Holly Moore

All depends on the final act. Such drama if Ramsay can bring her around after she has been edited into being the weak one.

B.O.'s Fish Wagon for a lunch or two. Easy place to get hooked on. Blue Heaven for breakfast/brunch. If you don't get there early the wait for patio seats can be fairly lengthy.

Increasing customers is only a part of the formula. The easiest way to build sales is to sell more to customers already in your restaurant. How, depends on the level of cuisine. Attractively priced full dinners or tasting menus, desert and a half for sharing for the price of a single dessert, a couple of fancy breakfast pastries to purchase for the next morning - that sort of thing. Anything to entice them to spend ten to twenty percent more than they would normally.

The server confronting the table is not appropriate, I agree. The restaurant group where I work has a policy wherein the manager on duty in the front of the house makes a table call to ask if everything was OK with their food and service whenever a tip of less than 10% is left. This policy is rather complicated and involved, since it means that the server must receive full payment, look at the tip, then get a manager to make the table call, presuming the table has not left yet. The manager then goes to the table, asks how everything was, if service and food were good. Upon receiving an answer of "Yes, everything was fine (good, great, whatever.)", then the manager says; "Good. We were just concerned, because, whenever someone tips less than 10%, we always want to make sure that service was up to our standards." At this point, the patron is able to make other comments, but of course this brings up other questions. If service was sub-par, then why didn't you mention it when asked by the manager the first time? The resulting responses are often entertaining. "Oh. . . yeah. . . she was a little slow at times." "Oh, well, sure we tipped $5 on a $110 bill, but, well, . . . we're Canadian." (An actual response. I couldn't make this stuff up.) "Times are tough. We can't afford to tip that way." We have had managers ask patrons not to return to the restaurant, based on some of these responses, but we also state clearly on the menu that we stand behind our service, and that a minimum 15% tip for good service is customary and expected. It's a reasonable policy, since almost everyone does tip according to custom, and the house charges tipshare of our servers, in addition to the IRS assuming that tips will constitute a certain percentage of sales, as has been noted. Tips as a percentage of the sale is a form of wages in this country, and I think it is reasonable to expect that people either follow the custom, or speak up to management if service doesn't merit an appropriate tip. ← Even though I'm a decent tipper, I would make a point of under-tipping here, just to have that discussion with the manager on my obligations as a customer both to supervise service and tip to the place's standards. I suspect my parting words would be, "I've been thrown out of better joints than this."

There are discussions on Hobox sometimes on this board, IslaMujeres.info in the chat groups. You can do a search or start a new thread. Not sure about Hobox, but on Isla Mujeres most restaurants don't take credit cards and the general feeling is that, security-wise, it is safer not to use a credit card. If you do use a card, both the restaurant owner and the server will be much happier if the tip is left in pesos. Also, recently and I believe this is all through Mexico - not just Isla, the banks have stopped exchanging American Currency or Travelers Checks for Pesos - one has to go to a more expensive private currency exchange. I always use an ATM card at a bank machine for Pesos.

The problem with that theory is that they are always shown in the stew room in their whites. They go in and out of Judges table in their whites. I don't think I've ever seen an interview in whites -- they've always changed to street clothes. It's most confounding when they show interviews during an event, and the cheftestants are talking in the present tense, as if they are right in the middle of it, but are wearing street clothes and have neat hair and lip gloss. ← I've been behind the scenes for a couple of reality segments (non-cooking). The "confessionals" typically happen right after there is a break in the action when the events are still fresh in the participants' minds.

I'm not sure that Jaimie's statement about "uninspiring" was during the exit interview. I suspect it was during what reality shows call a "confessional" that probably occurred just after the meal. That would be more typical. Participants are called over to an interview area away from the group and asked to give their top-of-the-mind thoughts or impressions.

I suspect Chef Blais could have phrased this less like a comparison.

She did say that, and I thought she was rude about it. Fine if you don't have the same cooking style, but it's Eric Ripert. Show some respect. I really like quick fires that show serious cooking technique and skills. I want more of them. ← Give me a break. She didn't say anything about Ripert she said that the lunch was delicious but she found it a little boring and wasn't inspired by it. It seems like she gave her honest opinion--and I'm quite certain she wouldn't be the only chef in the country to think so. I've met a lot of chefs that think having 20 cooks in the kitchen and charging hundreds of dollars for a meal is silly. Doesn't mean they are lesser chefs or wrong for thinking so, just have a difference of opinion. Seriously, how is it possible that someone suddenly loses all credibility if they don't kiss the ass of someone like Ripert? He's one of the best chefs in the country, true, but hardly worthy of god-like status some people seem to want to give him. He's a man, a chef, cooks very high level food, but it's not everyone style or cup of tea. What did she need to do, kiss his ring? PS--For the record, I am a huge fan of Ripert's, I just find it funny that she is being faulted for somehow not showing proper respect. ← She showed neither Eric Ripert nor the dish the proper respect. And yes, she should be faulted and kicked off. A professional chef, especially one of her age and position, should be inspired by and curious about excellence - be it an incredible hamburger, a classic preparation from Escoffier, or a Ferran Adrià creation. Want to bet Tom Colicchio is? Then again, from Colicchio's blog How can one respect a misguided judgment?

