herbacidal

not totally sure. i'm on the fence about vietnamese here now. on the one hand, it's better than NYC, from what i hear. OTOH, if sara's right, still eons away from VA and MD area. having never had vietnamese in either area, have to give that benefit of doubt. i do think it's high time it expanded outside south philly and chinatown. i do think beijing is overpriced, but since it's the only thing decent sitdown chinese restaurant in west philly, and a noodle house to boot, it gets a good crowd. beijing does have a better location as far as being useful to campus than 43rd and spruce. how does all of this work together and affect food quality at a new vietnamese restaurant at 43rd and spruce? not sure. but like i said, gut tells me it'll be decent, at best. but i'm hoping for better.

there's ethnic pride shining thru. ok, i got it too. that sounds damm good. i must be in the wrong neighborhood. always said i have to move soon.

i just like that you beat it out of him.

see, i could see a gay individual going to smith and wollensky. the prime rib, OTOH.... see bigjas, what you gotta do is offer more contrast. prime rib has always seemed like the stuffiest of the steakhouses. maybe that's just me.

nice to see you malik! haven't seen you since helmand's. you should post more!

okay, so the Ferry Plaza Building is a third location? i recall walking by the original Valencia location in February. also, in the fall of 2004, is the original Valencia location going to be Slanted Door, or another venture? this muddies the issue for me. BTW, I'm an out of towner, have only been to SF in February for a few days.

oh wait, judy's has a decent gay crowd.

Right across from My Thai (FWIW, the best Thai in the city, although that isn't necessarily that much), L2 is a decent enough place, I've always thought. Standard neighborhood bar+restaurant, w/o especially large clientele from any particular demographic. There may be a decent amount of gays I suppose. Possible that a lot of GLBT have moved into the graduate hospital area. Assuming Sara's right that there are a lot of queer folk there, then it's the first gay type place i've heard of outside of wash west.

i would. i'd angle for a seat at the bar where i could watch the dining room and have a few drinks. chaos is fun, and educational. don't know the layout though, so not sure if this is possible.

i hope so too. gut feeling doesn't make me optimistic, but we'll see.

no, there's just the mealticket.org website, the corporate parent, i believe. there's always citysearch for other info.

This translates to: Peking Roast Duck When my wife and I still lived in Beijing I asked her why do they have two names Beijing and peking? She said she never heard of peking before. That would lead me to beileve that is just another western misinterpretation. basically that's probably right. also, individuals you were talking to might not have been around when peking was more widely used among westerners. or they weren't fluent enough in english at the time. the growth in use of english in china is really only within the past 20 years, and the use of peking predates that. the fact that a very popular dish emerged with peking in the name is just random chance. can we end this? i'm chinese, and i actually never thought there was any major brouhaha over this until this thread popped up.

lemme add to the chorus: you should speak up. speak with the bride/groom/wedding person you know the best. actually, scratch the bride part. speak with the brother/sister of the bride/groom. hopefully they have one.

sounds pretty sweet. especially if there's all kinds of skinned dead animals hanging that you can't recognize.

it's a decent place. i'd go, but as far as going there for optimal value, depends on the restaurant week menu. i think you can get gift certificates there on ebay that would be a better bang for buck though. therefore, i'd be looking for a place that: 1) didn't have certificates i could pick up for relatively little 2) their RW menu is a decent foundation for a meal, to be supplemented by something else a la carte (assuming you're a glutton like me ).

Which restaurant is Terence going to be in at the ritz carlton and what's Shazad's background? is terence going to be overseeing all hotel food operations or a particular restaurant?

does anyone know what they're going to do with the space slanted door is in now when after they move back in january? i've heard the slanted door owners want to do something else at that temporary space. is that true?

read a book. *the* book. this book. or you could be like me, and only go wineshopping with a wine geek in tow. final option: call wine geek friend from wine store. hey katie, it's herb. i'm standing here in the wine aisle at the store, need some advice on what to buy. wait it's a special kinda wine they got here. lemme read it for you: cheeeee lay. am i saying that right? maybe it's chilly. yea, chilly, like chilly willy. you mean you need more info than that? white or red? can't i choose another color? they got any green wines? wait, i like this bottle. it's blue. blue is cool. i'm a buy me one of these.

BOH is back of the house, ie kitchen staff FOH is front of the house: servers, host staff, bartenders, etc. the dining areas are the floor, FOH can also be floor staff

yea, keep at it, ali. hadn't heard that rumor, but glad that you're squashing it. try and pass it to mike klein too.

beer not allowed until 6am? jeez, what is this world coming to.

i've heard a lot more recently about people doing all kinds of stuff while driving. that's a new one though.

suzanne f's post asking for top rising star chefs in dc got me wondering about philly? do we have any rising star chefs in the greater phila area? define your criteria as well as naming your chefs.

yea, that's their normal M.O. originally, they were just coffee shop that converted to bar, as i recall. or at least xando was. they they merged with cosi, and the the cafe part was added, with all the on premise stuff.

very true. hmm, guess i can't remember any of these things myself. gotta be reminded by everyone.