auntdot

I believe Fynniki essentially has it nailed. And we mostly deal with the problems as Fynniki does. However there are times when the restaurant really screws up. I am talking about pricey places here, sites where you expect good service. When things go awry, and the meal is not on the table, I just pay for what we have eaten and imbibed, and walk away. We don't stiff the waiter. But I do not want to deal with the manager. The night has been ruined; do not want a comp or anything like that. Just will never be to your place again.

If Mr. and Mrs auntdot know that there are pooled tips, we tip in cash directly to the server. Then it is up to the server to add some or all of it to the communal tip pool.

Enrevanche, Thank you for teaching me a new word, ephebophile. I guess my reading list must be limited, I had never encountered that word before. I stand corrected. Yep, OK, so the guy was only an ephebophile and not a pedophile. If people want to say he was a superb showman, I will agree. And he introduced a number of folk to cooking. Good for him. But anyone who seduces boys, and I include anyone under eighteen years of age in that category, I am glad to see is no longer available. And, by the way, how did you find the word ephebophile?

Spent a number of hours going over the evidence, the guy was a pedophile. He was also a showman and a cook, and knew how to use those qualities. And I used to enjoy his show. I am grateful he was never able to abuse my son, and I will assume the sons of those who wax so elegantly about him. Any child who is sexually molested carries baggage he can never erase. This guy who abused little boys is dead. Good. He will never abuse another child again.

I remember a quote from Winston Churchill: "We have already determined what you are, now we are negotiating your price." If you are a thief, and your price is a handful of grapes or a piece of candy, accept your pitiable lot. I prefer to respect myself and my fellow man more than that.

Escoffier for sauces. I am sure he would call me a ten times fool ten times a day, but the lessons would be worth it.

Carpaccio that is served cooked. Have had this twice, in very nice restaurants thank you, with no warning on the menu or by the waiter that this was not raw beef. It was nice roast beef with some red in the middle, but it was not carpaccio. It is like serving fried sashimi, or sushi fried in batter.

Prefer lobster baked and stuffed, or steamed. Do them in before I do the cooking. I just stab them on the top of the rostrum, between the eyes with a chef's knife; there is a little cross in the shell there. They stop moving immediately. Yes, the lobster has little substance that we would call a brain. But clearly they respond to stimuli, and flop about a lot if they are being steamed. Find it more pleasant if I do them in first. If I boil them, which I rarely do, will just dunk them in the bubbling drink. Use a pot large enough so the lobsters will not reduce the temperature significantly, thereby not killing them quickly. And we always prefer two pounders. Anything less just isn't worth the trouble.

There was (is?) a kosher chinese restaurant in brooklyn called the Shang Chai.

Once, as a kid, found a cockroach in a bottle of cola (either Coke or Pepsi, can't remember which one). Actually I found it in my mouth after a healthy swig of the swill. Yech. I did not ask for recompense. For even at that tender age, I knew that there was no way I could prove the roach was in the bottle when I opened it. People will try all kinds of dodges to make a few bucks. The companies know that. They also know glass, roaches, and all kinds of nasty things wind up in their products. But it is almost impossible to prove. So they send you a few coupons knowing that most of the offended people probably did suck on that roach. And they will try to ameliorate your anger without accepting guilt. The lawyers have told them what to do, and the big companies pay kazillions for those guys. Take your coupons, use them, or not. I assure you those guys are on secure legal ground.

I feel rather awkward when people ask me about sushi, because I rarely eat it. When we do get to a Japanese restaurant, go straight for the sashimi (please omit the octopus, to me it is just chewy and has very little flavor). And so rarely eat the sushi. Love carpaccio, steak tartare, raw kibbeh, but will eat it only in a restaurant I trust. Just don't feel comfortable eating the meat I get at the "A&P" raw. As for chicken or turkey sashimi, would give it a try but, like a number of previous posters, am a bit skeptical. Perhaps it is just that I have cut up enough of the raw birds that puts me off, but somehow I question the texture. But what the heck, give me a couple of martinis and I will taste almost anything.

Totally agree with foodie 52. Used to work in grocery stores many years ago, weekends, after school, summer 'vacations'. Was paid minimum wage, except for overtime when I got less, but off the books. Supermarkets were in those days wild places, where everyone was stealing from everyone else. But that could be another topic. The mark up at supermarkets is ridiculously small. Part of the reason is the workers are so poorly paid. And those folk work hard for their wages, believe me. It would be nice if they could tell you the names of the twelve different hot peppers they sell, or know what a tomatillo is and how to cook it, or tell the difference between iceberg lettuce and Boston. But at $7.50 an hour, these people are bringing home a base pay of $15,000 per year. Not a munificent sum. If you want expert opinions, be prepared to pay for them. Go to small grocers that charge much more than Safeway. But if you look at the ads every week and decide where you want to purchase your food based on them, you get what you get. Frankly, I find most supermarket employees friendly, helpful, and reasonably knowledgeable about their goods. Sorry, just a pet peeve and needed to vent.

