Jaymes

Slightly OT, but one of our enterprising recipe testers made her own pomegranate molasses, by boiling down 4 cups pomegranate juice, 1 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup lemon juice until it was super-syrupy. I haven't tried this yet, but it's worth a shot! ← Which you should try and, if it works, add to your book.

I have, on occasion, intentionally left a poor, very poor, or no, tip. I have never been confronted about it, even subtly. I never expected to be, either, because I always figured that when the server thought about it, he or she would know exactly why. And would neither need, nor want, to hear it again from me. In fact, I think just the opposite. They were in a hurry for me to leave and would have done nothing to hinder that. The last thing they wanted would be to receive a loud, indignant and attention-drawing explanation from me. But again, I don't leave a poor tip for no reason. And I often leave a large tip partly because I am usually a woman dining alone. I know we get a bad rep, and I want to do my bit to disprove that stereotype.

I think what we can glean from this is that anyone can get anything on your list, but some things will require extra effort. I'm sure including these ingredients in a few of your recipes won't be a deal breaker, especially if you offer a familiar and readily-available substitute. But I'd suggest you don't write "The Pomegranate Molasses Cookbook: 100 Delicious Ways to Use Up That Last Bottle."

Right. If I pick up a cookbook and browse through it, and the majority of the recipes look appealing and do-able, I'll buy it. Sometimes it even helps if there are some ingredients with which I'm not readily familiar. And if I have good luck with the recipes I try first, I look forward to sampling those with more intriguing ingredients. If they look good and interesting enough, I wouldn't mind ordering a few things from the internet. I would suggest, though, that you include the definition and resource section at the back of the book. I think they're helpful.

Just as an aside, Goode Co. is not "arguably the best place in Houston." In fact, it's legitimately "arguably" the worst place in Houston. It's consistently rated at the bottom of most guides, and recently came in DAL (dead-ass last) at a Chowhound BBQ smackdown. It's awful. But like I said, just an aside... Carry on. LOL. Well, thanks for coming back around to "put me in my place" about an 18 month-old post! Just like NYC pizza or any other iconic regional food, there are bound to be fierce debates. This would be why I used the word "arguably." I would never compare Goode Co. to any of the truly outstanding Texas barbecue places. Suffice it to say, however, that once can find plenty of opinions both online and in print recommending Goode as one of the best places in town (Robb Walsh here for example). But, really, who cares? That wasn't the point. ← Well, guess I should have noticed the date. My problem is that I have moved to Houston from Austin, and went to Goode's, and was utterly gobsmacked at how bad it is. And it isn't just me... I was with several native Texans, none of whom had ever been there, and we couldn't get over it. In fact, we had an Aggie and a Tea-sipper (A&M, and UT) with us and the only thing they agreed upon all night was how awful that barbecue was. We had a LOT of leftovers on the table and nobody even wanted to take it home. And now, I hate thinking that folks will come to Houston and try that stuff and think they've had great "Texas barbecue." So it seems I suddenly find myself on a mission. But you're right...had I noticed the date on your post, I wouldn't have responded.

Just as an aside, Goode Co. is not "arguably the best place in Houston." In fact, it's legitimately "arguably" the worst place in Houston. It's consistently rated at the bottom of most guides, and recently came in DAL (dead-ass last) at a Chowhound BBQ smackdown. It's awful. But like I said, just an aside... Carry on.

That's a good idea... Or if you don't have a store, the next big charity function in your town - say a walkathon or city-wide garage sale or something - make a big fuss about how you're going to donate the food.

Not sure what you can do with those buns - maybe feed the birds? But surely you can freeze the beef.

I'm sure that you're thinking over how to avoid this in the future. One word comes to my mind: deposit Actually two: hefty deposit

Well, if I had any doubt, this proves it. I am indeed a pot person. "Take away my knife," and I'll simply go buy another one exactly like it. But "if I reached under the counter and found my favorite pot missing," I'd track down the culprit and use my new knife to explain to him all about how he's going to have to give it back.

Another vote for celery salt in Bloody Marys. Not the same without it.

