blakegwinn

We have those wooden chairs and I always tell people not to turn them upside down. It is like putting a grapefruit on a paper towel roll. The base is way to small and all it takes is a slight nudge by a careless food runner to topple it. One other note on safety. Please don't put your child seat (even properly supported) at the end of the table the server comes to. Find a way to put him away from the server access point and the aisle even if it means some rearranging. We have rectangular four tops that have a short side placed against the wall with 2 chairs a piece on the long sides and people always put the seat on that short side that faces the aisle. This is the only place for the server to reach the table from. It always makes me extremely uncomfortable. I have pretty sure hands but you why take the chance with bowls of hot soup, mussel juice or pasta constantly passing over the top of that seat. I always say something to my tables but often find myself running food to other server's sections who don't want the confrontation.

I enjoyed the latest DCist piece. It is funny how hot those topics are. I see a lot of the city politics columns or expose on the latest police scandal go by with one or two comments but put something up about service in restaurants or potential Whole Foods sites and BAM 40 comments without breaking a sweat.

I made guacamole this weekend and tried that pesto recipe posted earlier with the excess cilantro. Extremely tasty. I smeared it on some chicken panini's I made for dinner the next day and while making the sandwiches I ended up just dipping crackers into it. I didn't feel so bad cleaning out a whole bowl though because that recipe is also much healthier than traditional pesto due to the almond/pine nut exchange I think.

Although I was trying to be witty you are right, there was a bit of truth in there. The best BBQ is the stuff you put together. I can twinge the sauce, mop, dry rub, etc. precisely to my liking. The most important thing is taking the time to doing it right. Most any restaurant has to at some point boil, steam, or bake their BBQ to shortcut the process. The one thing I love most about BBQing at home is that it really does bring people together. You really can't, or wouldn't want to, waste the entire day perfectly smoking 1 rack of ribs, or 2 servings of brisket. If you are going to go through the trouble you throw on a whole pork shoulder, giant brisket or a huge pile of ribs. This means you are always going to have to find someone to share with. I met most of the staff and neighbors at my old apartment building over a plate of of BBQ in the courtyard. Before I wax anymore, does anyone know where I can get some burnt ends? Everywhere back home used to serve ends at least one day a week. Its like the doner kebab of KC BBQ joints but I haven't really seen anywhere out here that does it. I do admit I haven't really gone out to many BBQ places for the above reasons. But I would like to find somewhere I can get some good ones every once in awhile (especially for the upcoming football season)

Thats because you haven't tasted mine. Unfortunately for you its more elusive than Donna's grill. As a matter of fact right before I moved there was a lot of buzz starting to generate about this hotshot newcomer to the DC BBQ scene. (At least among the maintenance and parking staff at my girlfriends building) Seriously though I am personally offended none of you mentioned KC. This whole string is like having a debate about ancient civilizations and not even mentioning Rome. Or having a discussion about organized religions and not bothering to bring up Christianity and the holy trinity the father, (Arthur Bryant) the son (Jack's Stack) and the holy ghost (Fat Charlie). Sinners....

Good call on Salt and Nick's. The food isn't great at Nick's but cheap brews and great atmosphere (on the roof) make this place. Salt might not be as comfortable with the kids though. Good cocktails at salt and they do some great duck-fat fries. Another option aside from the Helmand is Bistro B in Bolton hill but it isn't as close to the inner harbor as the others. It is owned by the same guy as the Helmand but it is a bit more neighborhoody. Used to be my favorite place ot eat but last time I went there I had pretty bad food. I hope it was a one time deal but I am suspect because one of the everyday chefs jumped ship. Oh and my favorite place in Fell's is Peter's Inn. Small place and selection but it is a really cool vibe and great food. Also has pretty decent selection of dirt cheap bottles of wine.

Just an update on this post, Spices started a direct delivery service about 3-4 months ago. Don't order the tangerine peel beef, I think it is seasoned with crack cocaine. I hit rock bottom about a month ago stealing money from my girlfriends purse to order some. Just kidding but it is an extremely addictive dish. The sushi usually shows up in decent shape also. I am not sure what their radius of coverage is but I live up by AU and they deliver to me.Oh also Cafe Divan has free delivery. That isn't bad either. Plus the doner and iksander kebab are available every night of the week. I had lamb shank that wasn't great though. The sampler is also pretty weak. I would stick to the kebab and pide. They have a pretty small radius of service I think.

We have white butcher paper, does that count? Maybe it should be that you get "white tablecloth service" if it is clean, casual service if it is drawn all over with crayons.

