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jiveturk21

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Everything posted by jiveturk21

  1. jiveturk21
    I will watch another episode or two, but it was pretty much a train wreck. I don't know if it was bad editing or the producers had too heavy of a hand in the decisions, but there were several tastes that they really liked, but then no one picked that chef to move on!? I almost felt as though they were so hell bent on taking as many home cooks to the next round as pros that they didn't pick the best. I have never really like Bourdain, but this took the cake for me, he is not good on the show. Nigella is looking better than ever (at 53!). Malarkey is a fucking tool.
  2. jiveturk21
    Happy that Josie got kicked off. Brooke did a crappy job this week, but she has been good all season, if she and Kristin got kicked off in back to back weeks, it would have been a shame. Overall, I am still not impressed with this bunch. If Kristin makes it through LCK, I am pretty sure that she will come back and win.
  3. jiveturk21
    I went to the restroom first, so I may have gotten turned around, but I believe that it was the bar when you first walk in to the left. I am on a low carb diet (referred to as Paleo, South Beach, Atkins, etc.) which has worked well for me over the years (I tend to do this the first month or two of the year to atone for the overeating at the holidays). I try to limit the alcohol, because that isn't supposed to be part of the diet, but I often don't care (which would have been the case last week). And, as I said in my original post, I mentioned both the bartender and management (or, as you put it, corporate office) as being inflexible. I understand that the bartender may have no input on the matter.
  4. jiveturk21
    Reason number 931 why people, or management, are stupid. I felt like drinking at lunch today, that is what happens when you are at the client site and almost everyone decides to turn a three day weekend into a four day one. So, I walk outside and see Smith and Wollensky across the street, I figure that I can get some good drinks there and a decent burger at the bar. So, I walk into the bar at 12:15 PM, I am the only one there other than the bartender. I take my coat off, sit down in a seat and he pours me some water. I ask him what kinds of rye he has and he rattles off five or six different kinds. I tell him that I will think about it while I look at the menu. I ask about Wollensky's Butcher Burger and he seems disgusted to have to explain it to me (why I should magically know that it comes with bacon, cheddar cheese, fries and cole slaw without saying that on the menu is beyond me). Shaking that off, I ask him if I can have that with mixed greens instead of the fries or cole slaw and he says adamantly, "No." I state that I am willing to pay more for it because I am on a diet and cannot eat the fries and he says, "You can order a salad from the menu, but we don't do side salads." I think for about 10 seconds and say to myself, "Fuck this!", put on my coat and walk out the door. I believe that this is the first time that I have ever done this, I may have done it before, but I don't recall if I have. From my point of view, this guy missed out on at least a $60 check ($13 for the burger, $2 for the mixed greens, $45 for 3 drinks) and a $12 to $15 tip. I think that he, and the restaurant, would appreciate that in a large bar with zero patrons in it. He also missed out on making a customer happy, a customer that will be at this client for another six weeks, and a customer that will spend whatever the hell he wants on lunch or happy hour. From his point of view, he probably thought that I was a cheap skate that was unwilling to pay $9 for one of their salads, and that I was misplaced in such a grand and historic restaurant like Smith and Wollensky.
  5. jiveturk21
    I'm not buying the fact that the judges didn't know what was going on behind the scenes. Even if they didn't know the full details, they do know that 1) Josie consistently gets her food done late thus making patrons wait 2) the same thing happened in this situation and 3) maybe those two things are correlated. Add that to the fact that the dish sucked (not just the plating, they talked about the fish being cooked improperly), Josie's food has sucked all season, and Kristin has been awesome all season, and I think that it is pretty easy to determine who shoud go home. With all of that being said, this is a reality show, so I shouldn't expect much. At the same time, I always thought that Top Chef, for the most part, was beyond producers driving the outcome, maybe I am just naive in that thinking. Either way, I don't see a ton of talent in this bunch. Look at the final six and tell me, "I can't wait to go to their restaurant!" I could see myself going to Brooke's restaurant if I heard good things, and I really liked Sheldon's concept, but other than that, really no interest on my part.
  6. jiveturk21
    The Wegman's in Fairfax has one. I have seen these at maybe a dozen places over the past year, but to be honest with you, since I don't drink soda much, I don't recall where they are located.
  7. jiveturk21
    Have they opened yet? I attempted to make a reservation for December 29th, but got an email back a day or two later saying that it was going to open December 30th.
  8. jiveturk21
    Chef, your industry is not the only one that is unpredictable these days. In my world (management consulting) we consistently have people in very strategic positions, often supervising several employees, that leave in very short fashion. While two weeks is the norm and is what is expected (although personally I think that is too short of a time period for the position that several people are in), I had someone recently resign on a Wednesday and state that their last day would be Friday. Is it as extreme as your case? No, but it is pervasive in almost every working situation. By the way, this wouldn't irk me as much as it does except for the fact that employees often complain when the shoe is on the other foot. My firm has never laid off any workers, but I hear former colleagues complain about "only" getting eight weeks severence (after maybe being at the company for one or two years) or raising an employee's insurance responsibility by $50 a month (when the employer may have to cover an extra $200 or $300) a month. In the end, companies, or in your case restaurants, are not evil. There are some evil owners that screw over their employees, but there are also a whole lot of crappy workers out there too.
