Gary Tanigawa

From Carlyle Community Council's newsletter: Restaurant Interests Speak Out at Food Truck Meeting Alexandria's restaurant interests made a strong showing at the City's Food Truck Advisory Group meeting on January 29th to voice their concerns about the City allowing food truck vendors to operate in Alexandria. Owners of Carlyle's Artfully Chocolate and Subway were present as well as the Carlyle Community Council. Other Carlyle businesses submitted written comments. Currently food trucks can operate at construction sites or for special events. Restaurants from fine dining to fast food were united in raising concerns the impact food trucks would have on brick and mortar restaurants. Although food trucks have become popular in Washington D.C., they contend the market in Alexandria is not conducive to support additional eateries in the community. Questions were raised about unfair competition since food trucks do not have the same overhead costs as storefront restaurants. Food trucks can take advantage of high demand times and pack up and go when it's slow. Other concerns include parking, litter and aesthetics. Food truck vendors in attendance contend food trucks attract new customers and would not siphon off customers from existing restaurants. They view food trucks as being entrepreneurial and would add vitality to an area. An initial proposal recommended Carlyle as one of three designated areas for food trucks. CCC adopted a resolution last fall opposing food trucks in Carlyle on an ongoing basis. Alexandria restaurateur, Mike Anderson, owner of the soon-to-open Sweet Fire Donna's, serves on the Advisory Group. Alexandria's City Manager created the Food Truck Advisory Group last year to hear input from the community and then make recommendations to the City Manager that would be considered by the City Council. The Group consists of members representing restaurants, food trucks, citizens, economic development and farmers' markets. Draft recommendations are expected for its February meeting.

I gave the nice woman on the phone my CC number I hope she's not on her way to Hawaii right now

first on the wait list

Now Olivia Macaron http://www.oliviamacaron.com/ looks like he isn't making his other baked goods currently He opened last month in Georgetown (3222 M St, NW across from the Dean and Deluca). Anyone been?

DonCorn

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org Donor Services at (212) 763-5779, Monday-Friday from 9am - 5pm EST or email donations@newyork.msf.org.

I wish I had read this before eating the okonomiyaki at Tomo Sushi & Grill (is this the izakaya in Centreville you visited?)

Sorry I didn't get there, work interrupted.

Or it could be the inaugural event for TMB Arlington.

BUSHI NO KONDATE Set within the Kaga Domain in the Edo Period. Oharu (Aya Ueto) is an excellent cook and recognized for her skills. Due to her cooking talents, she marries Yasunobu (Kengo Kora), who is an heir in the Funaki family. The Funaki family serves as the cook for the Kaga Domain. Nevertheless, Yasunobu himself is a terrible cook. With the help of Oharu's mother-in-law Mitsuru (Kimiko Yo), she begins to teach Yasunobu how to cook. trailer subtitled in English

Dan Cathy

I had the $62 four-course dinner early on Sunday after Baltimore Comic-Con, plus two glasses of wine (lambrusco and dolcetto), tax and tip = $105. First dish was a salad: figs, speck, treviso and verde capra - excellent mixture of sweet, salty and bitter. Pasta dish was duck lasagna, porcini cream and red wine/shallot reduction - rich and satisfying. Main dish was pan-roasted squab, Tondini beans, zucchini and roasted tomatoes - generous portion and cooked perfectly (possibly too salty for the intolerant, but fine for me). Dessert was figs and peaches with mascarpone sauce - perfect late summer ending. I'd be frequent diner if the restaurant was closer. With only a few tables occupied between 5-6pm, service was good (I probably drank a quart of ice water because of the hours spent in the hot bowels of the convention center, so both the waiter and runner were doing frequent refills of my glass).

Pete Wells in NY Times

How My Restaurant Adventure Came to an End

AGREED x 5! After eating there four times, I wouldn't return without hearing there were improvements. Good (not great) food with service/attitude (especially when they are slammed) that is poor. I think my dissatisfaction comes from the expectation (à la Tyler Cowen?) that this is someplace where I'm looking for value in addition to tastiness. I could forgive the service errors if there were lower prices or larger portions. It may be unfair to La Caraqueña but I would place less emphasis on value for a restaurant in another location, nicely decorated, or with a different cuisine. Since the restaurant is doing well, however, I have been hesistant to share what is merely a complaint about how the business is run. I don't personally believe that my opinion about these aspects of a restaurant and why I won't be returning are worthwhile to share with others who might want to try La Caraqueña since they are not reasons to avoid the place without giving it a try. It's similar to why I didn't post about Ravi Kabob when there was a discussion about its discriminatory practices. Although I'm satisfied from my own experience that the complaints are probably true and I haven't returned because I came to the same conclusion long ago, many of their customers either do not receive the same treatment or do not care if they do. I don't believe MY concern about Ravi Kabob's business practices and the reason I won't be returning should prevent others from going there and coming to their own conclusion.

