glenn

Nina, good question and I have mixed feelings. You only mention employee rights. My rationale in not allowing smoking in government facilities also takes into account consumer rights. People have no choice to use these facilities, while this is not the case with privately owned businesses.

Tommy, when you speak, I always listen :). I thought my post from 8/10 was clear about this. Here is what I said, and I think you should hang up your hat not out of exasperation, but because you are clearly wrong and I am crystal clear correct.... "This may not be pc, but I don't think government should stick their big fat noses in regulating smoking. That applies to smoking anywhere except for public places (and where it might pose a fire hazard), not just bars or restaurants. If IBM wants to allow smoking, more power to 'em. I firmly believe if government hadn't stuck their big butts in and starting regulating where people could smoke, society would have taken care of it for better or worse. And just to make it clear, there is no personal agenda here as I am a non smoker and I try to avoid those restaurants that allow smoking, though i do work in a restaurant, but i am only a lowly clock puncher (and watcher)." "Edit a totally unclear assertion: By public places I mean governmental facilities such as transportation facilities, libraries, etc. vs. privately owned businesses."

Following your logic, why shouldn't the ban be extended to the home? [which indeed it has in at least one new york co-op or condo]. 2nd hand smoke apparently travels through apartments. And jeez, if I walk by a house where all the smoke is coming out the window, my rights are also being violated. Let me ask, why shouldn't driving/owning an auto be made illegal? It causes far more damage to the innocent pedestrian.

Why confine it to "bar activities"? To cite one of countless examples, the fumes from the car you drive probably has a more adverse affect than second hand tobacco. Well, there has been a legitimate discussion. You are free to eat at a place that suits your smoking preferences.

Considering NY caters to some of the most sophisticated pallettes in the world and has the most creative chefs, it's only natural for any other place to seem boring. You'll never catch me waving a flag for NJ, but I think the comparison is unfair. NJ is probably more sophisticated than most of the rest of the country when it comes to dining. You can make similar comparisons in most any other area, such as music, theater, etc. On the other hand, as as diner, I can say the same about restaurant management as you say about the consumer. For example, I find the service (in general) in NJ to be amateurish, at least compared to NY. NJ will always be a 2nd class state unless someone gets rid of NY.

This may not be pc, but I don't think government should stick their big fat noses in regulating smoking. That applies to smoking anywhere except for public places (and where it might pose a fire hazard), not just bars or restaurants. If IBM wants to allow smoking, more power to 'em. I firmly believe if government hadn't stuck their big butts in and starting regulating where people could smoke, society would have taken care of it for better or worse. And just to make it clear, there is no personal agenda here as I am a non smoker and I try to avoid those restaurants that allow smoking, though i do work in a restaurant, but i am only a lowly clock puncher (and watcher). Edit a totally unclear assertion: By public places I mean governmental facilities such as transportation facilities, libraries, etc. vs. privately owned businesses.

I could go on and on, but why do we need a law to curb what is considered unsocial or unhealthy behavior? If I wanna open a bar or any business for that matter, I don't think the government has any right to tell me how not to run it. If drinkers want a smoke free environment, then eventually bars will open to fit their needs. And if you don't want to work in such an environment, no one is twisting your arm. Basic economics, adam smith, etc.

Oh well, then I was too :).

FG, I don't know if that argument is so different than suing a company, i.e., fast food chain, for serving fatty food. Do we really need more laws? I hate to sound like a gun toting nra dufus, but enough of big brother already. And an argument could be made as to how enlightened we really are, but that's another argument.

I'm kinda biased, but I think it's absolutely absurd to ban smoking in small places and bars. top 5 or so... Cigarettes & Coffee - Otis Redding Tobacco Road - Blues Magoos Smokin' 100s Alone - Bottle Rockets w/ the S. Plotzkie light show Smokin' in the Boys Room - Motley Crue, Ramones Cigarette Tricks - Guided by Voices Tobacco's Last Stand - Guided by Voices Smokin' Banana Peels - Dead Milkmen Chew Tobacco Rag - Ray Campi Smokin' in the United Nations - Wilson Pickett

It's in October. Didn't know the restaurant was a seasonal thing. Anywhow, we're leaning toward the Ironbound district. Thanks for the tip.

FG, bigtime congrats!, and you knew this was coming... Anniversary - Verlanes On a Wedding Anniversary - John Cale Happy Anniversary - Roy Rogers w S. Plotzkie on spoons Anniversary of Love - Teenage Wolfpack All the Critics Love U in New York - Prince

Anil, what are some of the other dishes? I frequent that area often. Not to stray from the subject, but can someone define tapas? I was under the impression that they are appetizers of Spanish origin normally accompanied by a cocktail, i.e., olives, snails, cheese, etc. It seems that more and more places are calling any appetizer a tapas these days.

PudZ (the parrot) loves Cheerios with blueberries and soy milk. Sometimes she lets me have some. And she hobbles around all day in her underwear watching sesame street.

I wish I still had the article.. his remark to the effect that everything was great except the service and food was one of the funniest remarks I've seen in a food review, though I doubt Mr. Welch was laughing very loud. Nick, what do you think of the place? I was thinking of going there before an upcoming event at NJPAC [elvis costello], but I'm having 2nd thoughts after the article.

Just to make sure I understand correctly, you use twice as much rice as you do water? I always tend to use a little more water than rice and long grain brown rice seems to come out fine in my gazillion dollar cooker.