I never go to the wine country without a stop at Prager Port Works

Yes, I like my knives. But like boyfriends, they come and they go. They're sharp and shiny and straight and feel good in your hand and work the way they're supposed to when they're new. But eventually even the best of them wear out and must be replaced. My pots, on the other hand, are forever. I've hauled them around the world with me, which is no easy feat. You have to really care to do that. They're a motley collection. Some I inherited from my grandmother. One from a favorite aunt. Several from garage sales. I never thought much about it until this thread, but now that I think back, I can hear myself bragging about them to dinner guests, friends and family: "Isn't that a great pot? I found it at an antique shop in the Philippines. I think it was originally Japanese." There's a white enameled cast-iron casserole stamped "Made in Belgium" that was a wedding gift to my parents, back in 1940. And a narrow, deep stew pot, with an odd-looking, outward-facing lip at the top, and two recessed handles, obviously designed for lifting, that swing up from the top of the lip. It was my grandmother's. It hung down inside the top of her old stove, handy for tossing in bits and scraps and clippings from whatever she was making. The idea was that you always had broth or vegetables or something simmering on the back of the stove. The stove was long gone by the time I came along, but she couldn't bring herself to toss that pot. And neither can I. I love my functional knives, but there's not a single one I couldn't replace. Oh sure, it'd take a while for me to get used to them and for them to get used to me. But my knives are not the 'characters' in my kitchen. My pots are. And I couldn't replace them. Whether they're bubbling up a homey chili, or temporarily brightening my kitchen table with a bunch of fresh tulips, my pots please me and make me smile. Maybe they might survive a fire. Maybe not. But we're not going to find out.

Yep. The only new wrinkle is whether or not it's just fine to confront the customer.

Well.. As for the 'right way to do a search,' I'll get back to you when I've got more time. For now, I did the search and here are the results. Topics with "cannes" in the title: Cannes

Actually, speaking just for myself as someone that is often sitting in a restaurant trying to enjoy my meal, for which I'm paying a fair sum, and for which I'm leaving a fair tip, I don't care if you cry when you lose. I don't care if you cry, whine, gnash your teeth, bang pots and pans, stomp your feet, roll your eyes, scream, holler and loudly complain. Just please don't do it to the customer next to me.

I can't help but wonder if you've done a search here on eG for previous threads on the area. There is an absolute marvel of good suggestions.

I am as well, although where I differ is in tipping for rude or surly service. In that case, they aren't getting anything from me. Why would I give someone anything extra to be rude to me? If such people continue to make tips for such lack of service, what incentive do they have to change? When I say that I tip "less than 10%," I mean that 10% is my bottom figure for anything other than rude or surly service. If that's the case, I, too, usually leave nothing but a comment to the manager on my way out.

I'm a 15-20 percenter, myself, also with "random additional generosity." I never lower the tip because of problems for which I deem the kitchen most likely responsible. The only time I tip less than 10% is not for bad service - it's for surly or rude service, which is pretty rare. And I'd be more than happy to explain why. Fortunately (or unfortunately, as the case may be), I've never been asked.

Decided to expand a bit on this, just in case somebody wants to try it. Also, I hadn't thought about it in quite a few years, and a few details are coming back. First - I initially said that in addition to the pastries and fruit, there were sandwiches. I edited that out. As I now recall it, there were no sandwiches, nor anything else that required refrigeration. There were plain croissants, several variety of muffins, some banana bread, cranberry nut bread, big cookies, bear claws, cinnamon rolls...that kind of thing. There were also bagels. The owner of the restaurant was a client of mine and I remember asking him about the bagels: "You're not boiling bagels down there, are you?" To which he responded that they were not. But they had requests for bagels so they bought them, wrapped them up individually and resold them. For all I know, all of the baked goods had been bought elsewhere and just wrapped up and resold, but I don't think so. The owner said that he had been trying to come up with a way to pay his pastry chef more, and had thought of this as a vehicle to increase pastry sales. The restaurant did not open until 11, so the person that came around to the offices and businesses with the pastry basket in the mornings wasn't taking away from in-house sales. And she carried the goodies in a great big beautiful basket - no industrial-looking plastic cart. Actually, with her red apron, she looked a lot like Little Red Riding Hood on her way to grandmother's house. All in all, very delightful and appealing sight at 10am when we were hungry for 'a little something.'

