In all seriousness, the pictures that Tex posts of the meat that he grills at home look as good as anything I’ve ever had at a steakhouse.
Maybe not as specific, but there is a restaurant (The Family Dog) here in ATL that (at least when they opened) refused to make any changes to the menu. For example (just a hypothetical), their burger would be served with Lettuce, Tomato, sauteed onions, and mustard. If you wanted to leave off the onions or the mustard they would not allow you to do that…if you wanted the burger you got it how they served it. No substitutions or changes. While not a dietary issue or allergy issue, it’s the same thing. A substitution is a substitution.
Off the top of my head in Los Angeles there is Father’s Office, Animal and Gjelina. In NYC, the Momofuku restaurants refuse to make any changes even for people who have allergies.
There was a story in the papers about Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) and Gordon Ramsay eating at Gjelina in Venice (good place.) Posh wanted a particular salad and there was something raw in it that she couldn’t eat because she was pregnant. She asked them to leave it out of the dish and the kitchen refused. Ramsay started yelling at the waiter saying, “she’s pregnant for god’s sake” but the restaurant wouldn’t budge. I would have loved to have been there.
I have tried to make it my policy not to eat at places that impose silly rules on their customers. As an example, even though I live within walking distance of Daniel, I haven’t been in about 7-8 years because of the no-BYO policy. And I pretty much stopped eating at the Momufku’s even though Chang and I have a personal relationship that goes back over 10 years.
It’s like Gordon Gecko says in Wall Street about the WASPS at his board meeting in the Bronx Zoo, “they like animals more than they like people.” Well I feel the same way about certain restaurants and money. They like it more than they like their customers and they feel empowered to impose silly rules on them. I am sure if Gjelina wasn’t packed every night, and they were in need of customers, they would be happy to make alterations.
Steve, the only thing I saw at Bern’s that matches what you describe was the separate dessert room. I would agree completely that it is part of their approach to move more diners through. However they’ve done it in a way that enhances the experience for most guests (at least those who don’t mind a touch of Disney with their glass of old Port).
Whether you find things like a chart that offers different thickness cuts of steak or a separate dessert room an enhancement to the dining experience or something that detracts from it, is solely subjective to the person it is being imposed on. However, and I assure you that what I am going to say is correct more than 90% of the time, anytime you come across a policy in a restaurant that is out of the ordinary, the policy has been instituted for the sole purpose of making more money, and is not for the benefit of diners.
Why do restaurants have 30 or 60 day advance reservation policies? Because it creates the appearance of scarcity and it makes more people want to visit them. Personally, I can’t think of a single reason why you shouldn’t be able to make a reservation a year in advance. But at Momofuku Ko, David Chang instated a 10 day policy. There was no reason to do that other than to hype the restaurant.
The Bordeaux producers and negociants are especially gifted at playing this game. What do you think the price of Latour would be if they offered 80% of their production on release?
Alexander’s in Cupertino (south Bay Area) is pretty darn good. There’s a sister restaurant in SF, but I haven’t been there.
I’m not accusing anyone in particular of bullying, to me it just felt like the tone of all responses to Steve were harsh and negative, and as Tex pointed out, I don’t know the history. Also, my observation was not exclusive to this discussion.
Also in Los Angeles, Sotto, also a good place. “Substitutions/Modifications politely declined.” Modifications include leaving ingredients out or cooking a pizza longer than they determine is correct. They make good Neapolitan pizzas, one of which includes fennel pollen. My wife doesn’t like fennel and requested that they leave it off. They declined. After she got over it, she enjoyed her pizza enough to order it again. I really like their sausage/rapini/red chillies pizza; enough to overlook their arbitrary and annoying policy.
at playground in santa ana, we got a wagyu skirt steak that was SUPER salty. So I told the waiter and he said “most likely that is how the chef would prepare it, but i’ll see if he can make accomodations”. ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Steve,
Try Elena’s the next time you are there:
http://www.fourseasons.com/buenosaires/dining/restaurants/elena/dinner/
I think they were the first to offer dry aged beef but there are others too.
Disclosure: Four Seasons is one of my clients.
I like Sotto. Too bad that I have to put them on the list of places I will try not to visit
I once hosted a party of 8 people at El Bulli. One of my guests was pregnant so could not eat anything that wasn’t cooked. She also didn’t eat meet. Well the kitchen bent over backwards to create a meal that she could enjoy while being up to their standards. That’s how a restaurant should treat their customers.
Ferran is a righteous dude and of course seminal figure in cooking. Thumbs down to the likes of Sang Yoon.
Keller is also very good about adapting to special needs. IIRC at French Laundry they even ask.
