Epicurious editor James Oliver Cury calls out restaurant-review and food-writing clichés this week. Among his all-time un-faves are “decadent dessert” and “yummy.” The Village Voice has an even more lengthy list of food-related terms it wishes writers would terminate altogether. Concerning the latter list, I completely disagree on “crispy.” Hearing or reading that word makes [...]
Eat Like a President: From Washington, D.C. to Washington Place
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dined out in the Big Apple this past weekend. So, where in one of the food capitals of the world did they eat? Blue Hill, naturally. The Obamas are committed to sustainable agriculture as indicated by the new White House kitchen garden, and Dan Barber, chef/co-owner of [...]
Texting While Dining out: The Lesser of Two Evils?
New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni confesses that he doesn’t mind seeing diners texting while eating in restaurants – only, mind you, because it means they’re not gabbing away on their mobile phones. I’m a rabid texter, but I usually only indulge in restaurants when I’m waiting at the bar for my dining companions [...]
The Best Restaurants for Outdoor Dining
Summer is almost upon us, igniting diners’ appetites for enjoying a meal outside. Want to know where the best restaurants for outdoor dining in the U.S. are? The national winners of the 2009 Diners’ Choice awards for Best Outdoor Dining are in! Based on 2 million reviews from OpenTable diners of more than 9,000 restaurants [...]
Restaurant Reviews: Personal Experience vs. Professional Opinions
Over the long weekend, I dined out at Mirabelle Tavern, a restaurant I’d been interested in as it’s a new (and slightly less formal) incarnation of a long-popular French restaurant. I was excited to learn what was on the menu and sample the fare. I’d not read any professional reviews…until that very morning when The [...]
OpenTable Is a Webware 100 Winner
Can we get a woot woot? OpenTable is a winner in the location-based services category of the 2009 Webware 100 Awards, sharing the spotlight with some other cool apps, including Google Earth, Google Maps, and TripIt. Thanks to CNET and everyone who voted for us. We couldn’t have won it without you.
Le Bernardin’s List of Service Sins
I’ve worked in a lot of restaurants, but Le Bernardin wasn’t one of them. I like to imagine that I could have held my own in at least a front-of-the-house position, but after reading a list of Eric Ripert’s 129 rules for employees of his Michelin-starred (three!) restaurant, it’s pretty clear to me that I [...]
Restaurants and Book Clubs: Meeting over a Meal
I love being in a book club, but not always because of the books (Ask me about The Mercy of Thin Air…blech!). What I love is that we dine out every time we meet. This wasn’t always the case. We tried gathering at members’ apartments, but that didn’t work as well as we’d hoped. Conversation [...]
Is Bread Worth Your Hard-Earned Dough?
New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni took to the Diner’s Journal to defend restaurants that charge for bread. Earlier, the New York Post had taken issue with the practice, but Mr. Bruni sees nothing wrong with it, pointing out that even free bread really isn’t free as well as the fact that the restaurant [...]
New to New York? Follow Your Phone!
You belong to the city, but it doesn’t belong to you. Not yet, anyway. Even though Manhattan is just 23 square miles, it can take a while to get to know it (“a while” meaning years). But not anymore, at least not as far as restaurants go! You can become an expert on the New [...]