Agree, the red juices are just hemolyzed red blood cells, perhaps a bit of myoglobin, fluids that exude from the meat, and any added fluids (marinades for example). To me, rare means with a little care, it could recover. Cooked on the outside and essentially raw, but at least room temperature, on the inside. But then again, I also love carpaccio, steak tartare, and in Middle Eastern restaurants, raw kibbe (lamb). Not too long ago we went to a moderately-to-expensively priced restaurant owned by a well known actor, highly touted. We both ordered the carpaccio and pork tenderloin (nothing else on the menu looked interesting at all). The carpaccio was deli roast beef with oil and sliced parm and the tenderloin needed a saw to get through. Even my mom, many years ago, when everyone was worried that any pink in pork would result in an immediate agonizing death, would never have cooked the pork that overdone. The less cooked the meat, in general, the better the taste. Just wish someone would teach chefs what the word rare means.

Boy, am I glad many of you posters don't rule the world. I like a lot of that stuff. And yes, I love to cook and go to fine restaurants. Ban surimi? I have to eat lunch at the same cafeteria five days a week. The place is essentially on a two week menu cycle, and a lot of the offerings are not very good. To stay sane, or as sane as I can be, I have to improvise with what is available. Surimi, with mayo, tomatoes and onion slices in pita bread is not bad. It is amazing how creative one can become with only cafeteria food, horseradish, hot sauce, mayo, ketchup and a few other condiments, and a microwave. But that, I guess, could be another thread. Spam, particularly the low fat stuff, is pretty good. Make kimchee and Spam, as the Korean's do, and you have some OK eating. As for Vienna Sausages, don't like the stuff in the little cans very much. But so called Vienna beef is the main ingredient in a Chicago hot dog. And anyone who has not tasted one should plan a trip to the city, if for nothing else, the dogs. And as for American cheese, take one of those sandwich making things, butter two pieces of bread, put them on the sandwich maker, put some American cheese on the inside, and put it over a gas stove for a few minutes. You have a pouch of nice gooey cheese in a pocket of toasted bread. Great for a Sunday night in January, when you just want some comfy food. Could go on, but this is getting a bit long.

Am with most posters in that I essentially never send food back, particularly in inexpensive restaurants (and my definition of inexpensive is fairly broad). If I ordered the steamed clams and they sent out a steak, yeah, I'd point out the error. Except in a fine steak place (a restaurant that basically has sixteen different extents to which they will cook the beef, warm on the outside, cold on the inside, that sort of thing.). Those guys take their handling of a steak seriously, and would send one back that was significantly overdone. Fortunately, have never had that happen. But in places that do not consider cooking a steak a work of art, have to play the game. If I order it medium rare, and explain that to me means warm on the outside and warm, but pink to red inside, will I get it that way? The answer, in my experience, is usually not. It is usually well overdone. So therefore I often order it rare, hoping for medium rare to arrive. But if they have not cremated it, will probably eat it anyway. And not return to the restaurant. On very rare occasion have gone to very fine restaurants and received clearly substandard food. Each time I complained have been told there has been a problem with the kitchen (they are in the process of getting a new chef, that sort of thing) and have had the matter remedied. Most of the time though, am out for a good time, order another drink, eat what I can, pay the tab, and just go home.

It is fine, you cooked the chokes last night and they sat in the fridge. But hey, you ain't gonna wanna eat that stuff. One time, carved a turkey (no, thank goodness it was not Thanksgiving) and found it riddled with black spots. They were probably just dried blood spots. Why they were there, I had no idea. Safe to eat, I thought so. But did we want to eat it? Heck no, we went to Plan B, spaghetti and meatballs. Use the bottoms if you want; write the rest off to experience.

Actually, KatieLoeb, shrimp eat plankton, microscopic members of the plant and animal kingdoms. If they had to depend upon fish poop to survive, there would be no shrimp. Fish are far higher than shrimp on the food chain to make their, well, expulsions, an adequate energy source to sustain the population of shrimp. But, yes, the vein is the intestine. And, for esthetic reasons, will devein larger shrimp, as I will lobsters. Also pull the tomalley out of lobsters before I stuff and bake them, people I make them for seem to like them better that way. But will eagerly chomp down on clams and oysters in any form, particularly raw, and don't mind what is in their gastrointestinal tract. In fact, in New England, the soft shell clams are prized for their yummy green bellies. That stuff is also the remains of plankton, and is the material shrimp have in their 'veins'. Understand why some would not wish to partake of the it. But as for me, give me a mess of unpeeled, large shrimp, and I will take care of them with no qualm. And will eat a good portion of the shells to boot.

