Nathan

that was a High Quality Post

oh, that's interesting....I could see the Bar Room getting 2 on its own. P.S. the guy who was responsible for the better cocktails at the Bar Room (the "MOdern Martini" and the "Coming Up Roses") has left....

they had a heavy young B&T crowd on Friday night...the word was out. but I asked for one of the owners by name and we were able to replace a couple that had just left their seats at the bar. but, yeah, it's going to be a bit annoying on the weekend for a while....though as the evening progressed it thinned out. in terms of drink quality, they compete on the same playing field as Pegu and Flatiron..at least when they're not rushed. Adamru, what time were you there on Thursday? there were about a dozen egulleteers there that night.

""And I think that being told "I'm sorry, that table is reserved and we have no others available" is a perfectly good reason to give me. But to tell me "I can't seat you there because that server has a few tables, and this server's turn is up next" isn't something a professinal restaurant would ever tell me - they'd deal with it transparently and please the customer." The wouldn't say that, they'd say that it was reserved. "If I'm seated somewhere that's not comfortable to me, and the restaurant can't, or won't accommodate my request, or if I'm told that the hostess has to pass judgement on whether my request is "valid" or "frivolous" by her standards, I'll just get up and leave. I do that lots. If I'm not enjoying the restaurant's attitude before the meal even starts, it's a pretty good sign to me that I should go elsewhere, and I do that. I've also been in restaurants where the first course has gone so badly that I've asked for the check after it, and cut my losses and gone elsewhere." "Lots"? Why is it that I virtually never have bad service? "If you're/we're talking about Chili's, then sure, they've got to give out the tables in a specific rotation. But that's not the kind of restaurant I was talking about." I'm unfamiliar with "Chili's" but I can assure you that even the highest end restaurant (a Per Se or Ducasse) has its seating chart planned out in advance of the evening.

"Tip for lousy food-not on your life!" That's the attitude of a rube. The waiter is not responsible for the food. You tip predicated on service. That is the only factor. And remember that if your food takes forever to come out that's probably the fault of the kitchen, not the waiter (although part of really good service is alerting me to the fact that there is a delay).

"Quite a few people thought that markk wasn't the one with a sense of entitlement." Funny how none of them were from New York. That's why the thread was moved back to NY. Too much ignorance both of the city and of top-level fine dining. "Can you give some evidence of that?" I don't need to. It's a given to anyone who lives here.

"Well, it's their problem then. When my customers ask for something, no matter how much it's going to inconvenience me, and no matter how much it's going to disrupt the planned workflow that I've mapped out for the day or the week, I automatically answer, "your wish is my command" - I really do." Bullshit. Not when it inconveniences one of your best customers even more. You know, considering your attitude towards Bryanz wanting a simple glass of wine at a good restaurant, I find your sense of entitlement astounding. But, you're right, if I'm eating at Old Country Buffet too and want to switch tables they should be able to accomodate that. In real life, at a good NY restaurant, there are no true empty tables. they're all spoken for, even if they appear empty. its all choreographed. if there's a specific reason why you need to be switched...say it, the restaurant will do what it can. but unfortunately, most B&T weekend customers in NY (and non B&T for that matter) who ask for their table to be switched are doing it solely as a power play. And, every time a table is switched, it does inconvenience other diners (in the type of restaurant that I'm talking about)....

Ted Breaux's responsible for it...apparently it's been in the works for several years. I just ordered a bottle. now if only I could find Creme de Violette online....(Sally Clarke's doesn't sell it online and a Scotch site that I was directed to doesn't apparently anymore either)

" Neither is anybody inconvenienced if they move me to another table. The next people that they go back to seat will get the table I didn't want, and nothing about the dinner service will be affected." That's the problem. maybe they eat there twice a week and have a preferred table. maybe you're trying to move from a two-top to a four-top. maybe it's a couple having a special night. maybe the waiter for that table is already overwhelmed and that table is being planned for seating a half hour from now. (restaurants stagger seatings...almost no kitchen can handle every table sitting at the same time)

Octaveman: I think we're talking about different kinds of restaurants. And I would indeed return a steak that was truly overcooked (I have never seen an undercooked steak)....if its marginal I might just mention it, but still eat it since I'm hardly going to wait. I was talking about full restaurants with reservations...where indeed, any table changes have cascading effects.