My brother (who is a manager at a national casual dining chain that is to remain nameless for his protection) had a diner who went into a show stopping head turning rant about not getting another steak after finishing about 9/10 of his current steak and then deciding the it was undercooked. This being a big national corporation when the GM was called over the guy was thrown like $50 in giftcards. Later on after the guy and his family of 5 had finished they threw a bunch of mangled cash in the book and made a quick exit. When the waiter finally picked up the book the family was long gone into the Chinatown night. As he finished counting he realized the guy was short 25-30 bucks. I just happenned to call my brother about 10 minutes later to see what he was up to. He told me the story said they were getting ready to call corporate to try and get the gift cards voided. I had a better idea, take the numbers (which are all recorded in the sales log and work just like a credit card) and manually ring up the meal by punching in the numbers into the Posi. Plus figure in a 20 percent tip for the waiter. This left the balance at like 2 dollars. I smile to myself when I picture the guy's surprise when he tried to cash in on another free meal and had his card returned with a 2 dollar balance and upon inquiry finding out he was charged for the food he walked out on.

You know you might find this interesting but always having the check ready is a requirement in at least 2 restaurants I have worked in. By requirement I mean if a secret shopper comes in and declines dessert and you don't have the check you get docked points on your write up. I almost always have all my checks on hand and just reprint them if I need to add coffee\dessert\etc. You would be surprised how many people think it is so cool when they say "No thanks just the check" to dessert and I pull it out of my waiter's pouch. I think the key is not holding it while discussing dessert. It seems from your account that the wait er/ress was holding it as they asked you. I probably wouldn't do that, I can see it coming off as pushy.

I think a lot of diners mistakenly take a check drop as a sign to leave. I do admit that sometimes it IS a message but more often than not I just want to make sure you have the check there and ready when you want it. I don't see what is wrong with paying and continuing to enjoy your dessert/coffee. It really is a help to the server because we don't have to constantly check to see if you are ready. That being said I have never really dropped before or during dessert unless I heard mention of trying to make a show or something. I think that Michael's studies are correct in that people HATE waiting around for a server to take payment and Murphy's law would dictate that after the check presenter sat untouched by you on your table for 25 minutes the exact second I tried to sneak out back to empty the linen bag would inevitably be the same moment you decided to pay. After looking around frustrated for a few minutes you would eventually grab one of my colleagues who is in the weeds and ask them to take care of it. Better to just throw a credit card down when I drop the check. This way whenever you decide you want to leave you will be ready to walk out the door instead of trying to flag me down. Two other quick notes... I don't know how it works in other restaurants but at mine we can check out and go home as soon as all of our checks are paid. We don't have to wait for all of our tables to leave. If you see the restaurant clearing out but you still want to linger for another 45 minutes please just pay your check. Then you can hang out for as long as you want, I guarantee the closing server can refill your coffee for you. Just let me go home. There is nothing worse than doing a crossword for an hour, sidework done, waiting for one two top as they sip their coffee with my check presenter in their lap. The second note, please for the love of God put your credit card in that top slip or at least somewhere visible. Same goes for cash, just make sure it is visible. It is a real tight rope act for a server because I am thinking, "Do I grab the book and see if there is something in it?" I run the risk making the diner feel rushed if they weren't ready to pay. Upsetting a diner right before tip time is never a good idea. The alternative is let it sit, but then you might possibly be making a diner who is rearing to get out of the restaurant sit there for 10 minutes. Again, not a good idea right before tip time.

We had the Heffe on tap for a bit last summer. Our cheap beer of choice in college was Natty Ice. You really had to figure in alchohol content vs. dollar spent. It was definitely the most drunk you could get off of the pennies you found under the couch cushions. At least until we discovered steel reserve. I have enough crappy beer stories from my college rugby days that still make me gag a bit. The cheapest beer we ever had was when we played Temple. They took us to some liquor store near the team house (I was scanning the sidewalk for chalk outlines) and we bought a bunch of cases of this beer with an Indian Head on the can. A couple of my teammates were wondering aloud how much they were per beer and it seems the temple guys had figured it out already because one of them said .29 cents almost immediately. The worst was Hamms on our way down to Florida. I do have to qualify that though because I haven't really tried it as the manufacturer intended. They were room temperature and we had no way to cool them down but it was spring break and we wanted to get drunk quick so we just started drinking them anyways. Well someone's logic was in the right place, because it was suggested that since they were so horrible to drink anyways we might as well dump a shot of vodka (cheap plastic Tenley Brand 100 proof) in each one so at least we would get drunk faster. It tasted awful. However a couple of those and you were good to go. Granted you were also fighting nauseau but eventually it turned into an extremely crazy night. The last, which is so bad I didn't even think it fit in the category of worst beer, is the time we were having a post game drink up at (I think) the John Hopkins rugby house and ran out of beer. The party was still young and someone was sent to the store but we all knew it was going to be 30-45 minutes until they returned. The only alternative? The 3/4 of a keg left over from a party about a month ago that had been sitting in the backyard (this was sometime in September mind you). There were some naysayers but most of us agreed to give it a go and some idiot had suggested it might even be better because it had "aged". It had the consistency and taste of clarified butter that had some skunked stale beer dumped into it. Not pleasant. Yet sadly we still almost kicked the thing before the beer run got back.

