SusieQ

It's definitely not the best way! But it seems it's the system we're stuck with.

Ehh.... No. Servers get paid exactly what their paychecks state, and if it states $2.13/ hr x "X" hours, then that's what they get paid. Tipping is discretionary, it's not guaranteed, Pay rates are. Being willfully ignorant is an unattractive trait. It is one thing to be unexposed, but this is different. Under your system, of course, bonuses are not pay, benefits are not pay, nothing is pay besides the hourly rate or salary. Think if this makes sense. Generalize it to other fields. Think on it. What bonuses? What benefits? Geez.You too? My point is that if only contracted monetary remuneration, wages and salary, are pay then our understanding of compensation in every field, and thus our understanding of labor market economics, is wrong. If we apply to the restaurant business what we do to other fields then tips, as they are an expected part of the normal course of affairs, are part of standard pay. If not, well then we get up on our high horses and piss in the wind.That's all very well and good. But my point was -- perhaps somewhat obscurely -- that bonuses and benefits are not relevant in this conversation because most servers get nothing in the way of bonuses and benefits.

Ehh.... No. Servers get paid exactly what their paychecks state, and if it states $2.13/ hr x "X" hours, then that's what they get paid. Tipping is discretionary, it's not guaranteed, Pay rates are. Being willfully ignorant is an unattractive trait. It is one thing to be unexposed, but this is different. Under your system, of course, bonuses are not pay, benefits are not pay, nothing is pay besides the hourly rate or salary. Think if this makes sense. Generalize it to other fields. Think on it. What bonuses? What benefits? Geez.

It was somewhere around 1960. I was a teenage piano student, and I traveled to Seattle with my piano teacher and two other students to see the young sensation Van Cliburn in a concert. We had dinner beforehand at a Chinese restaurant. Within about 15 or 20 minutes of starting to eat, I experienced flushing, a heat wave, increased heart rate, dizziness, and a really bad headache that was strange. I was so undone that I had to leave the table and I ended up missing the concert. This was a BIG DEAL so I remember it pretty well. My body was "pure" in that I had never had any stimulants except for maybe a coca cola every once in a while -- certainly no alcohol or other drugs. Where I lived we had no "ethnic" restaurants whatsoever, so I had never had Chinese food(or anything other than basic foods). So maybe in that "unadulterated" teenage state, I had a strong reaction to something new to my body. I do know that I definitely experienced these symptoms, and this was way before your 1968 article. It was afterwards that people told me I might have had a reaction to MSG. Just one person's experience. : )

I second that!

http://truth-out.org...organic-chicken Just found this interview with organizer Saru Jayaraman of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United. She makes a lot of sense. The title is rather provocative, but it's a well-written article with lots of information about what this group has been doing to help restaurant workers. At least that's my viewpoint after reading it. I hope I've posted this in the right spot. I see my title was truncated. It should read "Do you give as much thought to restaurant workers as you do to your organic chicken?"

If somebody wants to write bible verses on my check, they can do it once and I will be polite and tolerate it. They better not do it again, or they'll never see me (or my money) again. Hey all you religious people, keep it to yourself! I don't want to hear it. And certainly not in a restaurant. (Or on an airplane.) And don't tell me you're going to pray for me, either. Thank you.

I beg to differ. When something like that happens to me, it raises my blood pressure.

All I can say is, WOW!

"No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded." The Great Yogi Berra Thanks for my laugh of the day!

I would CERTAINLY have the nerve. I would demand that the bartender open a NEW jar of olives and remove one without touching it. Did the bartender conspiculously (and properly) wash his/her hands prior to fishing out the olive? No? Then that's just nasty. "You have been touching money, credit cards, bar rags, and every other damned dirty thing in this bar. And now you're grabbing my olive with your grubby hand? I don't think so!" I need you at my side! OK, at this one place I frequent, there is no jar. Sitting on the bar is a 3-part divided container, one each for olives, maraschino cherries, and lemon slices. The bartender takes a toothpick in one hand and plucks two olives out with the other hand and then stabs the olives and toothpick together. I see all this because I always sit at the bar and have a martini (or two) and then dinner. (I could sit at a table and then I wouldn't see anything LOL, but I hate sitting at tables when I'm alone.) So this is just my neighborhood place. But I've seen this -- sitting at the bar -- at many many places. And no, they don't wash their hands before plunging one hand in the olive dish. OK, maybe I will get up my nerve. If I do, I will report back.

My #1 bar complaint: the bar server sticks his/her fingers in the olives, plucks an olive out and then puts the olive on a toothpick. To me, the whole point of the toothpick is so that fingers don't touch the olive! I have seen this over and over again in more than one establishment. I've never had the nerve to say anything to the bartender. I just hope the alcohol sterilizes everything.

I share the same concerns. I don't want to eat anything sous vided, although I know I probably do if I eat out. I don't use plastic anything in the microwave. I'm sure most of you sous vide people will call me crazy. Oh well.

Wow, this looks delicious! Thanks for the photos.

This is disgusting. The agribiz system that we have in this country is disgusting.

Thank you (and fledflew) for solving this mystery for me! I always just assumed it was a taste thing. But now that I know it's texture that they're warning me off of, I can happily not order it. Rubbery just doesn't appeal to me (mostly because I probably can't chew it ). And unfortunately, with my budget, a $8-$10 soup would be my main dish, so if I don't like it or can't eat it, that's my dinner ruined. I don't want to give the impression of timidness when it comes to taste, though -- I love new tastes. That's why I was always tempted to order it.

Every time (maybe three times) I've asked in a Chinese restaurant about fish maw soup, the servers always tell me I won't like it, so I never order it. Can anybody say what the taste is like? I get that it's a strong taste, but is it bitter or more like liver or more like a strong fishy taste? Thank you for any hints!

I like that this practice has finally come out in the open if only because now my partner doesn't think I'm really nuts (maybe just a little nuts). You see, I opened up a package of ground beef about a year ago and there was quite the strong smell of ammonia from it. I had never come across that before and was alarmed. My partner said it was all in my head. I thought maybe it was all in my head. I went ahead and cooked it because I couldn't justify throwing it out, and as far as I remember, it didn't taste any different. Now I would take it back to the store.

No it doesn't. It's like thinking scraping mold off sour cream makes the rest of the container okay. It's not? Oh dear.

OK, what is it? Guess I'll have to look it up. I'm guessing it's some kind of dumpling. Please excuse my ignorance.

Wow, thank you for this and all the beautiful photos! Very useful.

Sure, but what's the benefit of drying with a towel? It's more work. I only use a towel when something is too large to fit in the dish draining rack or where I'm really worried about appearance; most of the time, I air-dry stuff upside-down in the drying rack, and it looks fine. "I air-dry stuff upside-down in the drying rack," -- My partner and I have a running argument about this. I do the same as you, air-dry stuff upside down in the dish rack, which seems to me the logical thing to do. But he insists on leaving all the dishes, cups, bowls, etc. right-side up because that way they dry better. Drives me crazy!

Vermouth. For cooking.

If the product weren't safe for food contact, I'm sure they'd say something. Boy, you're optimistic!

There is a woman sushi chef at Mashiko's in West Seattle. (Full restaurant name is Mashiko Japanese Restaurant and Fully Sustainable Sushi Bar.) Go to http://sushiwhore.com/home.html for their home page, where you can also read about how Mashiko's is one of the first sushi restaurants in the nation with exclusively all-sustainable seafood. The owner made a commitment to this two years ago and really followed through. Read all about it on his website. He also talks about the myth that women can't be sushi chefs. Something about women making all the sushi 200 years ago.