Pickled watermelon rinds wrapped in bacon, nothing better. Have found the rinds up and down the East coast from MA to FL, brand: Old South(there may be others, I just don't know about them). They are sold in jars in the pickle section. And they are very sweet, being in a syrupy mixture. (If they are sold elsewhere in the country, I do not know. You can make the pickled rinds yourself, but it is work.) Buy a meaty bacon, take a rasher, cut it into thirds or halves, and wrap it about a piece of the rind and secure with a toothpick (put the toothpick through the meaty part of the bacon). No need to pre-cook the bacon here. Cut the rinds into appropriate size pieces, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch (the sizes of the pieces in the jars vary, from fairly small to over an inch), and you gotta adjust the size of the bacon strip to the size of the rind as you go along. This is not an exact science. Put the pieces in the oven, 350 degrees or so, and take them out when the bacon is a bit crispy. Serve warm. The only way I get to eat any is to grab a couple before they go out of the kitchen.

Tea and toast. Whenever one of us would get sick, Mom would ply us with tea and dry toast. The tea was of the Tetley variety. If I am in someone's home and tea is put before me, I will take a few sips, thank them, and tell myself that this too, shall pass. But as for people's distaste for liver, I can only pity them. They have never, ever, tasted the true McCoy. A number of years ago went to a fine restaurant where they included. rarely, liver on the menu. That night, they had only one portion left. I talked my sister in law, who avowed a distinct distaste for the stuff, into ordering it. Told her I would trade my veal chop if she did not like it. This was very young calves liver, it came out white, with a sauce one could die for. Could not pry the dish from my sister in law with a crow bar. I'll eat liver from almost any beast, and like it rare. Can rarely find the very young calve's liver, though. But when we can, it is a treat.

A sign that used to be displayed, at least in some army messes: Take all you want, but eat all you take. That is what a buffet should be about. Hardly ever go to a buffet restaurant, even if the meal is included in a hotel package. Can't eat all that much (often have to apologize to the waiters if I am out of town and cannot take the stuff home with me), and the last thing I want is to eat at a restaurant that is catering to those who want quantity in lieu of quality. For me, most buffets are places where I can eat a little bit of food that I probably do not like all that much. The young men at that buffet were probably just young guys who were feeling self important and believed themselves the centers of the universe. I agree with the manager in politely addressing the situation.

As for religion and politics, as long as you are with folk who understand that reasonable people can have diametrically opposite opinions from their own, you are safe. However, I never bring up either of those topics. If others do, wait to see how things are developing before opening my trap. If the temperature seems to be getting too high, try to change the subject. And order another martini and ask the waiter to keep them coming.

Poor food, at someone's home I just and act appreciatively. Heck, it is just a meal and they went to the trouble of preparing it. God bless them. In restaurants I usually just pay the bill and forget about it. But when someone served us 'cooked carpaccio', that was going too far. It was listed as carpaccio, no pertinent qualifiers attached, on the menu and the waiter did not indicate it had been cooked. Deli roast beef with vinagrette and some capers at a pricey restaurant is to me, totally unacceptable. Paid for the drinks, told them, politely, what they could do with the rest of the meal, and left. Yeesh. If that is being picky, so be it.

When I was a kid I was taught that you signalled the waiter when you were finished with your meal by overlapping (crossing) the knife and fork. At that point he/she was free to sweep the plate away. Usually do it (old habits are hard to give up) but heck if I know why. I guess it was a ancient tradition that has gone the way of the Great Auk or Dodo bird. I don't eat very much and when I am away, and cannot take the doggie bag, will tell the waiter that I thought the food was excellent, but the portion was too big for me. Unless it was not. If I don't like the food in a restaurant will generally just leave it on the plate and ask for the bill. If the waiter asks whether everything was OK, I will just ignore the question. Just do not want to be bothered. At that point, one would think, I should be allowed to retreat in peace. But sometimes, no. The staff will sometimes decide to pursue the matter, I consider that exceptionally rude. But have had that happen. Folks, if someone merely wants to flee from your establishement without comment, LET THEM.

Popcorn grannies, the ones that have opened only a bit. Yummmm.

Whippy, I was not thinking about being Donner party hungry. Most of us, I believe, were including foods we would not eat if pb&j sandwiches were the alternative (and if there is someone out there who won't eat pb&j sandwiches, you should be shunned and I don't want to hear about it). One item I would have trouble choosing from the menu, however, is pollack guts. We purchased a jar several years ago, from an Asian market, for a very good friend. It looked like, and was, fermented fish insides (pollack, for those who may not be aware, is a northern Atlantic food fish related to the cod). It was a gag gift (you can interpret gag in at least two ways here) and was a big hit. No, he did not offer to share, and I am sure the stuff did not make it past the first garbage can he saw. Would chomp down a whole lot of Uruguayan soccer team tartare before I would take a bit of a taste of fermented pollack guts. Just a personal preference.