Tom Sietsema's Online Chat

[sheldman]

On another topic (but still re Sietsema's online chat) -

if he is going to keep having "guests" on his chat, I hope he finds some that are willing to say things that go beyond the extremely cautious and self-serving.

Of course, if I were doing a WaPo online chat, I'd probably be cautious and self-serving too! But that is one of many reasons why they shouldn't put me on there.

[kirite]

On another topic (but still re Sietsema's online chat) -

if he is going to keep having "guests" on his chat, I hope he finds some that are willing to say things that go beyond the extremely cautious and self-serving.

Of course, if I were doing a WaPo online chat, I'd probably be cautious and self-serving too! But that is one of many reasons why they shouldn't put me on there.

I really dislike this format, and I hope he kills this sucker very soon. He might as well share his chats with restaurant publicists. I have learned virtually nothing from his guests.

[ktmoomau]

On another topic (but still re Sietsema's online chat) -

if he is going to keep having "guests" on his chat, I hope he finds some that are willing to say things that go beyond the extremely cautious and self-serving.

Of course, if I were doing a WaPo online chat, I'd probably be cautious and self-serving too! But that is one of many reasons why they shouldn't put me on there.

+Like

Agreed. It would at least be nice if the guests answered the questions asked of them, or talked about things other than their own restaurants. If not why bother.

[kirite]

+Like

Agreed. It would at least be nice if the guests answered the questions asked of them, or talked about things other than their own restaurants. If not why bother.

I plan to send him a complaint for next week's online chat. I wonder if he will answer or ignore.

[LauraB]

On another topic (but still re Sietsema's online chat) -

if he is going to keep having "guests" on his chat, I hope he finds some that are willing to say things that go beyond the extremely cautious and self-serving.

Of course, if I were doing a WaPo online chat, I'd probably be cautious and self-serving too! But that is one of many reasons why they shouldn't put me on there.

I completely agree! These guests are a complete waste of time. None of them has said anything even remotely interesting.

[goodeats]

Ramen! (coming soon from a partnership between Utagawa of Sushiko and Jewayni of Eleventh Street Lounge.)

[Bob Loblaw]

Was there a chat this week? Can't seem to find it on the Post's site...

[ktmoomau]

Was there a chat this week? Can't seem to find it on the Post's site...

I don't think so I went to it Wednesday and while it didn't say it wasn't happening (which it normally does), it wasn't happening.

[Pat]

I don't think so I went to it Wednesday and while it didn't say it wasn't happening (which it normally does), it wasn't happening.

I waited for a while because he sometimes starts late, but after half an hour, I gave up. It wasn't on the Post's front page where all the chats are listed, but it was listed on the food section page where chats are as scheduled for 11AM. I also checked the previous chat and he has said there would be one that week, so something fairly last-minute must have come up.

[Pat]

At the beginning of his chat today, he said:

I apologize for cancelling last week's show with no notice, but I had to make a major deadline before catching a flight to Sin City, where I got a chance to check out a few new restaurants.

[Ericandblueboy]

Tom Sietsema :

"You'll be able to get all the ketchup you want, all the butter you want," at Medium Rare, says creator Mark Bucher. Far from copying Le Relaise, he says, "we're poking fun of it." There will be in Washington no servers in "French maid outfits," in other words.

Will we tire of the single-dish concept? Buchers believes otherwise. "I think the trend is simpler." A lot of diners are "overwhelmed by choices" these days

CHOICES

I totally agree with Bucher. Somedays I am even overwhelmed by the choice of Coke or Pepsi. I look forward to many visits to Medium Rare!

A.Tom Sietsema :

While we're on the subject, I much prefer a well-edited list of wines (on a sheet or two of paper) to those bibles some restaurants drop on the table with a challenging thud.

Simpler is better

I find that I hate to have more than 10 options on a menu. More than that and I start to have a really hard time picking, which means I'm more likely to be dissapointed in what I pick ("I should have gotten x" when I order y instead). I'm the same with clothes - absolutely hate big department stores. How can you ever see every (ex.) white blouse when there are 50 of them to evaluate in the store. Much prefer places like Ann Taylor where you have 5 blouse choices. Back to restaurants - how can all the ingredients be fresh when they are making 30 different things? How can all 30 be really good? Some of them must be just ok, and I"m not out to buy 'just okay' food at a restaurant. I make really good food at home - no time/money/calories to waste on mediocre.

