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TheFoodTutor

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  1. Bumping this topic back up, as my husband and I will be moving to Eugene in about a month or so. So far, we've tried Poppi's Anatolia and enjoyed it, Voodoo Doughnuts, Skinner's at the Hilton (we were staying there and had free coupons), Sushi Pure at 5th Street Market and a rather upscale Italian restaurant that I've forgotten the name of. Would love more suggestions and I definitely am looking forward to exploring markets in the area.
  2. My husband and I will be moving to Eugene in the next month or so, and we'll be able to visit Portland fairly regularly. I've been skimming a few of these threads for ideas. So far, in Portland (we were only there for an hour or so after leaving the airport, plus one more day before we left) we've visited Pho Thien, Pazzo (we stayed at the Village Plaza), The Original (for breakfast), the Red Robe Tea House and Shigezo Izakaya. I'm very interested in trying many of the ethnic restaurants in the area, specifically Ethiopian (there aren't any in Eugene) and Chinese Hot Pot places or any place that is great for Dim Sum, Szechuan Chinese, Korean BBQ or any other unusual foods that we won't be able to get in Eugene. I enjoy fine dining occasionally, but I really prefer eating at less fancy places where I can try the cuisine of other countries. My plan is for us to visit Portland every once in a while for long weekends so that I can check out local farmers markets - though there is a good one in Eugene - and Asian groceries that have the ingredients that I'm used to getting in Atlanta on a regular basis. Shopping recommendations with nearby restaurants will be very much appreciated!
  3. That's one way to look at it but once you've driven to those 4 different supermarkets as well as your butcher, I would imagine that the opportunity cost + gasoline gets pretty close to the register receipt at WF. I'm definitely in exactly the same position as Maggie, though I do drive once a week to a market that is 1/2 hour away from my house, but that's only because it's simply the best market in my 10 county metro area, and I get a lot of enjoyment from shopping there as well. There are lots of other good markets around here - it's a very competitive area in terms of groceries - but I almost never end up buying anything from Whole Foods because it's so much more expensive than everywhere else. We do have one or two of those "terrible" Whole Foods here as well. Older, too small and not much selection. Perhaps they simply bought too small a property in some of the earlier years that they were expanding. They're utterly worthless because you can't count on, say, getting the cut of lamb you'd like or nearly anything else, simply because there's no knowing what they'll have in stock. I find it interesting that people keep mentioning cheese. Locally, our better Kroger stores are now offering many of the same cheeses as Whole Foods is, and in some cases, they have cheeses that you cannot find at Whole Foods. Up until last November I was working for a large cheese distributing company here in Atlanta, so I can tell you that both companies are buying the same cheese from the same source, but Whole Foods is simply marking it up a heck of a lot more. I could say a few unflattering things here about WF, but I probably shouldn't, even though I no longer have a conflict of interest. Suffice it to say that I buy my gourmet cheese at Kroger or at the market that I mentioned above, which also buys from the same supplier.
  4. Way more expensive than other stores, outside of high-end specialty stores, here in Atlanta. I live in the Marietta area, so I'm still somewhat in withdrawal from moving to the suburbs from being more centrally located, but I've adjusted and I can say that I'm extremely familiar with the prices at all of the markets in the Northern metro area, including the large chains. We have a few Kroger locations here that have gone upscale and are now carrying much better products, such as castelvetrano olives, and our local Publix is reasonable for many everyday items. Surprisingly, Wal-Mart has gotten much, much better with their meat and produce selections, but I don't frequent it because it's harder to find many of the quality items to which I'm accustomed. That said, I still find it worthwhile to visit the Buford Highway Farmers Market, which is essentially on the other side of town in Chamblee. We only go once a week, but the prices on produce, which is also very good quality, are simply that much better. The same for meat, seafood and their house-baked breads. If I bought the same items at Whole Foods, which would be easily 20 minutes closer to my house, my weekly grocery bill would be at least double. I only visit Whole Foods in a "gourmet food emergency," if there is such a thing, and often times I walk out without buying anything because the sticker shock is so extreme. I can understand how it would be different in New York, so I guess I feel lucky that I have as many options as I do in this area.
