tetedeveau's Profile
PIZZERIA BIANCO
I think one important factor is that once it is warm enough for the outdoor seating that virtually doubles their capacity (though I don't think they actually "seat" many more). I have had a 2.5 hour wait for a party of 2 on a weekday night in the colder season, that was enough for me. I have a brick oven nowadays so TETO. I think the wine bar is great but if I wanted to be at a wine bar I would go to kaz. Grazzi should also be mentioned for having some terrific brick oven pizza from some real italians though the wait staff is on and off.
Is it safe to eat really old preserves?
There are things besides botulism to worry about but I think that is besides the point. More importantly why would you want to? Vintage is not your friend when it comes to preserved fruit, they don't get better with time. If you are a big sherry fan then they may be pretty tasty but otherwise the fruit does oxidize (albeit slowly) over time.
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Best restaurants in SF
I think Danko is horribly overrated, it struggles in the shadow of the french laundry. COI is a win. I wanted to offer some bottom up suggestions as the best can mean a lot of things and doesn't always mean $$$ (or here are some lunch or "second dinner" places). Food I go out of my way for in SF is the zuni-cafe which can be inconsistent but when it scores it is excellent, slanted door which seems to always pull me back though I have mixed feelings and my personal italian fav which is figaro at villejo and columbus (eating on the sidewalk with handmade gnocci gorgonzola takes me right to italy). I think all of those are restaurants that have a distinctly SF vibe and you might not find in NYC.
I would also put Cafe Da La Presse as a top breakfast spot, not too fancy but an outstanding latte.
In-n-Out vs. Fat Burger
I agree that quality varies a lot from fatburger to fatburger but is usually very highly consistent at INO. Why not decide for yourself, double double animal style with well done frys and neopolitan shake at INO versus farburger with curly fries and chocolate shake. Mine as well visit pinks hot dogs for the tri-fecta.
Best $30 Wines Napa/Sonoma
Second the wine garage. I have often seen some very good below wholesale deals actually at ravenswood which I think has a couple of respectable zin options in that price range and in my experience has a terrificly entertaining staff. I might suggest the afternoon when most of the staff is completely sauced, that may also explain the deals.
PIZZERIA BIANCO
Fair enough, I will revise authentic (I meant in the italian/neopolitan context) to mean extremely delicious from a wood fired brick oven in the italian tradition with a thin crust often no "sauce" and fresh cheese/meat/veg. Chicago has great authentic pizza of the deep dish variety I don't think they are too fond of the wood fired brick oven there. Also if I was unclear I meant that Bianco IS delivering an authentic extremely delicious wood fired brick oven pizza I just wouldn't raise it much above some other less flashy local alternatives with zero wait. Like I said before I think Bianco is one of only a very short list of local spots with real "ambiance" and class but its insane waits both reflect and takes away from that.
Generally, which night is busier for Manhattan restaurants? Friday or Saturday?
I think hands down the best night to eat for what you are talking about is thursday night. You almost always have the A-team in the kitchen, purveyors start bringing their best, so things are stocked for the weekend but restaurants are much more relaxed because the volume is lower. When I test a new place I always make sure to include a thursday night because weekends can sometimes be off for unexpected reasons like a last minute 16-top or some other ridiculousness.
PIZZERIA BIANCO
I think that if you have never had terrific authentic brick oven pizza then Bianco can be a mind altering experience. Having said that it really isn't worth the wait if you've been to italy and any authentic pizza. A good alternative which also has an exceptional pie is "Classic Italian Pizza" at NE corner of baseline and rural. Strip mall local and hard to find, so so decor, but terrific pizza. Also Pizza A Metro dangerously close to the west valley is a very solid experience too, very under-rated pastas (read: they are terrific).
They thing Bianco has is ambiance which is just about impossible to find in phoenix. If bianco burned down Cibo not that far away could just about serve the patrons with very good pizza and a pretty nice scene without anyone noticing the difference though I am sure some die-hards will disagree with me.