– January 26, 2011 11:16 AM Permalink

A.Tom Sietsema :

You're on to something. Fewer dishes allow chefs to focus on making a handful of dishes as perfect as they can be.

Too many choices can be overwhelming. Too few choices can be underwhelming. I've been to restaurants with few choices and realize that nothing seems interesting/appetizing to me. Being overwhelmed is the lesser of two evils for me.

[monavano]

Too many choices can be overwhelming. Too few choices can be underwhelming. I've been to restaurants with few choices and realize that nothing seems interesting/appetizing to me. Being overwhelmed is the lesser of two evils for me.

Except when dining with Mr. MV, who thoroughly enjoys pondering the possibilities of what to eat. Heaven forbid we both decide on the same item; it's back to the drawing board . Truly, menu reading is like foreplay for him. Give me the main event

[ol_ironstomach]

Maybe it's time for the diners of DR to assemble some emergency menu decoding tips into a quick primer. We could call it How To Read A Menu Blind: A Guide To Improving Your Ordering Karma

You know, suggestions like: seeking out the chef's/restaurant's/local specialties, interpreting menus to figure out what to avoid (too chaotic/that cuisine doesn't belong here/I bet that ingredient sits unused except twice a month), the avoid-seafood-on-Sunday rule, what to ask your server and how to interpret their response, observing other tables and asking about their dishes, keeping and open mind, and as a last resort: finding things that are hard to screw up.

Seriously, a little strategy goes a long way. I've often been accused of having freakishly good ordering karma.

[kirite]

Maybe it's time for the diners of DR to assemble some emergency menu decoding tips into a quick primer. We could call it How To Read A Menu Blind: A Guide To Improving Your Ordering Karma

You know, suggestions like: seeking out the chef's/restaurant's/local specialties, interpreting menus to figure out what to avoid (too chaotic/that cuisine doesn't belong here/I bet that ingredient sits unused except twice a month), the avoid-seafood-on-Sunday rule, what to ask your server and how to interpret their response, observing other tables and asking about their dishes, keeping and open mind, and as a last resort: finding things that are hard to screw up.

Seriously, a little strategy goes a long way. I've often been accused of having freakishly good ordering karma.

I was disappointed that he immediately rejected one chatter's complaint that his new format with insiders was a waste of time. He is determined to do this. Why?

[Waitman]

I was disappointed that he immediately rejected one chatter's complaint that his new format with insiders was a waste of time. He is determined to do this. Why?

Because he's bored out of his skull with answering the exact same questions nine thousand weeks in a row, I imagine.

[Toogs]

Chef chats moderated or co-hosted by Tom or other Wapo staff: awesome. Chef chats during Ask Tom, dumb. There, I solved that problem for you Tom and Wapo.

[DrXmus]

Too many choices can be overwhelming. Too few choices can be underwhelming. I've been to restaurants with few choices and realize that nothing seems interesting/appetizing to me. Being overwhelmed is the lesser of two evils for me.

I can see the advantage of cooking one meal really, really well, but why completely eliminate a fair portion of the eating public by not offering something non-beef or something vegetarian? The choice of whether to hit Medium Rare will be easy for me. SWMBO and I don't eat steak, so we'll never visit. Simple.

[DanielK]

Medium Rare *did* say they would be offering a vegetarian option.

[DonRocks]

I can see the advantage of cooking one meal really, really well, but why completely eliminate a fair portion of the eating public by not offering something non-beef or something vegetarian? The choice of whether to hit Medium Rare will be easy for me. SWMBO and I don't eat steak, so we'll never visit. Simple.

My initial thought: same reason this website doesn't cover classical music, even though I'm fully capable of doing so. It IS better to do one thing well than multiple things poorly; it's also harder to do multiple things well than one thing well (which is why I have, for example, Belga Cafe ranked over Peregrine Espresso in the Dining Guide (you just knew I was going to work that in, didn't you), even though Peregrine is better at what it does. This is also why, despite the lower ranking, Peregrine is in italics and Belga is not).

[Ericandblueboy]

It IS better to do one thing well than multiple things poorly; it's also harder to do multiple things well than one thing well

While that's true but we also scoff at "one trick ponies."

[TedE]

While that's true but we also scoff at "one trick ponies."

I don't scoff at one trick ponies at all, as long as they have a really good trick.

