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Latest Review
Re: “Varasano's Pizzeria”
Excellent pizza. My favorites are the caramelized onion and the Nucci. Great crust and toppings, and they have some really good lunch specials now, too. Well worth it.
Recent Comments
Re: “First Look: The Fifth Ivory”
Cliff, I just wanted to stop by (from Oregon now) and say that you really don't deserve all of this hatred. This entire thread is extremely harsh and ridiculous. Your reviews are great and well-written, with a touch of wit, and they should stay that way.
Re: “The bane of family restaurants' existence”
" ' it often gives me the opportunity to interact with kids.'
Makes you sound like a child molester. "
No, it makes him sound like a man who doesn't have children, hasn't spent years of his life babysitting or taking care of younger siblings and isn't subjected to family reunions with screaming children on a regular basis, and therefore finds it "refreshing" to interact with children. Personally, I have lots of experience with children, so I don't have the same perspective.
Once, back when Chef Liu's was still in the little trailer in the parking lot, I noticed a young Asian couple with a baby having a quiet meal. Every time the baby acted up, the father picked her up and took her out to the parking lot so the mother and everyone else could relax and continue eating. It was refreshing because I so rarely see parents act this way, but also refreshing because he was clearly giving mom a well-deserved break, and she was relaxed enough to enjoy it, while I also got to enjoy my meal. I particularly like going to Japanese restaurants, where I often see children, but they are always well-behaved. I tend to avoid many American style restaurants in most price ranges because most of them seem to be overrun with conveniently deaf parents and their wild offspring.
I can also empathize with the server who posted upthread, as I've been unfortunate enough to be clotheslined by free-running children who were quite lucky that I didn't drop the hot plates I was carrying directly onto their fragile little skulls. Parents these days really do need to at least pretend to try a little better.
Re: “The Atlanta Fried Chicken Smackdown”
Watershed probably wasn't included because it's closed. Granted, they're "relocating" but until they open again, I'd avoid teasing people by writing about chicken they can't eat.
Re: “Fake food allergies on the rise”
Geez, FuziOh. Angry much? It's not as if anyone here is saying, "I'm a server and I don't give a crap about your life-threatening allergy, so don't bother asking me to look after you."
I am not currently a server, but when I was one, I always looked out for whatever allergies customers stated, whether they were being truthful or not. I even took it seriously when a customer berated me because there was mayonnaise on his sandwich, saying that he could have died because he was "lactose a-tolerant!" I knew all of the items that had gluten or peanuts or shellfish in them and those that did not, and in fact I knew every ingredient in every dish that I served.
However, what I couldn't control is how seriously every single cook took my instructions, or how many prep cooks had touched that same food earlier that day, so no matter how careful I could have possibly been, there is still a non-zero risk that a food could be contaminated. Heck, it could have been contaminated by the food supplier further up the chain and I couldn't have possibly had any control over that at all.
Seriously, I wish you well and I hope that all of the food you eat is safe, but just in case, please remember to bring your epi-pen.
Re: “Fake food allergies on the rise”
I don't think this is really about the $2.13/hour at all. Lots of people with different pay scales touch your food if you eat in any restaurant, and none of them are required to be as knowledgeable as a doctor or nutritionist, nor do they have much incentive to care about you or to divine whether or not you are telling the truth about whether your allergy is life threatening or not.
Bottom line: Would you feel comfortable lending a stranger $20? If not, then why would you feel OK letting that same stranger make decisions that could end your life, or make you very ill?
Re: “Fake food allergies on the rise”
Hear, hear, Noms.
Re: “Of Boners, bitching, and Foodie Buddha”
@Cliff: I hope you didn't take it as an insult that I opined that professional critics are waning in influence, as are most journalists. As writers go, you, Besha and Kessler are three of my favorites, and I especially like your casual, familiar writing style when it comes to getting a first look at new restaurants in the area. I'll miss having you as a local columnist when I move to Oregon in a month.
As far as anonymity is concerned, I've known FoodieBuddha's real name for probably 3-4 years now, and since I did no investigatory digging - indeed, I wasn't even looking for it at all - I had previously thought that he had no desire to be anonymous. I agree that it's perfectly fair for Kessler to use his name in the article, and while I do find that there are a number of decent essays and some good information to be found on FB's site, I found the Cardamom Hill article to unnecessarily insulting and somewhat misinformed on the style of cuisine. A little mindful reticence might do him good, but since that would provide him with fewer "hits," I'm sure we won't see that happen any time soon.
Happy as a clam