I was thinking about taking the girl on a surprise romantic picnic. I know one of the other strings has picnic recipe ideas but that doesn't really help. Any ideas from the peanut gallery on a good spot, good wine/bubbly, and good menu items I could pick up from somewhere with takeout or prepared foods? I am thinking more classy than sandwiches and potato salad but I don't want to cook anything as spending an hour shut in the kitchen before we leave might be a bit suspicious. I would rethink sandwiches if only Breadline was open...

Just called for a reservation and it looks they aren't open Monday and Tuesday next week. Just a heads up. Looks like we are heading to RTS for my girlfriend's birthday dinner on Tuesday... By the way I am moving in with her in 2 weeks in Downtown Silver Spring, is it bad that I devote more thought to how sweet it will be living across the street from RTC than to moving in with my girlfriend? I guess in 8 months or so she will be the only one of her friends that will be able to say she got left for a pork chop.

Well well look what the cat dragged in... How did last night work out for you? I think bar sales from 10:30 to close were probably about 50-60 percent former or current employees. I might have to come by for some wine on Saturday. My boy just got back into the country from Iraq so I am at his mercy this weekend. But I will plant the Firefly seed on Saturday and see if it takes.

So I guess I should call off the kickball game I had planned for Sunday brunch in CO Kitchen? The kids will be so disppointed. There's iust nothing like a 7th inning stretch round of donuts.

Hear hear. I am an unbeliveably easy going guy and one of the only thing that still burns me is people getting talked down to. I know that this OFTEN goes from server to customer (especially in nicer restaurants where wine and food knowledge are a bit more important) but the restaurant I am at now is a very casual atmosphere in an extremely affluent neighborhood so it is almost exclusively customer on server. We get so many customers who treat waiters like "the help". Get over yourself. I work a full time analyst job in the day which requires a college degree and it is 30 times easier than my evening job waiting tables. I get entry level wages at my day job and if I think I am overpaid at one of my jobs it is the one I do during the day. I sit in an airconditioned office in a comfortable chair all day. At night I am on my feet all night running through hot kitchens, burning my hands on hot plates and getting talked down to like I am an idiot or failure because I am waiting on you. It dissappoints me that we still have so many people in such an educated and normally classy and polite city who treat servers like they are beneath them. Some people always assume that waiters are some uneducated losers who must have failed in life at some point to end up cleaning dirty plates off your table. At my restaurant we have 2 people working on phd's right now, 3 on masters degrees and a handful of college students. 4-5 of us have full time office jobs but just need extra money to be able to afford an apartment in this ridiculous market. Don't get me wrong, I think full time food service is a completely respectable career I am just trying to point out that you can't assume things about someone because they are cleaning the plates off your table. Most customers are great and the ones that aren't I have seen enough of them that this kind of thing doesn't bother me anymore. It's when I see people talking to my more sensitive friends like they are ingrates that sets me off. And yes Michael, what a fantastic place we live in were restaurant etiquette is a major topic of discussion. I can't help but think there are service staff/cooks/diners that are probably just happy that their restaurant isn't a pile of rubble when they show up for dinner. And thanks for the welcome you other guys. I promise after post 20 the length will drop by 50-60 percent as I get all these diatribes that have been pent up for years out of my head.

