Busboy

I see the Kermit Lynch label around a lot, I'm fairly sure sure he's im most major wine shops. I might try Andy Bassins in Palisades, up McCarthur Blvd. I don't get there often, but when I do, I'm always struck by the amount of southern French wine they stock.

I don't put salt and pepper on the table just because I seldom find the need for it, and it doesn't occur to me to do so. It has nothing to do with being pompous, just not thinking as I get everything together for a meal (as cooking for guests is my sole pervue (sp?), and my husband steers clear of the kitchen on such occasions). If you want salt or pepper, just ask for it! But don't leave my table thinking I'm pompous, or you're not likely to be asked back. ← I guess I was thinking of people who are trying to make a statement by not doing so, as opposed opposed to someone who just doesn't think about it.

No reservations, though. And tough to get 11 people in any time. I've been in larger groups that reserved space at Bistro du Coin -- upstairs in the balcony area near the bathrooms. The right price. But talk about mixed reviews... Greek? Mourayo? I've only been there once, not bad. And they usually seem to have room. Any early reports on 21P? Do you do ethnic? Sala Thai? Pesce might fit 11, I doubt Jonny's would -- I'm not sure they take reservations. But can you get 11 people to eat only fish? Truth is I work in thet neighborhood and I've always thought there were fewer good restaurants than there should be.

Oceanaire Seafood Room is right around the corner, though it's apparently a chain and reviews, while generally positive, are mixed. I'm a big fan of Pesce, which is within a 10-minute cab ride or two stops down the Red (subway) line, which runs very near your hotel. It's almost a long walk if it's a nice day; and there's plenty of places to stop for a refreshment if you tire along the way.

Make a dusting consisting of salt, red pepper (hot), black pepper, garlic powder and a bit of ground cumin. Dredge the steak in it and cook it as you prefer -- in a very hot iron skillet if you want "blackened" and your smoke alarm is disabled. Make a cooling guacamole using avocado, lime, fresh cilantro and a pinch of sugar. Serve together with beans on the side.

The missus makes excellent sweet and savoury crepes in our steel omlette pan. She just ladles the batter in and then rapidly swirles it around to coat the bottom of the pan evenly. I guess if you have a contraption that can't be lifted off the burner, a little crepe hoe (there's a joke there, somewhere) would come in handy, or if you're making the huge ones you see in the crepe kiosks in Europe. But you can prbably just use the end of a spatula, too.

I think chefs -- professional and amateur -- who don't put salt and pepper on the table are being a bit pompous and I never hesitate to ask for the stuff if I want it. Similarly, I have a deep distrust of anyone arrogant enough to pronounce their cooking "perfect" or "correct" or some such nonsense, as though all palates are the same and their mouth is the ultimate arbiter right and wrong -- and that their cooking is the perfect extension of their perfect palate. Sheesh. The point of cooking is to bring people together in companionship and delight, not to indulge your ego. The happiness of the diner is always, always, always more important that your culinary vision. Unless they put the redi-whip om your plate, too, have a glass of wine and relax. PS, I will put chutney and/or pickle on anything even remotely Indian -- and some things not -- if at all possible.

Quite right, Adam. And as I'm fond of reminding people, the tomato is in fact a fruit. ← Ever had a tomato in a fruit salad? I rest my case. We do fish with a pineapple salsa, scallops with mago buerre blanc and orange sections, or sometimes with apple cream sauce and sauteed apples. Foie almost always gets fruit, as does duck. We have a favorite lamb recipe where the lamb marinates a couple of days in Indian spices and gets served with a home-made chutney, usually Asian pear or pear.

My wife and I once spent days cooking a multi-course dinner for ten, and this was the only thing the guests we still comenting on a week later. As long as you're deep frying, you can dip onion rings inbutter milk and crust them with flour mixed with powdered sage and serve the two mixed together. Preferably, in my view, accompanied by a large piece of American beef and your favorite baked bean dish of the moment.

Right. I am still left wondering why teachers' salaries and waiters' wages are being compared in the first place. Do you think teachers should receive tips too? ← I just fell into this on a slippery slope -- curiosity. At some point there was a suggestion that a huge injustice was being done because waiters, due to the pernicious habit of tipping, were out-earning teachers. I was curious, because in comparisons of this type there is generally an agenda, and because there was a certain amount of teeth-gnashing, some of it -- eventually -- by yourself. [Emphasis added.]Having been a waiter and having developed some respect for the profession, I was eager to defend my erstwhile compatriots and to add a little factual background to the discussion. Whether or not one embraces the American tradition of tipping, denigrating it because allows proletariat waiters into the same economic class as college-educated professionals is to be factually incorrect.

