Jaymes

That's another great idea.... there are lots in this thead! And buy some good potato salad from a deli. To give it that "homemade touch," add a little extra mayo, chopped onions and sliced hardcooked eggs. And canned baked beans that you fix in the time-honored Mom tradition....bacon, onions, catsup, mustard, brown sugar or maple syrup.

That would be really good, and great fun, but trust me, it's not enough protein to fill them up. One hour later and they'd be crawling all over each other in front of the fridge to see what else was in there. You MIGHT could get away with it if (as you suggest) you made LOTS of chili or something else with meat and poured it over the potatoes. Or, also as you suggest, with grilled chicken breasts (lots and lots and lots - each boy will eat three) alongside, and a rest of a "meal." PS - I remember once when I was on a "health" kick... I'd been making meals heavy on vegetables, potatoes, salads, eggs, cheese, chicken, fish.... that kind of thing. At around four pm this one night the boys appeared in the kitchen... They were scowing. One of them said, "What's for dinner tonight Mom and it'd better not grow from the ground or fly or swim." We had steaks, and they forgave me.

Well... at the quantities it would take to fill up teenage boys, I suspect you would single-handedly decimate the stock down at the Ortolan Shoppe. Also, I just don't see how you could get the boys to sit still and stop fidgeting long enough to keep the napkins on their heads.

Dr. Revenue will be the judge of that.

Skip the stuffed peppers. They'll just eat the meat out of the middle and leave the peppers. Make meatloaf instead. See above.

I spent about twelve years with teenage boys in the house. I hope your food budget can support it. My guys went through a gallon of milk a day and a gallon of ice cream a day and that was just for starters. I had to lock up the "snacks" such as chips and that kind of thing. Here's what I'd probably do: Start by baking the biggest ham you can find. Serve with potatoes (I'd do sweet potatoes, baked, then split open and lathered with honey butter and sprinkled with cinnamon) mac & cheese and broccoli. If you have a prayer of getting them to eat broccoli, they might do it with the cheese from the mac & cheese. A gallon of ice cream for dessert. (If you bake a ham on the first day, you'll have ham the entire time. That's good for breakfasts and for sandwiches and picnics, late-nite snacks, etc.) Steaks grilled out one night, with homemade fries, tossed salad, corn on cob, gallon of ice cream for dessert. (Make it clear the steaks are one night only. I once hosted four French boys for a week from a traveling French choir. I made them steaks and fries the first night and every single goddammed night after that they turned their little galic noses up at everything else, saying they wanted more "steak and pomme frites." Boy was I glad to see them leave.) Sloppy Joes; make lots and lots and lots. Each boy will probably eat three for dinner and it would be good if you had some left over for lunch or snacks the next day. Alongside, serve slaw and chips and gallon of ice cream for dessert. Spaghetti with meatballs; make lots and lots and lots. Each boy will probably have two big servings, and you can use leftover meatballs for meatball sandwiches the next day. Alongside serve tossed salad (try to put some marinated vegetables in it for nutrition's sake - I used to buy premade 3-bean salad for this purpose, either in cans or at the deli), garlic bread, and gallon of ice cream for dessert. Big pan of chicken enchiladas. Make lots and lots and lots. Each boy will have either two or three helpings, depending on how good the enchiladas are. Alongside, serve canned refried beans spruced up with extra cheese and homemade salsa on top, corn, and sliced farm tomatoes. Next day can heat up leftovers to serve for lunch. Gallon of ice cream for dessert. Meatloaf. Make lots and lots and lots. Each boy will probably eat half a meatloaf and you can have some left over for meatloaf sandwiches the next day. Alongside, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, tossed salad with vegetables. Gallon of ice cream for dessert. One day only: make nice breakfast - either french toast or pancakes or waffles. Do not get into the trap of dishing up big breakfasts every day or you'll be sorry. Ask boys what kind of cereal they like and buy it along with milk and OJ. Buy lots of OJ. Boys will go through a gallon of OJ a day. OH - and buy lots of bread. It's cheap. It'll help fill them up. And peanut butter and jelly. Lots and lots and lots. Good luck. :raz

