KatieLoeb

Mano: All very eloquently stated. And I take no offense to your wine purchasing habits at all. I am more often than not found at a BYOB on my nights off, so I completely understand that aspect of it. And perhaps I just trust my own taste in wine more than all but a few of the other sommeliers in town... The markup on wine is another one of those things that won't change unless the restaurant is willing to build a lower profit margin on it into their business plan. Or if their circumstances allow it, like Friday, Saturday, Sunday, a lovely restaurant here in Philly that is the last man standing after the 1970's "Restaurant Renaissance". They charge $10 over cost for every bottle on their list. They also own the building and have obviously already paid off their 30-year mortgage. So no rent and no mortgage. Yeah - they can afford to do that where most places can't. Also, the cost of a liquor license is so prohibitively expensive here, that the revenue generated from marked up wine and liquor sales is what pays it off and generates the revenue for rent, payroll, etc. The side benefit of that high cost of a liquor license is the thriving BYOB culture of restaurateurs that have decided to forego that expense. It's all a tradeoff.

Quite right. I finally made it there myself last month and it was delicious. And they seriously couldn't have been nicer. So hospitable and so much fun to chat with about the food. They're obviously passionate about what they do and it shows on every single plate. They knew the names of at least 80% of the folks that meandered up to order or pick up their take-out. Lucky me - I was fortunate enough to be there at the tail end of the day. Some poor fool forgot to pick up his duck gumbo. It came home with me and was hoarded and meted out in tiny portions for days. Soooooo good. Hell yes!

Maggie: Time Life Foods of the World series: Cooking of Vienna's Empire by Joseph Wechsberg The entire series is great, and the pictures are lovely...

I'm working on "Cantonese Crusta", a variant of my favorite bourbon delivery system with Canton and a splash of ginger beer subbing for the Cointreau. I'm likely going to use a bottled-in-bond bourbon and throw a little spice in it as well, to compliment the ginger. I'll report back with a completed recipe when I have proportions perfected.

Actually, the homemade candied walnuts were toothsome, but not crunchy on the outside. Seems whatever the three day long process of making them is, it makes them a bit softer toward the outside and crunchier in the middle. They're delicious regardless.

Howzabout we chalk up your post to a (self-described) drunken momentary lapse of reason? It seems on further inspection you you understand what I was talking about.

I'm as surprised as anyone. But it's seriously really really good. I suspect that the years of experience with the store in Port Fishington off Aramingo Avenue have done wonders for their kitchen. Everything is delicious and the staff is bending over backward to be kind and accommodating. That alone goes a long way in Chinatown, given the general level of barely civil and often downright surly service. But the food is good too! Hard to believe.

You really ought to go take a look over here at this thread. It's about a more specific situation, but a lot of what you're asking about is answered there. More than likely, a party of 10 persons would already have a gratuity of 15-18% tacked on to it, whether it's an expensive restaurant or not. And there's no way in hell ten people can eat a $200/person meal in an hour, so that waiter isn't making $300/hr. no matter how you try to slice that. It's likely that you and your group will be the waiter's only table that evening. He's not keeping it all himself, he's probably tipping out a busser, the bar, a food runner and possibly a backwaiter, sommelier, a captain and a host depending on the staffing structure of that restaurant. And I highly doubt that a waiter that's not out of college yet would have the breadth of experience to work in a place where the guest checks run $200/person. You shouldn't be basing your tips on whether it's "plenty of dough for the waiter" or not. With all due respect, your youth is showing when you say things like that. Read the other thread, and tip based on service. Service for a "fancy" meal requires a lot more skill than service in a bistro. I can't pay my dentist/doctor/candlestick maker what I think he deserves, I have to pay the bill he hands me. Tips are effectively and functionally a part of wages in this system, so figure out how you feel about that, and if you can't afford to go out, then perhaps you should stick to places where the total bill with a reasonable tip will be within your budgetary constraints.

Low blow, Katie, low blow. Not necessary. Maybe she got a speeding ticket on the way to work. Maybe she had cramps. Maybe she didn't have cramps when she should have as of a week ago. Maybe she just found out about her boyfriend's kid. Maybe her cat just died. Maybe those new shoes were not ready for work yet and the blisters had all just popped. Maybe she forgot to take her meds. Maybe her cell phone bill was freakishly higher than she thought and she was stressed about it. Maybe...maybe she was just in a really bad mood and couldn't control it. ← I did not mean to offend or imply the kitchen could be the only problem. Believe me, I've had to work in a foul mood for any number of reasons that had nothing to do with the kitchen, and have done so with a forced smile on my face. I was only supposing that having the raw bacon set her off like that might have been because she'd already had a bunch of stuff go back to the kitchen that day, and the raw bacon on the burger was the straw that broke her. Wasn't meant as a kitchen slam, just the first thing that occurred to me when I put myself in her shoes for a second. Clearly the reaction was uncontrollable and poorly handled, regardless of the source of her irritation that day. My apologies to all the back of house folks. Please don't hate me...