  9. jiveturk21
    I agree with a lot of what darkstar965 says above. We went there for the first time on Saturday night (movie at Angelika and some window shopping) and came away very impressed. While I am sure that there will be several hits and misses over the next couple years with stores and restaurants, I hope that they keep the momentum going. And, watching a movie at Angelika was great (good selection of snacks and drinks), but I have to say that I really hate having to pick your seat before walking into the theater. Yes, it may ensure that you have the seat that you want, but it also keeps you from moving around when a person that decides to not take a shower that day, or maybe for several days, decides to sit right next to you.
  10. jiveturk21
    I don't go often, but I end up here once a year for brunch, drinks, etc. Friday night was one of my yearly visits and, as always, it didn't disappoint. Scotch and dessert this time, not too difficult to mess up, but they did a better job of not messing up, the four desserts that we had were pretty spot on.
  11. jiveturk21
    Delhi Dhaba is right down the street from my office in Courthouse, so I may go there once every few months to get my quick Indian fix. I will not, however, be returning any time soon, and it has nothing to do with the food (which has always been pretty good to me). When I went last time, I got the carryout special (one meat, rice, two sides for $13.99). As I was waiting them to make my food, I noticed that they had a dine in special (one meat, rice, two sides AND naan for $9.99). So, for $4 less, you get to not only eat in the restaurant, but you also get naan!? Does that make sense to anyone? I thought about it a lot that day and tried to understand how they could justify the price difference. Carryout causes them to have to use some more packaging, but eating in means that they have to clean the restaurant more often. People that carryout are less likely to order a drink, but people that order in are also more likely to be a pain in the ass. Whatever. I realized that I was dumb to ponder this for so long that day (why am I wasting my time!?), and just decided to not go there anymore. It may seem kind of petty for me to not go to an establishment because they are terrible at pricing their offerings, but it irks me enough to go elsewhere for Indian food if I want it.
  12. jiveturk21
    Raw seafood platter/tower at the bar on Friday night was chock full of oysters, clams, shrimp, lobster and stone crab claws. The shrimp were a bit overcooked, but everything else was awesome and generous (I believe that it was $65 for the platter and it was a lot of food). I wish that they had better, and more interesting, bar offerings, but I have always enjoyed the wine list.
  13. jiveturk21
    I have gone a few times now and find that my experience from trip to trip has been very consistent. The service is very friendly, especially for a fast food type of place. The burgers are good, the toppings generally well thought out and balanced. The fries are always hot and crispy, but way oversalted and greasy, greasy to the point of making your stomach churn. The onion strings that they serve are also way too thin, they are impossible to eat unless you just jam a bunch together and shove them in your mouth at once (not preferable for me). And, whatever sauce they serve with the onion strings is GROSS. I will go back for the burgers and try some of their non-traditional fries, but I can't imagine ordering the fries or onion strings again.
  14. jiveturk21
    I think that sometimes we all jump to conclusions a bit too quickly. With all of the hubbub about the changes at 2941 over the past year, I was a bit leery about going there for the first time in several years, but it was as good as ever on Saturday night. The space is exceptional, no doubt about it. The service was good without being stuffy. They had a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle at the bar and a very interesting, and mostly reasonable, wine list. The only miss that we ordered was one of the desserts - some kind of sorbet in a hollowed out orange - but every thing else was nearly perfect. Steak tartare and pork belly were good, contrasting starters. Half orders of the mushroom risotto (maybe a tad it undercooked) and butternut squash agnolotti were great and very generous portions. The duck three ways was a solid entree to split, and a hazelnut/chocolate candy bar for dessert was the best of the bunch. In the end, there is no reason to stay away from 2941 at this point, it simply is one of the best restaurants in Northern Virginia right now.
  15. jiveturk21
    As a pretty active member of this board and someone that likes to think that I have a good palate, I understand this sentiment. At the same time, I have gotten over beating myself up every time that I don't eat at a locally owned non-chain that sources its food from some family farm down the road. There is room in the culinary world for a place like Cheesecake Factory, I have been to many places much worse.
  16. jiveturk21
    I think that tattoos are just like accents, they are hot when the people that have them are hot.
  17. jiveturk21
    I have said it here numerous times, but for what it's worth, PS7's has/had the best bar/lounge in the city. Even after Gina left, the cocktails there were always great and there simply was not better "bar" food anywhere around. I was last there earlier this month (Wednesday night) and the lounge was PACKED. But, when I went to the bathroom as I was leaving (around 7:00 PM), the dining room was empty. Truly sad.
