ZenJones

That one reminds me of soemthing Bobby Flay does on Boy Meets Grill that snaps me (although I otherwise really like the show). He'll pick up something (a bowl of marinade, a grilled piece of meat) hold it close to the camera and say - "Smell this. Doesn't that smell great?" No - it smells like my TV screen. One of my favorite Bobby Flay articles... http://flakmag.com/tv/flay.html pretty much sums it up for me.

On that note... do you really think Alton cooks like he does on his show? My wife once said if he really cooks that way he's either single or his wife must get take-out on those evenings. Talk about a Poster Boy for O.C.D.

On the issue of "Cross-Contamination"... the worst single thing I ever saw on Food TV was many, many moons ago on what was my favorite show back then, "Taste", hosted by David Rosengarten. He did a show on chicken thighs and their rightious position of being over looked when it came to taste & adaptability in recipes. He had a big pile of fresh, raw thighs on his wood chopping board and after triming them, threw them into a bowl and then placed a rather large handful of salad greens directly onto NOT only the same board BUT the exact spot that mere seconds before hosted the raw thighs. **Note- He hadn't washed his hands, his knife, the board... nothing. There was even a slightly reddish puddle of raw chicken blood juice underneath the fresh greens. I assumed it was obviously because of time contraints but it gave me the shivers nonetheless... could you imagine eating THAT salad?!?!... "Hmmm, what's in this vinegrette? I can't quite place it... it tastes somehow like a 6 day stay in a hospital"

Thanks for pointing out that Emeril has a couple catch phrases, didn't know that. On an Iron Chef note... how 'bout that reporter guy who calls in the specifics of what each chef is using in his dishes... To my ears it sounds like he is saying, "Squeeze-On?" and then the host follows with, "Yes, Oata?".

Name you favorite over used, tired, redundant, etc phrases used on Food TV and the mouth of the author that they originate from... 1. Ms. Ray- "Neato", "Yum" & "E V O O" 2. Tyler Florence- He means to say Fantastic constantly but instead says, "Funtastic" as in, "That looks funtastic!". My wife and me counted him saying it 31 times in one of his Tyler's Greatest shows... 31 TIMES! Not only redundant BUT mispronounced. 3. Mario- "Copious" and " ...that is to say... " 4. Emeril- None that I can think of really 5. Jamie Oliver- "Whack it in... "

perhaps babbo management thought this would be best handled in person or in a one-on-one conversation. i don't think they're in the business of mailing gift certificates to every person who complains. Yeah, a month later. It's easy enough to write someone a return letter, apologize and tell them that their name and phone number is on file if they should choose to return and that the evening is gratis. Customer Service has dick-all to do with size... be it McDonalds or Babbo... if you're in the Hospitality Business you're ONLY concern is THE customer. Enough people act with apathy and the service drops... for both sides-patrons and establishments alike.

i didn't read anything that suggested that they definitely were being ignored or not taken care of. in fact, if anything, quite the opposite: Yes, that's true but I meant that there was no definate statement toward a comp'ed meal in the letter... I would think that the Babbo management would have wanted that stated clearly to insure that the patron knew they were certain to be taken care of on their return visit.

My wife and me were regulars there for quite awhile until we had our baby... anyone been there recently? If so, what's the word?

One would think with the digit Babbo pulls in they would have comp'ed you to re-gain your trust and business. Jesus, McDonalds cares more about customer relations... when we were in college because we were continiously broke we would call the various local McDonalds' around town(especially after partaking in some Rastafarian Recreational Activities ), ask for the manager, explain to him or her that we had recently gone through the Drive-thru and were missing some items from our order-everytime we were told to ask for the manager by name and that they would take care of us on our next visit(which of course was in 10-15 minutes... the amount of time it took to load into someones car and bolt to that particular location). We were always given what we said was missing from our previous visit-without question- and more often than not... additional items.

that's a horrible generalization, inn't? Precisely my point.

"We were concerned for our car because the neighborhood is rather rough. There are a few shady looking characters out front who we gave some money to to watch the car. When we came out not only was it still there, intact, but had been polished." Did they also sing and stand next to a fire that was burning in a garbage can??

As Pan mentioned... Jackson Diner is quite impressive and in Manhattan my absolute favorite is Havali. The chicken chat lays down an entire boatload of colors on your tongue while the Bombay liver is rich, earthy and totally satisfying!! Give them a try.

Ahhh, the much asked and often dreamed over question... "How do I, can I, will I-get an 'In' at Rao's?" How much wood would a Woodchuck chuck if a.... The tales of my attempts to walk through the Gilded Door Of Mama's Parlor Cooking- #1. Though misguided as I was, I thought I could be totally sincere and honest. I called when I first moved to the area from Western Pa. and said that I had read many fine things about their food and now that I was living in the area and was pondering a career in Culinary could I possibly find a table on their slowest evening to partake in their offerings. Answer, "Nope, we don't have 'slow' evenings." The voice on the phone chuckled and was completely unimpressed with my plea. #2. A year and a few months later(I figured I needed to work this whole thing very slowly and carefully-like coaxing an aging porker to that key spot of terra firma for the largest truffle ever unearthed). I called once again and explained that I was just in from Italy for a few days and that as the assistant to Sophia Loren's assistant could I stop in for a quick meal to give feedback to my boss so she could then, in turn, pass the info onto Miss Loren who might like to dine there on her pending trip to NYC. Response, (laughing)"That's a good one... one a the best I ever heard! She's been here. She's welcome here. She loves it here. In other words, No." Ok, I was down for a 10 count but I wasn't out. Yet. #3. My most honest and thus, heartbreaking attempt... I became engaged to my wife and she being from Michigan had only ever heard the legend of Rao's(whereas I knew the reality of it )was taken with my idea that we should dine there as a sort of 'post-honeymoon-just-back-in-from-Europe' kinda deal. I spoke of it to her with all the confidence of a soon-to-be-husband. "Yeah, sure Honey. No problem. How can they say No? Right?" Wrong. I called twice. I emailed 4 times. They weren't having any of it. Or for that matter... Me. Answer, (in a very understanding tone)"We're sorry. No." Postscript- For our 1st Aniversary I bought my wife The Rao's Cookbook, presented her with it 3 days early, had her select 5 recipes that interested her most, spent the next 2 days shopping like a wild banshee, cooked for 8 1/2 hours on our Big Day, waved a huge beach towel at our smoke detector on the ceiling-on and off-for a total of 12 minutes while roasting peppers on our Viking and that night sat down with her to a romantic feast. She loved it. I barely ate due to equal parts exhaustion and smoke inhallation BUT in the end, in some sort of perverse, other-worldly-kinda-way... we ate at Rao's. Damn them. PS... I'm new here but have lurked for a couple months... great place you all have here!! Bravo!