melkor
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Posts posted by melkor
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They can be imported fresh into Canada, they only seem to be available frozen (or defrosted) in SF, LA, and NYC - I haven't seen them available elsewhere in the states (aside from Hawaii and PR where they are grown locally).
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Melkor that is ridiculous.
If the service is not worth the addition then you should not pay it. Thats why it is "voluntary". If its is not voluntary, then say so - "Our prices are increased by 20% after tax to pay the waiting staff".
Its the hypocrisy of a compulsory (at least socially if not legally)voluntary charge that gets me. Maybe the restaurant should add another tithe for widows and orphans or to support the church, or fuel surplus while its about it.
Restaurants charge a service charge for larger groups because they require more work and people tend to under tip at large tables. You're always welcome to discuss it with the staff before you order. A gratuity is optional. A service charge on the other hand, if it's printed on the menu and you order without saying anything, you're agreeing to pay it.
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It doesn't sound to me like $2 is the issue here. I too think that from what has been presented Boagman is getting beaten up too much in this discussion. 20% tip (on tax no less!) is excessive as a mandatory gratuity at all but the finest places, especially for perfunctory service. I do not disagree with being upset by the charge. However, if the party felt that the final tip was excessive, they should have mentioned it to the manager then and there and not just come up short.
At a mid-level restaurant I'd agree with you. At a place where the average cover is $12 in a state where the minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.65/hr I don't think adding on average a $2.20 service charge per customer to the bill is unreasonable at all. The staff needs to be able to afford to eat.
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It's common for a restaurant to include a gratuity for larger tables, you were concerned about it you should have discussed it with the staff before sitting down. The difference between a 15% tip and a 20% tip is six bucks, you're splitting that with the other nine people at your table. I honestly feel for you if this is a critical issue in your life. If that's the case, you probably should be eating at home rather than going out and risking going a fifty cents over budget.
This has nothing to do with anyone taking cheap shots at your expense. You went to dinner, you were served your food, you were given the bill and you short paid it. I'm not at all surprised at the response you're getting here - the behavior you describe is clearly inappropriate.
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First of all, I'm about as curmudgeonly as they get. If I'm paying twelve bucks for a meal all the service I expect is that my food be brought to the table without landing in my lap. I've got no idea what the cost of living is where you live, but I'd imagine a server with one table for the night at a dive restaurant is probably not driving a Ferrari, even if you tip 21%.
And here's where we disagree. While I don't expect four-star, white glove service for 20%, I do expect to be asked if I need anything else, like, say, another revenue-inducing drink. And that's at the least. If all I need is the food I order to *not* be spilled into my lap, well then, they can get a trained monkey to bring it to me. At least I'd be semi-entertained by a trained monkey.
I never tip less than $1, even if it's well above 20%. So those dipweeds who start parsing their $2.99 breakfast special? That's not who I am, either...chances are, that's just a $5 deal out the door. Even so, greasy spoon or not, I don't care whether my waitress is named Flo, chews her gum like a cow chews cud, etc. If they want to be compensated well for their service, then the level of service had better be commensurate with that expectation. If the $2.99 breakfast special gets dropped unceremoniously in front of me and my glass is empty without being addressed? I notice, and yeah: I adjust the tip. It's hard *not* to get $5 out of me on a special like that, but it *can be done*.
I do not now, nor will I ever, believe that "good" service ignores empty glasses and baskets on the table. On the pragmatic side of the restaurant management, if I found out that my server *wasn't* trying to sell more drinks to a large party of diners, she'd be on the business end of a serious derriere-chewing, if not out looking for a new job.
It's two bucks. Get over it.
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So let me get this straight... We're talking about an 10 person table, you all got good service and spending two bucks a head to tip the server seems excessive? It's heartwarming to learn that you each saved yourselves nine cents since clearly the restaurant was trying to rob you blind!
Allow me to *set* you straight: we did not get "good" service. I would have *recognized* that, had it happened. No, the service we received was merely "functional". I guess I'm just running roughshod over the service industry by thinking that a server should ask if we wanted more margaritas, sangria, etc., rather than just having the empty glasses removed. I guess that seeing empty baskets of tortilla chips is too difficult a clue that, gee golly!, maybe they should refill them.
We ordered the food, it came, it didn't make us sick (that I know of). We served ourselves our own beverages in ridiculously small glasses, because we weren't getting more beverages that would have made the restaurant more money, and increased the server's tip.
I'm afraid of your attitude, that anyone who schleps food in any joint, *however* they choose to do it, should thereby be entitled to whatever they decide their own service is worth, and that those who don't comply are thereby cheap, or curmudgeonly.
