Ruby

Call me paranoid but in these trying times, I don't want water that's been sitting around a restaurant - no matter how good it is. I've asked busboys to refill my glass of tap water that's too warm and instead of bringing a new glass, they just pour cold water on top of stale water. Yuck. This doesn't happen in just diners but in top places as well. As far as being served and charged for designer water when they weren't ordered, I would simply ask the waiter if your table was being comped for the water. Of course the answer would be 'no' and then one could say very innocently "but I Did Not order that bottle." If we let restaurants get away with this ploy, they'll soon be refilling wine glasses with new bottles. I'm really surprised that Babbo follows this practice because they're so popular and this only antagonizes people and causes bad word of mouth (perfect example here).

It kind of annoys me that I've seen a recent trend in restaurants where wine is served in small glasses more suitable for morning orange juice. What's up with this? I'm not talking about comfort food type restos - these are places that charge ฮ+ for standard wine. I thought this was quaint when served a house wine in tumblers in the South of France in a mom and pop cafe but this is New York and the prices and vibe are way different. When the owner of one particular restaurant came over to our table and asked me how we enjoyed our meal, I told him the food was good but he should ditch the water glasses. I said "If you can charge ำ for a bottle of wine, you can provide decent wine glasses." He didn't respond and I haven't been back. Next, they'll be serving Champagne in those plastic glasses used for picnics! Would be interested in comments and your take on the 'logic' of this.

Has anybody besides me noticed how wines by the glass, no matter how mediocre, are climbing up up in price? Today I wanted to have a glass of red wine with my burger in a neighborhood Manhattan restaurant. Their house wine was a merlot priced at Ű.00 a glass. The whole bottle is probably Ű-10 in a liquor store. The server whispered to me "It's not very good - I'd suggest the house Cabernet (priced at ű). Now, if I were receiving something decent, I'd have no qualms but IMO restaurants are taking advantage of people who order wine by the glass and are jacking up their prices for the most ordinary wines. At Chez Louis about a month ago, I had a very decent glass of California merlot for ผ a glass. I asked the waiter to write down the shipper for me and my local wine store ordered it for me. The retail cost was ů.99 for the bottle! I realize restaurants do a tremendous markup but what happened to the Ŭ-5 glasses of wine? This doesn't seem to be standard anymore.

Yes, I do believe old-style ice cream parlors are part of nostalgic New York. I remember when I was very very young there was a terrific ice cream parlor around Grand Street called Marchiones. Then there was Jahn's ice cream parlors in, I believe but memory is fuzzy, Queens and the Bronx. Also Rumplemayer's on Central Park South. These were ice cream parlors where just the photos on the menus of sundaes, banana splits and other extravaganzas made you want to order one of everything. Serendipity is left and a pricey cafe that serves gelato and pastries on Madison Avenue near the Met. Sorry, I can't remember the name. But at least you can sit down and relax instead of eating a cone on the run. What happened? I guess the high rents are too prohibitive to just sell ice cream unless you're a big chain. People also changed and are more diet conscious but I do miss those fun parlors. There was something so pure and 'innocent' about sitting in a comfy booth in a sweet room that usually was very white and pristine, with a soda fountain, lots of real Coca-Cola posters, and sharing ice cream with your loved one.

I know this doesn't sound exotic or adventurous but I miss a nice chewy sugar-free apple or pear bran muffin. Most of the muffins I find while traveling are oversized, tasteless and too sweet. For instance, why do bakers add so much sugar to their carrot muffins when carrots get sweeter as they cook. Lots of muffins are really cake in disguise and I always miss good NY muffins in the few places I've been able to find them (even those are hard to find in Manhattan). I also miss good strong coffee when traveling as so much of it is weak or boring chain store variety.