This came up recently with a friend who just got back from a trip to Japan. We were talking about the differences in the dining scenes and how the specialists seem to dominate over there. You can have a 4 story building with nothing but okonomiyaki stands, but you can be damn sure that the okonomiyaki will be excellent and each stand will have its niche. That kind of specialization doesn't seem to fly in the States with any regularity (there are exceptions, of course)

[ktmoomau]

While that's true but we also scoff at "one trick ponies."

To be fair I think we pretty much scoff equally at everything. There is nothing worse than a seven page menu filled with all sorts of crap. But then again Minh's and Nam Viet have huge menus and there is lots of good stuff to be found in there, so as always some exceptions. At least with one trick ponies you know if you like that to go and if you don't not too. I am a little tired of steak frites though, I think because it is one of my gf staples when eating out at "American" joints. My husband would probably never reach that same conclusion though, he could probably eat it nightly.

I really hope his guest chats get better, they have been truly awful. And he seems intent on keeping them.

[DonRocks]

To be fair I think we pretty much scoff equally at everything. There is nothing worse than a seven page menu filled with all sorts of crap. But then again Minh's and Nam Viet have huge menus and there is lots of good stuff to be found in there, so as always some exceptions. At least with one trick ponies you know if you like that to go and if you don't not too. I am a little tired of steak frites though, I think because it is one of my gf staples when eating out at "American" joints. My husband would probably never reach that same conclusion though, he could probably eat it nightly.

I really hope his guest chats get better, they have been truly awful. And he seems intent on keeping them.

Steak Frites were designed to be had with $3 goblets of Vin de Pays; not $12 glasses of Australian Shiraz - therein lies part of the problem (refer to $15 lobster rolls made with deeply frozen lobster meat).

[Waitman]

Steak Frites were designed to be had with $3 goblets of Vin de Pays; not $12 glasses of Australian Shiraz - therein lies part of the problem (refer to $15 lobster rolls made with deeply frozen lobster meat).

Yea. Like anyone in offers a $3 glass of vdp in this fuckin' town. This is DC, not A-M, mon ami.

[DonRocks]

Yea. Like anyone in offers a $3 glass of vdp in this fuckin' town. This is DC, not A-M, mon ami.

I'll be your copain, but I'll be damned if I'm going to be your ami.

[mdt]

I can see the advantage of cooking one meal really, really well, but why completely eliminate a fair portion of the eating public by not offering something non-beef or something vegetarian? The choice of whether to hit Medium Rare will be easy for me. SWMBO and I don't eat steak, so we'll never visit. Simple.

So every restaurant has to accommodate everyone?

[DrXmus]

So every restaurant has to accommodate everyone?

Absolutely not. However, if I were running a business, which I do, I would want to include as many people as possible to maximize business. Of course, you can see the example of a friend coming to town who loves steak frites. If there's nothing there for me to enjoy, I won't take him to Medium Rare. I don't expect to be catered to, but a restaurant that's trying to stay afloat would do well to offer something to as many people as possible. No, not everyone, but as large a number as is feasible.

[DonRocks]

Absolutely not. However, if I were running a business, which I do, I would want to include as many people as possible to maximize business. Of course, you can see the example of a friend coming to town who loves steak frites. If there's nothing there for me to enjoy, I won't take him to Medium Rare. I don't expect to be catered to, but a restaurant that's trying to stay afloat would do well to offer something to as many people as possible. No, not everyone, but as large a number as is feasible.

Refer back to the deeply frozen lobster meat (and the people waiting in line to get it).

[Waitman]

I can see the advantage of cooking one meal really, really well, but why completely eliminate a fair portion of the eating public by not offering something non-beef or something vegetarian? The choice of whether to hit Medium Rare will be easy for me. SWMBO and I don't eat steak, so we'll never visit. Simple.

Absolutely not. However, if I were running a business, which I do, I would want to include as many people as possible to maximize business. Of course, you can see the example of a friend coming to town who loves steak frites. If there's nothing there for me to enjoy, I won't take him to Medium Rare. I don't expect to be catered to, but a restaurant that's trying to stay afloat would do well to offer something to as many people as possible. No, not everyone, but as large a number as is feasible.

A lot of people eat dinner out on any given night. A successful restaurateur need only capture a tiny percentage of them to prosper and grow rich. Given the popularity of steak and frites (and its potential as a no-brainer when no one in the party feels like thinking too hard); building a reputation is this niche puts a lot of diners in play.