Still more great eating on Isla Mujeres. Qubano owner Vivian is cuban but here accent is pure New York City where she first settled after leaving Cuba. She ended up a few years ago on Isla Mujeres and despite not having cooked for twenty-five years decided to open a restaurant. She is the exception to the rule that experience is a must. First time there I had what Vivian calls a Teston. A good friend's husband couldn't eat bread and he was begging for a sandwich. "She'd kill me if I fed him bread," Vivian explained, "So I decided to see if I could use plantain instead of bread." She slices the plantains lengthwise and sautes them until they are firm. Uses them as bread and fills the sandwich with sauteed chicken and caramelized onions. Brushes the top plantain slice with Mojo sauce - sour orange, garlic and onion in oil. A creative and delicious sandwich that can be eaten as a sandwich. I came back for Qubano's Cuban Sandwich. Vivian roasts the her own pork and saves the juices and the fat. When a sandwich is ordered she adds a bit to a pan and sautees the pork in its juices. This goes into the Cuban Sandwich along with the other traditional fixings. Where Cuban Sandwiches can sometimes be dry, Vivian's is juicy - a great improvement. Had dinner at Olivia, a Mediterranean restaurant opened by an Israeli couple. Busiest restaurant on Isla - only place where reservations are a must. Started with labane, yogurt strained into a cheese, served with green olives with lemon and pita bread. For my entree, Chicken with Olives. The chicken is braised in red wine and tomatoes and served over couscous. They serve two thigh/drumstick quarters - no dryer, white meat. Dessert - Baklava - perfect. The Bistro Francais serves breakfast in the morning, closes for lunch and reopens with French cuisine for dinner. Their french toast is really good. Nothing fancy or frilly. Just french toast. Perfectly cooked. Another time had what they call the "Breakfast Surprise" - one slab of french toast and two fresh fruit filled crepes topped with maple cream sauce. Plenty of Mexican home cooking too including fish tacos and enchiladas Suize from Rene and Renee

Every year - the same story line, the same plot. Just a different, desperate, disaster-prone supporting cast. Yet I still watch. My favorite line went something, "The greatest chef in the world liked my food."

Take a day trip to Isla Mujeres - 30 minutes by ferry - and walk about 10 minutes to La Lomita. Most consistently great Mexican home cooking I've happened upon. Famous for their chile rellenos and bean soup.

I was with you til your last couple of phrases. Hopefully, when you return, you will give Cafe du Monde a try - it is very much a New Orleans institution that is a mistake to miss. Go late at night if you want to avoid the tourists. But even at 10 AM on a Saturday morning it's a lot of fun, the beignets are warm and piled high with powdered sugar, and the coffee is strong. Tis a pity that a place has been around for almost 150 years and does a great job with its products, is avoided because some tourists consider it touristry.

You say "change," I say "cave" Two other New York institutions did not change. Peter Luger's, which flourishes, and Luchow's, which perished. I still think back to when now-retired Fritz Blank of Philadelphia's Deux Cheminees served a classic chicken kiev at a Russian Banquet he created one year for Book and Cook. It was perfect and reminded me why classics are classics. There should always be room for the classic cuisines served in the classic manner.

A big city like Charlotte can't support a local institution??? Coffee Cup Has Served Its Last Soul

You need more than just "top-split" in Philadelphia. Most of the top-split ones I have come across are regular hot dog buns split down the top rather than the sides. New England style buns are totally different. They need to have toastable sides.

I'll be on Isla for another two plus weeks. Here are some highlights to date. A new restaurant The Mango Cafe has opened on the Caribbean Road. It would be a great restaurant anywhere and fits right in on Isla Mujeres. The cuisine is Mexican-Jamaican-Caribbean-Anywhere Else fusion and Lori, who owns it with her husband, has a great touch for bringing a dish together. Breakfast my first day was oven baked french toast. "Oven Baked Conch Pastries soaked in eggnog liquer. Sprinkled with caramelized almonds and served with Orange Rosemary Syrup. Almost like a super rich bread pudding. Went back for lunch a couple of days later - had a BLGT - Bacon, lettuce and tomato with avocado and green apple guacamole, on whole grain bread with homemade mayonnaise to which Lori adds honey and rice wine. Green apple is a perfect addition to a BLT. Lori also makes fresh Tamarind juice and brews her own Jamaican Ginger Ale. Sunday morning on the Yucatan Peninsula means Cochinita Pibil - pork marinated in citrus juice, colored with annato seed and slow roasted. There are roadside stands all over Isla that sell it till it runs out - usually by noon or earlier. I went to the public market in Colonia La Gloria - one stop for everything - cochinita pibil from the butcher, tortilla from the tortilla bakery and fresh orange juice from a produce stand. More to come.

Guess who kept whining until Jack put them on the menu in the first place.

What Fat Guy said. Come hungry, wear old cloths, bring some band aids, and tip the oyster roaster well. He's your best friend for the next couple of hours. The oysters are marsh oysters - 5 or six to a clump. The oyster guy, who gathered the oysters that afternoon, empties a burlap bag full on the grill, lets them cook a bit, scoops the oysters up with a shovel, and dumps a shovel-full on the center of your table. The shovel fulls keep coming. You will run out of capacity well before they do oysters. Oyster knives, garbage cans, sauce makings are provided. The beer is cold. Eating doesn't get any better. Bowen's Island While you're on the road to Folley Beach, also hunt down Backman's Seafood. It is directly across an inlet from Bowen's but takes some hunting down.

MaRch Yes

About a half a year ago Apple was negotiating for another space, about a block away, for a Mac Store. Sounds like they now have a location.

Confirms my long-held belief that whiz atop a steak sandwich is indeed ordained.

A little club soda, a wedge of lime ... Actually I dump it down the sewer opening on the corner if liquid. Into the garbage if solid.

Knife class I took at college had me chopping. Still do.

After all those edgy to nasty quotes in the NY Times article I was anticipating an ogre of a reviewer. I hunted down the English translation of his blog Simon Says. The first few blog bits (if a newspaper has articles and eGullet has threads - what does a blog present? Posts?) were rather admiring. Seems a likable chap for a restaurant critic. Edited to add: I just realized that not all of the blog blurbs are by Francois Simon - many are by members of "Simons Gang."