tommy

i'm still missing the point. i have little problem securing a table at 8 pm at most NYC restaurants a month in advance. these include babbo and GT.

it's good to see someone with perspective. a breath of fresh air in a vacuum of negativity. that, however, is pretty damned funny.

Sorry Tommy. But you made such excellent points that i thought you'd be well served if I repeated 'em Nick nick, my comment wasn't directed towards you. it was more of a general thing. but thanks for reiterating.

when you say "preferred customers", do you mean those that diligently call 1 month in advance? what problem could you possibly have with this reality?

another example of this type of thing was when scalini fedeli opened up their nyc branch. in the ad for the nyc place, they used their NJ zagat rating, making it seems like the nyc place got that rating, and also boasted "voted the top italian in the state", leaving the perceptive reader asking "by whom?"

hehe.

1) bring your own peppermill. 2) control your experience by not letting someone put pepper on a dish when you don't want it. 3) bring you own matchbook, or 3-legged table. 4) what's with the complaining?

does anyone read previous posts before posting? i gotta wonder.

had a BBQ. spent most of the day worrying about crap that didn't matter. i'll be sure to post about all of that nonsense later. other than that, enjoyed family, friends, freedom, and life.

thanks for that clarification paul. i do see your point now, and i was *thought* that came out wrong. but that's what advertising is all about. this shouldn't be surprising to anyone.

helena, clearly you are wrong.

after hearing all of these well-thought-out arguments, i concede that i'm obviously wrong, and those reviews were useless to me and everyone else in the state. but i'll make sure i try both of these places. although i'm not sure that bergen county can be categorized as "upscale", i'm not sure what that has to do with this discussion. even a 1990 piece of shit toyota with 120k on it will get you to nyack from mahwah in 20. dodge621, you are more clever than i am, as you continue to prove. thank you for quoting me and referencing my quote with half a thought. that, i suppose was "a lot to do [sic] about nothing," again.

related to xavier's in piermont, which admittedly is the one i thought they reviewed? my friends in norwood don't think garrison is too far to drive for fine dining. my friends all over bergen county don't think nyack is too far. the readership is served.

then what's your explanation? (grimes not covering NJ restaurants is hardly a good analogy) don't you think that the readership is served by the occasional review of xavier's or something in nyack? have you been to xavier's? i bet you have. is xavier's only 20 minutes from where lots of people in bergen county live? it sure is. is nyack closer to everyone in bergen, hudson, and passaic counties than red bank? yup. is the readership served? yes. will the NYT receive hundreds of letters in protest? probably not. and if they do, they will be from a handful of crackpots who have nothing better to do. i, for one, appreciated the reviews of the restaurant in nyack and also xavier's. i'm guessing i'm not alone.

the NYT's NJ section today contained a review of a restaurant in Nyack. it seems to be a wider conspiracy than first thought. Nyack, I'm sure, is much closer to a lot of NJ residents than is say Cape May.

as i've suggested, it affects different people differently. i have no problem with that! i'm just sayin that you can't please all the people all the time. what's dark for some may be just right for me. i rather like places that aren't too bright, but do have light directed towards the table. after all, half the enjoyment of eating is looking. or maybe 1/2 of the enjoyment. but certainly some, and we can all agree on that.

well, it's been almost 24 hrs, and curiousity has gotten the best of me: can someone clarify what this post was all about and what it has to do with anything? any help would be appreciated. i can barely contain my excitement. regards, tommy

i have to think the lighting issue affects different people differently. i have very good vision, and have rarely had a problem with lighting.

afghan grill was thai?

it seems to me that you run out of restaurants to review at some point.

ngatti, did you make it to wondee's?

a zin such as ravenswood would be a step in the right direction.

i'd go for dinner. maybe i'm missing something.

try to be friendly as well. that's "tommy help" to me. any other correspondence directed towards me should be via egullet messenger. cheers.

at the risk of posting too much, a la wilfrid, i just remembered my first "kniving course"... there were a bunch of "beginners", and of course i thought the most of myself, having been a pretty decent cook for years. well, after about 2 minutes of carving up a raw bird, i cut my finger, blood and all....limping up to the teacher, with my tail between my legs, i got the following tidbit, at a very loud volume: "well, some has got to be the first". the rest of the class was relieved. and, of course, i felt like a complete idiot. there's nothing like bleeding in front of 30 people to slap some modesty on one's ass.