By your logic, since so many people dislike Indian food and are unfamiliar with Vietnamese, Indique should offer meat loaf and tacos, while Nam Viet should serve fried chicken and club sandwiches. You know, "to offer something to as many people as possible."

Personally, unless I'm fairly trashed, I don't see much need for a steak frites joint since they're so easy to make at home (actually, I make pommes persillade, which don't involve a fryer but are just as good). But I'd be delighted to patronize a joint that offered only one meal a night, on the assumption that they did it well and (relatively) inexpensively. Except for the Inexpensive part, I think that's Chez Panisse's MO. Also, Komi's.

Choice is overrated.

[Ericandblueboy]

A lot of people eat dinner out on any given night. A successful restaurateur need only capture a tiny percentage of them to prosper and grow rich. Given the popularity of steak and frites (and its potential as a no-brainer when no one in the party feels like thinking too hard); building a reputation is this niche puts a lot of diners in play.

There are lots of steak joints already competing in this segment that offers more than just steak and fries, or are steaks at Ray's, Sizzler (not sure if there is one in DC), BLT, etc. not close substitutes?

By your logic, since so many people dislike Indian food and are unfamiliar with Vietnamese, Indique should offer meat loaf and tacos, while Nam Viet should serve fried chicken and club sandwiches. You know, "to offer something to as many people as possible."

The logic is based on a matter of degree. I'm not aware of any restaurant that only offers 1 dish in this town. That's like saying Orso should only offer magherite pizza, and Pho Hot should only offer eye of round as a topping to their pho. I love pho but I would not visit a pho joint that only offers 1 topping. Nor would I visit a pizzeria with only 1 type of pizza. So even if I was in the mood for steak and frites, I doubt that I'd go to Medium Rare. Ask Landrum if he thinks he can sell Hellburgers with no topping or just 1 topping - maybe it's that good that he can make a buttload of money selling just cheeseburgers.

But I'd be delighted to patronize a joint that offered only one meal a night, on the assumption that they did it well and (relatively) inexpensively. Except for the Inexpensive part, I think that's Chez Panisse's MO. Also, Komi's.

But Komi offers 3 entrée choices and at least 10 other courses.

Reasonable people can differ. I don't think choice is over-rated. Based on your logic, we'd all eat the same shit every day.

[DrXmus]

By your logic, since so many people dislike Indian food and are unfamiliar with Vietnamese, Indique should offer meat loaf and tacos, while Nam Viet should serve fried chicken and club sandwiches. You know, "to offer something to as many people as possible."

I think this comparison is a stretch. If my friends and I decide to have Indian food when we go out, we can get a variety of foods wherever we go - lamb, chicken, veggie, seafood. If we want Italian food we can have pasta, chicken, beef, veal, fish, etc. There's something for everyone. If we all were to want steak frites, then we could go to Medium Rare, but if one of us doesn't eat beef, then Medium Rare is off the options list.

I'm all for Medium Rare doing what they want to do. If they do well, then I'm happy for them. If people get the best steak frites ever cooked, then I'm happy. I'm only commenting that I think *that* menu is flawed. I realize DanielK said that there would be a vegetarian option, so that makes this discussion kinda moot, right?

[Toogs]

I can see the advantage of cooking one meal really, really well, but why completely eliminate a fair portion of the eating public by not offering something non-beef or something vegetarian? The choice of whether to hit Medium Rare will be easy for me. SWMBO and I don't eat steak, so we'll never visit. Simple.

So you will probably never go to Five Guys then. They seem to be doing okay. I'd rather a place specialize in doing something well than trying to please the masses. I'll have a fine time there, and you will have a fine time where you go, where they serve you what you want. Or we can all go to TFI McFunsters and have a mediocre time. See you there! First round of Sam Adams or Clos du Bois is on me!

[Michael Landrum]

I'm sure that Dr. Xmus did not expect this type of response, but then again, does anybody???

[DrXmus]

I'm sure that Dr. Xmus did not expect this type of response, but then again, does anybody???

Wow, you got that right, Michael. Thanks for the comic relief via video.

I don't want to talk to you (all) anymore, you empty-headed animal food trough waterers. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberry. Now, go away before I taunt you a second time!!

[Ericandblueboy]

Doesn't "like" Indian food?

