Tess

It's seating a new party at a recenly-vacated table. Restaurants (and servers) try to turn their tables as often as possible, for obvious reasons. ← Oh, thanks. I got the idea that the customers were doing the table-turning and thought, "What? They turned over the table?" Ha.

What's table turning? Anyway, I still think the article is funny as an account of how things can go if you over-think. It happens to me with cooking when I want to try to be different or original. I can wind up with the weirdest meals.

I thought that the piece, while humorous, illustrated the problems you can have if you get too self-conscious about making a choice that's going to seem original or at least nonobvious. I think it's the kind of thing that could happen in any city and there wasn't much about it that was Chicago-specific. That said, I felt a little sorry for the restaurant. The article started about being about the writer's dilemma, which was pretty funny, but then the restaurant became the butt of the joke. Anyone been there or seen a detailed review?

Thanks; that's a great read!

It's been a couple years, but I always liked NECI Commons in Burlington. NECI also operates restaurants in Montpelier and elsewhere, but when I was last at the Montpelier establishments they were smaller scale. If you ever get down to Queechee, you might also try Simon Pearce Glassworks which is really cool and had a nice restaurant last time I was there. I'll be following this thread and would love to hear updates on the two I've mentioned as well as others as I hope to get back to that area ASAP.

Definitely, beef stew with Guinness. I've also had various cheese-based beer soups but don't know how to cook them.

I was in college before I would touch mayonnaise or any mayonnaise-like sauces, because I'd had the stuff out of a jar and it tasted really weird and metallic to me. Then I had to eat a vegetable salad at someone's house, for the sake of politeness. It was made with homemade mayonnaise, and I never looked back.

That's what dinner parties are for: they make you clean the house! In my view, most people you invite to a small or medium-sized party are your friends. They don't have to invite you to dinner; they may have small children, messy houses, can't afford it, whatever. But they could ask you to go to the movies with them or something. If you keep inviting them over, and they never invite you to do anything at all, it's kind of a lopsided relationship.

Not second-guessing what you did, but why do people feel they can't talk to kids but must go through their parents? I know some people feel that way, and some parents do seem to think no one should talk to their kids but I don't get it. Kids are human beings too; why should their parents be the only ones to interact with them?

I don't like to spend too much time writing during the meal. I jot down some notes and then sit and write out more at my leisure. If I can do it soon afterwards, it helps.

Oh, man, I've traveled with a guy who brought along his own hot sauces and put them on everything. I think salt is somewhat of an exception. Depending on the dish, in my opinion, there is a certain amount of tolerance in how much people want. A sprinking of sea salt does not compromise every conceivable dish.

I only wish this were an American disease. Why do we have so few (and such lame) potato chip flavors in the US? Is there any place in this country where you can buy a decent variety? Even Mitsuwa (the Japanese market) is a very good store, but no use in that regard.

I don't recall ever having a meal ruined by kids alone, but I can think of a number of meals made unpleasant by kids plus their parents, with the parents usually being the more important component. I was out on a date once, and there was a couple with two kids nearby. One of the kids was throwing toys. The parents started making nasty cracks about us, that we were obviously meant to hear, because we didn't pick up toys that landed on or near our table and carry them over to them. That's an extreme example but hardly the only one. I was also seated at a hotel for breakfast several mornings in a row near a little boy who seemed to have some disorder that made him cry out periodicially. That was a bit jarring but did not become obnoxious until they were joined by a grandfather who kept flipping out every time the kid did it. One thing I think you get more in the US, as opposed to Italy (the only other place I've lived) are people who bring their kids out and pay zero attention to them, or conversely put on a big "look what a good parent" show which consists of talking in a loud, high, artificial voice. The people in the second group are probably obnoxious when they come without their kids, too.

I find it hard to resist samples when I'm hungry. Luckily (I guess) I'm turned off by things like dips and tubs of cheese cubes-- I've seen one person too many stick their fingers in or double-dip-- but my Whole Foods sometimes has very tasty samples in little cups, which I figure are fairly sanitary. Ceviche, pieces of Cuban sandwiches, marinated tofu, various salads... And let's not get started on the wine and beer samples. At one of my local liquor stores, the samples are generous enough that I'd be uneasy about driving home if I had a few. Then some of the stuff finds its way into my shopping cart. Since I'm supposed to be on Weight Watchers, this can screw up my whole day.