These peeves all kind of fall under "You can't please all of the people all of the time". I think there are some obvious things you can avoid, leaving glasses empty, not explaining food delays, inappropriate touching etc. Then there are some personal peeves or needs that may or not be picked up on by the server. I consider myself very adept at reading people and tables and there are probably still a lot of things that go under the radar. Sometimes you just have to do what you feel comfortable with and half of the customers will like it and half won't. For every person who feels like "guys" is nails on a chalkboard there are 10 who subconciously feel more comfortable with the server. For every person who wants their plate cleared so they don't have mussell shells and juice sitting in front of them while their partner finishes, there are those who will berate you on proper etiquette if you try and clear it. I've been in the biz since I was old enough to work and by this point I know what I am comfortable with and I just roll with that until I get some strong signals otherwise. So if you are pulling out your wallet mid dessert, chances are I will be there with a check by the time your spoon hits the table. If I do end up missing those signals though I find that with 95 percent of my customers if I am cool and confident and relaxed, they can't help but be relaxed also. I do think some customers forget that we might have served 50 people before them, each with there own preferences which might have been exactly opposite from there own. So before you start talking about what a neanderthal your waiter is for trying to refill your wine glass just remember he might have gotten taken down a peg by the customers before you for not refilling. I always see rookies get sucked in to overreacting to this kind of stuff. One customer gets upset about something so they go overboard in the opposite direction and up getting it again from a different customer. Oh and one thing that definitely frustrates me is when people get snippy at the very beginning. When you just sit down and I come over you are a blank slate to me. I might be able to make a few assumptions based off your body language and dress or whatever but nothing concrete. I am not sure if you want me to be quick and efficient , slow and leisurely, or chatty and funny. You have to at least give us a minute or two of interaction before you jump on us for something you see as faux pas. If your waiter still doesn't get the picture by the time your entrees are done than yes, he probably just doesn't get it.

Sorry for the triple post but I just joined this board and discovered this gem of a string. I blame it on two things, FIRST (semi-joking): reality TV. Remember in the mid 90's when everyone said violent video games and movies were desensitizing kids to violence? The same is happening now with bitching, arguing and getting bent out of shape. We are inundated with people acting like children and whining about every little thing and now we think this is normal behavior. and SECOND (not-joking): Restaurants willingness to bend over backwards for asshole customers. Yes it is the service industry and I do my best to please every customer that comes through the door but sometimes I think it is easier for managers to just comp and placate assholes than to actually deal with them. I mean if a guy acts like he did in Dean's restaurant and gets 5 free meals and profuse apologies from the owner himself, he is vindicated. Dean asked them to leave. IF this schmuck tries this again at a restaurant and the same happens, maybe the third time he will think to himself "Jesus I could do without the drama and embarassing myself in front of my friends again tonight maybe I will just play by the rules and see how that goes." I feel like a lot of restaurants have just been like parents handing out candy to kids when they misbehave because the truth is it the easy way out. It is so much easier for a manager to comp a meal than to have an honest discussion with the patron and possibly defend themselves to the owner when they get an angry email from the customer. IT just makes me angry sometimes when a customer, who is widely known as someone who complains EVERY time they come in and subsequently gets comped, gets another free meal. Meanwhile that family of 5 who comes in twice a week, say please and thank you every time, ask me about how things are going in my life, and never cause problems don't get jack. I do have to admit I like ass-hat better than guy. "Good evening, can I get you asshats some drinks while you look over the menus?" Seriously though I work in a place that hands out kids menus and crayons to draw on the butcher-papered tables. I think guys is just fine. When I was in fine dining you are right, I didn't actually use guys, not becuase of any gender issues, but becuase it is informal. But if you are letting a little, tecnically correct, word-usage get under your skin during an otherwise fine meal....

I totall agree with you but I know at least one place I worked at where they sent in secret shoppers all the time to check out our steps of service. Well one step was a "2 bite checkout" I definitely knew servers who got docked for waiting a couple of minutes to come back. Those shoppers REALLLY took the two bite thing literally. As well as "greet and take drink orders within 30 seconds of being seated" With some customers that is just WAY too fast. I think hard core regulations like these aren't good for anyone. I know you have to have bench marks but if you trust that your servers are professionals you should let the waiter read a table on their own and decide how to handle it. But just remember that before you get snappy with your server!! We might just be trying to follow the rules we have been given instead of trying to purposely rush you.

Up until this year Camden had a place named after the Butcher's Hill neighberhood on the first base side right on the corner of the Eutaw street concourse. They had like 5-6 different types of dogs and sausages. Every game I use to walk right past the huge lines at Boogs and head straight for that place but this year it is just a Boardwalk fries stand. I was so bummed. That place was great, really good brats. Now they just have italian sausages, which aren't bad, at all the regular grill stations. I could down a dozen fish tacos in a sitting at PETCO park. I was not impressed with Pimante Bros. at PNC despite all the talk.