Again, the bottom line is if the public is willing to pay the price, more power to them. Personally, I would be less willing to pay $30 for a bottle of KJ at Baja than I would at Amanda's, not that I would pay $30 for a bottle of KJ anywhere. Along the same lines, do you find wine prices at NJ restaurants to be less than nyc eateries? I do, but my experience with fine dining in NJ, especially ones with a liquor license, is much more limited. Theoretically, prices should be cheaper because I would imagine operating expenses, especially rent, are cheaper.

I definitely understand your feelings -- like why should those creeps charge you $60 for something you can pick up in the store for $20. I feel the same way about bottled water. However, many of these restaurants would go out of business if they didn't have such a high mark up on beverages (and food!). The high profit on beverages is more apparent to the public than the profit on food, and that's what turns people off about beverage prices. Ironically, food cost and beverage cost are generally comparable at about 30%. If the owner opened up his books to you and showed you all the numbers, which would likely indicate that the business was making a small profit at best, would you be more sympathetic to the beverage prices? Hoboken Baby - Pat Boone Night Falls on Hoboken - Yo La Tengo

I have no beef with tax deductions. Since my abacus doesn't count that high, I'd take a wild guess that your info is correct. If the $$ were invested at a modest 5% return, that would be $100k interest (without compounding).jordyn: our restaurant charges a $25 corking fee. FG hit the nail on the head (with us, anyway) when he said the reason restaurants allow it is to make the customer happy. From an accounting standpoint, it's a wet dream, at least for our restaurant. We mostly have modestly priced bottles of wine. The way I look at is even if we "lost" a sale of a $40 bottle of wine (about our average), we still broke even if it cost us $15. But the policy has little to do with economics. We're in the service industry. top 5... Cork 'n' Bib - Lee Konitz Capitalism - Oingo Boingo 10 percenter - Frank Black w/S. Plotzkie Wined & Dined - Syd Barrett Wine & Depression - New Bomb Turks

Although it may vary greatly among restaurants, practically speaking, the cost of carrying inventory is not a major expenditure. For example, a $100k inventory financed at 8% (it's irrelevant whether it was financed -- if it wasn't, there's lost opportunity cost) would cost $667/month in interest Add on storage fees, i.e., temperature control, rent attributed to the space needed, etc., and I would still find it hard to believe it's a major item, even for restaurants with major wine programs. Hmmm... Unless I misunderstand, I'm not so sure about that. The interest on financing the inventory is a p&l item. Storage costs are p&l items. That argument is so way off base, but unfortunatlely it is the perception that most diners have. By the same line of reasoning, food is marked up even more. A pasta dish is marked up 500% or much more. Bad example, as pasta often makes up for the less profitable items like steak. But you get the idea. However, everyone knows how labor intensive food prep is so no one gets all huffy and puffy that a chicken they can buy at the butcher for $1 costs $18 in a restaurant. Well, some people do. Wine also has costs attributable to it as has been discussed. One cost --- one of the largest after the actual cost of the wine -- is breakage or spoilage or theft. I won't bother to repeat all the other costs involved. You cannot take the sales price minus the cost of the product and say the difference is profit.In my experience, there is no magical formula for determining what the price of wine should be. Prices are determined mainly by what people are willing to pay, as is virtually every other product sold in a capitalist society. The rule of thumb has evolved to an average of a 300% markup. I doubt an accountant sat down and did number crunching and came up with this figure. Bear in mind that this is an average (and not all restaurants adhere to this unwritten policy). Usually a less expensive wine is marked up more while an expensive wine is marked up less. And if anyone thinks wine markups are unfair, answer this --- why is the goal of most restaurants a piddling 10% net profit? Judging from some of the implications here, you'd think every restauranteur owns a house in the Hamptons and Nice and laughs insidiously at all the clueless diners that spend ridiculous sums of money at their establishments. Well, I'm sure there are a few that fit in that category, but they are few and far between. The cost of opening and operating a restaurant, not to mention the time and efforts involved are mind-boggling. At least in NY.

If getting a good cup of Joe is hard, what are the odds of ever finding a good cup of iced coffee or any of the variations, i.e., iced espresso, etc?? Even those places that have a decent cup of Joe fall short when it comes to the iced version. Dilution seems to be the major problem, though an easy solution would be to use ice coffee cubes. Has anyone found a place that makes a respectable iced caffeine?

Sorry for not clarifying, but I meant stuffy in terms of stodgy. I found it to be a very uptight place where appearances and etiquette are valued more than substance. If I recall, the park is right near by. There's great hiking and biking trails, some of them on the expert level.

We spent Thanksgiving there about 4 years ago and had a similar experience. It was so stuffy there - the atmosphere and guests - it drove me bonkers. And yes, the food was the pits. Couldn't believe I had to get dressed up to eat that rot. The area is gorgeous but you don't need to stay there to experience it. Actually, we enjoy staying at the B&B's on the other side of the river -- in the Garrison and Cold Spring area and driving around visiting the sites. top 5... High 5 (Rock the Catskills) - Beck Mountain of Needles - David Byrne/Brian Eno Mohonk Massacre - Arlo Guthrie & S. Plotzkie Mountain of Love - duh House in the Country - Kinks

FG, I couldn't help but smile at your example of tax returns as being validating evidence. Judging from the news (and the markets), one would think accountants would have less respect than journalists nowadays (and that's getting pretty low ) Anyhow, I guess what I meant to say is I admire Hesser's willingness to speak her mind and write something critical in a column that rarely reports any criticism. I have no idea how valid or honest her critique was.

I don't care what anyone sez, I like Hesser for her honesty.