Jaymes

Great post. I don't live in Atlanta, but you made me want to drive over just to try this place. Of course, I'm going to want to eat in the kitchen, just like you. I think I'll try telling him I'm a dear friend of Norm's and see how far that gets me.

Ah, pizza and burgers and knives and forks:Well, speaking for all the messy eaters - sometimes it's just easier, especially if you're on a date...or in polite society... ...or with a bunch of old people that don't want to bite into anything firmer than a soft banana for fear of messing up their false teeth.

He sounds pouty and petulant to me. I think the personal/financial/social/recreational lives of those that grow, buy, and eat the produce is completely irrelevant. Furthermore, there are many, many people that are aware of the Slow Food movement (and agree with what they loosely understand the goals to be) that now patronize their local farmer's markets, but have never heard of Carlo Petrini. Seems to me that he's pretty typical of various "founders" and other creative types that get miffed and peevish when their creation takes on a life of its own and no longer needs an authoritative captain to steer the boat. PS - Edited to add how tickled I was to read that our own Rancho Gordo argued with Mr. Petrini "in Italian." So there, Carlo.

Yes, very similar to the recipe that Two Fat Ladies featured a few years back. Actually, there was another thread about peas and both Fifi and I said we absolutely loved that recipe. I linked to it, but the page is now gone. Does anyone else know how I can find that recipe again?

My grammy used to make a green pea and cheese salad. Haven't thought of it in years, but used to love it. Peas 'n Cheese 2/3 cup MW or mayo 1/3 cup chopped red or green bell pepper 1 cup chopped celery 3 large sweet pickles, chopped 1 (16 ounce) package frozen green peas, thawed 3/4 cup cubed Cheddar cheese S & P to taste Mix everything except for the peas and cheese, tossing until well combined. Fold in peas and cheese and serve on lettuce leaves.

Dunno for sure, but in my house back "somewhere in history," my mom made pink lemonade by adding some juice from a jar of Maraschino cherries.

My southern-cook relatives all make their potato salad with MW & pickle relish. And I´ve got a great recipe for Sweet Potato Salad that calls for MW, relish and Durkee's.

Love these latest additions to this already hilarious thread. I´ve laughed myself silly through the last two pages, impossible to pick which post is funniest. But "Chicken Drywall" will stick with me forever.

You left out: D, Customer, after planning so poorly as to create a problem for customer and then transferring customer's self-created problem to restaurant, goes online in an extremely public forum and bashes restaurant in order to.....what? Get even?

lemonaid is likely filled with high fructose corn syrup and no lemon. quite different than water with lemon juice and sweet and low. sounds like a good idea actually.Right. My father is on a sugar-restricted diet, but doesn´t like the various artificial sugars. He´s tried lemonade in every restaurant we go to, and it´s always too thick, way too sweet, too heavy, too cloying, too syrupy. Not to mention that most of it tastes like it´s got "lemon flavoring," instead of real lemon juice. He likes a very light lemonade, more like what the Mexicans call an "agua fresca," very light on the lemon, and very light on the sugar. He´d be happy to order this type of lemonade and pay for it if any restaurants offered it. Which none that I´m familiar with do. So he makes his own. One or two wedges of lemon, one packet of sugar. Good for him, I say.

Not to mention that even in the US, "authentic American" cuisine changes from state to state and region to region, according to local tastes. In the US southwest, for example, many burgers from large national chains come with jalapenos or other regional adaptations. As someone upthread said, there is always a need to cater to your target market if you want to keep your doors open.

Pretty excited to see this thread popping up from time to time, even though I'm not in Columbia. I'm in Springfield and if Columbia is seeing a little action, maybe there's hope for Springfield. Anyone?

One huge advantage of living alone is being able to eat something, like a comfort-food dinner of meatloaf and mashed potatoes, or a big bowl of spicy, hot spaghetti, and then suddenly realizing, "Boy, ice cold milk would be great with this," and then being able to go to the fridge and stand there, door open, and guzzle down cold milk straight from the jug.

Not sure that at this late date it's worth the bother to "learn" to like it, but I admire your perseverance. The "odd 'mouth feel'" you note might be the fat. We grew up on whole milk but, in a never-ending quest to reduce caloric intake, I finally managed to switch myself to skim. Now, when I drink whole or even 2%, I note the fat coating the inside of my mouth.

