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TC Eats: Sapor Cafe
The Rake: Outdoor dining
TC Breakfast Club: A tale of two stags
We Got Served: Craftsman
We had dinner at Whitey's Monday night. It was only about 90 degrees and everyone was sitting outside in the hot setting sun and the traffic eating so everybody could see them. Fools.
Had the nice, air conditioned interior almost to ourselves.
We're big fans of The Craftsman. It's pretty much our go-to nice-but-not-ridiculous restaurant.
For me, it's almost as much about the ambience as it is the food. I feel comfortable there.
Also, the food is heavily, if not exclusively, local/regional and organic, etc. etc., which I believe explains the higher prices. We decided that that's a priority for us, so we're willing to pay.
Oh, and the seasonal old fashioneds make me happy.
complaining about an $18 plate of pasta? I think your average tgi mcfunsters' serves their pasta for $15... Anyhoo pearls before swine.
and your average make-it-at-home pasta can be served for around $5/plate, even with fancy fresh veggies and meat and shit.
But that requires effort.
I .. you ... but ...
If you don't think $18 a plate for pasta is a good price, you shouldn't go to restaurants with $18 a plate pasta
as cjc said, we love the Craftsman. We are willing to pay for the organic and local foods. We are also willing to pay for excellent service and a great bar. We have been impressed with the food everytime we have gone in.
This country isn't in recession.
They also gave us some bread, so the idea was to take a small piece of meat and put it on the bread with butter, I guess.
Is this a joke?
$18 for a plate of home made gnocchi is perfectly fair. Have you ever tried making them? They may cost little in ingredients, but the labor and skill curve involved is somewhat daunting.
If you're going to go to the Craftsman and aren't prepared to spend $22 on a giant hunk of unbelievably delicious, locally-sourced elk or rabbit or some shit, then don't bitch about what you get.
In Seattle this weekend at a place called Elliots I had a fantastic alder plank grilled Alaskan White Salmon with fingerling potatoes and garden veggies. It was $24.
Sounds like they weren't aware of the organic / local aspect. Personally I'm happy to pay more for that. My father-in-law would probably lose his dentures over those prices though. Especially since the greatest steak he has ever had in his life, according to him, was at a Ruby Tuesdays.
They also gave us some bread, so the idea was to take a small piece of meat and put it on the bread with butter, I guess.
Is this a joke?
I laughed at that too...make yer own sammich!
mb, my dad won't go back to Origami ever again because they charge about $6 (with tax) for Sapporo...
This country isn't in recession.
True, it would take two consecutive quarters of negative growth for it to be a real recession. We are however in a fairly flat economic climate made worse by rising inputs. It does not inspire confidence.
Sapporo is frequently $9 in Tokyo, he got a deal.
/did not RTFA
but I almost never go out to eat anymore
unneccessary expenses, no thanks!
when times get tough, the tough stop going out to eat. or the broke do. or something.
whatever.
Sapporo is frequently $9 in Tokyo, he got a deal.
And the panties of a Jr. High schoolgirl are like $50!
what a rip!
It does not inspire confidence.
People still go to overpriced restaurants. Drive to the REI store in Bloomington on the weekends and you can't find a place to park. There's not a damn thing in the store that anyone actually needs.
Hey now Rat. REI is sweet.
And what's your dad doing ordering a Sapparo?
@alie at least your dad knows what Sapporo is...
Rat: Discretionary spending means different things for different people. Some folks like as wayne says stop eating out, but continue to fund other hobbies. So if your primary entertainment interests are food and drink, but you also spend money on dvds or music, you might cut them rather than your primary interests. We are a much richer society than we were in the past. Normal is extravagant to previous generations.
There's not a damn thing in the store that anyone actually needs.
Sure they do. They've got bikes for those who can't afford to drive. And canoes....some day I'll commute by canoe.
In regards to food, this week I had really good service for the first time at Red Stag, and a another below average meal at Whitey's (does this place serve anything above average?)
And lots of people prefer to give money to REI over Dicks or Sportmart or whatever because it is a co-op. The most corporate co-op ever, but a co-op. That's why I shop there.
It seems that Bennigans is closing all the corporately owned restaurants, including the Steak & Ale chain. Linens & Things is closing a good chunk of their stores also. People are obviously spending a lot less money.
And the panties of a Jr. High schoolgirl are like $50!
You're paying for the convenience of buying them out of a vending machine.
Not to belabor the REI thing, but when it comes to stuff that isn't food or shelter, at least they're selling things that people USE for recreational activities that get them exercise. Plus jackets and shit, which come in handy in the winter. When I think of all the useless decorative trinkets people buy, or crap they'll never use, or things with giant noisy polluting engines, I don't know that there's a place I'd rather people be spending their money than there.
Oh Mervyn's is also calling it quits and Steve and Barry's has filed for bankruptcy. I'm really glad we made those tax cuts to the richest people in America permanent. It sure has kept us from going into the tank financially.
