Political Favors and Political Flavors

Washington D.C. is certainly an interesting place...

Here at DLDGLG, we often write about the restaurant industry in between the time we're writing about booze. As someone who is embedded in the industry I'm often thinking about its place in the nation's capital.

Well, on Wednesday the Kojo Nnamdi Show featured arguably the most notorious lobbyist in American history, Jack Abramoff. The topic centered on Signatures Restaurant which Mr. Abramoff used to help advance his corrupt activities. Below is a clip of his appearance on the show. It's fascinating and I highly recommend you listen to the whole thing.

The Capital Grille Chevy Chase Invites DLDGLG To Lunch!

True Story: the last time I was at The Capital Grille downtown, I literally almost ran into Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts and Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota. But that's just the kind of place downtown Washington D.C. is.

I haven't spent a lot of time at the Pennsylvania Avenue location, but Nic has. She’s spent more time at that location than some of the wait staff employed there.

One thing’s for sure - we both love the atmosphere and wouldn’t miss a chance to eat there again.

So I was intrigued by an invitation I received to visit Capital Grille Chevy Chase for a taste of their new "Plates" lunch menu.

For $18, guests can select three plates from nine options - a soup or salad, a sandwich, and a side dish. I don't get out for lunch often so I was excited to make the reservation.

According to the Sales and Marketing Manager, Shelly Goorevich, this Capital Grille opened in 2009 just before Thanksgiving.

In those two years, Chevy Chase has tried to distinguish itself as a location where DC-area folks can enjoy the same high-level Capital Grille experience without making the trek downtown.

"When [Emily Alexander] moved to Massachusetts in September, she said, she was 'very surprised' to find out happy hours were forbidden here."

"'I’m a grad student; I can’t afford a bunch of drinks,' said Ms. Alexander, 23. 'So I’d love it if they [lifted the ban]. I have a ton of friends in D.C., and that’s what they do after work."

Indeed they do.

(h/t: Reason)

"[Eli Lehrer] argues that 'molecular gastronomy' will be the ruin of fine dining in the District. He singles out my restaurant, Rogue 24... I would like the chance to respond..."

"All cooking is essentially manipulating molecules and any first year culinary student who has watched bread rise knows this to be true."

Bad Tipper Summons Internet Wrath... What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Image: Victoria Liss via Facebook

There's an amazing story that's been circulating on the Internet these past few days that highlights the kind of unnecessarily malignant treatment of service-industry workers - a topic DLDGLG feels a duty to discuss. Unfortunately, this drama quickly pivots, almost predictably, to a demonstration of the hazard of misguided Internet mobs.

A bartender named Victoria Liss received not just a heartless gratuity on a check but also a vicious tip regarding her weight while working at Bimbo's Cantina in Capitol Hill, Seattle. The customer, identified on the credit card receipt as Andrew Meyer, wrote, "P.S. you could stand to loose [sic]a few pounds" in addition to leaving no tip.

Clearly, this patron's dietary advice is the definition of an ad hominem attack.

In her anger, Liss decided to turn to the Internet, essentially releasing the kraken. Using Facebook against the previously anonymous Meyer, she posted a picture of the scribbled insult. Solidarity with her begins to form around the Internet.

Taking it a step further, the west-coast bartender decided to single out her nemesis on Facebook after some research. From there, her swelling audience was provided a target for their ire. It's at this point that our tale of comeuppance goes viral:

"The story made its way to the Seattle Weekly, Stranger, Gawker and Jezebel, hitting a nerve with fellow bartenders. There was talk of 'waiter rage,' 'wanted posters' and enlisting techie friends to help unload 'haterade' on the 'douche.' Angry messages were sent to the man, depicted as the cheapest, meanest customer ever to have stepped foot in a bar.

Except there was one problem. It was the wrong Andrew Meyer."

Whoops!

Since then, Liss has apologized for her hasty accusations and wisely increased the privacy settings on her Facebook. Dan Savage, who had previously contributed his own colorful perspective on the incident, seems to have replaced his fiery words for a similarly apologetic response (which he calls "The Great Andrew Meyer Pogrom of 2011").

Unfortunately, a lesson in human dignity in the service industry and the inspiration of basic human solidarity became completely lost to a lesson in Internet bloodletting.

A collective face-palm could be felt around the Internet these past few days. Particularly, among bartenders, who saw an opportunity to expose some of the callousness that they confront day after day.