  5. I tend to agree. I know several people seem to think that the producers have a hand in who gets eliminated, but I think past decisions suggest that this is not the case (the Kenny/Angelo situation being the most obvious). We were watching last night and I said to the spouse that I believed that I'd read somewhere that past performance can only come into play in situations of a tie that needed to be broken, or that the producers can help with decisions in the same way, and I thought last night might be one of those times, given that they all seemed equal in this challenge. As much as I thought it would have been fair to eliminate Tiffany because she had been on the bottom several times recently, and she has been showing less interesting food overall, I do think it's probably better that they chose to allow 5 people to go to the finals, because it seemed like everyone's food was just that good. I'm not jaded enough, or perhaps savvy enough, to think otherwise, I suppose.
  6. You know, that's unwarranted stereotyping and it makes me so mad I could just throw my pocket protector at your head. ROFLMAO, but yes, I feel your pain. I do have high hopes that Robert will take his shirt off this season, as well. Rowr.
  7. Back for a new season, and if one were to only look at the interwebs for input, one would draw an easy conclusion that I am the only person who likes this show, anywhere. Perhaps I'm just the only person who likes food and cooking and also likes this show, since I can't possibly monitor all of the message boards, everywhere. Perhaps there is a gaggle of single engineers or computer programmers, somewhere, who like this show because they have no interest in food or cooking, and it's comforting to know that there are others who share their apathy toward the subject. I, however, do find that the contestants seem to be genuinely untalented, when it comes to cooking, although they are talented at doing other things, and some of them are actually wishing to remedy their inability in the kitchen. This season, I'm particularly interested in the lady who is an OR Nurse (Jen), and Georg, who is a Speech Therapist. Jen did a bang-up job at butchering a chicken, because her experience in the OR gives her a great knowledge of anatomy, while Georg really wants to learn to cook so that her wife and child can eat good meals. Looking forward to the rest of the season. Anyone else watching? Someone must be, or they wouldn't have scheduled another season with a larger cast of contestants this time.
  8. I don't think Heinz Ketchup counts, because I married a Picksburgher, and now I'm not allowed to use any other sort of ketchup. Since I don't use ketchup often, I'm OK with that. But French's Mustard is at the top of my list of trashy condiments. I know good mustard. I own good mustard. I know how to make good homemade mustard. And yet, there is something about that bright yellow stuff that makes my mouth sing. I even put it on scrambled eggs. Oh, the shame.
  9. I cannot think of another episode that I've seen where it was any more obvious who was going home right from the beginning. I cringed as she was shoving that tuna through the meat grinder. Asking Angelo for advice, and then taking it, was also brilliant. I actually didn't find her all that annoying until last night, but wow. That was shockingly stupid.
  10. While I appreciate and recognize the reference, and the bravado that Bourdain invokes, in this instance, current health codes are restrictive enough that an apprentice line cook who would keep working through seeping cuts, oozing burn wounds and such would be automatically disqualified from employment. In the past, it would have been perceived as dedication to the craft. While I still don't doubt that such an environment where one might, somewhat unsanitarially stage may still exist, the threat of shut-down from the health department, these days, is enough to shut off a career of a budding chef, if he should decide to go ahead and prep salad vegetables, or practically any other ingredient, while bleeding all over them. Don't do it. Well, unless Han Solo just severed your left arm and you've got a Jedi knight waiving away all doubt from the quality of your product. Just sayin'.
