tommy

Some silly name like Sissy Biggers? yeah. she was sure perky. but she's sure no paige davis. spencer, who would want to be jacqui?!? her job was to be abused and ignored by booby flay. i couldn't watch the show as i felt so bad for her.

aside from the "no experience" bit, i think that's they way a *lot* of restaurants work.

don't overestimate me. eff yeah. we eat bambi and bugs and even wylie (super-genius).

i've always "known" that mahi-mahi is actually dolphin. it wasn't until this morning, when someone called in on the Howard Stern radio show, to set the record straight for them, me, and presumably a lot of other ignorant people: mahi-mahi comes from a fish sometimes called "dolphin." the cute dolphins that we know and love, the ones who talk to us, and love us, and do cute human tricks with their flippers, are mammals, and aren't generally served at jean-georges. is this accurate? if so, i learned something new today, and it wasn't on egullet.

sure they do!!! it occurs to me that if i were looking for women to meet, i certainly wouldn't be looking at the cheesecake factory or chi-chi's.

clearly to make my head explode with silly stats.

i'm very familiar with the programming, chief. perhaps you have some new and exciting ideas for the tvfn?

with all this talk about tvfn going down the wrong path, and forgetting it's roots, etc, etc, i'd like to ask how many times i can watch a cook roast a chicken. i'd then like to ask how many times do you think advertisers are going to pay for spots that come after that roasting chicken episode? PBS offers *several* channels in my market that have cooking shows, commercial free, strictly technique and food. i find that balances nicely with tvfn's travel and fun oriented segments, which i generally enjoy.

but it's not the same. you can compare all you'd like.

nick brings up prices, which is something i was going to mention. lunch at the cheesecake factory, olive garden, or any one of those horrible places can easily be more than a meal at a local, good, restaurant. the good news is that 90% of americans still perfer the olive garden over latour. otherwise, i'd never be able to get a table.

http://www.cranedoor.com/images1/Cheesecake.jpg http://www.mozer.com/CF-2.jpg

and i don't think it's about the food either. it's about low expectations and lack of knowledge. not that either is a bad thing, but that's who they cater to.

that couldn't possibly happen to me. actually, i'm missing the point. are you talking about restaurants double booking a single table? that's not really what we're talking about here in my estimation. canceling, even at the last minute, only hurts the restaurant if they were 100% booked, had to turn away reservations, and then ended up 95% booked because i didn't show up. if they weren't going to book 100% booked to begin with, i don't see how there's a problem. i'm sure someone will go on to say that the restaurant orders x amount of steaks assuming that they will be 100% booked, but if they do that, they're just plain stupid, as they should know that they'll get a 10% cancelation rate (or whatever the average is), due to illness, conflict in plans, or yeah, i suppose, someone canceling because a better offer came up. where's the problem?

it seems to me that if a restaurant, or the industry, was plagued with the problem of losing money to no-shows (what is it, a 20% industry-wide rate?), then they'd raise their prices to compensate, or at the very least pass that loss on to the consumer just like any other business. or how about a no-reservation policy? f*cking Olive Garden has a 2 hour wait most nights. of course, it's clear that there's a point at which neither the industry nor the consumer can handle the loss, but what can i tell you. welcome back, macrosan.

don't get me started.

who says? where is that written? putting your made-up definition aside, i would say that wilfrid is *not* bad. at least not for that reason. sometimes. depending.

ghee, well it really depends on a lot of factors, now don't it. places like the french laundry and nobu have people calling the day before and the day of dying to get in. not to mention walk-ins hoping for that lucky last minute cancelation. i have no problem with booking a nobu or french laundry knowing that i might have to cancel a few days before. no problem whatsoever. and i don't think they have a problem with that either. however, some restaurants can be hurt by this practice. my rule: if i feel it will hurt the restaurant, i won't do it. otherwise, why not. note: it also helps, if you know there's a good chance that you're going to cancel the reservation, to make it under someone else's name.

great suggestions everyone! it might be important to note that it is mrs. tommy who will be going to portland, not me. i'm not sure if that's a consideration when choosing a restaurant. and as much as i'd love to meet up with you folks, i'm not sure mrs. tommy cares!

trillium, i don't know what i mean by unique either. suffice it to say, i can get just about anything i want in NYC any day, from nobu to jean-georges to great thai and vietnamese. so it's not as though i'm starved for great eats necessarly. but perhaps some good seafood (which is *always* welcome)? is portland known for seafood? are they known for fiddlehead ferns? what is portland known for, and where might i experience "portland." fun, good, lively, etc. i know, i know, i'm a pain in the ass. but i really know very little about portland.

neeley, thursday night to be exact. looking for something good, and perhaps unique. i'm from NY, so that might suggest that unique is more the way to go. not sure what that means, however. can you describe your recs a bit more? thanks!

any thoughts on where a solo diner might eat in Portland? something *good*, and fun. not stuffy. not too formal. bar seating not preferable. any suggestions would be appreciated.

like i always say "eff fiddleheads, it's *morel* season!" edit: just saw stone's above post. i suppose this proves that he's almost as crafty and clever as i am.

i've had some exciting fiddleheads at various restaurants. i can't recall the restaurants, or the preparations, but i remember them inspiring me to buy them. when i cooked them, they sucked. it's a tricky little weed for sure.

my guess is you'll continue to shit on this thread. i look forward to you proving me wrong by taking the high road. on another thread, of course.

i think that a large percentage of the population would define "more special" as "more expensive," which is probably why the sommelier was giving you price points. report back. i'm considering going to this old-school temple of haute cuisine. with black vans® rounding out my armani ensemble.