tommy

chad's approach is similar to mine, i suppose. all of that 'computer' stuff. back in the day, when you called 411, it was clear that they required a city first. in fact, the prerecorded message to this day says "city and listing please". having some experience with computers, i can only assume that the city is the first data entry screen on their computer. this assumption, for me, came very quickly, and i've always given the city first, and then the name (not the address, as they're not entering that. at the very least, they don't enter it intially). to this day i cringe when i hear someone make a 411 call and say "can i have the number for Babbo on Waverly place in manhattan". you can almost see the 411 operator's face glazing over until he hears "manhattan", at which point you'll most likely get "what listing?" after they type it in. the "waverly place" bit is just noise adding to the confusion.

could someone clarify the reservation policy at lupa? i thought i remember that they reserve only a portion of the restaurant, and the rest is left for walk-ins. regardless, the front room can get a bit crowded with people waiting. unlike babbo, the bar is right in the dining area, so this might be a consideration.

i've reconsidered. it's definitely a male-female thing, what with women always droning on about tangential nonsense. i sometimes try to make a game out of situations like these. i lump calls to customer service lines in as well. i try to say exactly what i mean in a way that the other person completely understands. once you get people confused, they tend to get nasty, and you might as well drive right out of the drive-through and head to the next one.

you just gotta go easy with these folks. they hate talking to you as much as you hate having to deal with them.

an axe to grind? not really. this is just one of two or so discussions about that article. and i'm certainly not the only contributor. i'm not assuming the latter. and if she did go out and buy some, she still should have mentioned that they're very hard to come by. it's generally accepted that they're perhaps illegal at his point. you yourself say you haven't shopped for this product in some time, so i'm a bit confused by your insistence that my opninion is somehow wrong. i don't have anything else to add.

difficulty in getting a table?? like, showing up, giving your name, and having a couple of drinks at the bar or across the street and coming back in an hour?? yes. i prefer reservations. i generally see people waiting on the sidewalk. your preferences may differ. is that OK???

kim mentions returns, which i think WS is excellent at handling. you can return just about anything at any time. i've told the tale of my toaster (or was it deep fryer?). i asked the salesperson if i could return it if it didn't work as well as i thought it should, and she stated that i could return anything at any time. she said that they've had people come in a year later with an old frying pan that was all messy and they accept the return and i suppose give you a new one or issue a store credit. that sure beats trying to keep you all-clad clean.

each is different. mario is also involved in Otto as well, which has gotten quite a bit of press around here. for my money, i like Babbo the best overall. however, i love Esca for seafood, and Lupa is producing some outstanding food, although i don't enjoy the difficulty involved in getting a table there. it's slightly cheaper i'd say, and a bit more casual.

chestnut. sorry boss.

no doubt. seems family friendly.

people who shop at WS generally aren't all that concerned with price.

that's good.

looks like a Wild Noodles is opening in Ridgewood on Chestnut street a store or two down from the still-not-opened Blend. just what that town needs: another mediocre restaurant. if someone gave me the 300k in capital it required to open that franchise, i could have opened a nice restaurant with a small but well-selected menu. or maybe i would have blown it all on drugs and cars. not sure. but it definitely would have been a lot better than Wild Noodles. edited to get the street right.

update: it looks like NY Pizza Factory is gone (good), and a sign on the window says that a place called La Cambusa is in fact moving in. looks like the rumors were right, assuming it's the same place.

poke, microwave for 8 minutes, on the grill to finish. if i'm not in a hurry: poke, right in the oven on the rack. to paraphrase emeril, we're not buildin rocket ships here folks. we're just heating up a potato.

now that steakas brings it up, i do recall reading about some place (not in NJ, but somewhere) that had separate menus for "the ladies" without prices. i dare say i'd get up and walk out of a restaurant if a menu like this was presented to anyone at my table.

it worked out just fine as far as i remember. he singled handedly made ave d hip, although the median age jumped up a few points when he moved in.

i took craig's advice and picked up some Bollini and Tiefenbrunner. my wife and i couldn't detect much of a difference (slight difference in finish) during a side-by-side blind tasting between the Santa Margherita and the Tiefenbrunner. and at about 11 bucks, it's certainly a good value. i see little point in buying SM now. looking forward to the Bollini, which came in at 9 bucks!

sounds like she didn't do the appropriate research.

that may very well be the case. however, i still think it was irresponsible, or at the very least misleading, for the Times so spotlight a product that is not easily accessible while not making any mention of that fact.

you could always go to Radicchio in Ridgewood, where they have 20-some-odd specials, always recited, and probably without prices.

not recently in my experience.

did anyone detect any sichuan peppercorns in any of the dishes?

i don't know of any place in NJ like this. in fact, i don't know of many places anywhere like this. even restaurants that offer only a fixed price will generally list the price somewhere on the menu. although, i suppose that some places do offer a menu sans prices in addition to the regular menu. but i really can't even think of an example. in summary, i'm of no help here.

there are a few producers out of New Zealand using screwtops. i *think* another is Villa Maria. if the sauvignon blanc too acidic, or the style isn't pleasing, then you could try the chardonnay, which i'm sure has a screwtop as well, but less of that grapefruit thing going on. should be about 10 bucks.