Archive for article
August 16, 2006 at 12:36 pm
· Filed under article, food, perspectives
excerpt:
“He watches The Food Network religiously, cooks dinner for himself and his wife, Janet, at least four times a week, and said he’s more than comfortable working in the kitchen, even when it isn’t his own. He also has worked with local chefs at area restaurants more than a dozen times.
So it’s no surprise that he leapt at the chance to be among the first to participate in a “Chef for a Day” program at The Seelbach Hilton Hotel’s Oakroom restaurant when the program was launched a couple of years ago.
“To be shoulder to shoulder with a group of professional people and keeping up with them doing exactly what they were doing and to feel a part of that — that was amazing,” Frick said…”
source: “More chefs in the kitchen: Restaurants explore ways to allow diners a firsthand look at food preparation” by Shannon Leonard-Boone (Business First of Louisville, Aug.11,2006)
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August 15, 2006 at 9:14 am
· Filed under article, safety, seating
excerpt:
“…Workers at some outdoor cafes say they recently have had some suspicious customers, such as people who ask to be seated and then disappear moments later. Not long after, a customer will complain of a missing purse.
Meanwhile, alarmed customers have been finding creative ways to tether their bags to their bodies, wrapping straps from the bag around their legs, a chair, or underneath a high heel. Some restaurants have been supplying hooks under the table for bags to be hung.
“…Some of the restaurants on Newbury and Boylston, they are seemingly friendly and feel like the suburbs; people forget this is a city,” she said. “Sadly, the very people you wish would have a good experience in Boston are the ones losing their purses and wallets.”
source: “Purse snatchings hit cafes” by Matt Viser (Boston Globe, Aug.15,2006)
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August 13, 2006 at 7:18 pm
· Filed under article, customer feedback, free, internet, restaurant reviews, web site
excerpt:
“Chowhound.com, a popular online message board devoted to those in search of good food and drink, has banned mentions of a Cambridge restaurant from its site.
Chowhound alleges it was receiving a suspicious number of rave reviews of the 4-month-old Conundrum in Harvard Square, many of them coming from the same computer connection.
“We’ve had a blitz of postings with rapturous praise for Conundrum from many, many posters, all of whom are utter newcomers to the site, and our users have been complaining that it seems like we might be getting played,” Chowhound co-founder Jim Leff said. “I’m not trying to do anything but run an honest food discussion, and it’s my job to defend that discussion when we feel like it’s being taken advantage of.”
source: “Chowhound: Rave reviews’ smell suspect” by Donna Goodison (Boston Herald, Aug.12, 2006)
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August 1, 2006 at 8:56 am
· Filed under article, food, free, internet, menus, restaurant reviews
excerpt:
“In the category of large-scale, single-site foodservice enterprises at business and industry venues, Google’s extravagant employee dining program arguably is second to none.
In terms of subsidized cost per meal and the breadth of its chef-driven menus, Google’s dining operation appears to surpass even the most generous of corporate kitchens, except perhaps for some exclusive executive dining rooms.
The company’s culinary offerings stand out even in comparison to other Silicon Valley firms famous for lavishing perks on employees…”
source: “Google’s gourmet giveaways dispel no-free-lunch axiom” by John Anderson (Nation’s Restaurant News, Jul.31,2006) [free registration req.]
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July 31, 2006 at 12:31 pm
· Filed under article, food, waitstaff
excerpt:
“Table-side flourishes — think bananas Foster set aflame by a tuxedoed waiter — are en vogue again, but minus the fussiness. While some Chicago restaurants are breathing new life into classic dishes, others are applying the old-school European concept to a range of cuisines.
At the trendiest Mexican restaurants, and even some non-Mexican ones, guacamole mashed table-side has become something to boast about…”
source: “Turning your table into the chef’s table” by Janet Rausa Fuller (Chicago Sun-Times, Jul.31,2006)
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July 28, 2006 at 9:58 am
· Filed under article, drinks, ordering, pricing
excerpt:
“But $1 extra because you don’t want ice in your martini? Frank Sinatra is rolling over in his grave.
This unexpected charge recently was noted by William Dowd, associate editor of the Times-Union in Albany, N.Y. Though rare, it has been spotted at bars and restaurants across the country.
Dowd got dinged on a recent evening at the Water’s Edge Lighthouse in Glenville, N.Y., after ordering martinis at the start and end of the evening. “When I got the itemized bill, it said ‘Two Grey Goose martinis: $18′ and then later on ‘Two Grey Goose martinis: $20.’ “
The waitress happily explained that she had simply forgotten to add the ‘up charge’ to the first set of drinks. He had ordered the drinks “up” and not on the rocks.”
source: “The $1 ’straight up’ charge has drinkers all stirred up” by Elizabeth Weise (USA Today, 7/28/06)
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July 26, 2006 at 11:25 am
· Filed under article, food, health, menus, ordering
excerpt:
“Don’t think that the plan to make Chicago restaurants smoke-free by 2008 will automatically turn restaurants into temples of health.
We know about cigarette smoke’s link to cancer. Yet the most recent statistics from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States–more than all cancers combined–and diet often is to blame.
You might even think you’re eating right when you’re eating out, but very likely not. Ald. Edward Burke recognized that, though his proposal to ban artery-clogging trans fats in Chicago restaurants was greeted with a chorus of groans.
So what can you do?”
source: “Look through restaurant haze for health menu” by Susan Kutchin Pallant (Chicago Tribune, Jul.23,2006)
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July 22, 2006 at 10:12 am
· Filed under article, blog, customer feedback, food, internet
excerpt:
“To some camera-happy diners, food is so gorgeous, so sensual, that it just has to be photographed — and posted on a blog.
…”If you look at the photography, the very loving manner in which these photographs are shot, they are meant to tantalize and titillate the viewer,” said Jarrett Byrnes, a graduate student who lives in Sebastopol, Calif., and runs Food Porn Watch, a Web site with links to almost 1,000 food blogs around the world, most with extensive food photography.
…And if diners can go to a Web site like eGullet and see that the mozzarella dish comes as, say, a cheese balloon filled with tomato foam, or some such delight, it’s a little like learning the ending of a thriller before heading to the movie.
Then again, Achatz admits to checking out food blogs before heading to a restaurant, and allows that in some cases, photos of the food can generate excitement in an establishment for reluctant diners.”
source: “What A Dish!” by Trine Tsouderos (Chicago Tribune, Jul.20,2006)
related link: Food Porn Watch
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July 21, 2006 at 10:24 am
· Filed under article, internet, ordering, technology
excerpt:
“The buzz was all about the technology. Legal Sea Foods, purveyor of traditional New England fare, was launching the restaurant of the future – or at least of today. Dubbed Legal Test Kitchen, LTK for short, a blustering press release promised “a glimpse into some of the restaurant industry’s most innovative technology.”
Here, diners would surf the Web or watch TV at their tables using portable plasma touchscreens while listening to their iPods via individual speakers. The hassle of ordering and paying would be mitigated by waiters toting hand-held PDAs and portable machines that let you swipe your own credit card.”
source: “Restaurant of the future?” by Teresa Mendez (Christian Science Monitor, Jul.21,2006)
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