tommy

not all that funny.

the thing that bothers me (well, only a bit i suppose) is that Korbel, being one of the top sellers in the US, is not doing anything to educate people. can't they come up with a way to include "champagne" if they must (perhaps by stating "traditional methode champenois" if they must), but call themselves sparkling wine? the percentage of people in the US who have no idea what champagne is is exceedingly embarrassing, and Korbel is doing nothing to help that.

staying in. it's been a few years since i've actually gone out, although that was certainly the norm. we'll probably just sit at home alone, or have a few friends over if they're free. seems like a bad night to be out and about.

When I was a kid, they were railing about permissive parents raising their kids without standards, and those kids are now grandparents. So it's not a new thing. but isn't that part of the point?

having an open mind and being able to understand this is a good start, and, in fact, might be a generational issue in and of itself.

filet mignon spinach roasted potatoes i'm not sure why we wanted filet mignon tonite, as opposed to ribeye or some other cut, but it was pretty tasty. i'm going to try to eat as much beef as possible until the mad cow scare here in the states blows over.

at the very least, cava is made following the methode champenoise. i'm not sure about Korbel, though.

all i know is i don't want to be the guy deciding that the kid has crossed the line and then ask the party to leave. additionally, i wouldn't want to be sitting in the same room where this is happening. sticky situation to say the least. all this talk of rules and policy is great, but i think we just have to all hope for the best in that people will make reasonable and rational decisions when it comes to bringing a child to and keeping the child at dinner at a high end restaurant.

dude, i mean trashy *good*.

although i agree, i think there's a difference between behavior that's acceptable for a 31 yearr-old and what's acceptable for a 4 year-old.

buying houses and toys, and having kids.

the bad news is, i made the pizza on the stone in the oven instead of the grill, so i really have nothing to add. but the good news is that it was prosciutto and blue cheese, and turned out as one of the best pizzas i've ever had. highly recommended on the grill, in the oven, or anywhere you can make it.

that's the other point i was thinking about when i was shopping for lunch: i don't know a whole lot about wine, but i probably know more than 90% of restaurant managers and owners in the US. that's a shame really.

ok, so i might be more demanding than the average customer, but i appreciate a kir *with* an amuse. nothing makes me happier, and sets the tone of the meal better, than some sparkling wine with an amuse. hell, a little thimble of seasonal soup is good enough and easy enough. if that doesn't put a smile on the diner's face, i don't know what will. but i applaud them regardless.

my crust is pretty damned thin, so this might not apply to your crust. but, if i left mine on for much more than 3 minutes, it would be black. 8 minutes and it might very well be totally gone. but i think the point remains: the air temp might not make that much of a difference. after all, that's just helping to melt/heat the toppings. 500 or 550 would probably do the same job, especially in 8 minutes. i suppose you'll tell us how it goes. or maybe i'll try some pizza on the grill today for lunch and report back.

but that suggests that there's a downside (from the restaurant's perspective) to serving interesting wines (stemware and servers are a slightly different story). i don't think that interesting wines cost all that much more than mediocre wines. i *do* think that even though the wine list says "Pouilly Fuisse", if it says "chardonnay grape" as well, those who don't care will order it and be quite happy. this tells me that most of these restaurants simply don't care. if they gave it any more thought than "well, i don't think our customers care", they'd consider it and their customers would be better served. i don't know of many aspects of running a business where the possibility serving your customers better is so grossly ignored and written off without much thought.

"A complimentary kir is also brought to each table before ordering. What a delightful touch that put us in the mood for a wonderful dining experience." that is indeed a lovely touch. more restaurants should do this. with some sparklers as cheap as they are, it would hardly amount to any huge cost.

strong winds definitely effect the temp on my weber. at the end of the day, if consistent high temps are a concern, an outdoor weber probably isn't the way to go. another thought: i'm not sure what kind of pizza you plan on making, but mine are thin and take about 3 minutes on the stone. i can't help but think that the stone is doing just about all of the work, rather than the temp of the air in the oven. given that, i'm not sure the 50 degree difference would make much of a difference once you let the stone get up to around that temp.

I think that most people don't do it because: 1) Most people are generally respectful of others 2) It is a waste of money (generally speaking) 3) It is not fun or fair for the the children (generally speaking, once again) 4) Nice dining is a big occasion for most people. Correcting a child all night long would sort of take the shine off of the apple. And trust me, having a disagreement involving children is no way to "get lucky" or to sum it up nicely, i think: they realize it's generally not appropriate.

i don't think so. suggesting that if one can "afford a high end restaurant, you can afford a sitter" might be, however. fwiw, i've been on several successful casual business meeting/dinners with a child. not an infant, but a child. the point is, of course, that perhaps no one in the group was actually paying for the dinner, therefore the argument above is meaningless. perhaps the rest of the world doesn't share your values.

i don't see how that would be "snobbery", as it was one of the smarter shows. now, if you don't watch Friends, then i'd say you're a snob...like me.

I would agree with that! Any disruptive element should be removed. Childeren under 6 don't belong at such a place. speaking of official policies, i would think that knowing this might happen would be deterent enough for people to leave their kids at home. actually, i wonder if that's why many don't bring their kids to high-end restaurants to being with?

why not? is this always inappropriate? clearly, taking children to high-end restaurants is the exception, rather than the norm. if it wasn't, i'd see a lot more kids at Jean-Georges. i don't. so, i'm pointing out possible exceptions. regardless of retorts, they are valid, and just 4 that came to mind in about .5 seconds. this suggests, to me, that there are more. more importantly, i was speaking to your suggestion that if one can "afford" a high-end restaurant, they can afford a baby-sitter (as if finances are the reason people bring children to restaurants), ostensibly nullifying the need to ever bring a child to a high-end restaurant. i think restauratuers should start an official survey, asking why children are in restaurants. then we could all get together and tell each person why they're wrong.

the thermometer in my weber reads about 550 when the thing is fully heated.

festivus