  18. jiveturk21
    Dinner on Friday night was close to great. The food was out-of-this-world (especially the pasta dishes), but the service was "off." The server and wine guy were professional and knowledgable, but quirky to the point that it was almost uncomfortable for our table. I also thought that the pacing was slow. In addition, while $75 for five courses, along with three "extra" courses is an incredible deal, I thought that the wine pairing at $55 was a poor value. Were the wines good? Yes, but our pours bordered on barely half a glass, making it out to be $22 per glass of wine, which is quite pricey for the wines that we got. Overall, this place rocks, but a few changes would have taken our meal to the next-next level.
  19. jiveturk21
    I have not been to the restaurant, but they served an awesome tripe dish at the March of Dimes Signature Chefs Event last night. Anyone that has the balls to serve tripe at an event like that gets credit in my book.
  20. jiveturk21
    I can't say that I got through this entire article because it is LONG. However, I will say that when America's Test Kitchen comes on TV, my wife says that my face brightens up. I don't know why, I don't even think I have made more then four or five recipes from the show/magazine in my life, but that show just puts me at ease. To put it more precisely, America's Test Kitchen and old episodes of 90210 are the only shows I would ever consider watching in low def.
  21. jiveturk21
    I have tried to go there twice, once at 7:30 PM on a Wednesday night and 2:00 PM on a Friday afternoon. Both times we simply drove through the parking lot and left because there were at least 20+ people in line outside. By the way, that parking lot is going to be a disaster (it already is). Not quite sure why it is so tough to build a parking lot for a new shopping center when there is TONS of space in the suburbs, but they managed to do it again.
  22. jiveturk21
    I used Savored for the first time in my life on Saturday night (6:00 PM at Lost Society). Getting 30% off at a restaurant that is already a great value made Savored my new favorite website, but there were some bumps along the road. Reservations online were easy, I appreciate that, but things went a bit downhill from there. We were running late, so we called the restaurant to tell them so (we ended up there at 6:14 PM). When we told them our name and reservation time, they didn't have us listed, but then they asked if we made the reservation via Savored, we said yes, and they told us that Savored was down (I have no idea if this is true or not, just what they told us). Then, when we checked in, they asked to see our Savored printout-thingy, so we showed it to them, we then got seated. Then, when we were seated, our server asked us if we used Savored to make our reservations and asked for the Savored printout-thingy again, and took it this time. But, when we got our bill, we didn't have the 30% off, so we had to ask them to return the correct bill to us. Was any of this Savored's fault? Probably not, so I can't fault them, I'm just wondering if others have run across this same issue. Part of me thinks that the waitstaff at Lost Society just needs more training, but part of me thinks that it is more sinister than that. We had to make it clear on three separate occasions at the restaurant that we made our reservations via Savored before getting the correct bill. Is the restaurant trying to get people in the door, but then purposely making it difficult to get the discount? I hope not because that would suck, but I have a feeling that there is something to my paranoia.
  23. jiveturk21
    I am a bit surprised that more is not being written about Lost Society here. Four of us went on Saturday night and we had one of the better times that we have had in 2012. Much of that has to do with the company and getting away from our four month old for four hours, but the restaurant sure had a lot to do with it as well. We went early on Saturday, 6:00 PM, so even if the tables were full, the bar was mostly empty, so our conversations could be had at a reasonable level. I could see it getting loud in there, very loud in fact, but it was perfect for us that night. Setting was great, fun layout, conducive to sitting at a table with your friends or hanging out at the bar. The table size was a bit small for a four top and the chair hurt my butt after a few hours, but those are minor nuisances. Our sever was very nice and perky, but she was mostly clueless. No mistakes, which is good, but she needs more seasoning. It did not bother us on Saturday night, but could have been an issue on another night. The food was pretty much perfect. We didn't order any steaks, so the value was incredible (everything was under $20), surprising for the location. Big winners include the pork belly ($8) and bone marrow ($8) appetizers, and the pork chops ($18). The grouper was merely above average, but well worth the $15 price tag. The desserts, however, were simply an absolute steal. At $6 each, we ordered four out of the five on the menu and loved them all. Cocktails were solid, and maybe a dollar or two less than similar restaurants, and the wine list was varied for its small size. I don't remember the exact pre-Savored bill (more on Savored in its own thread), but I do know that I ended up paying $110 for our half of four cocktails, one bottle of wine, four appetizers, four entrees and four desserts. Overall, this is a place that more people should be going to. It is fun, the food is good and the value is excellent.
  24. jiveturk21
    ​Bethany; Rehoboth My long, well thought out post will forever remain lost due to some technical issue that I will never be able to explain. So, here is the short version. Henlopen City Oyster House is the best restaurant in Rehoboth, killer choices at the bar, amazing food, overpriced wine list (for the beach) that at least has good selections. Maureen's in Bethany is easily our favorite place to grab dessert, which generally consists of ice cream. Surf's Up still makes great steak and cheese subs.
  25. jiveturk21
    One more thing, I really like the wine from there (quality). So, even if it was only three pours for $15, I would still recommend it, but I don't know what type of budget you are trying to stick to.
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