. Provide what you can in the way of efficient, speedy service, and get em out as quickly as you can. Is this fair to the parents? Yes. They are the one's that brought the kids, so they can hardly expect to linger at a table for three hours over coffee and after dinner drinks. If a baby gets loud and stays that way? Ask the parent to remove the child from the dining room until the child calms down. Once again, remember, they brought the kids. It is not the restaurant's fault that the child is cranky (nor is it the childs fault) so, in my mind anyway, the reponsibility is all on the parent. If they are unhappy with the service as it relates toward them and the child, too bad for them. They brought the child, they should be expected to do their best to keep the other diners from being annoyed. The dining establishment should certainly excercise their right to ask a patron to remove his or her self from the dining room until the child calms down. Or for good if it continues to happen. And yes, the diner who brought the child should still be responsible for food ordered even if they have to leave due to a child that is annoying other diners. There. I've solved that. Next Problem?

Having just spent the last 14 years considering this question on a fairly recent basis, I have some pretty strong opinions on this subject. 1) high end dining is not for kids. Until a person is old enough to sit still, help hold up a conversation, and read and be interested in a menu and at least some parts of a decently prepared and served meal, I do not believe that parents should subject either the children or the other diners to "an attack of the bored, unhappy children". 2) The other thing is that, while I am hardly a poor person, I am not willing to shell out the big cheese for a meal that is likely to be constantly interrupted by bored children or shortened by my worries about annoying other customers (I am, after all, Southern and rediculously worried about being polite and not being a nuisance) . How old is old enough? I think that depends entirely on the children and the dining situation at hand. Both of my boys are at this point, fairly well traveled by pretty much any standard and have eaten in some wildly varying situations (street food in the third world to white linen in the first) and are pretty comfortable trying new things and rarely scream out "eeeeuuuuwwww!!that's gross!" (just don't EVER put any escargot in front of them ). They are smart enough to ask a few questions about things before they order (origin of the food and the method used in cooking or not cooking it) and will pretty much eat anything. We did not take them on anything above the level of local family places until the oldest was ten or so (they are now 14 and 11) and the first time either of them saw really good sit down dining involved a couple of Holiday situations in New Orleans that were pretty good practice, as there were lots of other children and they were all expected to behave, so there was lots of peer pressure and that helps. Do you have to make some personal sacrifice and maybe not go to some of the places that you would normally go when traveling? Yes, but so what? We just looked at it as an opportunity to try something new. I really don't like sitting next to ill behaved children in restaurants and don't want to subject anyone else to the bored quirks of mine and expect the same in return. On the other hand, an older adolescent or a young teenager can be an excellent dining partner. They are inquisitive and,if they have been fed a fairly diverse diet at home, will be interested in just about any kind of food that looks good (and sometimes even more interested in something that looks scary-and that can be fun too- "Here bubba, these fried crickets are reaalllly gooood with hot sauce" ). They are usually eager to talk about the food and the history of it, something that many adults either take for granted or are just not interested in. Anyway, to sum up the dining with kids deal-don't do it until they are old enough to behave and enjoy the experience. It is a waste of money, a waste of your time and thiers, and really not fair to the other diners or to the young people in question. There are plenty of places that are kid friendly and still nice places to dine. There will be lots of time for fine dining later. Spend the first few years trying to broaden their tastes for different kinds of food and give them a wide range of experience. You will be glad you did this later on when it is time to start eating a little more upscale. Sushi is a great place to broaden children's experience. Sushi bars are generally extremely kid friendly and there is plenty of stuff for them to eat besides sashimi. Tapas is another good place to start. Actually, any ethnic food with a wide variety of choices can be very helpful to broaden the experience. My kids both love Thai food and actually scan strip malls for likely looking spots (all truly great Thai Family Dining occurs in suburban strip malls ). They also love noodle shops (once again, strip malls) and part of this is that the places are always so nice to children. Anyway, start em out young and give them as broad a range of experience as you can, both at home and away, but keep the kiddies out of the sit down and pay big places until they are lod enough to enjoy it. It is not fair to them or to the other diners around them. Edited to say that while I was typing Dsconz said the same thing but in a much more concise manner.

Everyone reading this should give some thought to crossing in Tecate. It is a beautiful little town and only a two lane border crossing and it is never crowded. The drive down through Jamul and Dulzura is very nice (or across Otay Lakes) and the bakery in Tecate (El Mejor Pan) is one of the best in all of Northern Baja. From there it is a straight 45 minute shot over to Ensenada through the Valle Guadalupe, the largest single plot of grapes and olives in all of Mexico (and supposedly the largest single planting concentration of olives in the world, but that might just be bragging). When you think about delays at the border and their potential length, it is really worth the little bit of extra drive down through East County. I recieved "It Must Have Been Something I Ate" as a stocking stuffer and started reading it last night. Am enjoying it greatly.

Bravo! Bravo! Your blog was a really nice addition to the Holidays. Thanks so much for taking the time. What a heroic effort!

Yeah Chris, but then again you will probably never hear some guy from Jersey City or the Upper East Side asking the waiter at El Bulli for some BBQ Sauce to go with "that duck liver stuff".