"That's very interesting. I ruin your dining experiences not because I ask to have a different table and explain to the hostess that I have a bad knee, but because I ask to have a different table by asking "could we please sit at that table instead?" and don't feel it necessary to tell her my medical condition. If by asking like that, I "screw up the service for other customers" like you, I think that makes you the biggest whiner of them all, no?" Every special request in a busy restaurant almost inevitably decreases the service level for other diners. Except for the top end, there are no extraneous restaurant employees. Extra time spent attending to your needs means less time serving other customers, like me. Further, switching tables in a busy restaurant means that someone else doesn't get seated as quickly. If you have a legitimate reason, that's one thing (although you really should endeavour to let them know in advance)...but the world is full of dining customers who make frivolous requests. If people felt compelled, as a courtesy, to justify their requests, we would have fewer frivolous ones....which means fewer special requests overall, which means better service for everyone.

dude, whatever. people like you screw up the service for other customers, like me. not only is your attitude inconsiderate to the restaurant, more importantly it is inconsiderate to me as a fellow diner (not that we would ever eat at the same restaurants). every request that you make has a snowball effect in a busy restaurant, ultimately inconveniencing other diners. your attitude only works at the highest echelon ($400 a person) where restaurants have the liberty of a 1.5-2:1 staff to customer ratio...and even they may not be able to switch your table. I, for one, interact with servers as little as possible...why? it fosters efficiency, making everyone happy. I'm literate so I can read a menu..I don't need to ask questions about it. I prefer to eat things the way the chef created them (if I don't I shouldn't be eating out...I'm perfectly capable of cooking what I want at home) so I don't ask for substitutions. Its amazing how rarely one has service issues when one operates in this fashion. Ok, once, halfway through our meal at Fatty Crab they asked to move us....they also volunteered to comp us glasses of champagne. Simple and everyone's happy. I've only once, in a decent restaurant, had a genuine service issue. Two sentences to the manager and a quarter of the bill disappeared. Politeness goes a long ways.

EMP is due for a review. USC hasn't had one in ages but the only reason to review it is to downgrade it. which would be kind of mean. because it hasn't gotten worse in any way, it's just that the food is good by the standards of 20 years ago (it's not bad, but it's not anything special). of course, that's exactly the way its clientele wants it. I'd give the food somewhere between one and two stars, bump up to two for service and ambience....but then once price is considered, you could lower it to one...depending...(the problem is that the food is no better than Little Owl...and arguably not as good....USC is much more comfortable than Little Owl, but its also 2-4 times as expensive) is there any real reason to bother doing so?

I read that chowhound link. not very convincing. I will be very surprised if EMP doesn't get its own review.

she gave Masa four if at the bar and 3 if at a table. that works out to 3 stars in my book.

"I thought EMP deserved three even pre-Humm, but perhaps I'm exaggerating — if it was an error, it wasn't egregious." Fair enough. I thought it was a two-star restaurant but could see how someone could like it more than me. If we agree that it wasn't a travesty for it to have had two....

"Upgrading them to three stars would give Bruni a chance to correct two of his most egregious errors in one stroke." I can see the argument for one error. What was the second? Although I had excellent lunches there, dinner at EMP pre-Humm was quite underwhelming. "Two and a half years into his tenure, Bruni has got to be itching to pull the trigger." There is Ramsay. Well, that's a clone, sort of, as well.

fwiw, if, in fact, there is such a double review, I think this is exactly correct.

according to the LB website, they sold it. under what name it operated under after that I don't know. http://www.le-bernardin.com/lecoze.html

The Paris LB was kept open while the NY one was opened. However, shortly after the Le Cozes sold the Paris LB to concentrate on the NY one (they may have needed the cash as well). There are no other LBs...Madame Le Coze has a financial interest in the Atlanta Le Coze (currently not open as its moving from its location in the Lenox Square mall) and had one in the defunct Coconut Grove location, but my understanding is that Ripert has no involvement in the Brassiere Le Coze operation.

Since it now appears that it only takes 9 assaults (including only one shooting instance), a few drug arrests, and three SLA serving to minors violations in a year for an establishment to be temporarily shuttered, I retract every argument I've made before and apologize. It is clear that Per Se, EMP, JG and Red Lobster are all in great danger and disrepute from BryanZ's presence. This hairtrigger standard makes it inconceivable that any fine dining proprietor would not card anyone who looks like they may be under 40.

put it this way: with the arguable exception of Chodorow (who tends to open his chain restaurants elsewhere than NY first), there aren't too many cases of NY based restauranteurs opening restaurants in other cities and then eventually bringing them to NY. rather, restauranteurs of successful restaurants in other cities often eventually open up in NY as well. but those restauranteurs are not based here. thus the Broadway analogy is inapposite.

it does indeed appear to have been a short story (can't say that I've read it): http://www.thrillingdetective.com/trivia/hammett.html

it could be either a reference to the Plath poem or to the Dashiell Hammett novel

the seasoning is indeed aggressive. I happen to like it. some of the lighter dishes should please anyone though (the madai sashimi, the mozzerella)