This is rather unscientific with figures that people pull out of their hats and of course, there are going to be as many computations as there are opinions. This can go on forever with numbers being tossed in from all directions. ← The scientific numbers are above. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 10% of all waiters earn more than $11.00/hour. I have no doubt that teachers are underpaid. They are, on the whole, however, better paid than waiters. The $24K figure, by the way, came from figures supplied by a restaurant owner based on her experience at the restaurant she currently runs. They came out of no one's hat.

I agree that teachers on the whole should be paid more. But I don't agree that the level of education you need to get into a field has a direct bearing on how much your work is worth on the market. You usually need a PhD to be a philosopher or an art historian, but in many cases people are not willing to pay much at all for your work. On the other hand, a plumber doesn't need an undergraduate degree but his or her work can be very valuable. ← One more post before I start putting my tipping theories into practice tonight (sadly, the only teacher in the bunch dropped out, I was hoping to get some solid field research done). First, as I learned getting my college degree, the market determines salaries, not some abstract accreditation process. No one deserves to make more money because of their college degree, but they often make more money because their college degree puts them in greater demand. Second, I did the math for Marylisa's waiters, assuming 3 slow days a week at $60/night (4 hrs at $15) and three good days at 100/night (5 hrs at $20) and came out at $24K/year. Just another number to throw into the pile, but one that feels realistic to me and imploes that, though hourly earnigs might be good, waiters aren't getting rich. That's for 300 days work, not 188. And, finally where's your restaurant, Marylisa? If it's East of the park, we may get by...

I agree with all your points. The only point I am trying to make is that this debate is being colored by an unrealistic picture of what most servers earn which , according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, (see above), is far less than $25/hr.

OK, if you want to get all mathematical about it. Most school systems run 180 days. Figure another 20 planning days. At 50K a year, teachers working 200 8-hour days make $31/hour and have paid sick leave, pension benefits, health coverage and a job security no waiter could dream of. At $30K a year, it's $18.75 an hour. Maybe the key is to teach all winter at wait tables at a seasonal spot all summer... According to the BLS, 25% of all RNs earned at least $64K, 11% earned more than $75K. I doubt the figure are comperable for waiters. As to my earlier point, that this discussion is warped by our experience with big-city upscale waiters, here's what the the BLS has to say about national averages: So remember, tip the guy in the tux well, but really take car of the gal behind the counter at the Waffle Shop -- she's the one who really needs the money.

Once everything is tallied and bussers, etc tipped out, my waiters make about $20-25/hr on a busy shift. On a slow night, $12-15.... Now, as a cook, I know I never came close to that. And now, as an owner.. I don't even calculate my hourly wage based on my salary.. too depressing!! Hahahaa ←

I've been working in restaurants for a long time, and before I was a server, I managed restaurants for most of that time. In my experience, I did see a few managers who would watch labor costs as they apply to $2.13 an hour employees, but most of these managers either don't make it in the restaurant world because they're too short-sighted, or they simply learn to get over this point of view after a few months. Managers don't care much about tips, certainly, but managers in this city care a heck of a lot about having enough people to cover shifts. Finding enough servers to cover your floor is difficult in virtually every restaurant in this town, and it's a constant struggle. I have not only been asked to pick up shifts, but I've been literally begged to do so, even when I'm already into overtime, and often managers throw in a comped meal for me as well. I don't mind picking up lunch shifts, but that's because I'm fortunate enough to work somewhere where lunch pays about the same as dinner. Again, doesn't happen in this town. If you're a good server, maybe you should think of moving here. I get a $200 bonus if I convince you to work in one of the restaurants where I work. ← Maybe things are improving. I am not longer in the business, but it does appear -- just from the help wanteds I see posted on so many cash registers and front doors -- that the the market has shifted somewhat in favor of workers vs. management. If so, I'm glad. Also, all the places I worked at were relatively small and owner-managed, I wonder if they tend to feel overhead costs, like waiter's wages, more acutely.

My experience with lunch shifts is kind of the other side of the coin: management doesn't want a bunch of waiters on the clock, low though their wages are, because the amount of time when they're not making money for the house vs the time they are making money is much higher. I never had a manager who gave much of a damn about my tips, or one who asked me if I wanted a shift or would dream of negotiating the conditions under which I would take it with me. Lunch shifts were the price you paid to work more lucrative evening shifts. Also, tips aside, management tends to put their best servers on the best shifts, so those cruddy luncheon shifts tend to skew towards the less experienced and less competent folks who aren't up to handling a big Friday night.