My old pal Mark Wernimont has already sent out an email blast on the nationwide closing of the owned and operated Bennigans.
Three guess to what he blames for the closings...
Three guess to what he blames for the closings...
Beefus?
unbelievably delicious, locally-sourced elk or rabbit or some shit
Yummy! Is the shit locally-sourced too?
I'll go to the Craftsman probably twice a year, inevitably during the summer so I can sit outside and reminisce about what used to be the best bar patio in town.
Steve and Barry's is a strange one to be in trouble, as they are a real low cost retailer. Perhaps their pricing model of nothing over $10.98 was untenable.
Mervyn's was obvious though, as all mid-level retailers have been getting burned by the dual trends of trading up and bargain retailing.
at least they're selling things that people USE for recreational activities that get them exercise
Or to sit in the garage with the rest of their good intentions.
100 bars and restaurants put out of business in less than two years since Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Bloomington, MN. enacted smoking bans
According to this 2004 end of year Star Tribune article only 14 establishments closed in '04.....the last full year without a smoking ban.
And what's your dad doing ordering a Sapparo?
He ordered it on my recommendation years ago, before I discovered that Asahai is better and a little cheaper. I admit to not knowing a lot about Japanese beers, but I like the dryness of Asahi.
I went to Steve and Barry's once to check out SJP's Bitten line when it first came out. The store and clothing looked as cheap as the prices. I'm not too surprised that they're not doing well. I still don't get how SJP decided to team up with them for her clothing line.
rat, I'm sure the closings have NOTHING AT ALL to do with the economic woes lately.
nope, nothing at all.
Let's let Bob explain it to us.
The smoking ban won't matter much when there is nowhere left to buy cigarettes.
Please let's not.
All Rat's saying, and I agree, is that I'll believe we're in a recession when my favorite restaurants aren't crowded on the weekend.
I agree. If the topic is so important to you, Rat, create a post.
Steve and Barry's is a strange one to be in trouble, as they are a real low cost retailer. Perhaps their pricing model of nothing over $10.98 was untenable.
Mervyn's was obvious though, as all mid-level retailers have been getting burned by the dual trends of trading up and bargain retailing.
I judge the success and failure of companies based on their performance at Brookdale. I'm surprised Mervyn's held out this long since the left The Dirty 'Dale long ago.
The smoking ban won't matter much when there is nowhere left to buy cigarettes.
They don't sell them at the Prairie Stone Pharmacy at Lund's in NE, either.
A woman was griping that the place doesn't sell cigarettes or lottery tickets.
"Something for the poor people," she said.
Then she cussed a blue streak and said some stuff about George W. Bush and left.
I felt like telling the woman behind the counter: Welcome to Nordeast.
The End
I think that list was debunked awhile ago. 1)that guy was trying to sell air purifiers/smokeeters, so had a vested interest/grudge in defeating the smoking ban. 2) Failure rate in restauarants is around 70% or so over 10 years.
from the WSJ re: Bennigen's
"High ingredient and labor costs are eating into profits, and several years of rapid expansion by bar and grill chains has left a glut of locations in the market. Pressures such as high gasoline prices and dwindling home values have prompted consumers to eat out less often or switch to cheaper fast-food meals."
"The venerable chains weren't able to survive in part because their menus and atmosphere failed to set them apart from the pack"
""There's just too many stores in this category,"
Hmmmm - "smoking ban" is conspicuously absent from the reasons they are closing
Yeah, that makes sense. I know that ever since the value of my home dropped 3%, I eat out a lot less. (huh?)
Maz you must be in some kind of magic neighborhood. We're in SLP and down 19.4% since buying our home in 04.
"JoAnn, people can get a cheeseburger anywhere. They come to Chotsky's for the attitude."
"JoAnn, people can get a cheeseburger anywhere. They come to Chotsky's for the attitude."
Well, that'll learn 'ya. I bought my house in 1980.
I think our current economic difficulties are playing out differently than past ones. Formerly the pain was caused by big monetary trends which rippled across the economy as a whole, this time its smaller economic trends wreaking havoc over different silos of the economy one at a time. Housing and related industries to investment banking to commercial banking to small business(small business loans are tight right now and lines of credit fuhgeddaboutit.) to what next? So if your economic silo isn't suffering now, you are in the majority, but you could be next.
My "economic silo" is the internet. Businesses come to me to save money. This has been our best year ever.
Well, I guess I should have pulled my head out of my ass when I was 2 years old and purchashed in 1980 too. What a stupid baby I was.
yup.
mb, you're forgetting: if maz hasn't personally experienced it, it doesn't exist.
All Rat's saying, and I agree, is that I'll believe we're in a recession when my favorite restaurants aren't crowded on the weekend.
The Dennis Tester School of Economic Simplification
They don't sell them at the Prairie Stone Pharmacy at Lund's in NE, either.
A woman was griping that the place doesn't sell cigarettes or lottery tickets.
"Something for the poor people," she said.
Then she cussed a blue streak and said some stuff about George W. Bush and left.
