jaybee

I'm with Robert. I watch people and whenever possible, listen to their conversations!

Ruby, I got a similar response from Oest. In fact I walked in at 6 PM and asked for a table for one and they suggested I eat at the bar. I was annoyed, but took them at their word that they either had a full house or didn't think I'd be out by 7 or 7:30 when they needed thetable for a larger party. I'm sure these are all part of the management of the house for best return. I fugure that every dog has its day, and sooner or later they will be glad to see me. Whether by then I will want them is another story. For a place like Babbo, some friends and I were determined to eat there and at a time we could stomach, so we booked about two months in advance for a Friday night table for 4 at 8:30 and got it. The meal was wonderful and worth the wait. This is not re: Stefany's original question though, which is whether you can get the best a place can do at a late hour. I would avoid really late dinners if it were a "destination" restaurant for the reasons others have previously stated.

Stefany, I understood your question which is a good one. My sense from the answers of those behind the kitchen doors is that a late diner chances not getting the best a place can do if it not the kind of place that makes a specialty of serving into the wee hours. I was reacting to comments by Ruby and others on previous threads that seemed angry at the restaurants for not giving them reservations when they wanted. There seems to be a sense that this was some sort of partiality or game that the restaurant was playing. I've tried several times and failed to get a table at Oest at at time I wanted to eat. They've come back with 10, 10:30 or 5 :30, none of which worked for us. I figure sooner or later I'll hit it right, or they'l cool off and be available for me when I want them. Then again, from the WOM I've been getting, I think I may skip it altogether.

I think it's good for the restaurant that they are so busy. Whether it is good for the diner to eat there at 11 PM is subject to experience. But I am confused about something. If a restaurant seats only by reservation, and if every seating between 6 and 10 is reserved, what should they do? Why is there this tone of resentment? Do you think they are lying and saving open tables for more important people? Are they playing games? Or are they full and really have no where to put you until 11 PM? It's annoying to be denied a table when you want one. But does that mean there's something wrong with the restaurant?

That's called "marketing" and it does have its rewards, however ignoble. Ask Ray Kroc's heirs.

Some of what you (Steve P) are referring to as far as Robuchon and chef's reputations are concerned is a form of branding. Branding, as it has become the fashion to call it, is as old as the hills. People were willing to pay more or stay loyal to one brand of product over another because 1) it reduced risk, 2) it had a certain caché, 3) it provided benefits that were unavailable elsewhere. So Robuchon became a brand once his reputation became established among more than just the people who actually ate his food. The media are in part responsible for this, and in many cases, a skilled or charismatic personality does it, or professionals engineer it. If someone has a lot of money to invest, he has an advantage over someone who doesn't as far as branding is concerned. Others do it by force of personality. I agree with your point that in the case of someone like Robuchon the total "package" (potatoes, chicken, veggies or whatever) was conceived as a coherent eating experience. I also agree that the creative "artist" and craftsman" makes hundreds of choices, some conscious, others unconscious, on the way to the finished product. The greater the skill, experience and talent, the more innovative those choices and combinations are, and the more startling is the end result. As for Sarnoff vs Farnsworth, it is true that Sarnoff had the where-with-all and drive to make Tv a mass success. The inventive maverick or lonely creative genius is a romantic figure who makes a good hero for movies or books. The movie released several years ago about Tucker, who created a new car company and ultimately failed despite a superior car, is a good example of this theme. But you say it makes little difference whether a scrupulous or unscrupulous person takes the invention. I get the feeling that you are arguing that might makes right, and too bad for people who don't understand that. I know you well enough (I think) to believe you really don't believe that philosophy carried to it's extreme (then again, maybe you do?). I believe a "scrupulous" person or the law should see to it that the interests of inventors of technology are protected from strong predators who would profit from exploiting the technology. Law suits are a poor remedy, as they take a lifetime and cost an arm and a leg.

I agree with your comment about the value of having the business acumen and capital to make an invention into a business. But Sarnoff did more than that. He ruthlessly usurped Farnsworth's ideas and denied him even fair compensation for his contribution. You might say "all fair..." and that's capitalism, but it is also reprehensible, in my opinion. The author makes a very strong point that television had many fathers, each contributing to the answer. He says that Farnsworth's part was just that, a part of the ultimate solution. You're more a purist than I when it comes to eating the "copy." The analogy of painting copies to mimicing food recipes, though seductive, is totally inappropriate. To say that Robuchon is the Van Gogh of mashed potatoes may make good copy but to say that no one else's mashed potatoes, made after his method, can stand up to comparison doesn't work for me. Sure when you throw in the "experience" of eating in his restuarant and knowing his own hand prepared them, you are mashing more than potatoes in the dish. I'm sure seeing Van Gogh's work in St. Remy or Autueil would have more power than seeing it at the Met. And maybe even one's interpretation and understanding would be enhanced greatly. But mashed potatoes? C'mon Steve.