That's great; I never thought of PeaPod as a way of hiding your vices! Yeah, the laxative lady. Was she a funny orange color? That doesn't come from tan-in-a-bottle. She's probably suffering from electrolyte imbalance, and you can die from that. Poor thing, really.

I've found skate (boned and skinned) very good for preparing in a misoyaki "marinade" and I'm going to try a sake-leek one soon. You have to watch the timing because the skate absorbs anything it sits in almost too well.

Ever seen anyone taking exception to someone's purchases? I saw a woman scolding a guy for buying potato chips-- Lays, I think. She gave him a lecture about trans-fats. He stood his ground admirably, explaining that the chips taste good.

I'm always looking in people's carts to see if I missed something, especially at the produce markets and the Japanese market. And if I'm in a slow line, I can't help checking out other people's food. What else is there to do? I love getting into conversations while food shopping. I'm usually too shy to start them, but people will ask what I do with a certain food that's in my basket, or point out something that's good. I get a lot of ideas by talking to people like that.

I go by a Steak N Shake every day. They always have different signs up advertizing things that sound lovely, like peach milkshakes. I don't see any of their other marketing, but those signs always make me want to go in and buy something.

I always want an appetizer or two and a main course, and probably dessert. Now that I'm on Weight Watchers I can't afford to eat even half that much food on a regular basis. I try to pick restaurants where I can have half of the main course boxed to go. (My boyfriend hates doing that-- he thinks it's a brutta figura-- but will let me as long as it's one of the little local places where we are regulars.) Sushi is a problem with my group. You can't really bring it home. Occasionally one person will take the order form and cross off half the items, and it's still too much. A couple of the guys can pretty much eat all the sushi that's put before them (and so could I, pre-diet), but we do get remarks from the kitchen.

The restaurant in that review clearly failed, in my opinion. It's hard to confront customers, and I can understand management not wanting to say anything if the kids are just, say, talking loudly. But if they're running all over the place, it's very easy. You just tell the parents that they can't be running around unsupervised for their own safety. In fact, it's not safe for them or for staff who might be coming through carrying large heavy objects. Solutions? I think the only long-term one is to complain to management, as the couple in the review did. If no one is complaining, they don't really have an incentive to do anything. If they get enough reasoned complaints, they may start to keep an eye out for stuff like that. I don't usually mind kids making noise-- strangely, what really bugs me is hearing parents ineffectually shushing them over and over-- but seeing them run around the floor of a restaurant really does bother me. Next time, thanks to this thread, I'll not only complain on the spot but also write a letter.

I haven't been to Hawaii for a while, and I have a mad craving for that shrimp you get from Giovanni's with all the garlic. I wonder if I can make that at home?

I decant my Maldon into a jar; it's a mess otherwise. We always have the holy trinity of Maldon, Morton Kosher Salt and the red Hawaiian salt in the cupboard. (The Hawaiian stuff is great and not too expensive at stores in Hawaii, if you get there or have friends who go.) I'm going to buy the higher-rated fleur de sel on that list; I keep meaning to have fleur de sel in the house and never do.

Sounds great! Would you share the recipe?

OK, I think it is indeed partly a regional thing. When I lived in new England, I would often eat whole lobster while out, but always at clambake types of places where that was the main feature. It would not have occurred to me to order it in a fancy restaurant. I remember having good lobster at a place outside New Haven, Ct, where you could get it either boiled or broiled/grilled, and at a number of places in Maine. (I didn't live near the coast and didn't cook lobster at home.) The guy I live with is a Midwesterner and he orders those lazy-man type dishes a lot. In Las Vegas, we stay at the Rio and there is a casual seafood place there called Buzio's that does pretty good stuffed seafood. I know, ordering seafood in the desert is crazy, but I find that kind of dish quite tasty. I would say that for a lot of the populace, all seafood is primarily a vehicle for butter and bread crumbs.