I recall seeing bottled yuzu juice at Society Fair.

Michel Richard Set to Open a New York Restaurant and Bakery: "Pomme Palais, the pastry shop, is scheduled to open in August. About a month later, Villard Michel Richard with its two dining rooms will be ready."

There are two good commentaries I've read about this controversy: thank you Russ Parsons and Edward Lee. I'm quoting most of the latter's post because it might require a FB account to access what he had to say after shooting an episode of Paula Deen's show. "Mrs. Deen was gracious, friendly and funny. Unfortunately, none of those qualities trumps racism. I am not an activist. I am just a cook who lives in the South. But my world encompasses many diverse peoples and races, and I know the hurt and the violence that can sting behind a few choice words, even said in jest. But leaving Mrs. Deen’s foibles aside, what I was most dismayed about this week were the provocations by a number of outspoken people who over-simplified this vast swath of symbolic land called “The South.” Racist rants, dumb jokes about Southern culture and, at times, a particularly mean-sprited skewering (sorry for the pun) of Mrs. Deen herself. To say things like, “that’s just the way it’s always been” is not only inaccurate, but far worse, it is lazy. The South that I live and travel in is one that is buoyed by diversity, acceptance, generosity and love – the people and kitchens of the American South have enriched my life with culture and respect. Does the antediluvian stains of racism exist here too? Of course it does. Just like any place where Old World values collide with progressive change, where tradition is asked to bend to modern society. So bascially any place in America. But the South that I choose to live in does not happen by chance, or by wishful thinking. It happens because people choose to participate. They choose to gather and question and communicate and include and shake hands. It takes work to build a community. Every so often, scandals like these erupt in entertainment, fashion, politics, wherever people and cultures meet. It reminds us of the work that still needs to be done. But the first step is simply to want it. I didn’t hear a lot of that this week. To me, it’s just as easy to build bridges as it is to tear them down. It starts with a choice."

It gets worse. If you are interested in knowing why Food Network decided not to renew Paula Deen's contract, NPR has the blow by blow along with the deposition transcript.

Interesting info at Wiser Waitress and NY's Hospitality Wage Order 1. Retention of Tips: The law forbids any arrangement between the employer and the tipped employee whereby any part of the tip received becomes the property of the employer. A tip is the sole property of the waiter. Where an employer does not strictly observe the tip credit provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), no tip credit may be claimed and the waiter is entitled to receive the full cash minimum wage, in addition to retaining tips he may or should have received. 2. Service Charges: A compulsory charge for service, for example, 15 percent of the bill, is not a tip. Such charges are part of the employer's gross receipts. Where service charges are imposed and the waiter receives no tips, the employer must pay the entire minimum wage and overtime required by the FLSA. But under New York’s Hospitality Wage Order, if customers are led to believe the service charge is a tip that will be given to the waiter, the employer cannot retain the service charge. 3. Tip Pooling: The requirement that a tipped employee must retain all tips does not preclude a valid tip pooling or sharing arrangement among employees who customarily and regularly receive tips, such as waiters, waitresses, bellhops, counter personnel (who serve customers), busboys/girls and service bartenders. Tipped employees may not be required to share their tips with employees who have not customarily and regularly participated in tip pooling arrangements, such as dishwashers, cooks, chefs, and janitors. Only those tips that are in excess of tips used for the tip credit may be taken for a pool. Tipped employees cannot be required to contribute a greater percentage of their tips than is customary and reasonable.

Are you referring to the lawsuit filed against Sushi Yasuda under the FLSA?

The bar at Corduroy, unless it's Sunday.

New Jersey's ABC for Operation Swill. "In one case, a New Jersey bar allegedly mixed rubbing alcohol with caramel food coloring and served it as scotch." Thirteen of the establishments identified were TGI Fridays franchises operated by the Briad Group, a Livingston-based hospitality company. TGI Fridays said Wednesday it was looking into "these serious allegations." Briad operates 70 TGI Fridays across the country, including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, and New York. They also run 42 Wendy's in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, as well as Marriott and Hilton hotels, the Corner Bakery shops, Cups yogurt stores, Zinburger locations, and the Promenade Shops at Clifton.

Two more maps: KRCW's Good Food LA Times' Gold To Go

You forgot to mention self-awareness