herbacidal

Happy birthday. Maple syrup has grades/classifications? Or is that a funny?

I didn't have to specify spiciness. However, I am Chinese, and did speak to waitress in Chinese. Based on what I see here, I find it interesting that she assumed my non-Chinese dining companion could take it.

Well, maybe it can be a really cool mall. I've enjoyed Ocean One in Hong Kong for instance, although I don't know whether I'd enjoy it if I was around more regularly. I wonder if there's cool malls elsewhere? Course, I'm just a downtown boy, too.

So is it a diner diner, or a retro/modern/cool/stylish/nuevo diner?

Where in Philly are you bartending? A few of us live in the area and would consider stopping by and having a drink.

Well, it was actually the "Axis of Eating." Sort of the opposite; that is, the food isn't evil... Andrew, was it really? My mistake. Owen, it was done offline, during a dinner we were at, so no way you would have known. Andrew thought up the idea of going to a culinary tour of restaurants: Iraqi, Iranian, and North Korean.

The 4 Torakris mentioned initially are the only ones I've had. Okonomiyaki are okay, but nothing I'd rush back for. Takoyaki, I'd rush back for, twice even. Yakitori, I'd rush back for at least twice. Per item. I think I've had a few different meat and a few different innards. Yakisoba is okay but I probably like it less than okonomiyaki. Reminds me too much of greasy Chinese lo mein, which I suppose it basically is.

Speaking of re-tooling... What a shame that space is still empty. Someone needs to open a restaurant there. Anyone? It is in operation now, and has been for a year. So it's in biz as Fish on Main?

Thanks for the correction. I was unsure about that one, too. I should have put that question mark next to it as well. The Vega space itself was still open when I last walked past somewhere around 6 months ago. There did seem to be some activity, possibly just people clearing stuff out. So Fish on Main is still there? I remember it opening as River City Diner, or something like that.

I'm waiting for Andrew Fenton to notice this thread and make his comments about the Culinary Axis of Evil he thought up.

I'd speculate that Derek Davis doesn't have the organization behind him to keep another place going well. Nor do I think he is able to attract the people for one. Maybe he realizes where his limit is. Sonoma, Carmella's. Fish on Main (?) I think that's all he has right now, right? No more Vega Grill, Arroyo Grille, Kansas City Prime. That's just me. I can't say that others have an anti-Manayunk bias, but I sort of do.

Go to Bobolink and spend a day there helping the Japanese girls out.

Nope sorry Cusina BUT there is NO WAY in hell I'm following this blog. Even I'm smart enough to realize that even I couldn't follow this Regards Tom I believe it is gsquared's solemn duty to Egullet to rightfully tag Stinger. And I believe herbicidal has been smoking something Not in a while, Stinger, but thanks for bringing back memories. I was badgered into doing mine after Ling by her and Ronnie Suburban.

Nope sorry Cusina BUT there is NO WAY in hell I'm following this blog. Even I'm smart enough to realize that even I couldn't follow this Regards Tom I believe it is gsquared's solemn duty to Egullet to rightfully tag Stinger.

No I wasn't really around in the early 1990s. But when I was there, during the weeknights, the bar was pretty crowded some nights. And yes, I vaguely recall the terrace also being fairly crowded some of those times. Don't get me wrong, you can rake it in on drinks alone. But the math has to work. Large enough space for you to cram enough people through, especially if your revenue is concentrated in such a small time window.

I'm here. And I can eat! Well, didja? And knowing the answer, what didja?

I would say that a substantial portion of any business' success is predicated on luck. The best that can be done is to work hard and work smart and put the business in position to be able to take advantage of luck when it comes. I would say that in many situations, something that would be called luck if a business is able to capitalize is just passed by if a business is not in such a position. No different for a restaurant than any other business or even a sports team. Or a person and his/her career and life, for that matter. Put another way, you do the best you can with what you can control. On top of that, you maneuver as best you can to adapt to whatever outside your control affects you.