  11. I never said that "no one" is going out to eat lately. Clearly, people are still going out to eat, even in Atlanta, or maybe even especially in Atlanta. What I suggested was that there are a heck of a lot of restaurants that are closing these days, and the ones that are staying open have a business model that is proven to work, and in many cases across the country, the business model that is the current trend is toward shorter meals, especially since high unemployment means that the people who are employed tend to spend more time working than they used to. The average restaurant meal time for most people is about 30 minutes at lunch, but it only goes up to about 45 minutes to an hour at dinner. Restaurants do a lot of market research about such things, so that they can see how they compare to the average, in order to be more efficient. Here, again, I don't understand. On the one hand, I don't think I've ever spent 2 hours in a restaurant and only had 3 courses, and on the other hand, I doubt that I've ever sat in a restaurant that costs 3 times what a diner or coffee shop costs and not been comfortable in my chair. The few times that I've spent a really long time in a restaurant were times that I got tasting menus, sometimes of 17 courses or more, and the only time I can remember where I wished the seats were a little more comfortable was at Sotohiro Kosugi's restaurant, Soto, when he was here in Atlanta, because it really did take almost 3 hours to eat. Still, I didn't find the situation dire enough to even mention it. Here, we seem to have reached an impasse. I mentioned a specific case in which a fairly nice restaurant had custom leather chairs with a cost of $600 apiece, and there were a small number of customers that complained about them, while many others thought that they were a spiffy and extravagant addition to the dining room. And that's not the only example I could provide. I could provide links to photos of different types of chairs, with multitudes of people writing reviews of each one, stating that they thought one was comfy, while others thought them a literal "pain in the butt." But let's concede that you're right here, and I'm totally willing to do that. Let's assume that there are chairs that are empirically uncomfortable to every human being who might be likely to sit in them, and they are the preferred choice of multiple fine dining establishments in your area - I haven't dined there recently, so I can't attest - why have you not mentioned this to management directly? It would seem a rather simple matter to just tell them, "Look, I come here often, love your food, think the service is impeccable, but really, these chairs are just so terribly uncomfortable that no one could like them. Couldn't you, at least, offer another option for seating?" Given the volatile nature of the restaurant business, it seems that most are willing to change just about anything to accommodate the guests they still have left, so why not talk to them about it? Well, now, I'd have to say that's assuming a lot. Why would I be disingenuous? What do I have to gain from "winning" this argument? Not much, certainly, since I don't have any stock in restaurants that you frequent, who are trying to save money at the expense of the comfort of your hindquarters. I can pretty much guarantee that I don't even know any of the chefs or restaurateurs in that vicinity. And I've been a contributor on this board for quite a long time, so it's not likely that I'm just trying to stir up trouble, especially since I'm likely to keep contributing.
  12. I love that show. It's my favorite show on the internet. Originally, I found it because I did a web search for recipes for Oden, but since then I've used the shows to learn how to cook chawanmushi, okonomiyaki, takoyaki and lots of other great dishes. I love the episode about bento, too. I can't wait to see which dish they'll do next.
  13. The economy must be doing a lot better in Maine, then. Here in Atlanta we're losing about 2 or 3 good restaurants per week. And I'm not talking about the total number of restaurants closing, either. Those are just the independently owned places that are good enough that I'd care. I think I may be misunderstanding you here. I think the problem is the lack of specifics and abundance of generalizations on either side of this. When talking about "decent" restaurants, what price point are we talking about here? I can only think of a few places here that I would be willing to sit and dine in for 2 hours, and I'd say Restaurant Eugene is firmly in that category. However, it's also expensive enough that I can only eat there once or twice a year, so I'd expect to stay longer in that case. And they already have nice, comfortable seating. The Dining Room at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead would be another good example, but while they do have very nice seating, they are now closed. Ironically enough, Restaurant Eugene had to change their menu and style of dining toward a more casual, small plate sort of format, just to keep business coming in the doors. And then there is the fact that "comfortable" is a very subjective term. What makes you feel comfy might not be amenable to others. The last restaurant I worked in had some pretty amazing leather chairs that were custom designed and cost about $600 each. I thought they were cozy as all get out, but wouldn't you know it, some customers complained about them. I think we can all agree that cold, metal chairs are uncomfortable, but I haven't run into them outside of little noodle joints and lunch counters. Certainly not at any place I'd spend 2 hours in. It would really help me to visualize what your problem is if you gave me some specific examples. What kind of seating and what kind of restaurant are we talking about here? Because we're definitely not reading the same page.