In my opinion, Dr. Revenge handled the whole thing wrong. He leaves the restaurant after the staff had done all they really could about the situation. He's happy, laughing and smiling... leaves tips, wine. Next day, manager undoubtedly tells Hans, "Dr. VeryImportant was here last night and didn't like the food at all." Hans says, "How did you leave it with him? Is he angry? Should I call him?" Manager, "Well, we comped him. He left a tip and some wine for the servers. I think he was fine when he left, but you probably should give him a call anyway. I know he expects it." Hans thinks, "Okay, it ended alright. He wasn't screaming and throwing plates. I'll get in touch with him as soon as I get a chance. After all, he's a 'friend' so I'll be speaking with him pretty soon anyway." A few days go by and Dr. BigEgo hasn't gotten any personal groveling. So he sends an email saying "I'm surprised I haven't heard from you." Now what is the implied rest of that message? I think it's: "Didn't you hear about the terrible thing that happened to me in your restaurant and it's all your fault? Yes, I got comped, and yes your staff apologized, but that's not good enough. I expect a personal apology from you. I expect you to beg for my forgiveness and promise it will never happen again. It's been four whole days and so far nothing??? Just who do you think you are to make me wait so long? Don't you realize how important I am? Don't you know how much I spend in your restaurant? Don't you keep track? Well, I do and it's over $4000. You owe me. I don't expect my misbehaving friends to make me wait to hear how sorry they are!" To which Hans (and it appears that English is his second language) replies, "I am disappointed in your reaction on Saturday night." What if he meant to say, "I am disappointed regarding your reaction about the food. I had thought I left my restaurant in capable hands, and I am sorry to hear that I had not." Since, according to Dr.$$, the doctor and his party had not done anything untoward in the restaurant, what on earth could Hans have been likely pointing to other than that he was disappointed that the Dr.'s experience had been less than satisfactory? What Dr.Ego should have done was to immediately either pick up the telephone, or get in the car and go to the restaurant and say something like, "I'm not sure exactly what you mean by saying that you are disappointed in my reaction. What did you mean by that? You're disappointed that we sent the food back, or you're disappointed that we HAD to send the food back?" But that's not what the Dr. did. He immediately blasted off a scathing email from which the friendship, if there ever was one, is not likely to recover. If anyone doubts the egotistical explosive nature of Dr.BigBucks when he is crossed, I remind you of his response to Fat Guy. Especially the line about, "I don't know what you do for a living and I really don't care." How'd YOU like to have this guy as a 'friend.'

that's not necessarily a fair statement. his first post was interesting to some extent. however, the thread kinda dropped out of sight. please to click me. You're right about that T; it was a good post. Wish he'd stuck to that sort of thing instead of a personal vendetta.

I would JB, if indeed that is the case. But first, I'd doublecheck to be sure I have the story straight. I'd think the least I could do for a "friend" or even a close acquaintance would be to give him the benefit of the doubt before I got all hot and fired off a sharply-worded letter to him. And then, if it turned out that he HAD just told me "tough shit" I would write another letter saying that I felt dismissed and betrayed, adding that "you are a horse's ass and I will never darken your door again." But for me to look up a food website and go on it and publicly savage him, well he'd have to do more than that.... He'd have to burn my wife and steal my ranchhouse and rape my cattle. Oh wait.... I don't have a wife or ranchhouse or cattle....

He seems to be some sort of motivational speaker/management consultant/guru kind of guy. I can't find any cooking/eating/food/restaurant posts he's made. He seems to have just showed up here in order to trash his former friend with whom he is now royally pissed. Here you go:Drrevenue.com

Then why didn't he name his own? Why take anonymous potshots?

I think we can agree that from all appearances, you are a gracious and appreciative guest. Had your experience not turned out thusly, I strongly doubt you would have sent them a harshly-worded email and then come on a net chat-room and savaged your "friends." I think you would have chalked it up to experience, and maybe discussed it with them discreetly at a later date. We simply don't know the whole story of Dr. Revenge's episode. What we do know is that he believes he got a less-than-satisfactory meal, for which the staff apologized and then "comped" him. And that then he got his feelings hurt. And that then, he got even.

Ok, fair enough. I think I have an even better analogy. How about: You've paid to see a certain symphony conducted by a certain conductor. On the night you were to attend, the conductor is not conducting. The management assures you that the symphony will be composed of the same musicians as always, playing their usual program, but with no one at the podium. Are you justified in thinking that perhaps the experience you came for will not be provided? I think you are justified in "thinking the experience you came for" perhaps will not be provided. And if the performance were lousy, I'd think you'd have just reason to demand your money back. And Dr. R deserved his money back. And he got it.

deacon, you're smart enough to know that this is a completely horrible analogy. regards, analogy police. Deacon - I would agree with you if you were discussing a cooking demonstration by said chef. If, for example, you had paid $100 for a cooking demonstration by Bourdain, you would be going for more than just the final product. You would also be going for the show, the personality, the celebrity. No matter how much Bourdain instructed a surrogate (i.e. "be witty, be clever, be insightful, be profane"), the end product could not possibly be the same as watching Bourdain himself. But otherwise, your analogy doesn't hold up.

