tommy

since wine isn't so much a part of our culture here in the US, i don't make those assumptions when i know the restaurant is producing quality food, regardless of how standard the wine list may be.

what's with all the secret-secret? if it's appropriate who cares?

possibly. and there are plenty of examples of decent to good restaurants that have cookie-cutter wine lists. those are the ones i'm worried about, as they should know better.

unfortunately these products find their way into local independents as well. lots of them. There is nothing inherently wrong or strange about this - the French, Italians and Spaniards mostly drink mass brands too...with the major difference being their mass brands are not as well-made as ours. i suppose that's a matter of opinion. i find that there's something terribly wrong with cookie-cutter wine lists consisting of the "usual suspects".

unfortunately these products find their way into local independents as well. lots of them.

rut-roh. giving it a moment of thought, i think that i've noticed that restaurants that put thought into their list often have less of a mark-up than those who offer 2 cabs and 2 pinots. and i certainly don't mind the mark-up as much when the wine is interesting and good, as opposed to complete shit and warm.

and consumer behavior is often controlled by the business behind the product. point being, if restaurants gave even a second of thought to their wine lists, people would be drinking better wines. they don't, so people don't. and if it continues, no amount of time will help.

in my vision of a better world, people would drink less, but better, wine. and once they start drinking better wine, they might drink more of it.

thanks for clearing that up, brad t. that's good news. and yes, if the Tasting Room could be awarded "4 stars", then i'd have no idea whatsoever what "4 stars" meant. at least now i have some sort of reference.

food: what's not to like?

i suppose if one likes the flavor, there wouldn't be a problem. i found them undrinkable.

i should mention that i require silence, and for people to get out of my way, when i approach plating. your asses should be in the seats, wandering around the kitchen. m'kay?

Tried this place last week. Although we had an 8 o’rock reservation, we had to wait at the bar for about 20 minutes. It was Friday and the place was jamming. Clearly it’s a popular spot. The menu didn’t do all that much for me. It was typical of these types of places: mid-tier places with unimaginative, heavy food. I got some sort of shrimp tempura, which was basically fried shrimp. The shrimp were large and the dish, overall, was fun and decent enough. I ended with a pasta with duck meat. I should have known when it said “served in a light cream sauce” that it would come drowned in a heavy cream sauce. A veal chop was most excellent. The best I’ve had in some time. Thick and juicy, cooked to m/r as requested. It’s a pretty restaurant, with windows all around. it was insanely loud this night. The bar area is nice and roomy as well, and looks like a decent place for a drink (although it was packed this particular night). Service was as you’d expect. Upon ordering the second bottle of wine (same wine), the server asked “do you want to try this one too or should I just pour it”. *sigh* don’t these places train their staff on the basics of wine? With a list that large you’d think they’d give staff a primer at the very least.

i can't do either. not sure if that supports your theory, though. i'm not very good at doing 2 things at once. but i'm trying harder to be able to chat and prep/cook, as the kitchen is the certain of the universe, and all of my friends agree. i've found that giving guests little cooking tasks shuts them up. hopefully one day all of us will be able to chat and prep at the same time.

i wonder what wine would be number 1 if all consumers were given a choice at restaurants?

wrose case, i wouldn't worry too much about a saturday lunch reservation. you can probably just go right in. worse case you have some cheese and wine at the bar area.

i read it here somewhere. more to the point, though, if you're going to qualify some of your choices with "4 star food but lacking ambience", i'd certainly put the Tasting Room into that category, unless you think the ambience at the Tasting Room is worthy of 4 stars. i think we both agree that the food as always been outstanding, and the service excellent, though.

and now that the team has left? (from what i understand)

does the Tasting Room, then, have the "ambience"? i can't imagine awarding 4 star to a restaurant where i have to get up from my table to let other people sit or go to the restroom.

although, even people who do dine out a lot and do becomes regulars at high-end restaurants often cancel reservations. i've done it. plans change. clients flake out. etc. i've always gotten the impression that restaurants, even the better ones, understand that and don't take it personally. and as someone else suggested they don't seem to be suffering if there's a big walk-in or last minute reservation business. and a week's notice seems reasonable to me in NYC. it's the small guys i worry about, because they can get screwed on last minute cancellations. but we're not talking about them here anyhow.

time might tell if there will/can ever be fallout from that practice. although i've never heard even a whisper about the possibility someone being denied a reservation based on one's "record" or history. and if you're not using opentable, or some system that ties you to a specific account based on name/phone number/SSN, etc., then it really doesn't matter if they tried to deny you a reservation, as you'd be temped to make it under "Bux" if necessary. besides, i've been making all of mine under "plotnicki" for 3 years now. seems to work pretty well.

Goodness, Tommy...you're not gonna get all mature on us, are you?!? only my waistline and my wrinkles. the rest, for the most part, continues to get more immature.

from what source do you get this info?

strangely, i once had an argument with a chef and staff over him referring to his kobe beef, from kobe, as "kobe-style" on his menu.; i assured him that it was OK and proper to just say "kobe beef". he felt that while the beef was from kobe, there is no real designation of "kobe beef". i suppose it comes down to the existence of a generally accepted standard and one which is defined by some sort of official-sounding beef organization. otherwise it just comes down to opinion, and who gives a crap about opinions.

i used to absolutely love arthur's, eating there several times a week for a long stretch. i'm convinced that its decline has less to do with a change in the restaurant and more to do with me not appreciating 2 liters of warm coors light, waits for tables, fatty dry meat, and the college atmosphere.