Sneakeater

There's this place on Spring and Crosby . . . .

I mean, I was even going to invite someone to go with me, but then I thought, "Shit, then this'll be A VALENTINE'S DAY DATE. Too frought with significance. I just want to go to the fucking opera."

On Valentine's Day, the last thing you want to think about is how other peopleare getting screwed, but you're not.

One of today's foodies was disgruntled because he HAD to get something to eat. It's not his fault that the only night he could get to Jenufa was Valentine's Day. He'd have avoided it if he could.

Picholine Normal Seven-Course Tasting Menu: $110 Four-or-Five (I forget) Course Valentine's Day Menu: $150 Ugh.

Actually, we then went off somewhere private together. I guess she was just used to that kind of thing.

(Do you think that was one of those no-general-interest egotistical posts Eater gets so upset about?)

We already KNOW he couldn't have gotten a table at the uptown White Castle as a walk-in.

Hasn't somebody asked him that already?

I should never say this in public, but I will. I was at Babbo once with a date who's an even bigger pig than I am (although she, unlike me, somehow manages not to show it). We ordered the pasta tasting menu, with wine pairings. She insisted on ordering an additional pasta dish she wanted that wasn't on the tasting menu. Not as a substitution, but as a supplement. With an additional pairing. She finished, no problem. I, on the other hand, ended up throwing up on the street in front of Babbo. I am so ashamed. Anyway, u.e., be careful.

This is excellent advice that I follow too rarely.

After twenty-five years of frequent operagoing, I just can't do that anymore. I just can't.

They offered that to me, but it was freezing out, and I wanted FOOD. (Which I got, eventually. I'm not complaining.)

From the "Amateur Night" thread:

Maybe if they gave them to the infant.

From what you've said, not this Danny Meyer restaurant on this night.

See, that's why I felt so trapped. It was like, I wanted to go to this opera, and this was the only night I could do it. And, going there straight from work, well, I had to eat. What was I to do? Go to Gray's Papaya? But it could be worse. Look at the Eleven Madison Park thread for a guy who has the misfortune to have his birthday fall on Valentine's Day.

I thought we both agreed that the clear policy in NYC "fine dining" restaurants is and has been at all times within memory to serve wine to accompanied minors. (Not to continue that debate, but that point's been reconfirmed to me a few times since that discussion.)

The people you should be pissed at are your parents, for giving birth to you on such an unfortunate day. Couldn't they have induced labor on the 13th?

See, this is where I'm surprised to hear you, of all people, arguing about this. We both usually seem to agree that policies are policies, and just because YOU don't like a policy's effect on YOU, you can't expect them to change it in your case. They decided to suspend bar service for the night: not for singles, not for solo diners, but for EVERYONE. The dewiest, most snuggly couple in the world, cute as two puppies, would have been denied food service at the bar last night. Obviously, its effect on you was unfortunate. I can see your not liking it. I just can't see holding it against them as a slight. I mean, how could it be a slight? It was a generally applicable policy. The only group it was aimed at was "people who want to eat at the bar". That hardly raises any flags.

What if EMP instituted a new policy suspending food service at the bar every Saturday? Would there be anything wrong with that? How's it different?

Or is Per Se discriminating against people like me because I can't get an 8 o'clock reservation and Mort Zuckerman (or whoever) can?

clearly discriminatory in effect. ← Not against any kind of identifiable "suspect classification". (Come on, just about EVERY decision is "discriminatory in effect". The issue is whether improper discrimination is going on.) I can't believe they did this to keep single diners out of everyone's sight that night. The idea strikes me as ridiculous. I'm sure they wanted to (a) free up the bar and (b) make the exact number of covers they were doing calculable in advance. Stuff like that. But really, they're free to suspend food service at the bar whenever they want. Am I supposed to boycott Blaue Gans because, one night during the week before Christmas, they were closed for a private party when I showed up really late and really hungry? Were they discriminating against me as someone who wasn't invited to the party?

Out of every possible reason why they did this, I'd have to say I think that discrimination against solo diners on Valentine's Day is one of the least likely.

The trouble is, Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve suck. Restaurants are keyed for onslaughts (and looking to exploit it), and there's nothing you can do about it. If they set an advance policy of suspending food service at the bar last night, what is there to complain about? (I mean, it's not like they looked at you and decided not to serve YOU in particular.) Since they were expecting a hyper-full house, it's easy to see why they would have formulated such a policy. Obviously, I don't like it. But, as I said, Valentine's Day sucks.