  14. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the trend in restaurants these days is just going to exacerbate the problem. 20, 30, 40 years ago or more, people ate out much less, and they expected the nights that they did eat out to be special. They wanted to arrive and have cocktails at a leisurely pace, peruse the menu at will, order appetizers, casually decide what they'd like for an entree and then pick the perfect bottle of wine to accompany it. They wanted a brief break between courses, after the plates were cleared, in order to ready themselves for the salad, or soup, and then the main course. After all of the savory courses were enjoyed, they wanted a little time to decide on dessert and choose whether a digestif or dessert wine, or just coffee would be the proper accompaniment. That was the classic ideal of fine dining. These days hardly anyone wants this. And when today's fast-paced folks are confronted with that kind of slow, relaxing dining experience, most of them just get angry that things aren't moving quickly enough. This is a discussion that's come up many times before, and I have a very hard time relating this to eGullet folks, who really do appreciate food and who would enjoy this exact experience, but the truth is, the art of this sort of dining is long since dead, buried and the bones have turned to dust. If you want to dine this way, I think you're just going to have to try to get invited to slkinsey's home. (This is meant to be a compliment to Mr. Kinsey, lest anyone should think otherwise.) Because people have drastically increased the number of restaurant meals they eat per week, to the point that it really is just a routine, daily, sometimes several times per day experience, restaurants have had to respond to the needs of the market. Service is faster. Plates are cleared much faster. You want to just eat the entree and leave? Fine. You want just small plates to nosh for the amount of time that it takes to consume a cocktail on the way to the theatre? Fine. Tapas? You got it. You want sushi and bruschetta on the same menu? Fine. But the upshot of this is that, because restaurants make a much smaller sale per person, and most people take much less time to dine, they actually have to rush things along a good bit. It is not in most restaurants' best interest to provide a chair that is comfortable to sit in for more than half an hour, because frankly, the restaurant is probably going to need that table pretty soon, and if it doesn't, then it will probably be going out of business soon. I do agree about the metal chairs, though. That's a little harsh to sit in for even a half hour. Nobody likes a cold butt.
  15. No job on this planet is ever as hard as people make it seem, and I'd include brain surgery in that statement. Brain surgeons train for years and years jumping through hoops, only to later use just a tiny fraction of that information on a day to day basis in their actual jobs. One of the biggest jobs that most human beings have is convincing everyone else that their job is so difficult and complicated that it requires years of training and/or membership in some sort of trade organization to be able to do it. To say that making sushi is included in this rule of life is a hideous understatement. The making of the sushi won't be that difficult, but getting Japanese sushi experts to be willing to train you? Of course that's going to be difficult! Why would they want the rest of the world to realize that with a month's practice you could match what they do? Good luck.
  16. I was actually formulating a post that would read, "Just because one is an actor/actress, that doesn't mean that one can't also be a genuinely bad cook." Actually, I think the intersection of those two groups could even be quite wide. And if I were to make it onto a reality show - highly unlikely, since I haven't tried out for one - I would hire an agent or a career consultant immediately, if I didn't have one already. Given the number of reality shows around these days, you need to capitalize on whatever celebrity you hope to gain in a very timely fashion, because the next Top Chef contestant, Wanna-Dancer or whatever is following right behind you. Are the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" really just a bunch of attention whores who hope to springboard this into some other career opportunity? Absolutely. Are they really as ghetto-fabulous as they appear to be on the show? Yup. Do they represent a certain percentage of the population in Atlanta? Oh boy, yes indeedy. Which is why I've been unable to watch a single entire episode. It kind of makes me ashamed that I live here. I still don't doubt the veracity of the cooks who are on here, and I'm looking forward to watching the train wreck that airs tonight.
