Amateur Night

[Sneakeater]

One of today's foodies was disgruntled because he HAD to get something to eat.  It's not his fault that the only night he could get to Jenufa was Valentine's Day.  He'd have avoided it if he could.

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I mean, I was even going to invite someone to go with me, but then I thought, "Shit, then this'll be A VALENTINE'S DAY DATE. Too frought with significance. I just want to go to the fucking opera."

Edited February 15, 2007 by Sneakeater (log)

[oakapple]

I don't have the stats but many of the "popular" restaurants do more covers on Valentine's day than the avg Fri/Sat.  -Deuces don't linger as long.  Couples will accept early/late slots.  Courses come faster (easier to time a room of deuces than muti sized parties) and as for seating deuces at 4tops and larger, most find a way to turn just about the entire room into deuces.

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That certainly was the case at Country. The whole room was deuces wild. Since every table got the identical menu, the kitchen was geared up to crank out a limited repertoire very quickly. I have no complaint about the quality, which was excellent, but it came fairly quickly. I think we were already on our second course (out of six) before the wine came.

[tupac17616]

Walked in to the Spotted Pig last night with three friends. No wait for a table. First came the gnudi. Eh, nothing special. Then came the burger. Spectacular. Damn near perfect, in fact. By far the best burger I've ever had, which is one hell of a compliment for a food so ubiquitous.

In consistency an issue at the Spotted Pig? An overwhelmed kitchen with an occasional off night? Couldn't tell ya. First time I've walked in the door when the wait hasn't been obscenely long, and thus my first time eating here, period. All I know is on this night, they were most definitely on. Better than Luger, Corner Bistro, Burger Joint, Shake Shack, I could keep going...

Happy Valentines Day to me.

[Nina C.]

The crowds on Valentine's Day? eh, whatever, it's New York, it's crowded. The more expensive meals with less quality of preparation and service, no thank you. That's why we've given up on restaurants and instead had garlic and rosemary pork loin, polenta, salad, and chocolate souffles at home. Then today we went out to Jean Georges for my birthday. We even had Dustin Hoffman as a dining companion.

If I had been in your shoes, I probably would have just ordered in dinner to my desk, then cabbed it to the opera. Or sated my hunger with a quick snack and then made myself a late-night dinner at home. That's what I did when I was a regular lincoln-center-goer.

[Fat Guy]

There are a few sets of requirements being expressed here:

1. People who want a conventional Valentine's Day date at a big-deal restaurant. The reality is that if you pick a really good restaurant you won't suffer terribly. You'll be locked in to a more expensive, less diverse menu, but you should have a good meal. You won't likely experience the place at it peak, but you'll probably get -- if such things can be quantified -- 80-90% of the experience. Presumably, to anybody who chooses this course of action, the price premium and restricted choices are worth it.

2. People who want to go out to eat on Valentine's Day without doing a Valentine's Day meal. The answer there is pretty simple: go to an Asian restaurant. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Korean, whatever. In most cases you can just walk in and have the same meal you'd have any day. Christmas, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving too -- this is the most reliable strategy.

3. People who want exactly the same meal at a big-deal restaurant that they could have on a day other than Valentine's Day. That's easy: go on the 13th or the 15th.

[Sneakeater]

Walked in to the Spotted Pig last night with three friends.  No wait for a table. 

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Spotted Pig is kind of bizarre in that respect.

Usually, it's packed, ridiculous wait, yadda yadda yadda. But sometimes you can walk right in. And it's usually odd times, when if anything you'd expect it to be even more packed than usual.

I remember the one time I had the same experience you did. It was Gay Pride Day, and the streets of the neighborhood were jammed for the parade. A friend who worked in the neighborhood and I made a last-minute plan for me to take her out to dinner, and we fought our way through the crowds over to the Spotted Pig with no real hope of being seated, just to see what would happen. Turned out we got seated right away.

It's weird.

[Nathan]

you know I've realized that the very concepts of "special days", "special menus" and "VIP tables" urks the heck out of me.

I hate star-f___ing in every aspect of life, I hate contrived occasions to make money off of people with expectations that are invariably dashed (I heard a great story the other night about the massive amount of couples that were fighting late at Balthazar on Wednesday night)....

I want food. I want creativity. I want quality. and I'm willing to pay for it. oh, and I want it every day of the year.

[weinoo]

(I heard a great story the other night about the massive amount of couples that were fighting late at Balthazar on Wednesday night)....

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That's what makes Valentine's Day so great!!