Here's a link to the whole article. http://www.newyorker.com/critics/atlarge/?020527crat_atlarge

Wow, Steve, a reply before I had even finished editing my post! Good morning to you. My answer is yes I would have a big problem with that, and would hope that the uninformed writer would be embarrased by exposure of his/her ignorance. Sometimes this takes a long time to happen, and it isn't "fair." On a larger scale of "theft" of credit for creativity, the current New Yorker has a review of two new books about the invention of television. Both make it clear how David Sarnoff usurped (stole?) the innovations of Farnsworth to take for his own the financial rewards and acolades as the "father" of television. BTW, this book review contains one of the most cogent descriptions of the creative process I've ever read.

Amazing to hear an "artist" argue for incrementalism. If his essential point is that innovation in products that doesn't result in improved functionality does not contribute to the social good, I disagree. How many different ball point pens have I bought simply for the pleasure of holding and looking at an object that was new. Is pleasure not a social benefit? The fact is "new" ideas are inseparable from what exists. Szent-Gyorgi said "discovery is seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought." I think people often confuse "different" with "innovative." Uncreative people are often satisfied by being different rather than striving for truly creative innovation. Merchants offer products with a difference in the hope that people will buy theirs over others, even if the difference is trivial. Sometimes that works, but most often not. The trivial difference serves to attract attention momentarily, but eventually interest (and customers) evaporate. My visit to Russell Wright exhibit yesterday brought home (pun intended) the value and importance of "creative" design for mundane products. The pleasure of looking at his ordinary products in new ways was startling to me. If he had shared this author's view, and had his production people been like the Chinese, who refused to produce his new teapot, what a loss to society! And yes, John, economics drives the vast part of human endeavor, individual and collective. Self-interest is the most powerful drive after self preservation, and no system serves self-interest better than capitalism. Sure Van Gogh continued to paint and create new images without earning a sous for his work. But I'm sure, other things equal, he would have preferred to collect a fat price for his paintings and been able to live better than he did. To bring this back to food, for my money it makes little difference whether I am eating a dish prepared by its original creator or a fifth generation copy by a acolyte or opportunist chef, as long as what I am eating is the best that dish could taste. Though if it hadn't been created in the first place, I would never have had the chance to eat the "copy." So where has this gotten us? Seems we took your bait, John. An interesting exercise. Thanks Miss J.

Ditto for me. This time I used the Press and made sure the coffee to water ratio was just right. Result, pleasant but rather bland coffee. Tomorrow I'll try the Meinl President blend and see what happens.

Amanada Hesser is boring to me and the food she writes about is rarely interesting. I think the Times MAg. food section has suffered since Molly O'neil left it.

Glenn, amazing I could write the same post! I made a 30 oz. using the Bodum Santos Vacuum pot. The result was a pleasant but suprisingly mild (possibly, bland) cup. I expected a much stronger, assertive coffee. I wonder how this will taste as expresso? So far I could not say it's worth the "trip".

For some reason that escapes me, the article caught my eye. I spent about ten minutes on the photos and then the train came to my stop, so I didn't get to the text. I'll save that for later tonight. I seem to be way behind the curve (so to speak) in discovering Nigella. Shame on me.

I will try to find out on my next visit.

Ouch, that must have hurt! Was it in a frame? My disaster; Kid working in a pet store, slicing horsemeat into cubes for dog food (c1954). Lost my concentration and sliced into my thumb, just above the knuckle. Blood. Pain. Rush to the docs. Walk into office holding hand chest high wrapped in blood stained gauze. "Cut my hand", I say. Nurse turns pale and nearly faints. I'm still wearing my butcher's apron which is covered with large wet blood and full of chunks and bits of red raw horsemeat. The scar reminds me to pay attention when slicing.

God, it must be eons since I had a good boiled spleen.

Great! I can't wait to try that. This weekend. Thanks

I am going to try some of the lighter blends in an expresso machine once get mine fixed. I've only used dark roast. I'm curious to see how the Meinl beans will work. My favorite blend of all time, alas is no more. It was Pasqua's Six Country Blend. I never made a cup that didn't please me. Mark Zuckerman, the founder of Pasqua's is a friend, and he got a company in San Francisco (Capricorn Coffees) to make up a "Six Country Blend. It is close to Pasqua's but lacks the last bit of winey sweetness that I loved. I'm playing around with adding some other beans to it to see if I can get that flavor note added. Work in progress.

Miss Otis regrets she's unable to come to lunch that day, and I'm pot out 'o luck for the dinner this time. And I like monkfish liver too!

Really? Oh dear. I'm the lowest of the low. I can't imagine not "overhearing" the conversations of others, especially if they're interesting. For me, "other" people and what they do and say are more than half the fun in the world. The other half is divided among sex, food, music and driving a great car. Remember that wonderful scene in Woody Allen's Manahttan, when he pulls Marshall McCluhan from behind a billboard to put down some pompous guy spouting off about his work? Oh what a fantasy.

And for their selection of Maggie Akins' felt hats. I bought two there.

eGullet.com

MMMM... Which years were the standouts?

Sheesh, lighten up guys. I found the incident interesting but not offensive. I was chagrined, I felt for the woman, sorry that her pain made her do something that, normally, people would not do. Her manner was very sympathetic. Her tone was sort of pleading. Sure she could have moved the table and said nothing. That's what I might have done. But then we're all different. I was free to ignore her and keep on talking (the story was finished), but that would have been cruel. No harm no foul.