  17. I see where you're going here, and I can imagine that. A nice firm fish like Mahi with a satay-style sauce or something. In this case, however, we're talking about a whitefish fillet with a gigantic smear of jarred peanut butter on top, cooked until it was black and hit, post-mortem, with too many shakes of cayenne pepper. Chef Anne Burrell spit it out, and Chef Beau was afraid to even taste it. I know that it seems like I could fake being a lousy cook, but I get the feeling that this group is the genuine article.
  18. That "juice" could likely be the reason.. Fresh juice, just like in cocktails, makes all the difference in the world. And ditto the simple syrup idea. Trying to dissolve anything but superfine sugar in a cold liquid is an exercise in futility. It would be much easier to sweeten your tea while its still hot, or add a dose of simple after it has the ice in it.. Well, for some people it might be the reason, but it really depends upon why you're drinking the tea in the first place. How much of a tea drinker are you? Can you taste the difference between Lipton and Salada? Some folks can't even tell green tea from black. Some folks drink sweetened iced tea simply for the sugar, and it matters almost not at all what type of tea it is, whether it was brewed properly, whether it was brewed and sweetened in a vessel that only rarely gets cleaned (and since sweet tea breeds vast amounts of bacteria, this can be not only common, but pretty nasty), or whether lemon comes in a wedge or a packet. I can say from personal experience that more than half of the population who drink sweet tea, in the Southeast, where sweet tea is popular and unique, the sugar is literally all that matters. I do like tea, but I usually prefer it hot, so no need for instant there. When I do drink iced tea I don't take lemon and I sweeten with Splenda, if I feel like it. This thread is fascinating by the way, as it illuminates the differences between what I find to be "easy" to make at home, and what I find to be "difficult." @project: Hi. I'm The Food Tutor. I'm actually pretty good at explaining, in vivid and explicit detail, how to cook in certain ways, how to formulate recipes that suit your tastes, and how to execute certain techniques. I do it all the time. If you have any questions, message me. (This is not an advert for my business, but an offer of free services, if you would want them. If anyone wants to know how to make duck confit at home, I can certainly explain it in layman's terms, though I know that information is available here on eGullet.) I will admit that, while I always make my own duck confit, I rarely make mayonnaise at home. I know how, but the jar is simpler, and it has preservatives, so it lasts longer. I really hate battling my fridge in terms of expiration dates.
  19. I thought it was fairly entertaining. The canned soup thing made me laugh out loud. That peanut butter fish dish was probably the most revolting thing I've ever seen.
  20. Just want to reiterate what Katie said: This story sounds so bizarre on its face, but I must admit that I give 18% for substandard service, 20% for regular good service, and upwards of 25-30% for very good to outstanding, exemplary service, because, well, why the hell not? If one has ever worked even a little while in service in the United States, which almost everyone has these days - or aspires to have, given the economy and the job market, as of late - then one understands that this is the way American servers earn their wages. It is absolutely assumed that most folks who eat in restaurants understand that servers don't earn a wage from their employers, and therefore gain their tips, to the extent that they have a separate minimum wage, based on a tip credit that the IRS doles out to restaurant owners, exempting them from treating their servers like real employees, or even real human beings, for that matter. But no matter. The patron shouldn't be concerned in that matter at all, unless there is an auto-grat party, which involves the solubility of not only the server, but also the restaurant, itself. The restaurant absorbs cost for setting aside the table, the server absorbs cost for setting aside valuable real estate in a (likely) small section, and other patrons pay the cost of not being able to be seated at a large table, even if they are likely to order more food and more wine to go with the food. . . What I don't understand is: Out of all of the costs of the bill, why is the charge for service the most debatable? It is so rare for people to ask for an entree to be removed from a bill, even if it was served in an entirely inedible state, yet there isn't nearly as much discussion of this sort of thing as there is, in terms of service. If service is bad, throughout the entire meal, it seems totally OK on this board for people to say nothing until faced with an auto-grat, without saying a single word to a manager about how slow things were, and then deny the auto-grat. It is equally uncommon for people to even notice the auto-grat policy that is printed on every menu for ever restaurant that has such a policy. No, I don't get it, and I refuse to get it, even though I'm moving into finally a position where I'm not working in a restaurant, for the first time in over a decade. I don't understand the totally separate requirements for food service, as opposed to just about everything else - do you really get your money's worth every time you go to the dentist? Just a for instance, albeit a poignant one. . . - and yet, people on this site demand almost super-human capability, on the part of their servers, in spite of fulfilling their job descriptions, no matter where they eat. Amazing. Go Katie! May she continue on for long after I get kicked off for my uppity personality!