Huh? Your fiance doesn't like Indian food (the hugely diverse food of an enormous subcontinent of a billion people) and you still want to marry him? I would reconsider that decision!

I guess people who don't like Indian food must die alone?

[TedE]

I guess people who don't like Indian food must die alone?

I have a feeling the person who submitted that retort is the one more likely to di(n)e alone

[Waitman]

I guess people who don't like Indian food must die alone?

I have a feeling the person who submitted that retort is the one more likely to di(n)e alone

I suspect Tom was being facetious. Although I, personally, would not marry someone who eschewed subcontinental cuisine.

[Ericandblueboy]

I suspect Tom was being facetious. Although I, personally, would not marry someone who eschewed subcontinental cuisine.

That response wasn't from Tom. It was from some another chatter. What about another continental cuisine? I haven't heard your rave about Antarctican food before.

[qwertyy]

Chef Jamie Leeds and her business partner Sandy Lewis are poised to sell CommonWealth, their two-year-old gastropub in Columbia Heights later this month.... The British-themed restaurant will be replaced by a similar concept from the newly formed Irving Street Restaurant Group headed by Terry Cullen. He expects to open the doors of the yet-to-be-christened dining room in May.

Q. Commonwealth loss?

What? i'm so sad about this news. is the irving street restaurant group a real thing?

A.Tom Sietsema: A real restaurant business? Yes. Terry Curran has operated restaurants in Bethesda in the past, and he plans to open Lou City Bar (spelling?), also in Columbia Heights, next month.

Does anyone have any details on this? Neither Irving Street Restaurant Group nor Lou City Bar both returned anything on Google for me.

[weezy]

It says "newly formed" so it may be in process and not actually filed with the corporation commission for the state/DC yet. It only takes a few days to get filed if you put a rush on things, but why open up a taxable can of worms until you have everything ready to start. You wouldn't be able to get a business license in the name of the specific restaurant until you had the corporate paperwork in place. And I'm guessing it's "Lucidity" Bar.....but then again, I haven't started drinking yet today.

[Waitman]

It says "newly formed" so it may be in process and not actually filed with the corporation commission for the state/DC yet. It only takes a few days to get filed if you put a rush on things, but why open up a taxable can of worms until you have everything ready to start. You wouldn't be able to get a business license in the name of the specific restaurant until you had the corporate paperwork in place. And I'm guessing it's "Lucidity" Bar.....but then again, I haven't started drinking yet today.

PoP, as he so often does, has the scoop.

Lou's City Bar. Heh. The "Ray's the Steaks" Punic branding strategy.

[Ericandblueboy]

Q.Charging for soda refills

Dear Tom: I usually have alcohol when out to dinner, but I went to Tabaq last month with my kids and we ordered diet cokes. We requested refills several times since the glasses were so small and filled with ice. I was shocked to get the bill and be charged for NINE rather than 3 drinks. I've been to a few other restaurants that don't give free refills and have been warned in advance that I would be charged. I used to love Tabaq but will not go back because of this. If you are going to charge for each glass of soda, then don't sell me 80% ice for $2. Usually my bar bill for dinner far exceeds the cost of that soda, but I'll be spending it elsewhere in the future. Hello Marvins!

February 23, 2011 10:31 AM Permalink

A.Tom Sietsema :

Let this serve as a lesson to restaurants: If you're going to charge for seconds on sodas, you might want to point that out on the menu, or at least instruct staff to pass on the news. (I never assume seconds = free, but perhaps I'm in the minority.)

Once upon a time, soda refills weren't free. It's true that I now expect free refills and get peevish when the refills aren't free (but I quit drinking sodas altogether when I went on a cruise last year). I'm not sure I'd make a stink and boycott a restaurant though. I guess I never know if it's my responsibility to inquire or the restaurant's responsibility to inform.

[SeanMike]

Once upon a time, soda refills weren't free. It's true that I now expect free refills and get peevish when the refills aren't free (but I quit drinking sodas altogether when I went on a cruise last year). I'm not sure I'd make a stink and boycott a restaurant though. I guess I never know if it's my responsibility to inquire or the restaurant's responsibility to inform.

I was actually thinking about this one. I tend to double check on refills, especially at places that serve "higher end" sodas (like Boylan's) to make sure that it's okay to get refills.

But if it didn't say, I'd probably ask.

