Sneakeater

I eat at Jarnac now and again, and although I always enjoy it, I also always wish it were a little better than it is.

I still haven't been able to decide which was more impressive.

I'm beginning to think Therese is like the only grownup on this board.

Sneakeater, When was the last time you went to the Gansevoort? I heard you had to be a guest of the hotel to have access to the roof (evenings). Please correct me if I am wrong. ← The last time I was on the Gansevoort roof was last summer. You most certainly did not have to be a guest of the hotel to get access to the roof bar then. (You did in order to get access to the pool.) I had heard they were going to institute such a limitation for access to the bar, but as of last summer, they hadn't.

Fine. The average bartender can think whatever he or she wants. I want a fucking Manhattan, and I'm paying, and he or she is just going to fucking have to fucking make it.

Yep.

It's certainly a surprise.

Seriously, maybe I'm some kind of alcoholic, but who has only one glass of anything with a mea?. I find a Quartino to be a decent amount to go with an appetizer and then an entree. Sure, you can't then switch wines with the courses, as you can when ordering by the glass. But OTOH, it's a much better value than buying two glasses.

Or -- unlike a glass -- enough for one person to drink and feel like he's had some wine.

Now that I've read the article, what a load of bullshit. I'm going to a bar and paying. Why I should I even think about what's hard and not hard for the bartender? (To be sure, I agree you should try to make things as easy as possible. I certainly always specify I want rye in my Manhattans.) (For all the good it usually does me.) I'm waiting for the day when I get interviewed for an article on "Five Motions Lawyers Hate To Make." But I'm not holding my breath.

I don't want to be crude, but if any bartender doesn't like making Manhattans he or she can go fuck him or herself.

If this is too off-topic, I apologize. And if it's of interest to no one but myself, I also apologize. I hardly trust the Zagat guide at all. To me (and I'm concedely a fairly new poster, although I lurked for a long time), the value of eGullet is that you can assume that people who take the trouble to post here are apt to be more trustworthy -- to have more experience, interest, and expertise -- than the undifferentiated masses of people who are indiscriminately sought for Zagat's contributions. And, as you note, the ability to identify specific reviewers and get to know their preferences, etc., makes it much more valuable. Having said that, of course you're right about the true value of this board's being somewhere in the middle.

Can't disagree with that!

FWIW, I wouldn't recommend the roof bar on the Gansevoort to my dog (if I had one, and if he were a barfly).

This will sound incredibly simplistic, but I just don't think the food is that good. Especially compared to the hype and the crowds.

This is perhaps off-topic, but I've always found Diner to be very disappointing.

You know, I've known Marty Markowitz for decades and personally like him and all, but it was REALLY disconcerting to click that link and hear him bellowing at me.

I don't think I've ever spent as much as $10.03 a person at Schnack.

Hey, the Pegu Club has a view! When I'm there, I always sit at one of the window seats and gaze out at beautiful Houston St. (Little Branch, OTOH, sort of has the opposite of a view.)

I love Sammy's (although I'm physically incapable of ingesting their food more frequently than once every five years or so), but what I'd want to know about them is, where do they source their garlic?

To further beat a horse I've been going after (although I'm not sure it's quite dead yet), these posts display different ways of looking at this board. I would never analogize making a critical comment about a restaurant to "telling a friend he has BO." To me, restaurants aren't my friends. They're businesses competing for my and my friends' money. My friends are other potential consumers. I direct my friends to places I think are worthwhile and warn them about places I think aren't. This "consumer guide" view of this board obviously isn't shared by some of the other people who've posted in this thread, who appear to view it more as a vehicle for socializing with others who share an important interest with them. I confess that I can't really see the point of that -- but it's evident that they can't really see the point of what I want, either. I suppose it's interesting that some local boards evolve one way and others the other way. Maybe it's true that Candanians are just nicer than people farther south.

I don't think that's what people mean by "clubiness". It would be a totally unfair and uncalled-for "accusation" (much too strong a word for what's being tossed around here) if it were.

Although this isn't responsive to the initial quesiton, I think the appeal of the CIA has to be reevaluated in light of the existence of Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

The food at the River Cafe changes with the changing chefs, and the glory days of David Burke and Rick (is that his first name?) Lakonnen (is that his last name?) are in the past. That said, the food at the River Cafe remains much better than it has to be. With the views they have, they could serve One If By Land-quality food and still do turn-away business. But they don't. Although it doesn't get talked about much, River Cafe remains one of the very very best restaurants in Brooklyn, and to my mind one of the better (although not very best) restaurants in New York City. I'd have no hesitation in going.

If an outsider can presumptuous enough to comment, I think the implication is that in a "rather small town" the food scene tends to be much tighter, and people tend to know each other more. I live in a very big town, and you don't see much "clubiness" on my town's board here. Customers tend not to know restauranteurs (at least not to the extent it appears on your board). Although some industry professionals participate on my town's board, they consitute a tiny and --no offense intended to any of them -- fairly insigificant portion of the local industry. Some people seem to get invited to events like the one you describe, but in a town this big it can't be most of us, and so for the most part most board participants seem to have no relationship with the local food industry and its members beyond being consumers (at most, most of us attain "regular" status at a few places). The reviews aren't terribly affected by any desire not to offend fellow members of the "community" because for the most part consumers don't seem to feel as if they're in a "community" with the food services providers. It seems different in Vanouver, and one can only postulate that the size of the town has something to do with it.