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$1 Ice at Second State - Restaurant To Charge Surcharge for Artisan Ice


mtureck

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Well that charge bites it.  I've recently been noticing little $0.10 -$0.50 - $1.00 increases in costs in items I buy reasonably often.  Most from the restaurant industry.  Are costs going up?

One other perspective;  The operator/owner Reese Gardner opened the 2nd version of Wilson Tavern after the initial fancier version with different operators didn't fly.  The 2nd version, which was a temporary operation--(they knew they had a short lease with the building targeted for being torn down)   was like the bird--cheap, cheap, cheap.  The previous incarnation of Wilson Tavern, a supposed gastropub only lasted from late 2011 to Spring 2012.

I have a hard time believing in artisanal ice.  Does that imply that all the rocks in all the drinks I've had over all those decades was dirty filthy and harmful to me?

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Re: "The Pennsylvania-themed spot..."  I have visions of trying to get there, only to find all but one lane closed five miles in advance, the speed limit dropped by 20 miles an hour, an actual construction zone about 50 feet long completely devoid of any equipment or workers, and another mile of coned-off lane before "end construction zone".

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This is a continuation of being charged for a bread basket, or house-filtered water (unlimited refills). The restaurant industry is a bit like the airline industry in that they're looking for novel ways to make money via "fees" instead of raising prices on their appetizers and entrees - which they're also doing.

Last night I was talking with a bartender/mixologist with a fair amount of restaurant experience. I had been drinking beer because they were $6, but after chatting for awhile, I took a liking to him, both personally and professionally, and decided to show him some respect by ordering "any drink he wanted to make."

I was under the impression that his choice was a Sazerac, but I'm not sure this didn't end up being a type of Old Fashioned. At first, I said I tend not to like drinks made with sugar because I'm just not fond of all that sweetness, and he said he'd tone it down a bit. It was to be made with rye, and I was given my choice of two ryes (one of which was green-label George Dickel). He put in ice, rye, some Angostura and Peychaud bitters, and then went to add simple syrup. "I usually make it with half an ounce, but I'll use a quarter-ounce for you," he said. "No, make it however *you* want to make it," I replied (I was essentially buying "him"; not just a cocktail, if that makes any sense). Well, sure enough, it was too sweet, but I choked it down, and I choked even harder when I saw it was $12 on the bill. Let me make this clear: *none* of this is a blight on the bartender - he's a great guy, he stirred a good drink, and I would gladly be his customer again (and most likely will be). But $12 for this drink is just crazy, and emblematic of "cocktail creep" which is but one of the "fees" that restaurants are imposing. I'm already paying a 400% markup for my $6 beer, but at least the absolute cost is less (like paying too much for a pair of socks, rather than a tie - the socks will set you back $20; the tie, $150).

Non-alcoholic drinks tend to taste better, and they're half the cost. I'm going to begin sneaking mini-bottles of vodka into restaurants, excuse myself to use the restroom (carrying my beverage), and doctoring my drink on the sink.

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A friend from Baltimore posted about this on fb and the comments were a hoot (mostly along the lines of 'Keep that crazy in DC').

I am not against paying a lot for a drink if I feel it is worth it. The problem is, you often have no idea if it is going to be good or not unless you build up experience with an establishment or bartender.

Had a Sazerac in Baltimore at a speakeasy, it was fine. But the balance of the drink was too reliant on the rye itself. And not a hint of Herbsaint (or Absinthe, or anything in that family). I kind of felt cheated even though the drink was $8. I'd rather pay $12 for a really excellent Sazerac than $8 for a meh version of one.

All in all, designer ice cubes are really just topics of conversation more than anything.

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"Second State To Charge $1 Extra For Artisanal Ice" by Jessica Sidman on washingtoncitypaper.com

What is there to say?

Well, this marketing disaster is apparently not happening.

They were foolish to approach it this way; they should have just advertised the quality of their ice, and quietly raised the cost of their drinks without saying a word (which many places are doing, by the way).

Quite honestly, I see nothing wrong with high-quality ice, and don't mind paying for it as long as I don't *know* I'm paying for it. :)

$14 cocktails? You're paying for a lot of things. The owner's Porsche, etc.

For too many people, being a "mixologist" is a lazy way to becoming a faux-chef - they get just as much publicity, and have about 5% of the talent and skill (I'm obviously speaking in generalities here). Restaurant writers have glommed onto cocktails like they were the second coming of Christ; they're nothing of the sort. This reminds me of the Suzuki Method of learning to play an instrument: I've sat through and observed one of these "classes" - you learn how to take a bow before even learning how to play a scale.

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