  21. I think this is one standard that, of the few remaining fine dining restaurants left in this economy, most restaurants should drop. It isn't even the standard in any but the upper, white tablecloth establishments, and when I've worked in those, I can tell you that it is literally hell to try to get guests to comply with this: "You can take this," says the patron, literally shoving the plate in the direction of my pressed shirt and tie. Even better are the guests who start piling their dirty dishes at the end of the table while the rest of their family and friends are still eating. Better yet: the guest who actually gets up and walks over to the server to hand him/her the plate. Well over 90% of the dining public that visit fine dining establishments don't even have the vaguest idea why a server would wait to clear an empty plate from a diner who has finished before the rest of the people at the table, so most of them just assume that it's because he/she is being lazy. Literally, it pisses them off. Unless we introduce a course in public schools instructing people how to dine in fancy restaurants, I think we need to let this custom fall away with other long-abandoned practices, like laying one's coat over a mud puddle, so that a lady may pass. It's a dinosaur. And most of my guests will ask me for my name, if I don't tell them what it is, so I don't understand where that's coming from, either.
  22. This is fair, but what about those yelpers, and other internet reviewers, who go to free, pre-opening-night parties, eat their fill of complementary food, drink free drinks, and then, instead of paying for their meal via necessary feedback on the provided comment cards, run to the internet and post, "It sucked."? That always irritates the heck out of me when I see it on the internet, because I know that this person was asked to a private party in order to help the restaurant work out the glitches before opening, but the majority of internet readers do not know this, and they take it as a legitimate review. It's tacky in the extreme. But yeah, what's a blooming onion doing on the same list as molecular gastronomy? Talk about getting one's decades mixed up.
  23. That should never be allowed, ever. But what about the other side of the coin? I have worked back and front of house, management, server, line cook, chef, etcetera, etcetera. . . I have found servers who talk down to cooks, but it's usually in the lower-end restaurants, and it's often just a casual noting to suggest that servers make more than cooks. So what? What you make doesn't (ultimately) mean that much, but whether you do the job you want to do at the price you think is fair does. If you feel that you are being unfairly paid, then you should change that situation. The other day, I was quickly setting up the front of the house a half-hour before we opened, greeting tables that wandered in well before we were supposed to be open, brewing tea and coffee, setting up soda, etc., and Moises, who I have known for years now, said, "Hoolia! (My name) Back up ramekins!" An aside: The Mexican cooks in every restaurant where I've ever worked, and especially this restaurant, where I have considerable tenure, [I]love to shout my name. It's a combination of my name having some Latin roots, plus some famous Mexican singers who share my name, plus the fact that they know I speak Spanish that leads to this situation. So, I was really busy, whereas Moi - a pet name - had been finished with his prep for hours, eaten breakfast on the clock, which he sure as hell didn't fix breakfast for me, even though the company would have paid for the ingredients if he had, and it's actually part of his job to do so - it's company spec - but he's just standing there, on the line, yelling at me to back up ramekins, and I'm in the middle of 3 first rounds of beverages going out to tables, because we've cut back to just a few servers being around at the very beginning of service. Another aside: I work in a restaurant that works so efficiently that we actually make the servers back up china to the line in the middle of a busy service so that the line cooks never, ever have to back up their own china. Usually it's efficient, but a few times, it is not. Still, they have pretty cushy jobs, for