Sneakeater

The problem is that there are people who end up in those bars because the bars are well-known or because the people were dragged to the bars by friends but who don't have a clue that the Serious Cocktail Movement even exists. Last night I took two (female, I feel constrained to point out for reasons that will become apparent) friends to Pegu, and it was all I could do to stop them from ordering Lichi Martinis. They thought that would be a cool and sophisticated thing to order. They didn't know from Serious Cocktails. It was hard for me to explain to them why you wouldn't order drinks like that in a bar like Pegu without sounding like a snobbish prat, too. OTOH, when I've had to fight my way into D&C, I get actively pissed off when I see people ordering Vodka Sodas. "I almost couldn't get in here," I think, "and you're wasting this bar's resources like that???????????????"

I tend to agree with Chris that it ALL should be disclosed (except as set forth in the last paragraph below). But I'd also draw a distinction between the traditional buyback and a "here's a new drink I'm working on that I'd like you to try because I want your opinion." I'd say in Chris's list, everything but "1" (the straw taste*) should be disclosed (on a FWIW basis). ___________________________________________________ * Similarly, I don't think it's a "comp" when the bartender or waiter gives you tastes of a few of the wines on the by-the-glass list to aid you in deciding which one you want to order. OTOH, it was a comp a few weeks ago when a bartender gave me a glass of Macvin with dessert because he thought I'd like it based on our conversation during the course of my dinner.

That can't be the standard because the customer/writer can't be charged with being a mindreader.

But as I read FG's initial post, the Code for individual posts was not expected to be very different from the Code for websites/blogs:

If people writing up restaurants on this site were required to follow those rules, there would be very few restaurant write-ups here.

But this isn't just for writers. It's also for posters on foodboards. It's absurd to say that people like me can't accept comps. Most of the time, they have nothing to do with any writing we do. Also, I think there's a big distinction between people who get PAID to write and people who post casually on other people's boards on the internet, as much for their own amusement as for any other reason. Perhaps you can't have a single set of ethics rules for real food writers and people who just post on foodboards.

Ah, I get it. What I was talking about must seem like small potatoes compared to that. Thanks.

As you know, I think disclosure of comps is admirable and necessary. If you're someone who posts anonymously on foodboards, though, and who makes it a practice of NOT telling restaurants that you're a foodboard poster or discussing foodboard posting with restaurants, it seems a little strained for you to also affirmatively state to the restaurant that any comp they give you won't lead to favorable coverage. Most places wouldn't know what I was talking about if I said that. They give me comps because I'm a regular customer (or someone who looks like someone that could be a regular customer), not a foodboard poster. (I still disclose the comps in anything I post, of course.) This may be different for full-fledged bloggers (or people who insist on photographing their food).

There are bar seats. Just not very many.

I used to be like the champion Sea Robin fisherman of the South Shore of Long Island. While my friends were catching blues or flounder, I would catch countless numbers of Sea Robins. We thought they were garbage fish (if you saw one, you'd see why it wouldn't immediately occur to you to eat it), and threw them back. I was mortified to learn, a few years ago, that you actually CAN eat Sea Robins. I could have been the marine version of a Nimrod (in the proper sense, not the misuse started by Bugs Bunny).

I'm sure you're not someone who would get lightly turned away at Tailor.

[Moderator's Note: This has been split off from the Momofuku Ko topic, where the question of where to eat solo in Tribeca was posed.] Unfortunately, the consensus choice of best current restaurant in Tribeca, Corton, doesn't feature bar dining. I don't know about you, but I don't really enjoy eating alone at a table in the dining room (among other things, I find dining room service unbearably slow when I'm not with anyone). It isn't a price-no-object place, but my personal solo dining favorite in Tribeca remains Bouley Upstairs. Also, now that Christian Delouvrier is the chef at Secession, it's worth a visit. The duck confit is, based on my limited but not insubstantial experience, the best currently available in New York City. I like the Harrison a lot -- and find the bar there an exceedingly congenial place to eat -- but it may be more of a "comfort food" type of place than you're looking for. Tailor is two blocks north of Tribeca, in the southern part of Soho. They offer both bar snacks and the full menu at the bar downstairs. I love Tailor.

You're right. I wish I "decided" to have a trust fund instead of having to work for a living.

It's very funny that, while this discussion is going on here, this thread is going in another section of this site. This site: a site for people who care about what they eat. That other section, though, is rooted in an everyday reality that some here seem to be able to avoid.

The very best martinis I've ever had were at the Lord Fletcher Inn in Rancho Mirage. Consistently over the years. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that my wife and I always had them during visits to her parents.

There's an Alice Waters backlash because she won't acknowledge this:

My experiences were: More than enough wine, and they told me when the glass would be used with more than one course. (Although now that you mention it, it would be a good idea to ask them at the outset to give you that information as they go along, in case it isn't always SOP.)

Eater links ONE FUCKING POST . . . .

Having to stand isn't much better than not getting in. Weather Up (up the street from my apartment in Brooklyn) sucks in any event -- but it's so crowded on prime nights, with all the standees they let in, that it wouldn't be worth going to even if it didn't suck. Serious Cocktail Places are victims of their own success. We can't complain about it. But we certainly can whine.

It's stupid to say this without having been to D:FF for the comparison, but the feeling I'm getting from reading this thread is that, because the food there is slightly less ambitious and as a result more consistent, Halfsteak may actually be the better of the two.

Don't imagine it was easy.

Let's also give a shoutout to the Loop Tonic. Another great refresher.

I'm cross-posting a link to eatmywords's recent review of Devi (posted in the "Best Indian" thread) for ease of reference.

Or maybe a third place to be shut out of.

Have they switched around the condiments? When I went on Friday, it was the pork and foie gras terrine that came with the pickled ramps and maple jelly.