Miami Danny

Sietsema's prejudices are on full view here. I've exchanged emails with him in the past, he seems like a decent guy, and I have no qualms with most of what he says. However, the dining review, once a week, should contain more than inferences (your interpretations). BTW, not everyone wants to (or is able to) schlep to the suburbs for dinner. One might be willing to pay more for a convenient place. That is another reason why the review was disappointing-I read Tom's reviews because I might actually go to places he writes about. I'm not reading them for sport-I read CounterCulture for that.

I don't think it is fair to trash IndeBleu, then to get 'miffed', because they enforced their policy-perhaps they should have lent you a pair of pants?

Why is it 'glad-handing' here, but 'attentiveness' elsewhere? What you are posting ('mediocre, overpriced') is NOT what Tom is saying, but your interpretation of Tom's review-this makes my point exactly! Tom's review is utterly without merit, i.e., I learned nothing about Jimmy's steaks. He spends more time on the sides and twice as much space on the desserts. IF THE RESTAURANT SUCKS, SAY SO! The bottom line for Tom, is that this review is superficial and a waste of space.

Just speak up! I was responding to a post that said, 'Hey, we made a slight error, have a $20 round of cocktails on us!' Customer service doesn't mean you eat or drink free every time there's a hiccup. And I know what customer service is, because most of my customers are repeats and regulars and they love me-

Yes-I read into the review that Sietsema didn't spend enough time or effort on it. Another lackluster performance.

I learned two things from Sietsema's review of Jimmy's: 1) Tom has 'pals', and 2) Jimmy's is a steakhouse (I think). Exactly two sentences on the steaks here. He wrote more about the desserts! And what's with the smug take on being treated well? Like remembering your name is such a crime. And BTW, that manager's business card might come in handy if you have a comment or complaint, no? Didn't read like a one star, because I still don't know how the steaks taste!

Oh, and here are the keys to the cash register-help yourself!

Sorry, we are waiting for an outside table. Is one available? No? How long for an outside table? Twenty minutes? OK, we'll wait.

I'm sure 9 out of 10 customers are fine-but who cares about them? "Joe and Mary Blow ate dinner paid their check and left." When I was a cab driver we didn't sit around at the end of the night and talk about the fares who were pleasant or uneventful. Same goes for the bar business now. This stuff about restaurant customers is boring enough-and it's the GOOD stuff! One spends the night serving people-it's not for everyone-you're under-appreciated and you know it. (Don't they know I'm an out-of-work actor/model/writer/PhD candidate/poet, etc?) You gotta blow off steam. Personally, I never talk about my customers' behavior in a bad way, and if I catch my employees (or other customers) doing it (which they do constantly!), I admonish them; because if my customers stop coming, I'm closed! I DO know where the anger (or is it confusion?) is coming from, and I like your haughty/holier-than-thou style. Give me more dirt on your favorite retards, please!

It still shocks me that anyone, especially a self-procaimed 'foodie', would drive 45 minutes to a very popular restaurant on a Saturday night without a reservation. And then blame the restaurant for the debacle!

Crios Malbec Rose from Susana Balbo is possibly, no definitely, the best rose I have ever downed. They do a sustainable growth thing, from a woman vintner, and the label is a representation of her family (really beautiful if you care about that kind of thing-I like a nice label). From Argentina, it has a richness that most roses lack, a strength, almost, that it derives from the powerful Malbec grape. This is a great rose, in that you can drink it at 11AM at the beach for breakfast,, with a light picnic lunch, perfect with fried chicken, fruit, cheese, you name it-and it still holds enough body to drink late into the night if necessary. I have smoked major cigars while drinking this rose-super versatile!

At Dupont Market last Sunday i grabbed some great sun-dried tomato ravioli from Smith Meadows and some great smoked mozarella from blue ridge(?)-it's really smokey and a little goes a long way-in fact it lasted all week-i also grabbed a crabcake from the crabcake guy, and it was excellent. I had to prepare everything in a microwave at work, and each item really stood up. The baguette from Bonaparte was nice and yeasty, but the flan thing and the quiche were pretty bland. 100% rec...Merlot-blueberry jam-just don't eat it for breakfast unless you don't mind a little morning buzz.

You should be thankful for that! How many lemon slices did they order?

Might I humbly suggest that you accept their thanks in another manner in order to avoid embarrassing them and yourself (and the server, the manager...,etc.).

