rant: fine dining

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themiddle54
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Re: rant: fine dining

Post by themiddle54 »

That movie was good, though covered in several layers of sugar. There is not a legitimate* "chef certification". I don't doubt that there are cooks calling each other "chef" for whatever reason. If it's because they passed some online course or got an associates degree that claims to "certify" them "chef" then that's pretty [expletive] bogus because chef is not a certificate thing, it's a job title that one attains in one's career like "general" or "CEO." Chef is CEO of the kitchen. There's no two-year class where it's like "congrats, you're CEO certified."

*Please note I'm not saying there's not an online course. I'm saying there's not a legitimate chef certification.

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CardsofSTL
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Re: rant: fine dining

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I will not argue that point. Many certifications are rubbish.

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themiddle54
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Re: rant: fine dining

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here's a fine dining rant.

Last night the Mrs and I went out to dinner to a new-ish place with Michelin star aspirations. The wine list was good, the house-cultured butter with the bread and butter service was excellent, and the desserts were delightful.

The service was slow--like 10 minutes between server welcoming us and sever coming back to talk drinks. The smoked tomato dish was a mouthful of campfire with no trace of tomato flavor. The sweetbreads dish didn't add enough elements to counterbalance the funk of the protein.

But worst of all. The dude at the table just over my wife's shoulder, with a backwards mesh trucker cap and [expletive] rubber shower shoes on. This guy should be turned away. There is no [expletive] way we should be paying $300+ for a meal and for there to be, in my vision every time I look across the table, some bro's yellow toenails. That is [expletive] up. I'm putting that on the restaurant. It's on them to say "sorry, bub. We are a very expensive place, kinda fancy. You need to [expletive] off and go out for a pizza."

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Re: rant: fine dining

Post by Michael »

I remember going to Next during their 2nd season and seeing a guy walk in with shorts on.

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: rant: fine dining

Post by AWvsCBsteeeerike3 »

themiddle54 wrote:here's a fine dining rant.

Last night the Mrs and I went out to dinner to a new-ish place with Michelin star aspirations. The wine list was good, the house-cultured butter with the bread and butter service was excellent, and the desserts were delightful.

The service was slow--like 10 minutes between server welcoming us and sever coming back to talk drinks. The smoked tomato dish was a mouthful of campfire with no trace of tomato flavor. The sweetbreads dish didn't add enough elements to counterbalance the funk of the protein.

But worst of all. The dude at the table just over my wife's shoulder, with a backwards mesh trucker cap and [expletive] rubber shower shoes on. This guy should be turned away. There is no [expletive] way we should be paying $300+ for a meal and for there to be, in my vision every time I look across the table, some bro's yellow toenails. That is [expletive] up. I'm putting that on the restaurant. It's on them to say "sorry, bub. We are a very expensive place, kinda fancy. You need to [expletive] off and go out for a pizza."
Couldn't agree more. $300 is a lot to pay for a meal and restaurants should maintain their standards. But hey if they value that $300 from joe blow in flip flops more than their dining room being full of upscale patrons and/or prefer it that way, that's their prerogative I suppose. Tough to fault a guy for being comfortable when he goes out to eat though.

Also, 10 minutes to put a drink order in? I may have left or gone to the bar myself.

AWvsCBsteeeerike3
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Re: rant: fine dining

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Personal rant. Having two kids and going out to eat sucks. Going out to eat used to be one of my favorite things. That and being on a lake. That's where like 110% of my spending money used to go. Now? Now I hate going out. 1. I have no one to drink with. 2. It's not relaxing. 3. Its expensive. Sure we might try to sneak into a pizza place real quick but even then it's not easy. The older kid can watch a show on the iPad and hopefully then2nd child won't be hungry and or want to run around. But that seems like a [expletive] way to spend a meal.

I don't miss the days of late Saturday dinners and early Sunday brunches but gosh dang every now and then I long to have a weekend where we can do it.

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CardsofSTL
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Re: rant: fine dining

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AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:Personal rant. Having two kids and going out to eat sucks. Going out to eat used to be one of my favorite things. That and being on a lake. That's where like 110% of my spending money used to go. Now? Now I hate going out. 1. I have no one to drink with. 2. It's not relaxing. 3. Its expensive. Sure we might try to sneak into a pizza place real quick but even then it's not easy. The older kid can watch a show on the iPad and hopefully then2nd child won't be hungry and or want to run around. But that seems like a [expletive] way to spend a meal.

I don't miss the days of late Saturday dinners and early Sunday brunches but gosh dang every now and then I long to have a weekend where we can do it.
When the kids are older you will have someone to drink with again; and if you get them a good education they can pick up the tab. So you have something to look forward to.

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lukethedrifter
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Re: rant: fine dining

Post by lukethedrifter »

CardsofSTL wrote:
AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote:Personal rant. Having two kids and going out to eat sucks. Going out to eat used to be one of my favorite things. That and being on a lake. That's where like 110% of my spending money used to go. Now? Now I hate going out. 1. I have no one to drink with. 2. It's not relaxing. 3. Its expensive. Sure we might try to sneak into a pizza place real quick but even then it's not easy. The older kid can watch a show on the iPad and hopefully then2nd child won't be hungry and or want to run around. But that seems like a [expletive] way to spend a meal.

I don't miss the days of late Saturday dinners and early Sunday brunches but gosh dang every now and then I long to have a weekend where we can do it.
When the kids are older you will have someone to drink with again; and if you get them a good education they can pick up the tab. So you have something to look forward to.

Yesss. And that's why I'm doing all this legwork now.

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Jocephus
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Re: rant: fine dining

Post by Jocephus »

i gots a good edumacation and pops still picks up the tab

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themiddle54
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Re: rant: fine dining

Post by themiddle54 »

I LOVE 99% of our guests with little kids. Here's what they do. We open at 5pm. They make a reservation for 5pm. They are outside at 4:55pm. They sit, they scan the menu quickly. They order quickly. They eat like they are refugees just freed from a prison camp--chewing is optional. They get the check and get out the door in under an hour before their kids erupt and they bother a full house.

The other 1% of people who dine with kids tend to be narcissistic a-holes who let the kid wail in a room full of people at 8:30 on Saturday night and wouldn't dream of leaving the kid at home because one person in their party of 8 hasn't yet met little Liam--whose seat usually generates about $43/hour on Saturday night an tonight will generate $0 for the two hours the chair is replaced with a high chair, which father of Liam neglected to mention when twisting the host's arm into agreeing to take an 8-top on Saturday night, ie it was assumed that "party of 8" would be "8 human adults eating and drinking."

I could do a whole other rant on large parties. Places (upscale places, not family friendly restaurants) that don't take reservations over 6 are doing it the right way by making a very savvy and smart business decision.

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