dimsum

Terrific photos, Mark. Thank you!

Yup! Best we've found so far. Thank you. Just wish it were a little closer to Chapel Hill and didn't use MSG.

Thanks, everybody! We had a good lunch and enjoyed the view at Top of the Hill and a lovely walk down Franklin Street, discovering a bit of serendipity on virtually every block.

I've just moved to Chapel Hill and already have some guests coming. I'd like to take them to a great lunch, and show them a few sights to give them a feel for how wonderful the town is. All in 3 hours or so. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Thanks, everyone -- this is all very helpful! I'm looking forward to being in a place which, relative to where I am now (Richmond, VA), seems so much more supportive of good food.

We thinking of relocating to the Chapel Hill area and will be down there visiting for a few days. Looking for a few restaurant recommendations. Chinese and dim sum especially (Jujube? Neo China?) but not exclusively. Kid friendly -- or at least not kid unfriendly -- would be a help. Any other advice about the area -- culinary or otherwise -- appreciated. Thanks!

Goodness, this seems a bit harsh and overreactive.

For a joke to be funny, it needs to reflect reality in some way. This one wasn't offending anyone or hitting anyone's serious buttons, it just failed to refer to anything real. That's all. ← Well, if not something real, perhaps it was mean to reflect the preconceived notions some people do have about French food. But not me, of course. French food? Fatty? Wherever do people get such crazy ideas!?

Markk, I vote for funny -- and for not taking our food, ourselves, or any things or places with which we identify quite so seriously.

So what is Italian “susci” anyway? Is it the same Nigri and Maki that the Japanese make with rice but called with Italian names, or is some totally different Italian preparation of raw fish involving pasta or something?

Told my brother in Jersey about it. He went by the other night but said it was too crowded (a good sign). He'll try again and we'll see if it lives up to that great description and yummy photos!

It's almost two years later but I just wanted to absolutely echo your opinion of Maestro based on our experience the other night. Nothing bad (well, maybe the ravioli stuffed with goat cheese), not much great or even near great. Portions mostly microscopic (has it always been like this?). Service never bad, but at times bordered on indifferent. As you said: Uninspired and disappointing. Certainly not worthy of its Zagat food or service rating. Vincent still a treat. Be interested to hear what others recent experiences have been.

Would be interested to hear exactly why.

It doesn't seem to me that Chef Levy was very accepting of MarkK's constructive criticism, nor that MarkK was "over the top" in his comments. He's the one who wasted no doubt a good deal of money and had an evening, I would imagine, virtually ruined not by "mistakes" -- but by a pattern of problems that went well beyond a single bad dish or a single rude waiter. And then was subjected to the humiliation and frustration of having the owner say not "Gee, I'm sorry, I'll make sure that will never happen again." but gets accused of "ranting" not doing his duty by informing the manager, and now, of being "over the top." If I were MarkK, NOW I'd be ranting!

The other day a most interesting discussion was ended by the moderator in a discussion of Rocca Restaurant in the New Jersey thread, and the moderator suggested placing it here. So by way of a running start, here’s what happened. One eGullet member posted telling of a bad experience he had at the restaurant on his first try, getting what he described as “mediocre” often “cold” food, and “rude” service. The restaurant owner came on eGullet and addressed the disgruntled customer, telling him that when he was at the restaurant he had a “duty” to ask for the manager and say something; the restaurant owner also as much as said that the customer was wrong to post his negative experience on eGullet. The original poster replied that as a paying customer, he felt no “duty” to the restaurant owner whatsoever, and that he considered that with paying the bill, he fulfilled the only obligation he had. Another member asked “if we don’t say something, how will restaurants learn?” and the original poster said that he “voted with his wallet” and felt “no obligation to help or teach a restaurant anything” that had given him bad food or service, but went on to say that in the case of a restaurant he generally liked which did have an off-moment (bad dish, bad server) he would definitely say something in the hopes of helping them. And so there’s the background behind the question: “If you go to a restaurant and get disappointing food or service, do you feel it’s your ‘duty’ to say something, or do you just never return?”