David Bouley could have made a ton of money just franchising his name and opening chain restaurants or going on TV. I'm not ready to call him a 'scoundrel' just because of a news article without hearing his side of the story. It seems the article stresses so much that Bouley doesn't pay his bills on time or to his staff. Again, I'm sure explanations are forthcoming. Meanwhile, the Red Cross is working with him and lots of people are eating well. I'm sure many of Bouley's non-paid volunteers are thrilled to work with him and wages aren't really important in these times when so many people are being helped. Let's not rush to judgment.

Depends on the cake and my craving for a particular flavor/filling at the time. I won't eat any cake that's make with buttercream - (most birthday cakes) for to me it tastes like pure lard. Also hate fruitcake. Too heavy and sweet. Cakes with booze in them like rum cake, black forest cake, Grand Marnier cake, or almond filling are always my first choice. Also like cakes with fresh fruit that's not overcooked such as strawberry shortcake, blueberry tarts, apple cake. Also, although not a cake, the banana pudding at Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker Street is terrific. Whoa! I've gotta stop as I'm getting really hungry.

I can relate to most of the pet peeves that have been posted. My number one complaint is when the restaurant tries to seat my friends and I at a lousy table: near the bathroom, the busboy station with dirty dishes, near the smoky bar, in 'Siberia' or at a cramped table for two when there are three or four in our party. I've listed this peeve before on another food site but would be interested in your comments. A restaurant manager once told me that they try to stagger the tables so all their servers get an equal number of diners. I don't quite buy this reason when in many instances I've seen 'choice' tables open and people seated at rotten ones.

Andy, I'll drink to that! :)

On New York 1 news this morning, they featured the "New Yorker of the Week" and a few restauranteurs were included who have opened their restaurants to feed everyone involved at the World Trade Center...firemen, police, volunteers. In addition to Drew Neirporent, the Capsouto brothers were featured in their restaurant while people in their work uniforms were happily taking a well-deserved food break. My next dinner outing will definitely be at Capsouto Freres and the space is so dramatic anyway. Haven't been in awhile so I'll let you know about the food.

Have you ever played this game? It's cute. My personal choices would be Noel Coward, Greta Garbo, Mae West and *Oscar Wilde.(*But then I think Noel and Oscar might cancel each other out with their repartee and witticisms.) Or how about dinner with Eleanor Roosevelt, Marlene Dietrich, John F. Kennedy and Dorothy Parker. Who would you have dinner with?

Mike, thanks for clarifying about the restaurants. Hmm, brisket and kreplach! Wow, what could be better! :)

P.S. I forgot to add "Charge you Ů-10 EACH for dessert.

I dunno, unless one is such a wine connoisseur and has such a fabulous wine collection, methinks it would be 'uncomfortable' to bring wine to a swanky gourmet restaurant in New York. Personally, I don't like asking for 'favors' because this puts the restaurant personnel in charge of making a decision for me. Can I or can't I bring a bottle or two of wine? I guess I'm just too controlling to leave that up to a restaurant manager. I have no qualms about BYOB if the place doesn't have a liquor license but this is different. Restaurants don't even like it when you bring your own birthday cake for a large party as they'd rather charge you Ů-10 for dessert. Guess it's all about profit and perhaps a point of pride with the establishment. I can understand that too.

Hoboken is so close to New York City that I consider it an extension of Manhattan. However, on my day trips there, I've never really found an excellent or even pretty good restaurant. Many places do have sidewalk dining which is a plus. Maybe I should get off Washington Street?? All recommendations are appreciated. Thanks.

Quote: from Bux on 10:56 am on Oct. 14, 2001 Ruby, I'm tempted to suggest you develop a taste for espresso, it's always made to order and, in my not so humbel opinion, just a better beverage. Bux, I love espresso too and prefer it in the latter part of the day. That's funny about the pasta. After reading your post, I almost fell off my chair laughing about it. And to think here in New York we pay so much for a bowl of it! More and more, I'm seeing prices in restaurants for pasta in the high teens and it's not because there are costly ingredients in the dish like shrimp or lobster. Maybe we should start a new post about pasta.