Reminds me of one Passover when my parents were visiting DC from NYC-I was preparing the traditional potato latkes by grating raw potatoes by hand (the only method then permitted by Jewish Law) on a coffee table in front of the TV when my cat spooked me and the gallon of raw potatoes went flying all over the carpet in a rainbow spew right in front of my parents. It left a huge brown stain on the beige carpet about seven feet long, and to this day, my mother still thinks I was a nudnick on drugs.

All my life I've looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first time.

Danny's Tandahan (no relation), at the (almost) SE corner of Wisconsin just south of Van Ness. Owner says he's been there 11 months-I work around the corner and just noticed it. It's Filipino/Japanese, with some cool spices/sauces, and candies/sweets. They also have some frozen dumplings, some eels, some Filipino baked goods, and Salt & Vinegar flavored Cracklin's. My favorites are the instant rice pudding in a cup (CupSarap), and the beef marrow-flavored noodle bowl (Bulalo) (comes with crackers inside). A nice neighborhood option.

I'm sorry, but I believe you missed my point. I purposely purchased Virginia mozzarella and tomatoes the other day at WF, and actually they were both cheaper alternatives (and very good). I believe in small personal acts; I'm not of the school that says you have to be perfect to be good, that if you're a vegetarian you can't wear leather, etc. I accuse no one of hypocrisy. It just seems that we are being beaten about the face for preparing our dinner how we like it, and many of the posts here illustrate that point. As far as the International Capitalist Conspiracy, I'll leave that one to Ayn Rand.

Are you putting these all together in 'A Cooks' Quips'? For a chef you're pretty effin funny! On the topic, when I was at 21P, I recommended the happy hour-food is much cheaper-also, it WAS actually really good.

I wasn't talking about the great educational work that groups like PETA perform, I was talking about the overboard food-fascist lecturing coming from all sides. There's a huge difference. Should I take time out from mentoring disadvantaged youth to take the bus crosstown to buy a peach? There are plenty of ways to make the world a better place. People say they hate MacDonalds, but then pay for their organic, locally grown food with a Credit Card. Do you think Bank of America is doing God's work?

No disrespect to anyone, but it is one thing to buy the finest available products for one's restaurant, because one can simply raise one's prices. It's quite another for the home. Also, if people want Spanish Serrano Ham/Manchego Cheese, etc., these have to come from Spain. A lot of fossil fuel. Is that wrong? Want natural foods from the Amish? The drive to Amish country uses fossil fuel, unless they're driving it to you in their buggies. The fact that the US has been subsidizing/protecting the corn/agriculure industry in this country is not news. It's been going on for decades. And I'm pretty sure MacDonalds just celebrated their fiftieth anniversary. I think it's great that this book has people talking about their desire to change their behavior. I'm with you. My point, however, is that I think the foodies have gotten as bad (or worse) as the PETA types with their endless hectoring and guilt-tripping.

Tell you what to eat, how to eat it, how to pay for it, be a good 'customer',etc. I'm referencing what I thought was a pretty well-known Seinfeld episode.

When did it become OK for everyone to become a soup nazi?

I think the Times article is very positive. And it is obviously not 'a letter' to lobbyists, that is simply the Times articles' headline. I mean, read the darn thing! Yes, the chef left. That's odd, because chefs are never mercurial and investors/owners are never impatient! Apparently, some pretty good people are pretty confident in the investors/mgmt, because they've staked their careers on Agraria-I'm thinking of DR's Derek. Also, it's not just a 'concept' to these guys (the farmers). They grow stuff. And they want to feed it to you.

In your own place, you ought to be able to control the behavior of your customers as it pertains to your other customers, staff, etc. I don't let people take pictures without prior consent of management. Not because I don't want people taking pictures (I DO want them to), I don't want LOONIES taking pictures. It wouldn't kill you to ask first (not that anyone does), because you may have overlooked the sign that says 'no pictures' (I had a guy trash the sign, and then innocently say, 'What sign?') I encourage people to take pictures of their celebrations, friends, birthday cake, etc., but I like to control the pictures taken of the musicians (they have their own PR people, and I do my own PR) and my staff. There are a lot of freaks out there, and I don't want my staff's pictures out there. It's also very distracting to other customers, especially when guys are taking pictures of women they don't know, or when someone's taking like a hundred pictures. Of course, if someone wants to take a picture of my tapas, they can go right ahead cause every one comes out perfectly.