Sabrosita

Not to sound flip...But this is my favorite quote from this whole discussion.

We change our menu reasonably often and get a fair amount of people threating to storm out and throw a hissy fit. Here are the ways we deal, since a lot of our client base is regulars who come in daily/weekly: 1) If we have all the stuff in house, we will make it for them the first few times they come in and mention it--they usually lose interest within a month, especially if they come with a group and everyone gets annoyed with them begging for special treatment. 2) We offer to get them the recipe. We scale it down and hope they like it and that we have salvaged a relationship with the customer 3) Comp them a meal of something similar. Often they start to like the new version better.

And I'll bet he'd make it into a darn tasty fish too...

As a restaurant marketing professional (so a big enough group that it can afford to have one) I'm extremely wary of the word free. I actually reccomend against using that one. It scares me, sets off the "there is a catch and I have to be smart enough to catch it" and that makes extra work for me. I would rather have a sales person be completely honest and lay down exactly how much money I'm going to spend, exactly where that money is going, and exactly why it works. And concisely. These are extremely busy people. If you give them one extra free minute that they thought they had to be meeting with you, they will be thankful.

Wow, I wish I'd read to the end of this thread before running off and trying the food here. I ordered the cured meats plate and was dissapointed in the quality of meat. Definetly not the quality described at the beginning of the thread.

I was inspired by the success stories in the "Food Neuroses" Topic to start a thread on this. How did you help someone get over hating a certain food, type of food, etc.? I've found that its often just that they had bad preperations. My poor boyfriend comes from Indiana and insisted he hated Chinese food. Living in Seattle, this was going to be a problem. Come to find out he had only ever had mall buffet Chinese food. That was an easy one. What else? I can't wait to hear sneaky stories!

Is there any better excuse for trying a new restaurant or splurging on an old fav. than when a quarter of your money spent goes to aid relief in Darfur? (and supporting an event organized by a fellow egulleter?) March 4th, 2008 (its a tuesday) I've never been to Marjorie, so I was thinking of looking for a reservation there...but Serafina is great too (old habits die hard) Full choices: www.dinefordarfur.org

Living in Seattle and having grown up part of the time in Whistler, I was definetly unhappy with the Vancouver episode. Yes the Seattle ep. was a wee bit dissapointing, but I think only in that it didn't open my eyes to anything new--because it was in my own city (and that we only got half an episode...but that is a gripe for a different time). I see singapore, hong kong, shanghai, I'm ready to book a flight. So I was looking forward to the Vancouver episode. I was imagining scheduling new stops in my trip up to whistler, unheard of cute little places, things I didn't know before. And he shows up at Tojos, Vij's and freakin Japadog? These are nothing new. He didn't even bother to eat in Whistler. I was thinking a piece on Sushi Village and how it is a relic from when the Yen was strong...But my point is there was nothing that really said 'TONY' about the episode. Not everyone gets the opportunity to go geoduck clamming or to spend a day with the kalahari tribe eating warthog anus, but anyone can eat at Cioppino or do the ziptrek. I was dissapointed.

I was there about a month after it first opened (it has been a while now). Great selection of shochu, but the staff knew nothing about it. Ramen was sub par, katsu don was great.

Living in Uruguay provided me with two great stories on this topic. Within a few days of arriving, we were enjoying the heart stopping national dish, the chivito: a burger made with flank steak instead of a patty, topped with mayo, cheese, fried egg and ham. Usually lettuce, tomato, and whatever more they feel like putting on it. So I munched a big two handed bite out of one from Lo de Juanito (named changed to protect the guilty). After the first bite I looked down and noticed a large squiggly thing in my sandwich. Unfortunately I had trouble explaining my issue to people as my vocabulary did not yet include the word Babosa, or slug! Many weeks later, having recovered from this, my vocabulary now included the word for worm, guisano. A friends parents had brought back spicy aji peppers from argentina (oh, thank the lord, SPICINESS in uruguay). It was a joyous occasion, as I had greatly missed spice in my time there...until about on my third handful of peppers, I noticed my peppers moving. Yup, the bag was CRAWLING with worms. I'll be honest it was so nice to have spice, we didn't even complain that much about the worms...

I assume by Kowloon you speak of new Kowloon on Jackson, which I have to tell you, as I understand is now closed. I like Tea Garden okay, though we had what can only be described as inedible chinese broccoli there the other day. When I need a place with parking I tend to go to Sun Ya. Nothing special, but won't ever be inedible either...

In 2008, I will eat_Only great foods. I will stop wasting precious stomach space on mediocre foods. I will make_the dishes I try at restaurants and love instead of going back time and time again I will find__a foodie friend who loves to cook and eat as much as I do I will learn_to be more patient so I can make more foods that take time instead of eating right when I get home. I will teach_my boyfriend that just cuz I am a kick ass cook doesn't mean he can't cook some of the time. I will read__more real books on food and less cookbooks.

Yes, and it was--The frites place did not close because of lack of business, but rather a seperate issue... ←

I don't know. I thought opening a frites place right outside a club was a no-brainer....... ← Yes, and it was--The frites place did not close because of lack of business, but rather a seperate issue...

So I checked out the new India Bistro yesterday. I am a pretty big fan of the one in Ballard, but the drive and long lines tended to keep me from it. This is right by me so that was nice. The menu and decor are a bit more upscale but the prices were still quite reasonable. The wine list was quite skimpy (less than ten wines) thought they were all quite cheap (under $30). We had a very bold Petite Syrah that held up to our Extra hot saag lamb quite well. I chatted with the waitress for a bit and she said they did quite a bit of research before opening the second restaurant. One thing I really liked was the entree presentation in a silver dish over a candle. It steamed through our whole bottle of wine. Also the waitress was very informative, reccomending the curried mussels special (well worth reccomending). I hope that they can keep up this level of service if this ever gets as crowded as the other location, since I never had this level there. Big space though, so perhaps it won't get to that.

If you are looking in University Village, your best bet is Atlas Foods. Pretty much standard american brunch stuff, my favorite is the Monte Cristo Provencal, which is not really a monte cristo, but basically black forest ham and gruyere melted over thick bread.

I have been eating in Whistler for some 20 years, (and I'm only 24) so I'm a bit of a sucker for the classics, but I have to say that the Rimrock is a clear winner to me--and the best value. Service, ambience and food is with out fail impeccable, and it will cost you less than quite a few other places. (I was last there in mid June). I was most recently at Araxi's in mid-July. While everything was quite tasty and very well done, I found the ambience loud and intruding, not to mention we were only inside because they had sat us outside in a hideous wind. The food was good, but it cost us an arm and a leg. Another suggestion--more a general reccomendation for anyone, is Sushi Village. It is an old staple of the village that has terrific sushi (last there on...well, sunday). Fresh fish, creative rolls, great hot dishes. They can't go wrong in my book. If you have six or more people you can make a reservation and skip the hour long wait, and there are fabulous tatami rooms, which I reccomend highly. Like I said I've been eating there forever, and these are the ones I've been to most recently, so feel free to keep that in mind---both in that they are where I choose to go, and that I'm less familiar with newer places.