I don't know that I lament the loss of the Palladium as much as others here. I did work there as a waiter in 1995. My own descriptions below are based on that, plus one trip I've made back to have a drink since. True, it's the only bar with fireplace that I've ever been in, and I've always enjoyed it there. The orange shade of the dining room walls have caused that shade to be my preferred wall color should I ever open a lounge-y bar. But they've never really made money. The only reason they weren't closed down earlier was because the owners didn't care as much about making a profit as other places. That is both admirable and a shame, I admit. I believe they made a miniscule profit or broke even all the time. Their weekday lunch business is how they made most of their money, plus catering downstairs in the Gold Standard. Their weekday dinner doesn't deserve to be called a rush. (No weekend lunch.) Their weekend dinner business was even worse. And that's talking about when school was in session. Their summer lunch business was moderate at best. Their summer dinner business was ridiculously dead. I remember walking away from one dinner shift with $8-10 in tips for the night. They did make lots of money on May Day, and some from occasional drinkers at night in the bar. And yes, a restaurant would be better from the perspective that the general public can visit more often. But being a restaurant all these years hasn't inspired the general public and students to visit nearly often enough. Assuming they don't change the historical details too much in the renovations (a big assumption, I know), there's no reason true fans can't pop in every so often to check the place out and marvel at this and that. On to Le Bus. From more than one person, I've heard about how disgustingly filthy and vermin-infested Le Bus was. Of course, now that I think about it, I can't recall if those people were in the restaurant business and know how common vermin can be in the business. Of course, I do remember eating there once and watching a mouse scurry across the floor. I've tried only tried Sitar, Tandoor, and New Delhi (are there any West Philly Indian buffets I've missed?), and always preferred New Delhi. It was consistently acceptable when I went, and I can't recall what I didn't like about Tandoor that time I ate there. Beijing has what I would call acceptable Chinese food. Not bad, but far better and cheaper stuff in Chinatown. Gia Pronto. So that's in that strip of places between Beijing and the Wawa?

Is that one the Easyeverything huge Internet cafe? There's more internet cafes in Manhattan than I'm used to seeing in most cities. Still not nearly as much as abroad, of course. To me it seems like most of Manhattan is Wi-fi-ed. I plan to bring a laptop for future NYC trips.

Oh I agree that they are likely to read up on the competition and associate with each other, etc. I'm just wondering if one last kick/suggestion from the readership would have an effect on the newly installed editor. But knowing about what is going on elsewhere and implementing innovative ideas as part of what you are providing the marketplace are two different things. New ideas are a dime a dozen. Properly executing on an idea to achieve the level of success necessary for the risk return ratio to work is what is hard.

I have to admit, I've never heard the term banana. I'm also interested in the conclusion of "tee doi", as I can't figure it out. Too bad there isn't a picture.

When I was working in Hong Kong, I often went to lunch with a Canadian Chinese who could speak Cantonese quite well but could not read Chinese, even a menu, and a Shanghainese who could speak no Cantonese. The Shanghainese guy would translate the menu to English, we'd decide what we wanted, and the Canadian would order in Cantonese. That sounds like my future. Everything old is new again.

As I recall, wasn't it referred to as The Spotted Pig in the Casa Mono thread? I prefer The Ignorant Swine myself.

I miss the days when someone had to be beaten into submission before acquiescing and agreeing to do the next blog. They seem like just yesterday.

Jackal, I agree with your reasoning on the downside. It is very helpful. I'd like to think I'd be aware enough to throw in the towel rather than going back for the second round, but I can't say that until the time comes. For most entrepreneurs, I can definitely see that happening, because many people do fall in love with their idea. Now that I've re-read your post, I have heard that scenario before, but had forgotten about it. Very informative regardless, and a good cautionary possibility. As far as the investor who would put in $$ without stock or guarantees, I also entirely agree. That said, I think it is always unwise for the operator to not be putting in money of his own in this day and age, precisely for the scenarios described. Given the current overall business and finance environment, my own ideal financing scenario for a business's startup capital would be: The business should be projected to make a profit in the second year. Total startup costs (and therefore total amount of financing targeted) would include operating costs for year one. Total startup costs should be no more than 40% debt. Ideally, it would be 30%, half a line of credit and half via a vehicle similar to a bond. At least half of the equity would be provided by the operator. Ideally, there would be 2 equally talented individuals as partners+operators overseeing different parts of the business, each with influence but not control over the other part. A variant of this would be 1 partner acting as operator, and 1 as nothing more than partner. In this situation a sweat equity to dollar equity ratio would have to be negotiated, such that the non-operator did not gain an outsized degree of control over the business. The opposite situation is not nearly as likely, although possible. This sweat equity to dollar equity ratio would also be necessary if the partners are providing different amounts of startup capital. Obviously, the situation increases in complexity with the addition of other partners. Off-topic Lament: Remember the days when Warren Buffet started his first limited partnership on his own? Seven limited partners contributed a total of $105,000. General partner Buffet contributed $100. Limited partners receive 6% annually on invested capital and 75% of profits above this point. Buffet receives other 25% above that point. I suppose some VC/hedge funds have similar operating structures, but I can't imagine a first-time operator getting such great terms nowadays. Apologies, I used me and I a little too much. This is meant to be from either Ya Roo's viewpoint or a generalized point of view.