tommy

la tour in ridgewood. second and last time there. i would have opened it myself, but we didn't have glasses either, so that would have been pointless. although, i wasn't too far from drinking straight from the bottle. at those prices, they really should get their act together.

i am guilty, once again, of having thoughts in my head and assuming they'd magically come out in my post even if i didn't type them...yes, it was BYO. to be fair, we did have a bottle of champagne to start with. getting that opened turned out to be a chore as well, as we sat for 10 minutes before anyone even approached the table. we finally ordered, and asked for the bottle of wine to be opened. the apps then arrived before the bottle was tended to. i had a stern word (something along the lines of "this needs to be opened *immediately*") with a manager type as he walked by, and he quickly took care of the situation. but obviously not fast enough to take the bad taste out of my mouth.

last night our food (apps) arrived before our bottle of wine was opened, even though i had asked twice. acceptable? inexcusable?

yvonne, anyone who is "lulled" into buying a bottle of water from a server deserves to pay 12 dollars for their first, and 13 dollars for their second. the meek shall inherit the water tab. let it be...to quote neil and paul in one thought. as far as conspiracies are concerned, i know a lot of cool websites that i'd be glad to share with you. www.they'reallafterme.com is my favorite. :D ruby, i believe that tavern on the green is, in fact, lowering their prices, which was the seed to this thread. edit: oh wait, i just set myself up for "a 5% discount is still making the restaurant lots of money". well, ok, but, it's, like, a gesture, and we're all, mostly, adults, and, we can, like, order it, or not.

i have to wonder why places like say, houston, never run out of water but NJ is?? and why can't we just borrow some from maryland or somewhere. jeesh.

i have to wonder how the restaurant industry will survive if they're practically giving evian away at only a 8 bucks a bottle. rut-roh. :p yvonne, it seems to me that it's more of a gesture rather than a conservation issue. and of course, there's nothing wrong with gesturing.

they should have called it the "water chestnut, mushroom and other veggie(table) burger". that way they wouldn't risk confusing the apparently easily baffled vegans and vegetarians. puleeze. :D

rosie, what is going on in your napkin that is so loud?

i own cattle. and a corn farm. and a mansion and a yatch. seriously, my dad taught me one important lesson: don't put anything in your mouth that might make you uncomfortable. he told me this when i tried swalling a cue ball. i'm not sure if that translates here, but, it made me *very* uncomfortable the next day. and with all due respect malawry, i don't see why one would assume i have anything "vested" in this, um, discussion either way. if you can think of a scenario that might suggest that i do, i'd love to hear it. i can't think of one possibility, with that exception of the fact i own cattle, corn, a mansion and a yatch, and that my real name is elmer fudd. piece out yo.

tommy... I'm glad I didn't misjudge you. :) not that you know of.

dudley of course.

sort of on topic...i've recently (yes, i'm slow) realized that celery stalks will last practically 2 weeks if in water in tuperware. or maybe i'm just eating crappy celery. i'm not sure. it lasts much longer than even standing upright in water.

oh great. another thread of novels. allow me to be concise: it seems obvious that an equal number of courses for the table is easier for the restaurant and for the customers. GT has taken a lot less heat on egullet than it has praise (my opinion). i'll be going again next month. perhaps with a refreshended (refreshed?) outlook. perhaps expecting too much. perhaps with no more expectation than i've had the last few times i've been there. at the end of the day, i look forward to it more than ever before, and i'll be sure that the table orders the same amount of courses, just because. :)

as much as i like having the last word, it's kind of boring. can someone please say something? fine. richard shindell is playing at william paterson university on sunday (NJ). just thought i'd add something.

rosie, the answer is simple: move in with me. some of the tables are tight, but overall, considering what i'm used to in NYC, i didn't find the seating that uncomfortable. granted, the night we were there when it was packed we were seated in a corner by the front window, which was nice. :)

SHEW! *finally* he catches on. i'm knackered. :) and since this morning i've gotten f--k all done.

ron, hmmm... that extension of logic is not so bad. however, it's not half as funny as my "taunt vegetarians in a warm pot" bit. "veggies" means vegetables more than it means "vegetarians". if i ordered veggies, and had a platter of whining rabbit food eaters brought to me on a platter, i'd be morally offended. ;) hey, just kidding about the whining rabbit food eaters thing. let's face it, if you or me or anyone knew that if they ate a peanut they'd drop dead, you wouldn't take the word of the kid at the register. people have a responsibility to themselves, and they should make sure they get an answer with which they're comfortable before putting something in their mouth. on a related thought: vegetarians, please, don't go to BK. there's nothing there that you can eat, and there probably won't be in your lifetime. i mean, the smell of that place alone would make a cow gag.

in general, there is something to be said for butt brushing. maybe not on my bread, but in general. you know.

i don't think it discredits my jean georges analogy at all. my point was, you have to ask a credible source. and if i were in a position where i needed to know, because of an allergy or religious or other reason, you can bet your pippy that i wouldn't feel comfortable taking the word of the kid at the register. i would, however, feel comfortable asking a captain at jean georges (who would, incidently, ask the kitchen to get the answer if he was unsure). as for your "peanut-less" question. i would say that there is little confusion in anyone's mind that peanut-less means without peanuts. that would be deception in advertising, or some other legal term that i don't know about. not to harp on it, but "veggie" means "vegetable" to me, not vegetarian. mrs tommy: "tommy, how would you like your veggies done"? tommy: "just put them in a luke warm pot of water and taunt them, i hear they're suing BK again." :p you see, veggies means vegetables.

wilfrid, i don't see your picture. jhlurie, peanuts are in thai and vietnamese food and i don't always see that mentioned on the menu. if i ask the non-english speaking kid if the curry has peanuts he'll most likely nod his head no or yes, depending on the wind. i shall taunt the kid and sue the thai place the next time this happens. well, maybe i won't see, but i will be morally outraged, but certainly highly-spiced.

are you eating there? or are you just looking at the list to get some ideas. i'm curious as to how you'll translate their prices into retail. i suppose assuming a 300% markup would get you in the ballpark most of the time. and what kind of food are you serving? i'm thinking their list might be geared towards steak-friendly selections.

dude. come on. you don't ask the 4 dollar and hour high school drop out. we went down this road already, and i think we all agree. from now on if i say "ask", i am implying "find out to the best of your ability". xo

Ron, i believe the consumer should have every possible resource on his side to protect him from unsavory characters. i believe in this strongly. i also believe that if your religion or personal choice dictates that you don't put any animal product in your mouth you'd better be smart enough to ask first. laws can only protect you so much, you have to start by protecting yourself. i am done discussing and i shall progress directly into the taunting.

stupid is as stupid effing does (i was never sure what that meant, but it seems to fit). i hope these vegetarians sue the company. and i hope their names are in the paper so i can see exactly who these ignorant sorry effers are. once i do, i shall taunt them.

quite a story behind this restaurant. apparently, it took a team of engineers and lots of thought and money to pull the whole thing off. one of the most important aspects of the design was the need to get the smoke away from neighboring buildings. they apparently solved this engineering feat with a highly complex solution that even those of us with engineering degrees probably wouldn't understand: really tall chimneys.