Note: This post has been revised since its original publication

Apparently, California Wasn't So Infusiastic About a Craft-Cocktail Trend, Until Last Wednesday

New York Times Diner's Journal writer, Robert Simonson, has been on the case. I call this "Jacob Grier bait":

"On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown of California announced that he had signed Senate Bill 32, which overturns a legal vestige of Prohibition that made it unlawful to infuse alcohol with fruits, vegetables, herbs or spices. Such infusions have been popular in the country’s best cocktail bars for several years, and the old rule became a nuisance early last year when State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control agents started warning bars like San Francisco’s Bourbon & Branch that they were breaking California law with their house-made tinctures and bitters.

To bartenders, the sudden enforcement of the obscure rule was alarming."

Obviously, cracking down on liquor infusions is just asinine.

“More than anything else, it’s similar to developments around the country where cocktail culture has outpaced the legacy of Prohibition laws that exist,” observed Frank Coleman, senior vice president of The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., a trade organization representing distillers that spends a lot of its time trying to strike down obsolete, antiliquor laws."

Libertarianism and mixology collide.

(h/t: MixCo)

Note: This post has been revised since its original publication

Kitty O'Shea's: “Saturday, August 27, is our last day of operation..."

"Feel free to express your displeasure with Schupp Companies – Park Street Development.”

(hat tip: ARLnow.com)

Slate's Farhad Manjoo Is Sick of Your Restaurant's Terrible Website

Farhan Manjoo really wants restaurateurs to bring more common sense to their restaurant's web presence. He begins his Slate piece (titled "Overdone: Why are restaurant websites so horrifically bad?,") by chopping at Fleur de Lys' obnoxious website. He writes:

"The first thing that pops up when you visit the website of the San Francisco restaurant Fleur de Lys is a nearly full-screen animation of celebrity chef Hubert Keller's autograph. That makes sense—when I'm choosing a restaurant, the first thing I want to know is, Can the chef sign his name?"

BURN. Read up on the other scathing website critiques by Manjoo as well as those websites that he gives a solid passing grade. They are quite entertaining.

"I always loved the outsiderness of the restaurant world."

Chef Sara Jenkins of Porchetta and Porsena in New York writes an interesting article in The Atlantic. This piece provides not only an interesting window into the life of someone working in the restaurant industry (albeit successfully) but also touches on a perspective that I think Anthony Bourdain was partly trying to convey. 

My favorite and most revealing quote about the industry:

"We work long hours trying to give people a joyful experience, and afterward we want to relax and unwind. But it's 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, and the only people still up with energy are our co-workers. We dissect the night over a couple bottles of wine in the restaurant or in another bar. We argue about the weirdo at table 53, discuss whether or not the kitchen could have timed things better, and fret about what we could have done differently."

And here's the quote I think Bourdain in particular would appreciate:

"But I want to experience a normal social life as well. I am no longer so enamored by the outsiderness of it all. I want to be inside too."

Market Bar in San Francisco Seems to be Offending Scores of Guests

"NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!"

- Soup Nazi, Seinfeld

A couple of newlywed friends immigrated to San Francisco from Washington D.C a couple of months ago. Let's call them Lauren and Derek. 

These two decided to meet up with friends at a restaurant called Market Bar for one of their first dining experiences. It sits just around the corner of the Embacadero side of the Ferry Building.

Unfortunately, Lauren and Derek's experience at Market Bar wasn't just unsatisfactory, it was horrific.

They shared their surreal story with Nicole and me a few weeks ago. But one enraged friend from the group jumped on Yelp and provided highlights of the ordeal:

"A group of us went in about 6:40 to get some cocktails and dollar oysters.  We sat down around 6:50 and the waiter took 10 minutes to get to us... We know because the clocktower went off as he was taking our order. He said they couldn't do our 2 dozen order because happy hour was over.  We asked if we could talk to the manager and explain we had been there for 20 minutes.  Manager comes over and couldn't have been ruder.  No apologies for the wait. No "Sorry, we just can't". It was, "Just leave if you don't like it"

Fine, it's a free country, so we decide to finish our drinks and leave.  As we're leaving, a girl tells the manager we'd come to get dinner, drinks, spend some money, but because he was rude we were going to leave.  His response....." F'ing leave you F** B****". The manager!  Her boyfriend who hears this walks up pissed.  THE MANAGER GRABS HIS GLASSES AND THROWS THEM AT ANOTHER TABLE, BREAKING A GLASS.  He then repeatedly calls me to my face and our group F*****Ts.  Yes, again, this is the general manager is yelling this!!!!"

For a second, leave aside the obvious insanity of a berserk restaurant manager spewing derogatory and offensive nonsense at guests. What kind of psychopath grabs someone's glasses and throws them across the room? Where else, aside from in a Bravo reality TV show, does an adult explode into a tantrum like that?

