troglodytic chopstick skills, I found. What meat I could wrest from its cage I found to be silky and succulent with a melt-in-your-mouth-no teeth-required quality. And almost no flavor at all. Still, for some reason I rather...

's a skill worth mastering. As for those times when one’s experience differs dramatcially from a critic’s, WRITE as detailed a descriptiopn as possible to the critic. I’ve seen our SF critics write more than once...

asked if the original poster wanted change. 1) The server didn’t know the price of the bill off hand. Even if the server did know the price of the bill due to various circumstances their math skills may not be 100% 2) The...

perhaps, but why make an already bad experience worse discussing it with a manager with equally poor skills? Also Im not out to get a free meal, or to get anyone fired, the transaction is between myself & the server, if they are...

book. While I understand that they are a small restaurant, one of their supposed caliber should have a host/hostess and not rely on a passing wait person. In our case we waited for at least 10 minutes before anyone even...

What you have discussed here, moh, is a spectrum of interest and skill in food and wine pairing. Yes, there are what you refer to “Type A” food-and-wine-pairing types, who perhaps agonize over pairings to achieve some...

think that a lot of it has to do with how one interacts with the host. One does not barge in the door expecting to have a right to everything. Expecting “to be told what the good stuff is.” Authenticity can never be...

a nice way) that the availability of seafood is limited and/or expensive. Does that make those in the Midwest unaware of seafood? Of course not, but if one is spending quite a bit on a meal most go with what they know or have a...

Re your last paragraph – I agree that ideally one person would have all of those skills, but it immediately reminded me of past seasons where contestants were told things like this isn’t “Top Sommelier” or...

of my life.......make that second most fantastic.... Arriving prior to my friend I snapped a few pictures of the unmarked exterior and subsequently made my way into the festively decorated bar. Greeted immediately by a doorman and...

shop there need to have some business skills to survive. I am sure the market will go through some phases before it all takes shape and some will work and some won’t. Customer service is number one and cleanliness is right...

make it a Microplane. And too, if you want grated or shredded cheese, you’d be hard pressed to make do with knife skills alone, so okay, another ‘universal’ must-have. -Knives: Another ‘universal’,...

well. (With skill and ingredients, I mean ... I ordered it medium rare.) My wife had the monkey business adult malt (a really gigantic malt — suitable for two — made with chocolate, bananas, caramel, and bourbon) and...

room (their first Easter). The rental staff tends to be “a” listers- staffing firms use these holidays as a make/break with new clients. My bragging aside, Trufflebaby- you had a dud waiter, a dud host, and a pretty...

On soup-y potluck items, I went to a lively Christmas party once where the hosts served up a huge pot of their favorite minestrone. The passed it around using dozens of identical diner-style white coffee mugs with a teaspoon...