Jump to content

porkpa

participating member
  • Posts

    295
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by porkpa

  1. Suzanne, When I used the term "New York attitude" I meant it in a most positive sense. That's why I distinguished between it and rudeness. Its part of the essence of being a New Yorker. Of course it doesn't apply to all New Yorkers or even probably a majority of them. I meant it in the sense that in general, New Yorkers are usually different than southerners, or those from southern California or Texans. All of these groups are heterogenous, but many of them have distinguishing characteristics which sometimes identify their origins or the place where they live. Absolutely no negative connotations were intended when I used the term. Porkpa
  2. My daughter, son in law and two year old granddaughter were in New York for the weekend. My daughter asked if I wanted them to bring some NYC provisions home. I asked for a pastrami brisket, some frankfurters and a salami from Katz and some various smoked fish and cream cheese from Russ and daughters. Their first stop was Katz. My daughter(who is eight months pregnant) had never been there before and mistakenly went to the sandwich counter instead of takeout. Not only didn't they direct her to the proper venue, but they were rude and dismissive and left her standing there. Frustrated, she called me on her cellphone and asked me how to get takeout food. I told her to go to the end of the counter. When she got there. She was served by who she described as a young man with a horrible manner. Although she did eventually get what she wanted, the vibes that were transmitted were that she was wasting this young man's time. Nothing resembling civility, let alone cordiality, but rather a feeling of being unwanted and rudeness. She ended up spending a hundred dollars there and said that she would never go there again if they were giving the food away free. My daughter knows and even likes the "New York Danny Rose" attitude of New York. She has eaten at Carnegie and 2nd Avenue Deli where a little attitude is expected. But, she says she received nothing but rudeness at Katz. It was not because they were busy. It was 9.15 in the morning and the place was close to empty. Russ & Daughters was totally different. She described the counter people as being friendly and cheerful. They were offered tastes of what they ordered and even some of what they didn't order. They were given recommedations. The waitstaff flirted with my granddaughter. They could not have been more accommodating. My daughter is the furthest thing from a demanding person. She loves New York, New Yorkers and appreciates the New York attitude. However she feels there is a big difference between a "New York attitude" and outright rudeness. The food from both places by the way was excellent. Porkpa
  3. Fat Guy. There are very few things I enjoy more than red cherries. You whetted my appetite for them. I was at our local Walmart last night and lo and behold they had them. They looked pretty good and I bought a good sized bag. They weren't awful, but on the other hand they had next to no taste. To compare them to what we get around here, especially around July is like comparing a freshly picked ear of corn to a frozen one from Birdseye. Maybe I just got a tasteless batch. Porkpa
  4. I see that all three letters to the editor in today's NY Times food section are critical of the appropriateness of Bruni reviewing and/or granting four star status to Masa a restaurant with a minimum price of $350 per person. Its kind of rare to see a food topic gathering that much mail in that section. Porkpa
  5. Mulcahy, AROD may be more talented than Ramirez. Hell, he might be more talented than anybody on the planet. But Ramirez is playing for a winner, something that Rodriguez never has in his major league career. Porkpa
  6. Parev's in downtown Harrisburg is an absolutely beautiful restaurant with real good food and a very good wine list. For lunch its a private club where the movers and shakers congregate. For dinner its open to the public. Porkpa
  7. Betty Groff and her restaurant Groff's Farm Restaurant are very well known in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. The restaurant is located in Mount Joy. It has been around for well over thirty years and is considered by most in the area to be the epitome of Pennsylvania Dutch Cooking. Ms Groff has written several books on Pa Dutch cooking and is considered by many to be the expert on that cuisine. Porkpa
  8. If by chance you do a second one, sometime after December 1, count me in. Porkpa
  9. For not cheap, but very good dining in a beautiful room try Parev's in downtown Harrisburg. They also have an excellent wine list which is fairly priced. They are a private club for all the movers and shakers at lunchtime. They transform into an excellent restaurant open to the public in the evening. Just across the river, Tavern on the Hill never disappoints. Excellent beef, lamb, fish and shellfish done in a New York steakhouse manner. Atmosphere is okay, but not comparable to Parev's. The food and service are excellent. They also have an excellent winelist which in my opinion is somewhat overpriced. The sommelier can be entertaining. He also can be a pretentious oaf. Porkpa
  10. Mulcahy, Unless they don't have to pay rent and maybe even then, in my opinion Per Se is not only losing money, it is hemorraging it. It has to be one of the most spacious restaurants(space per table) in all of Manhattan. The lounge is large and probably doesn't generate a whole lot of money. The staff to customer ratio has to be one of the greatest of any restaurant in the city. Many of the tables the time I was there didn't get turned over during the evening. We were privileged to be given a tour of the kitchen. The number of kitchen personnel is awesome. The kitchen, or I should say kitchens are truly incredible. It seems there is a different room for most food items. I doubt that it has an equal anywhere. I was there with a friend of mine. My words when leaving were to the effect that if they sold out forever, I didn't see how they could ever show a profit. Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt it. Porkpa
  11. In my opinion when California wineries label their product as Champagne or anything else that it isn't, they are just denigrating what they produce. If their product isn't good enough to stand alone on its own identity, then the message they are sending is just that. "what we are selling is inferior, so we are calling it by the name of something which it is not". Porkpa
  12. Is there a website for Mignonb Steakhouse? I googled it but couldn't find anything. Porkpa
  13. porkpa