Others who witnessed the ordeal jumped onto Yelp to share their stories. (My emphasis added).

Sunny J writes:

"This place is blessed with an amazing location, especially for after work drinks and small plates on a nice day plus $1 oysters.  Seems like a home run right?  WRONG, because the manager here is crazy, I've never seen anything like it before.  He completely snapped at a fairly large group that was complaining, and when I say snapped I mean he went loco.  Cursing, throwing stuff...I can't put into words the awkwardness.  Something that you might see on a ridiculous SNL skit or some prank TV show, except this was no prank.  I don't know what happened that led to this, but I'm surprised this guy didn't get his ass kicked."

Holly K writes:

"First time I've felt compelled to review (Holly's husband here), because of the absolutely rotten treatment we just received. I'm sitting here fuming and typing. We sit down at 6:45, waiter comes over at 6:50, we order drinks. He comes back at 7 on the dot, we order a dozen oysters advertised as $1 from 3-7pm on the menu. Waiter says he can't do dollar oysters anymore, despite us being there earlier. We ask for the manager. He's inflexible and downright rude. You'd think they'd care about our business, apparently not. He says last call for $1 oysters is 6:45. Menu says 7pm. He doesn't care at all. I say hey, work with us we're probably going to order a lot of food and drink. He says 'probably?' We said not with that attitude. He said fine, I don't have $1 oysters for you. None of us have ever been treated worse at a restaurant, much less by a manager. Shameful"

So, there are plenty of other negative reviews shared by others regarding this establishment and its management. I've compiled some of my favorite complaints below.

Peter G writes:

"My brother ordered a cobb salad and politely asked if he could get it without blue cheese and with a different dressing (one offered on the salad one above on the menu).  Our waiter seemed taken aback by the request, but offered the vacant response, "Well, I hope they can do that."  So did we, but apparently this request was out of line.  A few minutes later, we witnessed our waiter being lectured by the manager, who noticed us watching, pointed at us, and told the waiter to shush.  We were then informed by our waiter that changing the dressing would be impossible because the restaurant was too busy and it would be too confusing for the kitchen.  Really?  I wonder if they're also too busy to wash their hands.  The manager was certainly too busy to speak to us in person."

Wes M writes:

"At this point I went to the hostess and she said she was not allowed to distribute menus until 3 pm. At this point I will freely admit I gave the, you can't be serious look and returned to my seat. Now i get you can't order food till 3 pm but we can not even look at the menus? To add insult to ineptness a mid-level manger I can only guess as he did not introduce himself, said he had done us a favor by giving us the one menu and now we were causing drama for his staff?"

Tamara A writes:

"As other reviews have mentioned, Market Bar is in a beautiful location, and is convenient to the Ferry Building. Unfortunately,  the service was  pretty terrible. The manager, in particular, was angry and inappropriate."

Dean T writes:

"The ONLY reason to ever venture into this dump is if you're looking to get some sun. The food is overpriced, the hostesses are brainless and the manager, Armando is a complete prick....just ask the wait staff. Horrible experience with some coworkers on Cinco De Mayo, and I will never return."

Shelly M writes:

"Well, I have to say, after reading the reviews on this place, I feel a bit more validated on what I'm going to review...After a weekend in the city, My two friends and I decided to head to the Ferry building for a late breakfast, then head on home. We were greeted with a friendly hostess, seatted outside, and had a nice waitress, with attentive service...However, during our wait for our food, 5 tables got seated around us, and they ALL got their food before us. We understand these things can happen, we mentioned it to the waiter, politely, she leaves. The manager, Alfonso, or Alberto, whoever, came over and started talking.....Horrible, he immediately went on the defensive, said to us. Well, "don't look around".....What??? He was a total jerk. If we would of had a man with us, I doubt that would of happened. Had a verbal altercation right at the table! the food came, luke warm, and my poached eggs were hard...Never, never going back, I can't believe they employ such a greasy, snotty manager.......Yuk, stay away from this place!!!"

This next review seems almost unbelievable...

Ethan K writes:

"Midway through the meal the manager (?) comes out and tells us that they can't have any food dropping on the ground, and they then took away my child's meal."

The next few reviews appeal to the ownership to jettison this bum from their business.