line cooks, and I know darned well, having worked that side of the line myself. So he says, "Hulia! Back up ramekins!" and then, under his breath, he says, "Servers is so lazy." I looked straight at him and said, "If you call me lazy then I will do nothing for you." He said it again, and then a manager told him to go back and get his own damned ramekins. Moi is still my friend, of course, because I'm one the best expediters he's ever worked with, but he still likes to yank my chain sometimes. As for my own pet peeves? Mainly expediting. Nobody, and I mean nobody, knows how to expedite well. If a ticket calls for a side of a sauce, then have that sauce in the window before you call for runners. Before you call for runners, have your poop in a group, please, people. Don't go screaming for runners, drag people out of the dish pit, silver polishing, first rounds, guest requests for sides of this and that, only to have people standing in line, watching you wipe a single plate and adding garnishes, lemon juice, olive oil and such while our guests are all wondering where their first round of cocktails, glasses of wine, iced teas and such have gotten to. Please. Please. Please. Incompetency doesn't discriminate. It works both sides of the line, easily, which is way more than I can say for my co-workers.
  24. Nothing but agreement with you there, buddy. Waaaay back in the day, you ordered "a coke," and what you got was, "a coke," - a single serving coke served in an 8 ounce bottle, and it was, how much? 10 cents or so? Today, much to the consternation of doctors and dentists everywhere, people drink literally gallons of coke and diet coke per day. And yes, diet sodas are also bad for your teeth. There is no such thing as a "free" lunch, or a "free" refill, by the way. On top of the fact that you are ripping your enamel away from the acidity of all sodas, potentially forming kidney stones from the oxalates in colas, tearing calcium out of your bones with the phosphates (theoretically), you are also causing literal bottom line costs to the restaurant, every time you "try to get your money's worth" out of that bottomless soda. More glass breakage, more labor, more boxes of soda syrup = higher cost. As an aside, your server is also paying for your "free refill" in shoe leather, to a certain extent, but it's sort of made up for by the fact that she's getting that much more exercise, which will help keep her bones healthy, prevent her from being overweight, and help her to avoid a number of other sedentary afflictions. Unfortunately, the "free" refill is not able to be eliminated, because it came about from a certain amount of customer demand, and the demand is so high at this point that it cannot be eliminated without considerable backlash. People literally hate it when they cannot get all of the coke they can possibly drink, or even more specifically, all of the diet coke that they can drink. I've seen people drink the entire diet coke that I just set down in front of them, only to interrupt me as I'm trying to tell them the specials for the day, in order to say, "I need another diet coke." Never, "Could I get a refill, please?" or, "Can I get another diet coke, whenever you come back around?" or, perhaps, "Jeez, I'm really thirsty. Could I get a glass of water?" Nope. It's generally just a constant bark of "bring me more diet coke." In their defense, I will note that some of these people, especially on the weekends, seem to be really hungover, and they seem to think that diet coke is the cure for rehydration, but I see it in other sorts of folks as well. I dated a very overweight gentleman at one point who didn't seem to realize that he was quite clearly on the verge of Type II Diabetes, and he would frequently get angry with servers over the fact that they couldn't keep up with the massive amount of fluids that he required, and berated them for not refilling his iced tea and water instantly. This specific instance in your complaint is a symptom of the overall state of health in the United States, so I honestly cannot tell you how we should begin to address it. Now that most fast-food establishments have self-refillable sodas, it's firmly entrenched in the culture.
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