I worked for a time at a travel agency downtown in a small town. There was a local, and popular, downtown restaurant a block or so away. Every workday morning, one of their waitstaff, wearing a cute red apron with their logo on it, walked into all of the businesses including ours, carrying a great big basket full of individually-wrapped pastries, and fresh fruit. And copies of their menu. It was hugely successful. Not only was it very hard to let her get back out the door without buying at least a croissant and an apple or banana, it brought the restaurant to the top of the list of places to consider when lunchtime arrived. Want to add that there was never any problem with the "no solicitors" thing. Everybody was thrilled to see the pastry lady. The only negative comment I ever heard was grumbling about where a certain business was on the arrival time list. If you were too far down the list, there invariably would be a favorite that she was out of. Like my cinnamon rolls. Grrrr....

You're comparing the person/people who own the restaurant to the servers who work there. Not really an apples to apples scenario. All who work in a restaurant should care equally in the success of the place but that's rarely the case. If the place sinks, only the owner/s go down with the ship. The rest just move on to somewhere else and go on business as usual. ← Yes, that's true. But even setting aside the loyalty issue, if you've got a good job and you want to keep it, and you don't want to be out pounding the streets trying to find another job, especially in an unfavorable business climate, I think it behooves you to contribute as much as you can to the success of the business. Not to mention that it's been my experience that, like most areas of work, the restaurant world can be pretty small and gossipy. If you get a reputation for irritating and upsetting customers to the extent they don't come back, it might not so easy to "move on to somewhere else and go on business as usual." I think if you get a considerably smaller tip than you think you deserve, you SHOULD ask, "Was everything okay?" with an obviously concerned look on your face, as long as you can do it at the table. And then be prepared for an answer that may be far less than flattering. But that's it. You've let your opinion be known. Unless they say, "Yes, it was fine, why?" you should drop it. And frankly, I think a lot of this comes down to a difference of opinion as to how good you think your service was vs how good they think your service was. If you confront them, you're running a very real risk of winding up standing there in a very public argument over this issue. Or about the meaning of the word, "voluntary." Or about the relative merits and drawbacks of the "percentage system" in general. An argument perhaps even escalating into loud voices and fingers in faces. How is that a good thing? Like I asked above....if this is really all about getting what you "deserve" and you want to complain when you get a smaller tip than you think you deserve, do you also want to hand back a portion of a tip that was larger than you deserve? I don't know... Also like I said previously, I waited tables when I was in college, years ago. I've got three grown children. My oldest son put himself through college waiting tables. My daughter put her husband through law school waiting tables. My other son put himself through college waiting tables, earning a degree in hotel and restaurant mgt, and is still in the restaurant/hospitality business. I'm not for stiffing waiters. But to say that it's just fine to confront and challenge a customer? No. Never. It's just not. And I don't care how pissed off you are. Don't do it unless your plan is to "educate" them as part of your final hurrah, on your way out the door permanently. Which you sure would be if I owned the restaurant.

I know it's tempting to try to charge more, but if this is working, I'd be hesitant to mess much with it. For one thing, I know you're not located in the middle of downtown Dallas, and you have a limited potential customer base. I'd think you'd want to price your classes attractively enough to encourage repeat visits. If you consider that many folks would attend as a couple, that's $70. And you want them to add your classes as a continuing entertainment option. I occasionally go to the Central Market cooking classes in Austin & Houston, and find that $45-55 is about average unless it's a celebrity guest chef. And that does include usually two glasses of wine (which they only fill to about half). One thing they've done is to have a punch card to encourage repeat visits. I can't remember how many classes you have to take before you get one free, but if you're interested, I can find out.

I find it really interesting that there's another thread right now wherein restaurant owners are trying to figure out how, during this downturn, to keep their current customers happy and coming in the door, not to mention attract new ones. While here, there are people actually arguing that it's okay to confront, badger, berate, bully, shame and embarrass them. All I'm saying is that before you challenge somebody and attempt to "educate" them, you'd better understand that you might wind up getting more than you bargained for. And I don't mean a better tip.

And why might your dad have chosen not to tip? If he's actually unhappy with the service, than the waiter in the street would be giving him a chance to say so. If he truly doesn't understand tipping, then he's getting a chance to make things right. And if he's just an asshole, then what education, exactly, does he have to offer? ← They would receive an education as to who is the greater asshole: an 89 year-old man that is a guest in their establishment, and has been told all his life that tipping is VOLUNTARY and does not expect to be coerced or bullied into leaving one, and who was told all his life that 10% is appropriate and believes it still to be. Or some jerk that has run out into the street to tell him it's not.