I hear you. As you're lying there exhausted, though, take heart in the fact that in a few years, an hour around the table with your kids will be the highlight of your day. (Especially if you have a glass or two of vino and make them do the dishes!).

The most edifying wisdom on Burgundies I ever heard was this (updated to reflect current prices): A good bottle of Burgundy costs $250. $50 for the good bottle, and $200 for the other four that sucked. I'm no expert (can't afford it) but you appear to have done a good job nibbling around the edges at the lower-priced villages. Given the equation above, putting yourself in the hands of a good sommeliere as you push on into Chambertin and Corton, might save you some disappointment. For what it's worth, the most consistent mid-priced purveyors I have found is Mongeard-Mugneret. Their Eschezeaux has been particularly good.

We have a "city kitchen" that may in fact be smaller than the dining room, and whose table is always covered with fruit, schollbooks, unopened junk mail and God-knows-what, so -- except for the occasional TV night, we generally eat at the table. In the summer, we throw a tablecloth over an old folding table on the fron porch and eat outdoors almost every night. It's glorious. The whole concept of an open floor plan disturbs me. I loathe the idea of my kitchen being in view during my dinner (or the dishwashing being audible afterwards, when the kids clean up), and I like a smaller, darker room (candles, please) that focuses attention on the food, the table and the people around it.

You're absolutely right of course. It IS illogical. That's just how I feel trying to make a Eurostar reservation in Italy. But when I'm in Italy, I try very hard to learn their rules and then play by them. It's not always easy, you know. The thing that gets me in this thread is how many non-Americans here are saying that they think it's okay to stiff our waiters in the US because our system isn't how they do it 'back home.' ← On the contrary, it's generally quite logical. Though, there are exceptions, such as the one you pointed out, generally more expensive restaurants have more better and more knowledgable servers whose skills command greater compensation. In addition, they work fewer tables a night. Just as the food at a fine restaurant is more expenseive because its better and more personal, so the service is more expensive, for the same reasons. To deny that tipping has any effect on service is to deny the theoretical constructs of the capitalist system. No, a tip delivered after your meal won't affect your service that meal. But since waiters, like most humans, act out of self-interest to maximize profits, two things happen. First, good waiters make it a point to learn behaviors that maximize tips. Some, like signing your check with a smiley face, are annoying. Others, like mastering the wine list, learning how to run several tables simultaneaously so that each feels well served, or learning to tell when a diner needs their attention without barging into a conversation, are important. You think waiters don't count their tips at the end of the night and wish they had more, and work on how to get more? Or take pride in their service, using good tips as badges of honor? And, second, waiters who do poorly drift into other lines of work. If tips are consistently disappointing, you're going to look for work that pays better. You don't see this much at entry-level places, but by the time you move up a bit, economic attrition is beginning to show, the people left are making more money, and they generally give better service. In fact, over the long-term, tipping is a spectacularly effective behavior modification process.

Proper blanching will turn your haricots the most extraordinary shade of emerald, not just preserving their original color but perfecting it. Salt the water until, as Thomas reveals unto us, it tastes like seawater. Blanch small batches in large pots; the water should return almost immediately to a boil. The ice water bath is indispensable.

Spring 1980. My best friend and I on a quest to find the perfect dancer for his bachelors party. An era in which ecdesiastical talent was thin in Washington. After an expensive and uninspiring search, we stumbled into Archibald's. Jackpot. We knew whe was the one before we even sat down. Weeks later, at the party in the narrow rowhouse basement we shared, even the police who'd wandered into the bash were won over. "Just turn the music down and stay off the porch," the white one winked. "And for Chrissake, lock your front door."

Scientists have proven that -- despite Taleggio -- Italy comes up far short in the critical "stinky" category. Pont L'Eveque, Epoisse, a runny old Camembert, Livarot... France on points.

It should be noted that the Greek goatherd who one the Olympic Marathon in the first modern Games -- Spiridon Louis -- stopped at a taverna at the half-way point of the race for a glass of wine. Despite the fact that he was far behind the leader, he confidently predicted victory, finished his wine and passed his rival with two kilometres go. As the only Greek gold medalist (actually, they were silver in those days, but you know what I mean) in track and field, he became a national hero and wealthy man. I believe he married the beautiful daughter of a prominent industrialist, as well. I'm not saying it was the wine, but why take chances?