tommy

you have just solved a mystery that has been bothering me for years. i can't believe it was that simple all along.

i hope it's not the same people as mezza luna because that place was a complete waste of space. any change will likely be an improvement. i'll check this place out soon for sure. thanks for the heads up! what other restaurants in the area, or better yet in NYC, would you compare this place to? and welcome to the world of posting on egullet.

i can't understand the concept of not understanding "aquired taste" on a food website. i've learned to eat almost everything. and when i don't like something, i know i should, and i work on liking it. that leads to more variety. and you know what they say about variety.

don't forget that it's BYOB.

it's very quiet, with the median age hovering somewhere around 80. well, ok, maybe 50.

older people. shopping only for themselves. i say kick them in the head, even if they have only 11 items in the 10 item express lane. shew. glad i got that rage off my chest.

yeah, thanks for the invite. oh, and, it's good to see i was right about the place. if it's competing with chakra, which i have a feeling it might, it doesn't have too tough a battle. see you at the village green.

feel free to order the duck.

i expect the menu to change a bit. every menu should, in my mind, with a focus on seasonal ingredients. their menu has a bit story in the front suggesting that they'll do just that. and that's great. but the selections seem a little less interesting. to me at least. first off, taking the grilled octopus off is a crime, unless it's seasonal, and i don't think it is. the menu on their website seems to be up-to-date. the mashed potatoes that i mentioned, apparently, were actually mashed taro root.

...What a novel idea! Reading the directions?! i tore through that packaging so fast there could have been a 10 carat diamond tucked away in the styrofoam and i wouldn't have seen it.

i'm not too bothered by roaches. i know they are commonplace in NYC. and i know i've lived with them, so i have to assume that others have as well. i drew the line at one thai restaurant in midtown after i saw a roach on my date. that kinda put the nail in the coffin. and there were a lot of other choices. i don't know that a roach at China 46 in NJ (note: i've never seen a roach at C46), for example, would put me off of that particular restaurant, though, as they are doing something very special food-wise.

i also noticed that the menu didn't seem as exciting this time around. i'm afraid that my initial concerns about this place are materializing: they're dumbing it down, cutting corners, and it seems to be collapsing under its own weight. i can deal with the latter 2 issues. the first, however, is a problem for me.

All I wanted last night was a glass of prosecco and some decent food. After toying with the idea La Cambusa in Fairlawn or Legal Seafood, I thought a visit to Chakra might do the trick. After all, they have prosecco, and it was a Tuesday night, so it wouldn’t be crowded, right? I walked in to a relatively crowded restaurant. I asked the host if seating 2 people would be a problem. “not at all.” With that I told him that I would be outside making a phone call. I called mrs. Tommy to tell her to come down. I used the men’s room for 1 minute and came back out to the host stand where I told the fella that my wife would be here momentarily. He stated that he forgot to take me name. Now this wasn’t too much of a concern, although several couples had walked in after me. 3 minutes later we were both ready to eat. I asked the host if we could be seated, and I was told that it would be 20 minutes, because “right now, every table is booked.” You must be joking. 10 minutes earlier it was “no problem.” This annoyed me to no end. Had I known there would be a wait, I would have went elsewhere. Not a good way to start a Tuesday night dinner. So we sit at the bar and have a drink. And we wait. And wait. Finally I send mrs. Tommy to the host to ask how much longer it’s going to be. Now there’s a new guy there and he’s all like “I can seat you right now.” She basically had to ask why all of a sudden we could be seated, and she’s told that there are tables open. She says “well why have we been sitting at the bar for 20 minutes waiting for a table?” of course, there was no real explanation at this point. The guy was somewhat apologetic and we jump in the table. I should mention that there’s a 5 piece band playing. Loudly. Way too loud for that room. Way too loud for a Tuesday night. Now folks, I’ve played drums for half of my life, and I’ve played in rock bands for 15 years, and I’ve been to countless rock shows, and this, still, was, too, loud. To make a long story short, service was slow, to the point that I wanted to fall asleep. Music was loud, to the point that it was keeping me awake. The food ranged from really good (tuna tartare) to pointless (salmon with bok choy on a pile of mashed potatoes). I don’t recall saying this many times in my life, but that’s $140 I’ll love to take back right now. The highlight of the night was sitting next to Leslie West, of Mountain. That was pretty cool. But even a Leslie West sighting isn’t enough to get convince me to go back to Chakra.

thanks folks. vivre, i'll look into Locke Obers, although these people are females and might prefer something a bit more unclubby. thanks!

john, holly, thanks.

yeah, my plans over the weekend were to eat 6 lbs of Usinger's.

Oh, no...FAR chunkier. I could bathe in it. But that's another story... like really really chunky thai peanut sauce that's usually served with satay?

like thai peanut sauce that's usually served with satay?

Which restaurants are people talking about up in Boston these days? A friend needs a rec for a client dinner (client = someone who isn’t too adventurous, so nothing too “ethnic”). Something along the lines of No. 9 Park, which friend thought was great and not too stuffy. i know the board is probably filled with ideas, but i was hoping for a few highlights to seed the decision process. thanks for any help. edit: and i see i didn't include "Boston" in the headings, which isn't helping much i suppose.

the "spicy" part of spicy rolls is usually a mixture of mayo and hot sauce, which is pink. could that have been it?

'zactly. you should see me flip out when i see leftovers wrapped in tin foil in the fridge. i'm like "USE THE BAGS". although i was convinced this weekend that tin foil is fine for fried chicken.

i'm with ya all the way on this one.

i'm so enamored with Usinger's at this point that i have to order more immediately. any thoughts on freezing these things? should i try to time the delivery for the week that i'll be eating them? edit: from what i understand, they're frozen before they're shipped...although mine arrived not all that frozen.

i have found that plenty of people who are decidedly not "yuppies" are pretty stupid and inconsiderate too.

i noticed that they made that (smoking) distinction on their website. interesting. so the food was pretty good? sounds like it might be sorta like Chakra.