Hmmmm..... He doesn't seem to be suffering much. And what is that he's holding on to? A huge, green........... Dr. Revenue??? (Boy, is that photo ripe for parody.... should change his name to "Rocketwanger.")

And that is the absolute truth. But IMHO, the analogy is not valid.

In that case, I gather we can all assume that you have called ahead to demand a personal guarantee that said chef will be in attendance the evening of your visit. And that you have left your address and telephone number along with strict instructions that they are to immediately notify you should a situation arise that he is not.

And vice versa.... Chef Hans is operating his business in the midst of a population of at least ten million, not to mention a plentiful supply of visitors to Southern California. To extrapolate the analogy: When there are millions of fish in that river, one can easily afford to toss a rotten one back.

Blue is exactly right.... He may have been trying to say that he was "disappointed FOR you" rather than "disappointed IN you." It seems to me that this situation cries out desperately ( ) for the "benefit of the doubt."

Steve - I wouldn't feel "gypped" because I understand that even the most famous and competent and dedicated and devoted of chefs is also a human being and deserves some time off. Furthermore, as I stated in either this thread or the related one in "Site tips and recommendations," I understand that unexpected events DO come up over which we have no control. And that the world does not revolve around me. And therefore I am aware that it is a possibility that on any given night, the "boss" ain't there. But I DO expect that the "boss" will maintain a certain level of excellence in the kitchen which bears his/her name, and in the staff that works under him/her and that he has trained. I hate to use this example (because it does not reflect my actual desires), but it pops immediately to mind: I have heard of Emeril. Say I want to eat "his" food while visiting New Orleans. I would seek out his restaurant. I would hope he is there. I would even dare to hope I might meet him. But I would know that he may NOT be. I would go to the restaurant anyway and I would expect to eat the same dishes, prepared in the same manner, executed with the same skill, as if he WERE there. Yes, I would rather he were there. But I wouldn't get all horsy and pissed off if he were not.

In my opinion, no. There should be a certain level of service at a restaurant, "celebrity" chef in place or not. Say the chef was unavoidably delayed that evening... car accident, illness, family emergency. If their policy was to always notify everyone who might be eating there just simply because that one particular chef was in attendance, not only would it create a logistical nightmare, but would set a precedence that might even result in legal action when the "status quo" was not adhered to. The restaurant did the right thing. "You are not happy; there will be no charge." That should have been end of story. To answer your question, I do believe that particularly when one is a friend of the owner of a business where you have received unsatisfactory service, you DO owe it to your friend to tell them about it. I owned a business and often said that I wished people who were unhappy would tell me and give me an opportunity to fix it, rather than complain to the whole town before giving me a chance to make things right. I don't believe the problem here is that Dr.R told Hans about the poor quality of the evening; I think the problem here is the manner in which he went about it. Rather than firing off a withering email leaving nothing for Han's pride, he should have brought it to his "friend" in a more pleasant and constructive manner. And as for the other issue: Anyone who wants to eat in a restaurant only when one particular chef is present should ask upon arrival, "Is Hans in the kitchen tonight." If told "No," that guest can leave.

Ah yes.... we are only getting ONE ego's side of the story.... But sounds to me like the main problem here was not the clashing of tastes at the restaurant; but rather, the clashing of egos afterwards ....his vs. the chef/owner's.

I think this thread should be renamed: "When Egos Collide!"

Yeah, that might be a very nice dessert.... To go with some chicken enchiladas!

Sourdough is probably the quintessential Alaskan food, other than the ubiquitous salmon and halibut of course. Lots of people up there have starter from some of the original brought North by the prospectors so long ago. When I moved there, the first day, along with the movers, a neighbor showed up. She brought me a welcome gift... sourdough starter. I kept it alive for years and years, moved it from Alaska to Calif and then Texas and cooked with it at least three or four times a week. When the last kid left home, let the sourdough die. Just don't cook that much for myself. Alaskans make many, many baked goods from their prized starter.... sourdough pancakes were the main thing (the memory of those Alaskan sourdough pancakes with fresh-picked blueberries brings tears to my eyes)..... But also breads, white and wheat, waffles, muffins, cookies, everything you can imagine. And even, at Christmas, sourdough fruitcake.