True. You've already discovered that there's a dishonest employee, one that's willing to steal. What you don't know is exactly all the ways. You say that the owners are "all for cracking down on pilferage of alcohol, etc." If this employee is willing to help himself to your tips, he's willing to help himself to their "alcohol, etc.," too. The finite line here is honesty vs dishonesty. Once you've crossed that, the rest is just a matter of opportunity and details.

This comment continues to resonate with me. It's true that when one calls a restaurant (or any other service provider) and reserves time and resources, one has entered into an informal contract. I agree to show up and receive your service. You agree to hold that time and space and resource for me and not grant it to anyone else. I can count on it and plan accordingly, and so can you. I wonder how davecap would have reacted had the contract been broken the other way around.

I'm not sure those cocktail crab claws are available throughout the country. I've sure looked for them, but only seem to be able to find them on the Gulf coast. Are they available in Seattle?

As has been discussed, there are restaurants that take CC numbers and charge a fee, like $25, for last-minute cancellations and no shows. Since it's been said repeatedly that Joe Beef is quirky and 'different,' and "tiny" (so the loss of one table's revenue matters a great deal more than it does to a large chain) it sounds to me like it's a great candidate for that policy. Also, since the food's so good and it's an 'experience,' such a policy probably would not adversely affect business. In fact, it might add to the air of exclusivity, and enhance it. As for which of us will "choose not to go to Joe Beef," sign me up on the list of folks that previously hadn't heard of it, but now can't wait to give it a try. Not because they were rude, but because of other comments in the thread. Sometimes even bad publicity works if it gets your name out. Also sign me up on the list of folks that wish parents of three-year-olds would get a sitter (like I did) before going to dinner at excellent, small and intimate fine-dining restaurants.

I don't really give a royal rip about the "health and safety of those consuming," and I'd agree with you if "those consuming" also leaned over to my table every five minutes and forced me to "consume" with them, whether I liked it or not.

You sure did Jaymes , I had just come from there after having posted a second time and searched further for personal recipes . I failed in my search , I then reached out to the broader section of Egullet for advice . Thank you for taking the time to help me on my conquest and bringing it to my attention that someone had finally posted on the Mexican region thread GIMB ← And I have had sweet salsas. Not my personal favorite, but I think maybe it's a regional thing. And when I say 'regional,' I'm thinking of the US midwest; not regions in Mexico. I've been to some 'Mexican' restaurants in Kansas, Iowa, Missouri that have sweet salsas. Again, not my thing, but I do address that in my original 'salsa' post.

Weird feeling of deja vu. Didn't I (and others) just answer this question over in... your other salsa thread?

Here's mine. I posted it some years back and still, to my surprise, get about one pm a month from someone telling me that it's become a ubiquitous staple, always at the ready in their fridge. Basic red table salsa

I'm totally with you. There is such a thing as decent plain white soft-crusted bread. And you don't have to own a bakery or bake it yourself to get it. I love PBJ on white bread, as do my kids, and we make it on decent white sandwich bread. Many commercial bakeries, including large national brands (like Pepperidge Farm) produce it. I will say, though, that I've never squished Wonder bread into small balls for cat toys. I guess it's possible that it's good for something. Although for me, the "Wonder" was always that so many people actually buy it. It's got to be because they grew up with it. I cannot imagine anyone developing a taste for it as an adult.

Don't know if you're aware of this, but just in case... I cook stew by the vatful often, partly so I can freeze some of it to make quick dinners later. If you've added potatoes to your stew, and they've cooked, they do not freeze well, to say the least. When you thaw them out, they dissolve into paste. I either don't add any potatoes to stew I'm going to freeze, or, if I'm freezing leftovers, try to scoop them out before I freeze it. Then, when it's time to thaw and cook, I'll chop up some potatoes, cook them in the microwave and then add to the hot stew. Like I said, this may be something you already know but if not, don't think that you can just thaw out that stew and heat it up and it'll be good as new. You have to plan to do something about those mushy potatoes.

Please remember that when in St. Louis, the name of this street is pronounced:Grav (like in gravel) - oys (like the plural of a yiddish exclamation) And that the interstate highway that runs through town is pronounced "farty-far."