Will I be assimilated? Is resistance futile?
Is it so hard to imagine that others at the table weren't all that impressed by the service, either? At 19% for doing not a whole heckuva lot, I think she made out quite well, the more I think about it. I wish I could do so well for such work in my own occupation, which, believe it or not, is *also* very service-oriented.
You'd have a point had we left 10%, and perhaps even at 15%, but at 19%, *KEEPING THE LEVEL OF SERVICE IN MIND*, I'm inclined to disagree, strongly. I think that's actually more than she should have received. To have asked for more, in my opinion, was out of line.
First of all, I'm about as curmudgeonly as they get. If I'm paying twelve bucks for a meal all the service I expect is that my food be brought to the table without landing in my lap. I've got no idea what the cost of living is where you live, but I'd imagine a server with one table for the night at a dive restaurant is probably not driving a Ferrari, even if you tip 21%.
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Okay, so I'm out tonight with a decent number of friends at a casual Mexican restaurant in downtown Detroit. It's a decent, low-scale, family-style restaurant, and the average per person charge is around $10-12. Add on a couple of drinks (both alcoholic and non) here or there, the added-on sour cream or so, someone getting meat on one of their entrees that normally wouldn't have, and you come to a grand total of $121.56, tax included.
Then, there it is: 20% tacked on to the very end of it for a grand total of $145.87.
So let me get this straight... We're talking about an 10 person table, you all got good service and spending two bucks a head to tip the server seems excessive? It's heartwarming to learn that you each saved yourselves nine cents since clearly the restaurant was trying to rob you blind!
I think a lot of people are being a little rough on Boagman. Making him out to be a demon versus the angelic waitstaff just doesnt portray reality. In my experience, most waitstaff aren't worth 20%, and plenty aren't worth 15%. For the restaurant to charge them 20% is exorbitant. And, just as some people think Boagman is wrong/cheap/an asshole for not paying the 87 cents, you can just as easily flip the argument around and say the waiter/restaurant is the cheapskate for making a stink.I don't know that people are being unduly rough on Boagman, I think that when you're eating at a dive and you get reasonably good service that leaving a few bucks a person for the server is the least you can do.
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Olive Garden : Italian :: PF Changs : Chinese
Wow I wouldnt have gone that far, not saying its great, i might compare it as cheesecake: Cheesecake factory, I think the two concepts are quite similar but much much better food at PF changs.
I had heard they were working on a new concept specializing in the non mainstream asian cuisines (thai, vietnamese), anybody hear this also??
I'd agree with whitetrufflechick that PF Changs is much closer to the Olive Garden than it is to decent Asian food. Then again, I'm not sure that the Cheesecake Factory is any better than either of them so maybe you two agree with each other...
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We've experimented with temp as so far I've been able to get it as low as 140 and holding without ice. I don't know what cold smoking temps are since I haven't yet done any cold smoking, but I figured that was a good test. we've been able to hold the temp easily at 220 for the ribs and the butt.
What was the outside temperature when you were able to hold 140*F? 220*F for 12 hours is a piece of cake in the WSM, lower is more difficult -- I just duct the smoke from the WSM to my grill when I want a colder smoking temp.
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There are a handful of Detroit topics, there doesn't seem to be any real consensus on which (if any) places are worth eating at. I think it depends what you're used to eating and what your expectations are. If you find something great, please report back!
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I've spit roasted whole lambs that I've bought from a local halal butcher, they've been great. The reason Kosher beef is often terrible is because the market is small enough and there is enough demand to allow mediocre producers to sell their product even though it isn't very good. My halal butcher goes through several whole lambs a day, quality and freshness isn't a problem. I'd expect the same to be true in DC.
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Chestnut flour works quite well in pasta dough, just be aware that the dough will be much much firmer than it would be if it were made with 00 flour. I wouldn't use puree since that would reduce the amount of egg you could use.
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We stopped eating like that when cooks realized they didn't need to serve the same thing that their grandparents cooked. Molecular gastronomy aside, access to quality produce and seafood has changed the way we all eat. It doesn't look like there is anything in that meal that couldn't be stored in the fridge for two weeks. No question some of those dishes are delicious, but unless you live in the gulags you probably have access to more interesting ingredients.
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Call GE and complain, they should send someone out with a replacement.
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Thanks for the warning. Ah escolar, the fish with many names. I had cooked escolar at a restaurant which called it butter fish and then at a sushi restaurant where it was called white tuna. No warnings given at either restaurant. I had done some research on escolar and knew what to look at for. Never had any ill effects.