Erica L writes:

"I went for a networking event. First off, there was no host  greeting people as they came in. Then, after I asked a woman where I was to go to get signed in, I put my coat, scarf and umbrella on a chair at a table. I walked to the bar to order a drink. A man then informed me quite rudely that I didn't need to stand in the bar to order a drink, to go back in the other room and someone will take my drink order. I went back to my seat, looked over and the same man was talking with a waiter and pointing at me. I figured he was telling him to take my drink order. Instead the waiter came over and told me I couldn't sit there, that I needed to stand and mingle. I stood up, said ok, grabbed my belongings and left. I felt very unwelcome and embarrassed by the whole event. Needless to say I will not go back. Not sure why they treat paying customers like the plague. On top of that when I tried to email them to complain the email bounced back."

Lynn S. writes:

"I can understand the policy of forbidding outside food, but the manager's delivery and tone were extremely rude and reflected disastrously on the restaurant.  We happen to be a biracial couple and I certainly have my suspicions that this may have been racially motivated.  Either that or the manager enjoys humiliating his patrons by going on power trips. Whatever the cause, the outcome was the same,  us being extremely disappointed with the rude service.   If the owners are reading this I would encourage you to take action;  the manager is male, about 5'7", dark gelled back hair, light skin, medium build, wearing a very bright blue vest over a white collared long sleeve shirt, and black pants.  We will never dine at this restaurant again, and we have thoroughly informed our many friends to do the same."

And the complaints just keep coming...

drew k writes:

"Since we've decided to simply walk out of the place before the food arrived, I can't comment on the quality of their dishes.

But I can assure you that their management is absolutely treacherous.

And judging by the reviews here, I am not alone."

Andrew W writes:

"Do not go here unless you like to eat crap and pay a ton for it. The staff is snooty.  Make sure if you see the manager out on the patio while you're walking down Embarcadero you flip him off. When my expensive terrible food did come it had a curly brown hair in it which the manager refused to replace with a non-curly brown hair dish. Beautiful."

Sheila Y writes:

"Worst management ever!"

m p writes:

"whatever, i am never going there again. and im sure mr manager Arnando (or whatever he calls himself) is a very lonely man."

I'm sure many people have enjoyed themselves at Market Bar. But what's clear is that the establishment retains a manager who fits the definition of a loose-cannon.

If you are visiting or live in San Francisco, you may dine there. But apparently you dine there at your own risk.

"In 'Medium Raw' you write about your attempts to make your daughter hate McDonald's. I am curious to know how that is working...", Cont.

Anthony Bourdain answered the top ten questions posted in an AMA on reddit as I mentioned a few weeks ago. The whole segment is embedded at the end of this post. 

My guess is that the video was produced in anticipation of the new episode of No Reservations in Cuba which aired last week.

I had an opportunity to watch the response before it was taken down for audio adjustments. During that time, I thought about an unexpected answer to one of the questions posed to Tony (at 16:51). This reddit user asks:

"Who is Anthony really? You mock the Food Network and loath the culture that it has created around food, yet you appear as special guest Judge on multiple Top Chefs. You despise 'Foodies', yet you are one of the main inspirations for a new generation of 'Foodies'. Is there an internal struggle? Are you ever on the verge of saying 'fuck this', and opening a restaurant under a pseudonym (so the food, not your name, speaks for itself), where no one is allowed in the kitchen, and sous-chefs sign a non-disclosure form? Do you still have the passion to develop and experiment with new recipes?"

First, reddit fans around the world were probably thrilled that the chef expressed in the video an appreciation of the inquirer's username, "Drink Alone," which is an obvious reference to the "Forever Alone" rage comic meme.

Second, and more notably, Tony's response reveals either his full assimilation into the craft of television or a visceral revulsion to the inner-workings of the restaurant industry itself. 

I also see the motivation for this response as being due in part to the crushing pressure of industry critique. 

Certainly, Bourdain could pursue both endeavors and conceivably find equal success. Tom Colicchio does - among others in the industry. It's a shame that he's not interested.

But Tony seems to confirm the ambivalent feelings regarding ownership of an establishment in the service industry. For some, it's rewards don't seems so rewarding. It's difficulties seem so uncompromising. 

Anyway, the video returned this past week. Watch the whole response and catch the critical quote which starts at 19:24:

"Listen... twenty-eight years standing on my feet in the restaurant business... I mean I'm a good chef at best and a good solid cook. But you don't know my name 'cuz of my food. I had twenty-eight years of it, I'm fifty-five now. I'd be kidding myself, and everybody else, if I pretended to really have much to offer in the way of cuisine. So no, I think I will live with this self loathing, the indignity and all the other stuff that comes with whatever it is I'm doing. I will take the bad with the good and go forward. Cooking? No, If I learned one thing about the restaurant business at twenty-eight years in the restaurant business it's that I never want to be in the restaurant business as an owner of any venture involving food."

Note: This post has been revised since its original publication