Things that are pissing you off- Food & Drink Edition - Page 4

I bet the alternative to the tomato dish was a combination of wilted spinach blasted in an oven with a can of cream of mushroom soup and served on a plate with Tostido's chips.

Don't forget the dipping bowl, in the center of the plate, filled with liquid "cheese" from a can.

don't get me started: wines by the glass that cost 80% of the retail price of a whole bottle. maybe the ultimate: spending $200 on dinner for two and coming away saying "well, that one appetizer was pretty good."

Don't go to Coi the next time you are up here.

Oh thanks waiter, I like how you imagine me as some kind of machine (or cow or something) that's slowly grinding away to consume this meal. I'm being served food, I shouldn't really have to be doing any work, that's why I'm here paying you. alright, it's a small complaint, but it does rub me the wrong way.

You know, though, that a red will change in many ways while it's open. When a red is too warm with the first sniff, and all you get a blast of alcohol and the ripe dark fruit end of the wine's smell spectrum, there's really no way to turn back and enjoy the more elegant components of the wine.

I kinda like my reds and whites at a quite similar temperature. There are exceptions, like champagne or a rose on a hot day, but that's my preference in general.

I don't like when the waiter offers only bottled water, still or sparkling and makes you feel like a peasant if you just want tap water.

Come to San Francisco and eat, then - it's the hip thing to do is NOT drink imported bottle water. I've had waiters offer water and say "can I offer you some house water?" or "would you like some eau d'Hetch Hetchy?"

+1. though one of the things I like about being in Europe is the ubiquity of cheap sparkling water and not feeling like a ponce ordering it like I do in the States.

I've been to places where they make you sign a waiver before serving a medium rare hamburger.

Okay, you can disagree with it, but out of season tomatoes won't change their flavor because of that. I don't see how 'tomatoes sounded good' is even applicable since you were served some semblance of a vegetable that probably resembled a tuber more in flavor. This isn't the normal haughty SF statement, either. I just really question if some people have more than visual senses. Red and round = tomato as a thought process works fine on canvas, but on a plate or palate those characteristics just don't apply. Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo and all that.

This isn't directed specifically at you.

Yeah- that's what I was saying. It's important for the initial impression but after that

Though I am sure it is out there, I am not aware of any restaurant that actually has the proper storage and cooling for all of it's reds and the various temp requirements by varietal.

Fucking barbarians.

Hothouse tomatoes are always in season... and from an enviro and shop local standpoint, they're probably the better deal. They're grown locally, they're much fresher, and they didn't have to be packed and shipped halfway across the country... and frankly, many of the world's better-respected chefs these days often admit that CANNED tomatoes are frequently a better choice for many dishes.

For me - eat in season REALLY applies to one are: fruit (besides tomatoes ). Especially apples. The ubiquity of the top 3 apples has meant many folks have no idea what a truly fresh apple is.

I hate when the wine list has Vintage A and the waiter brings Vintage B, and when you point it out to him/her, they say something stupid to the effect one vintage is pretty much like another. Ditto with interchanging single vineyard bottlings.