I'd avoid any sushi bar that thinks white tuna is escolar.
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You'll want to lightly cure fish like saba, aji, kohada, iwashi, and other oily fish. You wouldn't want to do that with fish like tuna and salmon. Then again, it all depends what quality fish you have access to.
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Does anyone know if ban on the sale and production of foie gras in California after 2012 extends to imports? Could I still import it from NYC or France or from an internet grocery?
The ban is on the sale and production inside the state. Interstate commerce shouldn't be affected so you should still be able to order it from outside the state.
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Don't put the hearts in sausage, treat it like any other lean muscle - grill it or roast it. Anticuchos are great with lamb heart, I don't see why goat heart would be any different.
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One shot to kill an animal doesn't mean the animal died quickly and painlessly. There's no question that there are more humane ways to harvest livestock than to shoot it and let it eventually bleed to death.
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Think animal feed processed to look appealing. They're on the long list of non-foods that can be found at your local supermarket.
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I guess it was your wording.. But I truly feel there is nothing like Bar Crudo in New York.. Esca would be something that comes closest.. In terms of service, I sat at the bar and spoke with the owner/chef the whole night.. So, I didnt have a chance to see the restaurant or experience the service.. But to say something is very New York, can only be said by someone who doesnt spend much time there..
Or perhaps I said it because very few restaurants in SF serve anything they call crudo and I see it on the menu quite often when I eat in NY.
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Considering you know nothing about me, considering I have eaten and enjoyed restaurants in every state of this country and around the entire world, considering its pretty ignorant to group a people together, I am confused by this statement..
I am also confused by the statement because you show how little you know about New York and its varied cuisine. Please name me 10 out of the 20,000 restaurants in New York City that Bar Crudo is like..
The restaurant serves amazingly fresh fish, they use wonderful ingrediants like Banyuls Vinegar.. She poaches mussles beautifully, you can sit and talk with the staff, and they have hands down the best chowder I have ever tasted.. How surpisingly New York all of this is!
Relax, there's nothing wrong with Bar Crudo - my point was that the space, service, and menu are more similar to what I've found in NY than other SF restaurants offer. Much like Blue Hill is more similar to San Francisco cuisine than most NY restaurants.
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You can find lamb and goat at almost any Halal butcher. There are Halal butchers in nearly every city in the country.
Sounds rather dogmatic to me. I haven't seen a halal butcher anywhere here in the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia or the Florida west coast.
I wonder if there is a an association that might tell us how many there really are in the country and where.
Check your phone book.
Al Hamrah Halal Meat & Groceries
895 Indian Trail Lilburn Road Northwest, Lilburn, GA
(770) 381-2006
HolyLand International Grocery and Halal Meat
200 North Pleasantburg Drive, Greenville, SC
(864) 248-4841
Al Ummah Halal Meat Bazaar
Near Route 1, Telegraph & Pohick Rd Intersection,
7361 N Lockport Place, Lorton, VA
(571) 642-0000
Lebanese Butcher & Restaurant
113 E Annandale Rd, Falls Church, VA
(703) 533-2903
Amana Food Market
Tampa, FL 33617
(813) 914-8410
Al-Aqsa Grocery
10805 N 56th St
Tampa, FL 33617
(813) 987-2039
Apna Bazar
2361 E Fowler Ave
Tampa, FL 33612
(813) 903-1774
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The Tonayense truck at 19th and Harrison has reasonably good tacos, the cabeza is my favorite there. Torta Boos Voni near the end of Mission has incredible good barbacoa tacos on the weekend, their tortas are also great (but HUGE) and they're available all week. If you're up for going across the bridge, the two Sinaloa trucks at 22nd and International in Oakland are great - one has ceviche the other has great tacos. From the taco trucks in Oakland you can head to the Fruitvale BART station and get churros - they're only worth getting if the woman at the cart is making them fresh. Right next to the churro cart is a great ice cream shop. Other dives around SF worth checking out are Shin Toe Bul Yi (Korean fried chicken), Shalimar (the one on Jones for Pakistani), the Thai Temple in Burlingame (Saturdays only), Pagolac (Vietnamese), Wrap Delight (Banh Mi)...
Boccalone Salumeria in the Ferry Building!
in California: Cooking & Baking
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The Ferry Building has the shiny new Boccalone shop, they've got all sorts of delicious stuff available and a beautiful display fridge full of cured meats. Go check it out. Immediately.
I'll try and take some pictures on Saturday when I'm back at the Ferry Plaza for the Farmers Market.