    A day with friends

    Jim, I love your wine notes. If it isn't too great an imposition, could you please list the costs of the wines you critique? Thank you. Porkpa
  14. porkpa

    Bouley

    Based entirely on the copy used and if I had not known that Bouley had previously had four star status, I would have thought that I was reading the review of a two star restaurant this morning. I would guess that there have probably been two stars that have received more glowing reviews than was given to Bouley by Bruni. Porkpa
  15. porkpa

    Twist cap wines...

    My wife and I were having dinner at Bistro Jeanty in the Napa Valley a few weeks ago. I spotted a cabernet(If I remember correctly it was a Whitehall, but I'm not quite sure) on the winelist, with the notation that it was a screwtop. We ordered it. The waiter seemed somewhat surprised, saying that we were the first persons that he had served who had ordered a screwtop bottle. I sensed that he felt that he didn't really like the idea, saying that it removed some of the romance from the enjoyment of wine. The bottle itself was quite enjoyable. Porkpa
  16. Montreal, (1)Smoked meat (2)Real bagels (3)Poutine Porkpa
  17. Lesley, Next time don't pussyfoot. :-)). Tell us how you really feel. Murray Brown
  18. If I'm at a high quality joint where there isn't a choice of dressings I'll rarely order it on the side. At others I usually will. The important thing here, I believe is what is the correct amount of dressing. What is too much for some people, may not be enough for others. Where there is one house dressing, I have usually found it to be pretty good and find that they usually apply it judiciously - at least they do to my taste. Porkpa
  19. Fat Guy, You say that there is no restaurant rating equivalent of the New York Times in Paris. If not equivalent, would not Patricia Wells reviews in the Herald Tribune be at least comparable to the New York Times reviews? Porkpa
  20. Holly, I searched the recipe index for your chili dish. I was unable to find it. Has it been posted. If not please do or advise how I can see it. Thanks Porkpa
  21. porkpa

    California white wines.

    Thank you everybody. As per usual, the help found on this site is amazing. Porkpa
  22. The hungry Fox for breakfast. Porkpa
  23. My wife and I are going to Napa in a couple of weeks. We drink red wines exclusively. Neither one of us cares for, nor knows much about whites. A very dear friend of ours drinks only white claiming that reds give him headaches. He prefers wines that he describes as "buttery". We would like to send him a case of California whites meeting that description. Can anybody make any recommendations for Napa or Sonoma wines that he might like. We would be willing to go as high as $75 a bottle. I realize that there are not a whole lot of California afficionodos on this site, but since that is where we are going we feel that a gift of California wine would be most appropriate. Porkpa
  24. What ever happened to Grimaldi's in Syracuse. It was an excellent, extremely popular Italian restaurant for the longest of time. When Dick Vitale was in Syracuse doing a game he would sing its praises and never miss eating there. Then a ll of a sudden it doesn't exist anymore. What happened? Porkpa
  25. I was having lunch this week with two friends at a TGIFridays type restaurant. The total check came to $67.00. I gave the waitress a hundred dollar bill and she asked me if I needed any change. I have two problems with this. (1)I generally do not tip in excess of forty percent even if the service is exemplary. I usually give twenty percent, slightly less if the service has not been up to snuff. (2)I feel that type of response is rude. In effect she is asking for a tip and trying to influence its amount. I think that the customer should not be asked or influenced into giving a tip. I eventually tipped my regular twenty percent, but I've since had regrets. What do you think? Porkpa
×
×
  • Create New...