No, they don't. It annoys me, but I just walk down to the gas station or santana's. It's a bit out of the way, but the owner is super friendly and always knows what I want. Not the best prices, but who cares. I'm all for locally-owned corner-store type businesses like that. The fact that a big chunk of their family hangs around there a lot of the time at night is all the more reason to support it.
but also: OMG DO YOU THINK YOU HAD A RAINDOG SIGHTING?
I always wondered if she lived in our hood.
He ordered it on my recommendation years ago, before I discovered that Asahai is better and a little cheaper. I admit to not knowing a lot about Japanese beers, but I like the dryness of Asahi.
Jockeys (2 pint mugs) of Kirin on-tap were the way to go way back when, sitting in a beer garden perched atop a 50-story Tokyo hotel, popping edamame into our mouths between robust sips. Ah, yes. High school memories. :)
To be fair, wayne, Maz's theory is no less simplified than other measures of economics that are taken quite seriously.
I'm not a big fan of Kirin, but it's drinkable. I can never find it at the liquor stores though (although, I'm sure it's at Surdyks).
and I doubt dennis understands that a lot of people have "lost their jobs" or "not gotten cost-of-living raises to keep up with inflation" or "don't sit on their fat ass at home in front of the computer for work and pay out the arse for gas to get to their job" and thus do not have the kind of discretionary budgets they used to.
"don't sit on their fat ass at home in front of the computer for work ..."
As opposed to stealing wages from a private employer by doing that when you're supposed to be working, eh wayno?
bob, true enough.
which is why the whole system is so goddamned broken it's starting to fall apart.
one thing that always bothered me about economics:
-you make your observations of the system from the perspective of an outsider (with no influence on the system), and then create your 'rules' about how it acts based on those observations
-then you take those 'rules' and begin to act on the system to try to profit from it, thus changing the system and invalidating all the observations you made
wash, rinse, repeat and you have the history of economic theory.
one thing that always bothered me about economics:
You mean, other than your total ignorance of it?
oh no I'm at the office, taking care of bidness, thanks dennis.
but not every minute of the day is a busy one. unfortunately since so much of the business world operates on the conventions of an 8-5 world and doesn't pay for piecework, there's some wasted time that happens.
oh fuck off, old man tester. for someone who's supposedly ivy-educated you've proven yourself to be an ignorant retard about economics time and again.
ZOMG NUANCE? I DON'T BELIEVE IN GREY!
heh
because really, I've never heard anything more advanced than "ZOMG MARKETS WILL SAVE US!" and "SUPPLY AND DEMAND!" from you. Welcome to introductory economics. Did you take anything beyond Econ 101, Dennis? I mean, seriously?
Imagine the economics education you can receive when you eventually advance beyond your first job, wayne. Imagine still, the lessons learned from buying and selling property, managing corporate budgets, starting and running your own business! naaahh. Never mind.
Seriously, can you two measure your dicks somewhere else? Jesus.
I'm going to start deleting comments if you two don't reign it in.
Hmm if I'm salaried how can I be stealing wages?
I would be much happier in a Results Only work place.
The more I work with economic models, the less certain I feel about our understanding of markets and human behavior. There is a level of complexity to it that is like looking into the Grand Canyon.
I was doing just fine until uncle asshat started his usual bullshit.
can't you just ban him? has he ever contributed anything worthwhile? or done anthing other than troll? honestly?
has he ever contributed anything worthwhile?
Well, he turns you into a raving fool. But even that's getting a little old.
Man up, wayne, and let it pass...
and lunch, yeah. basically when one model doesn't really work (because of the reasons I stated above), they just keep adding layers and corrections on it. like somehow if you make your model as complex as the behaviour it's trying to explain it will magically work.
but human behaviour (and the inherent unpredictability thereof) has a lot more to do with economic behaviour than I think models take into account.
Well, I guess I should have pulled my head out of my ass when I was 2 years old and purchashed in 1980 too. What a stupid baby I was.
You were probably a very mean baby too!
ok fine, but the dennis tester school of real-world-omg-I-haz-a-job economics does absolutely nothing to improve your understanding of macroeconomics, which is an entirely seperate system that you either have to study a lot or work in a financial field to really understand (neither of which he does)
microeconomics is an entirely different beast, and I think dennis is all-too-comfortable applying his lessons from that to the macroeconomic world where they're not appropriate.
and I'm sure I do have plenty of both macro and mico-economic lessons to learn, but I've also done a lot of reading and thinking about macroeconomics and understand the math behind it a lot better
@Bixby - mean and messy. Hence the nickname Messy Missy.
@Messy Missy
That's a better nickname than I got. I was Murky Dismal or Bees Knees.
My fiance I ate at craftsman last night. The food was delicious, but they were very understaffed. We waited for 45 minutes for a drink, and were just about ready to leave when she brought it out. We ended up not paying for any of our drinks--2 Oberons for me, and 2 mixers for my fiance. She was very aplogetic about it all.
The wallye was fantastic!
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