Things that are pissing you off- Food & Drink Edition

Originally Posted by ama

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You'd think so, but the vast majority of people who drink them get vodka ones. This one probably isn't the bartender's fault.

So they should call it a vodka martini. Fixed.

Originally Posted by gomestar

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So they should call it a vodka martini. Fixed.

Many places do.

I just bought some short ribs from my regular butcher. Got them home and realized that they were sliced about 3/8 in thick. Really? WTF am I supposed to do with those?

8 minute braise?

Originally Posted by ama

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Many places do.

But not more places than advertise their appletinis, chocotinis, etc.

Originally Posted by iammatt

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I just bought some short ribs from my regular butcher. Got them home and realized that they were sliced about 3/8 in thick.

Really? WTF am I supposed to do with those?

Originally Posted by gomestar

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8 minute braise?

lol @ foodguy/gomestar

I'm "allergic" to fish, or at least that's what I tell people when i'm forced into a fishy situation. In truth I can't remember the last time it happened since I mostly cook for people, and not the other way around. Regardless, claiming that you're allergic seems more polite than telling them you'll start gagging if you ear their food.

nm

Originally Posted by Piobaire

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Because martinis are made with gin?

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

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[bar snob]Martinis don't actually have vodka in them...so asking what type of vodka would be a really good indicator that you don't know how to make a martini.[/bar snob]

Would you guys find it a sign of professional ignorance if they asked you if you wanted the martini made with gin or vodka?

Vodka "Martinis."

A tasteless, odorless product.

For children.

1> The fact that "Jewish style" delis have replaced Kosher delis in everyplace but NYC, and it's happening there too, and that the in the rest of the country, the "Jewish style" is becoming less and less Jewish.

2> The fact that people have discovered American Sturgeon caviar (the price has tripled in the last 5 years)

3> Foams, deconstruction, truffles and foie in everything and kobe burgers (although the lobster w/ truffle and foie gras sauce at L20 is definitely an exception)

4> People who can't cook who assume they can make anything taste good if they cook it over charcoal

5> (just for Bourdain) people who don't let their steaks rest

6> People who think Organic ingredients are de-facto better tasting / more nutritious than conventionally grown ingredients.

7> People who blather on about the evils of factory farming but don't consider the world hunger that would result from its wholesale eradication

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Just to put a positive here.. I'm pretty happy with the charcuterie fad - I've always loved proscuitto and serrano, but there are just so many more great cured meats readily available now even if you don't live down the block from a Cittarella

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

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3> Foams, deconstruction, truffles and foie in everything and kobe burgers (although the lobster w/ truffle and foie gras sauce at L20 is definitely an exception)

Fads are pretty annoying. I remember that, in the late '90s, almost every restaurant in Chicago had a "mushroom/truffle cappuccino" of some sort.

Originally Posted by HORNS

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Would you guys find it a sign of professional ignorance if they asked you if you wanted the martini made with gin or vodka?

Maybe not ignorance on the bartender's part, I mean he at least realized martini =! automatically mean vodka, but it would certainly tell me much about the crowd that usually goes there.

Now, what would impress me would be if the bartender stirred the martinin or even, heaven forbid, cracked some ice too.

Originally Posted by HORNS

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Would you guys find it a sign of professional ignorance if they asked you if you wanted the martini made with gin or vodka?

Originally Posted by Piobaire

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Maybe not ignorance on the bartender's part, I mean he at least realized martini =! automatically mean vodka, but it would certainly tell me much about the crowd that usually goes there.

Now, what would impress me would be if the bartender stirred the martinin or even, heaven forbid, cracked some ice too.

This.

I'm actually less concerned with what he says than if he leaves me with the impression that he doesn't even realize that a martini is made with gin. I understand the world we live in and that most people don't know that today...but he's a bartender, he should know better. As long as he knows better, that's fine.

If you came to my town I could take you to one spot and show you the difference better than I could explain it. I can walk into a particular bar I know that is competently staffed. The bartenders are grownups who take their job seriously. They do actually stir their martinis with cracked ice. They know that a proper Manhattan is served with a dash of bitters. They remember your name and what you like to drink even if you've only been in a few times.

I can then take you right across the street where the (extremely popular) watering hole bar is staffed with a bunch of untrained 20-somethings designed only to look pretty and bring in the female customers. If I got behind the bar and mixed my drink myself they'd still find a way to screw it up for me. Sadly I still go there quite frequently because its a sushi place that serves very good sushi...the bar staff is just very incompentent.

It's really not that hard, it just takes attention to detail.

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

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How can you possibly be a professional bartender and not know how to mix a basic cocktail? It's beyond me. If I were so inept in the very basics of my profession I'd be fired within a week. Someday I'm going to come up with a ranking of the seven circles of bartending hell. It will involve the following levels in some order or another...

(...)

Originally Posted by Piobaire

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Look at you blankly when you request a Canadian whisky in your manhattan. Comes back and says they don't have any Canadian whisky, when you can see CC sitting right there.

Asks what type of vodka you'd like in your martini.

You know what? In 10 or 15 years, we all need to pick a city and open up a VTR equivalent.

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

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How about..."A Manhattan? Now...remind me what's in that again? Oh...I don't think we have sweet vermouth...sorry...can I make it with something else for you?"

eh, only ponces order cocktails or anything mixed.

One exception, perhaps, for pina coladas.

Originally Posted by iammatt

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I just bought some short ribs from my regular butcher. Got them home and realized that they were sliced about 3/8 in thick.

Really? WTF am I supposed to do with those?

Maybe he thought you wanted to cook them "Korean Style"?