While there are many things that I can get regularly and many members of this board can only dream about or go to a hell of a lot of travel and expense to get, the photo of that assortment of cheeses causes my jealously level to reach condition red. Nowhere, no how, not ever, can we get anything that interesting (especially not a one time in one place) and that lovely to look at and to consume (as far as cheese goes anyway). You are one lucky big cheese. Perhaps we can work out a trade of some fresh redfish, shrimp, crawfish tails, speckled trout, softshell crabs, a pile of various sausages, and a couple of my children for a few hunks of that fine looking cheese and a crust or two of bread to go with it? I will start working on the smuggling process now. Have a great holiday and I have enjoyed your blog tremendously. Regards,

I made and gave- Pralines Peanut Brittle Small Peach Pound Cake Loaves Green Tomato Relish A very small amount (1 batch) of toffee because the humidity has been in the 90% range and it does not come out right when it is that high I have recieved- One of those mondo cool plunger type measuring cups which is extra handy when dealing with corn syrup and oils of various sorts.

Dinner was really good and the old hotel looks great all dressed up for the holidays. I had: Oysters on the half shell w/brie (warmed slightly under a salamander) Mixed Organic Baby Greens with toasted walnuts and citrus v-ette Roasted pork tenderloin w/garlic mashed pots and grilled asparagus Creme Brulee (that had all of these vanilla shavings in the bottom of ramekin ) Other choices offered were (this was a business dinner for twenty, so we set the menu ahead of time) Jumbo Lump Crabmeat Ravagote Pecan Crusted Breast of Chicken (blech!) (chicken breasts should be banned from all menus everywhere. Right Now. And when I get in charge of the World, they will be, dammit!) Grilled Gulf Red Snapper with crawfish sauce (like thin ettouffee, really good) Flourless Chocolate Cake with Hazlenut glaze Apple Streudel Tart (no one much chose this, but I tasted it and it was great) Decent wines, none remarkable. Overall it was a great experience and I am glad, because I have been neglecting this place for a while and it is in my little town (which is really odd, considering the size of this place-1 light, 4 cops, the whole bit )The whole thing ended up being about 80 a head with service. Very reasonable I thought. I would do it again in a minute.

I love Country Captain. You often see it with raisins as part of the mix.

Have a look at the places that are covered in The Louisiana Forum. I like Emeril's personally. The food is good to great and the service is pretty close to perfect (for me that is, unassuming, quiet, unpretentious, attentive). Contrary to what some people say here, I have never been dissappointed. Some nights were better than others, but never worse than very good and a couple of times pretty spectacular. That being said, the "I only have one meal to eat and want to eat the right one" is a pretty tough question. My first question would be what do you mean by "upscale"? New Orleans is one of those places where upscale need not mean "fancy". For example, I would never describe one of my favorite places, Jacques Imo's on Oak St as upscale, but you can drop some money in there pretty quick. On the other hand, Brigstens (same neighborhood, 3 blocks away) is pretty upscale but a great meal can be had for a great price. Look over the threads, pick a place or two that sounds interesting and post it back up here and there are tons of people who would be willing to help you with your choice.

I wish I was going to be able to attend. I am sure that the dinner conversation will be interesting, to say the least.

Just wanted to throw this in. Some of you are clearly not familiar with John Besh's Restaurant August on Tchopitoulas. Make sure that you put this on your list of "must trys". The place is gorgeous, the service is pretty damn impeccable, and the food doesn't suck. It may be the most interesting place in the city. Try it out. You will need a reservation and you will most likely want to make it in advance as it has been recieving a fair amount of food press. When you click on the link turn on your sound, it is a pretty cool website. Now, with all that being said-GW Fins is o.k. and really dependable, but I think jbraynolds nailed it with his list (and I can add about a dozen others where your time and money would be better spent) of his favorites. I am dining at Artesia this evening with a group of work friends. I haven't been to dinner in a while (even though it is a five minute walk from my house). I loved it so much in it's original inception when John Besh was there (you think I like this guy? ) that it has never been the same. It is a beautiful place and I live the atmosphere and the owner, Vickie Bayley, is a real pro so I am hoping for the best. At least I know there will be some very dependable Creme Brulee at the end of the rainbow.

Where does your 5 year old want to dine for his birthday? I have one that is close to Christmas as well. It sure is hard to make abig deal out of his birthday around Christmas. We have kind of gotten into the habit of letting him do something fun in January after the Holiday festivities have died down and before Carnival cranks up.

I actually like the juice in the bottom of the pan. I have never done this myself, but have had it many times at parties and it really is pretty good, although I prefer maple sugar glaze .

This delicious glaze is sure to impress the MIL . It is kind of tough to make, but I think you can handle it Report back on the results

Pan-Here is your answer as far as we go down here. This quote was taken from this article from the University of Wyoming. It concerns the excellent documentary The Farm, which everyone involved in this spirited discussion should watch. If it is possible to make an even handed documentary about something as controversial as a prison like Angola, this guy has done it. I highly reccomend it to anyone interested in a cold, hard, but very interesting look at somewhere I hope none of us ever has to go.