Liz: We have an upstairs private room at Chick's that's perfect for that size group. Click on the link in my signature and you can see the menu, email the chef for suggestions, etc.

How about a instead? I just saw one of these contraptions in Chinatown here in Philly for the first time. I still don't really like bubble tea (the bubbles texture is too mucoid for my taste) but this could definitely make Ramos Gin Fizzes a hell of a lot easier on the arm. You could probably float a small child on the head of foam you'd create with mechanical help. Especially if you did the dry shake of the egg whites with a Hawthorne spring first.

My latest foray to Ho Sai Gai, a late night visit on Friday evening after my shift, revealed that the fish dishes are also extremely well prepared and delicious. My dining companion and I shared a bowl of the Sizzling Rice Soup to start and then asked them to substitute Sea Bass for the Tilapia in XO sauce that was listed on the menu. We received a nice sized piece of fish (4x8x2-ish) with a delicious scallion XO sauce and some gorgeously perfectly steamed Chinese broccoli and baby bok choi on the side. The fish substitution brought the price of the dish up to $23 from the listed tilapia price of $14.95 but it was worth every penny. And the owners couldn't have been nicer. They asked us why we came in so late (restaurant workers too...) and if we'd been in before (yes, for both of us). We were given a small bowl of the owners "special walnuts" that take three days to make. Possibly the best version of candied nuts I've ever tried. Truly delicious. The XO sauce was explained in detail, the expense of some of the ingredients in it, etc. Overall, they seriously treated us like honored guests or family in their own home. It was lovely. The fact that they stay open until 4AM is an added bonus for folks like myself that get out of work pretty late some nights. These guys are going to take a bite out of business from David's across the street, just on hospitality alone. The fact that the food is so good will filter out by word of mouth, I suspect. It's also the cleanest restaurant in Chinatown. The bathrooms are spotless. Definitely one of my new favorite places in Ctown.

Wow. That's a pretty bitchy waitress. Even if she isn't authorized to remove an item from your check (there's a reason why only a manager/floor captain can void items - so servers don't change checks and steal...) she could have politely explained that removing that item or providing a discount wasn't in her purview but she'd be happy to get the manager for you and have it taken care of. Hardly a Herculean effort required on her part. She was obviously in a foul mood. Maybe the kitchen had been screwing up her orders all day? She didn't deserve a tip, even though the raw bacon wasn't her doing. She just handled that situation all wrong.

Bubble House had certificates on sale too. I defintitely recall seeing them as one of the options available...

I've never had a problem with them before myself. I spent $4 for $50 worth of certificates and paid with PayPal, so Restaurant.com doesn't have my financial info and can't bill me again. If I lose the $4 I'll consider it a pretty cheap lesson learned. It'll make me go to a couple of places I've either wanted to try (Meju) or go back to again (Zhi Wei Guan) so that should be fine. If I go and they don't accept my certificates I'll either eat there anyway or not. I was definitely going out to eat that night, so it's hardly an inconvenience.

I'm on the Restaurant.com mailing list, having purchased some certificates from them awhile back. There's a sale on them ending today 2/28, that will get you a $25 gift certificate for $2, if you use the discount code DINE. Granted, a lot of the restaurants are places I'd never set foot in or even heard of, but there are some surprising participants in this program. Amongst the restaurants participating are: Zhi Wei Guan Ly Michaels Meju Korean (where the lamented Mandoline once resided) Pat Bombino's South Philly Tap Room Wokano World Cafe Live (if one were going to a show...) Taste of Portugal (Adams Avenue, NE) Derek's (Manayunk) Drafting Room (Springhouse) Good Dog was not surprisingly sold out, as was Snockey's Oyster House. But the Chinatown entries were surprising to me, as was South Philly Tap Room. Those are all places whose doors I've been known to darken. There's a bit of navigating to do once you get to the site, and sometimes things aren't where you think they'd be categorized geographically, but this is a pretty good deal if you intend to visit any of the participating establishments.