I was there on one of those blazingly hot nights last week, the special pizza had grilled zucchini, scallions, pine nuts, dried tomatoes olive oil and I believe fontina but I could be wrong on the cheese. It was a little earthy/nutty... I am totally drawing a blank. When I first got the pizza I thought the tomatoes were a bit sparse but they really packed a punch. I ended up trying to just arrange my bites so I had nibble of tomato on each bite. For dessert we had a very simple dish of assorted melon and mint/lemon sorbet. To drink beth had a mimosa variation made with blood orange and I had a huge hefeweizen (I didn't realize how large the "Large" was) I couldn't think of a more perfect meal to beat the heat. Everything we ate was exactly what I fantasize about on a brutally hot and stuffy night. I am so lucky to live within walking distance of that place. A couple of other things, the rabbit, which I saw out on a cutting board the other night, is a fantastic dish although when I have had it before, I found myself wanting a bit more for the price. A few weeks ago Beth and I got an assortment of small plates that night but both ended up fighting over the rabbit. We ended up just ordering 2 more. I guess it isn't the dollar figure that was bugging me as much as I just wanted an entire entree of the rabbit. Also worth noting we got there at 9:35 on a Wednesday night and it was still a 45 minute wait. Unbelievable... I actually saw people waiting outside there during Deluge '06 a couple of weeks ago. I think I am going to organize a benefit or have an eat-a-thon or something to raise money to help them buy out Papas Liquor and that lower room of Cactus Cantina, anyone want to help?

Oh and on a similar note a funny story. When I was in college my next door neighbor had a house on the Jersey shore. A bunch of us were planning on going out there for some 5 day weekend. So for three weeks this girl (Name redacted) was talking about how she was going to have her mom make lasagna, and it was the best we were ever going to have etc. etc. We had met her father before, italian guy who grew up in an italian neighborhood right outside of NYC so our expectations were high. What we didn't know is that he had married a girl from the midwest with zero ethnic roots or cooking background to speak of. Needless to say the lasagna was an ABOMINATION. Awful. It was seriously like a can of tomato paste with a shake or two of dried basil on undrained ground beef with some over/undercooked (depending on which side you took yours from) lasagna noodles and some cottage cheese. We all choked down a few bites except for the girl who ate like 3 platefuls and kept asking questions like "Isn't my mom's lasagna the best ever?" We were looking for a hint of sarcasm in her eyes but unfortunately it wasn't there. But that is what she grew up with and she loved it. Whenever someone brings up that trip that is the first memory everyone always has. Still laugh about it. All we could think about was how her NY italian father must have silently cried himself to sleep everytime she cooked italian. (Name redacted) told me one time that growing up her dad worked late most nights and usually wasn't there for family dinners. Coincidence.....?

This is a really interesting post. Can you truly improve on "classic" dishes that have very specific qualities in people's memories. Hell, I still LOVE Kraft mac n cheez. And as someone originally from Kansas City I can't imagine BBQ as anything but a burnt end sandwich or pulled pork at Arthur Bryant's or Fat Charlies. If you gave, Chef Morou a prime cut of organic meat, artisan rolls and all premium ingredients and a smokepit with any kind of wood imaginable I am sure he could make you some experimental crazy sandwich with african influences that would be an out of this world experience. But for me I will always consider the best BBQ to be that cheapest available cut of pork shoulder slow cooked in the dirty 50 year old smoke pit slapped on a nearly stale white "Wonder" bun and slathered with sauce and a few pickles on the side. Same goes with philly cheese steaks. Would a philly native prefer his dollar a pound frozen steak froma dirty grill with cheese whiz or shaved kobe beef on an artisan roll with real provolone put together by Furstenberg? I think everyone knows the life cycle of "authentic" or "traditional" foods. Most traditional foods were made by the lower class trying to make something edible out of what they had access to. As the techiques and dishes catch on people with access to all the best start getting their hands on it and introduce prime ingredients. So which is preferrable, the 30 dollar lobster roll at the 4 star or the 7 dollar one from the dockside shack? A Bayless tamale or one wrapped in newspaper from a stand in Tijuana? I know I just try not to think about it and enjoy whatever is in front of me but isn't it interesting that we would even be comparing 2 dishes from such different quality of ingredients, chefs, etc? I think if we didn't have all those memories and history attached to the original the discussion would seem silly. Like comparing a frozen microwaveable Trader Joes pasta dish to Dino's Wild Boar Pappardelle.

Either, but it should definitely be enjoyed responsibly. You know come to think of it I don't think we covered that in my last TIPS training...