Wow! I used to think a good cuppa coffee was a simple, necessary pleasure but after reading some of these 'scientific' posts, I'm not so sure anymore. I became addicted to coffee when I was about four. My mother used to make hers with Chase & Sanborn or Savarin coffee--whatever tin was on sale--and the plainest/homeliest percolator. I'd be fascinated as I watched the little see-through glass top on the percolator. First the water would run clear, after a few minutes, the perking would pop faster and faster. The color got dark, then darker while the wonderful aroma filled the whole kitchen in our apartment on the Lower East Side (it wasn't trendy then). That was the best coffee - no fancy presses or exotic coffee beans. And she always served her coffee with what else? Coffee cake from Orchard Street. Now I buy coffee beans from Oren's for about twelve buckaroos and the beans have to be weighed exactly - 3/4 of a pound of French Roast with 1/4 pound of mocha java. Then the water has to be of a certain temp....blah blah. And you know what? My mom's coffee was better! Please don't write and say that I was only four and couldn't judge because I was already a gourmand by that time! :-) I do have one peeve that I'd like to share with you. I hate when restaurants tell me the coffee was just prepared and I know it's been sitting there for awhile. One sure giveaway is that as soon as the milk hits the coffee, it turns murky and tastes stale and terrible. No matter how much milk is added, the coffee stays muddy. One time in a trendy pizza/bistro/wine bar, I asked the waiter if the coffee was freshly made. He responded very enthusiastically: "Yes, we made it this morning." And he wasn't kidding.

See today's New York Times Dining Out section article: "Beyond Quiet Dining Rooms, A Quiet Crisis in the Kitchen" - Peacock Alley in the Waldorf-Astoria closed for good as of last week.

Last Spring, for a birthday dinner for eight people, we all showed up at Ping's on Mott Street, looking like yentas, with two shopping bags holding about 10 bottles of wine. We were originally going to have dinner at Funky Broome but they said we couldn't have the wine there because they were awaiting a liquor license and told us "inspectors" from the New York Liquor Board might show up at any point. When I had made the reservation at Funky Broome, I'd mentioned we were bringing our own wine and they said it was okay but I guess things changed that day. So we walked over to Ping's which does have a liquor license. Ping's allowed us to have our wine for a corkage fee of about Ű per bottle. The manager didn't act fazed at all and reacted as though it had happened before. The wines we brought were only about ฟ each but it was better to pay an additional corkage fee than to buy more wine at the restaurant at marked-up prices. Anyway, I just didn't want to clank out of Ping's with all that wine!

October is my very favorite month and I always search for good pumpkin pie. Most pumpkin pies to my taste are too custardy, not deep dish enough and don't have that nice ginger-clove balance. I have noticed that many restaurants (except diners) don't even offer p.p. around this time of year or even nearer to the holidays. The restaurants' reaction is that it's kind of pedestrian for the chef. Instead, they always push either their tiramisu, panna cotta, molten chocolate cake. They're great too but I want this traditional pie. Any recommendations for restaurants/take-out that feature excellent p.p. will be appreciated.

I'm not a fan of the word 'foodie' either. It sounds too much like 'groupie' which also has a negative connotation. If I had to define myself with a label, it might be a combination of 'epicure-gourmand.' I also like the word 'chowhound' and thought of myself as one way before I ever knew about Jim Leff's website. I mean he doesn't 'own' the word anymore than Gourmet Magazine owns the word gourmet.

It was really good. I had just never seen a tip added to a dim sum check before. This is automatically done for large parties but they usually list somewhere that tips will be added for 6 or more people. We were only two people so I was surprised plus the service was just fair. We had to flag down our waiter for water, beer...This post isn't really a complaint-just that I'm surprised they added the tip. Maybe this is how it's done now because people aren't leaving enough of a tip when having dim sum.