I often pick up one of the cheap and tasty lunch specials ($5.50 IIRC) from Asia@Cafe since it's on my way to work. Lots of choices and they serve it until 3:30 or 4PM. I'll call ahead (I keep one of their menus in the glove box of the car) while running pre-work errands, swing by and pick up right before I have to be in. Everything I've tried has been pretty good. Once they accidentally gave my order to someone else, but whipped up a fresh one in just minutes while I waited. And because I'm so easily swayed and suggestable, as soon as I remembered that I had their menu in my collection of take out menus at work, today's order was for Tacos al Pastor and chips with salsa and guacamole from Los Jalapenos. They were indeed reasonably quick (25-30 minutes) and the tacos and chips and sides were good. I still think the Tacos al Pastor from Taquitos de Puebla are better, but these were pretty good. Lots of filling and some carmelized onions on top too. The chips were very large, definitely in-house made tortilla chips with generous containers of both guacamole and salsa on the side. The salsa was a bit spicy, which I loved. The guac was a tad bland, but another big squeeze of lime, some salt and a couple of dashes of Tabasco fixed it right up. I had enough for a big lunch and still had one taco and half my order of chips to bring home as a snack I polished off when I got in tonight. All told it was $13 and change. Pretty good for having gotten two meals, or at least a meal and a big snack out of it. There are some really good looking combos on the menu that I'll likely explore next time I order from Los Jalapenos.

CHris: I'll second your shoutout for regular simple. It really is something every bar needs to have at the ready. I've even stopped bothering to cook mine. I just measure 1.5 cups sugar into my squeeze bottle and follow it with 1.5 cups of hot water out of the espresso machine. Cap the end with a bar rag and shake for a couple of seconds until dissolved. Let cool. Made right in the container that houses it with no muss, no fuss and no cleanup!

I laughed out loud. The commercial is damned funny. They are clearly poking fun at those who dream of achieving success but only have the trappings (challenging custom tabletop accoutrements, architectural platings) but not the talent. If they really wanted to make fun of a particular chef they could have gotten a lookalike to play the part, and show them furrowing their brow in the kitchen over some lab type set up with beakers, burners, things bubbling and smoking, etc. and then sending out a small sphere of food. Only a select few would have gotten the joke, but it's likely the same select segment that are getting this joke. Not sure what any of this has to do with Diet Coke. I agree Coke Zero would have been a better choice.

When, exactly, did Taco House close?? I'd been eating their solidly mediocre Tex-Mexican food since like 1981, when I was still a student and my 7 roommates and I would pool our pennies and get a big Taco House order and all share. I still remember the tostadas and the quesadillas, both of which were quite tasty. And the little containers of the homemade hot sauce. I loved that stuff... I guess the influx of authentic and well made Mexican must've put them out of business, eh?

You can, but it isn't going to taste like regular white refined sugar simple syrup. Just keep that in mind. It's the same reason I keep regular simple syrup, dark Demerara simple syrup, agave nectar and honey syrup at my bar. They all bring something different to the party...

Holly: Well that explains a lot, doesn't it? I can see how that experience might leave a really bad taste in your mouth, both literally and figuratively. I'm really more surprised by the lack of proactive response from upper management. But perhaps the waiter is an S.O.B. (Son of Boss) or a cousin or something. You'd think he'd have to be to get away with such blatant disrespect and such a sense of entitlement. For what it's worth, I've never eaten at La Baia, and now I most certainly never will. That guy gives the rest of us working stiffs in this town a bad name. No big shock that there's a common (bad) service experience there. Now if you could just help me understand the perverse intransigent digging in of heels of those who insist that not tipping appropriately/customarily will somehow change the system through the force of sheer will, our work will be done.

No - just insomnia in front of the 'puter. I was working on the drink at the bar earlier tonight during business hours....

Holly. Thank you. I understand where you're coming from, at least.

Holly: I've certainly checked with a customer that left a HUGE tip before, most particularly if the check had a gratuity already added for a large group or party (although truthfully, I'd likely have pointed that out when the check was dropped to avoid confusion in the first place) and to make certain that any excess left was intentional. And I agree bad math works both ways, but almost inevitably, DRUNK math works against the servers, not for them. I speak from much experience on the latter example. So you really don't think there's any polite way to inquire about a low or missing tip? Not even a sincere and not-loaded-with-sarcasm, "Was everything satisfactory this evening, Sir??" Is it because the customer might accidentally back themselves into a corner and say "Yes, of course. Why do you ask?" and the server/manager/whomever would have to answer with "well, the gratuity would seem to indicate you were somehow displeased with your experience here...", leading to the uncomfortable standoff? Or do you just object to asking directly about a low or missing tip? Not sure what your aversion to inquiring under any circumstances is. Please clarify that for me, if you would. I feel I might be misunderstanding your intent on this issue.