On the other hand, I go through a lot of diet soda when I eat out - if I hadn't thought to ask, and they refilled me that many times without even a warning, I would be upset.

So now that I've covered both sides, I have to think I'd agree with the diner about being upset and I'd say something to others to help warn them. I don't know if I'd boycott the restaurant entirely but I would say something to them that perhaps they should make it more clear.

(It's like the opposite of a restaurant I went to with my parents where we seemed to get free refills on beer...which we didn't know until we got the check!)

[Ericandblueboy]

Someone complained that Palena won't make a reservation for a party of 3 in the back room because they want to save the 4 tops for tables of 4. I'm not sure that is in fact Palena's policy. If it is, does that make any sense at all?

Another chatter says they make reservations for 3 when they're in fact a table of 2 so they don't get a shitty 2 top. I suppose they have to go thru the charade of waiting for another person? If you tell the host(ess) that you're only a table of 2 upon arrival, you're gonna get seated at a 2 top, no?

Oh yeah, the anti-Indian-food-disliker strikes again.

Indian Food

If someone doesn't like Indian Food, they probably don't like much. Stick to steak and potatoes and leave the good stuff to the rest of us.

I guess I should eat lots of protein and starch and die from a massive heart attack.

[bookluvingbabe]

What is up with that?

I don't like Indian food. I've tried it all over town from dives to Rasika. It gives me reflux. The spices burn my throat and keep me up half the night. And yet I keep trying thinking that my midwestern raised tastebuds can learn to like it. It's been 23 years since I lived in the midwest. I've learned to like Ethiopian and Thai and any number of other foods and cuisines my parents never imagined their daughter eating.

I'm giving up on trying to like Indian.

Sigh...

[goodeats]

I don't like Indian food. I've tried it all over town from dives to Rasika. It gives me reflux. The spices burn my throat and keep me up half the night. And yet I keep trying thinking that my midwestern raised tastebuds can learn to like it. It's been 23 years since I lived in the midwest. I've learned to like Ethiopian and Thai and any number of other foods and cuisines my parents never imagined their daughter eating.

I'm giving up on trying to like Indian.

BLB - have you tried making it at home? I find that if I can control the spices then I don't have that bad of a reflux issue with Indian food. Sometimes in the restaurants, the spice quantity is more as is the garlic and onion content, so it wrecks havoc on my system. The other method is to try to neutralize your stomach an hour before you eat Indian food at the restaurants is with tums or an antacid. I definitely feel your pain, though.

[Mark Slater]

BLB - have you tried making it at home? I find that if I can control the spices then I don't have that bad of a reflux issue with Indian food. Sometimes in the restaurants, the spice quantity is more as is the garlic and onion content, so it wrecks havoc on my system. The other method is to try to neutralize your stomach an hour before you eat Indian food at the restaurants is with tums or an antacid. I definitely feel your pain, though.

All you have to do is make sure you have some chutney on the side. It works like a charm.

[Pat]

Someone complained that Palena won't make a reservation for a party of 3 in the back room because they want to save the 4 tops for tables of 4. I'm not sure that is in fact Palena's policy. If it is, does that make any sense at all?

Another chatter says they make reservations for 3 when they're in fact a table of 2 so they don't get a shitty 2 top. I suppose they have to go thru the charade of waiting for another person? If you tell the host(ess) that you're only a table of 2 upon arrival, you're gonna get seated at a 2 top, no?

One thing I thought was interesting is that Tom himself said that he will say he has a party of four when making reservations for three so he won't have a problem getting a table. That seems rather deceptive, no? I was surprised that he admitted to this.

ETA: I realize that he's making a reservation under a fake name anyway, so it may seem odd to comment on the party size deception. It seems, though, like he's saying that it's fine for people to lie about party size when making reservations to get what they want.

[Mark Slater]

One thing I thought was interesting is that Tom himself said that he will say he has a party of four when making reservations for three so he won't have a problem getting a table. That seems rather deceptive, no? I was surprised that he admitted to this.

ETA: I realize that he's making a reservation under a fake name anyway, so it may seem odd to comment on the party size deception. It seems, though, like he's saying that it's fine for people to lie about party size when making reservations to get what they want.

What I was waiting for was "All our triangular tables are booked already".

[Ericandblueboy]

Was there a chat today? I can't find it. I can't even find the chat from last week. Wapo > me.