If you are willing to drive to phoenix from LA you are much better off making your way up to north beach in SF, you can pick from about 20 places serving very good if not oustanding northern italian made by actual northern italians typically not more than a few weeks or months "off the boat". Try figaro for pastas or "pizza roma" (I think) owned by the same people for pizza, everything is on columbus near vallejo.
Digestif, Scottsdale
I have been numerous times and I would generally rate the place highly for phoenix but from visit to visit I have also experience what I would call QA consistency issues, ordering something only to be notified they are out of it when the other entrees arrive, mixups with incorrect dishes. I think they really need some better floor management in there and possibly to require more notice for large seatings, I have seen several times on weeknights a group of 12 or 16 show up with little notice and then all hell breaks loose. They need to know when to say no but maybe in this economy that isn't an option. My take is that a lack of clear direction from the foth management and a lot of foth/both communication issues sometimes make for some real mix-ups. What I might suggest is to raise the issue with the restaurant of peter kasperski's office directly, my experience in the past has been very positive responses to serious and respectful feedback that produced noticeable change at the restaurants. I think that is why he has done well for so long.
PastaBar PHX
I certainly respect the your point and encourage people to reach their own conclusions. I think I summed up the food with "there are 10 places like this on columbus in North Beach". The only thing special about pasta bar in terms of food is that it is in phoenix. I also don't think it would be a fair for me to critique the food more specifically given the perspective I was coming from at the time, given the atrocious service, I can't enjoy food in that state of mind let along critique it.
PastaBar PHX
I don't want to turn this into a TFL thread but they are extremely accommodating there. They will make the veg tasting menu vegan if you ask beforehand (I would suspect they could make it fruitarian if you asked nicely) , they will include or exclude pretty much anything they can. If you want independent confirmation I suggest you read "Service Included" by Phoebe Damrosch about Per Se and the sometimes bizarre requests they made way for there. Note that it isn't really an a la carte menu so if you have something you really need to let them know when you make your reservation or asap possible upon arrival as the prep specific for your table may already be complete and problematic to change or remake. They obviously can't honor every request but I have never had one that is reasonable and feasible refused. I will say that I have eaten there enough times that perhaps they have a slightly different relationship with the staff than someone "off the street" but in my experience those coming for the first time receive the same outstanding level of service I have, I have never seen or experienced any condescension or pretension there except from other guests (or maybe you consider single cow butter pretentious but TETO) . Perhaps the most famous example of off-menu at TFL was the special tobacco leaf course made for Anthony Bourdain so he wouldn't need a smoke break, that is service.
Generally, which night is busier for Manhattan restaurants? Friday or Saturday?
I think you need to qualify that a little more. Busier like more revenue, meaning reservations are harder to get or just in terms of covers? Fridays nights generally lean towards boozier places, saturdays toward more formal dining. Also "for Manhattan" using a term like "restaurants" is a little like saying the galaxy, the end of bayard street is a light year way from what is going on uptown at restaurant row.
As a rule of thumb, saturday nights are generally considered busiest but I know a lot of popular NYC restaurants that make more money and do more covers on fridays. Best bet is to ask a waiter at a specific place what their best tip night is.
PastaBar PHX
Attitude Problem/Disrespectful Service and Adequate Food
I am a longtime lurker on CH and haven't really felt the need to comment/reply before but I had an experience at pasta bar so aggravating that I felt it necessary. I was a chef for a long time and trained at the CIA and nowadays I eat our virtually every night. For my italian needs in PHX I cover the spectrum from "Classic Italian Pizza", Pizza A Metro (excellent pastas), Digestif, etc. I have a standing reservation at the french laundry. Those are my credentials if you think I am some kind of typical phoenix diner expecting 5 pounds of pasta with Ragu for $4.99 .
I was really excited about the idea of a place serving fresh pastas with local ingredients in a city where most people think italian is the Olive Garden or Macaroni Grill. After reading the discussion about charging for bread I took note but wasn't particularly put off, I can understand the food cost issues potentially involved and combined with the insane portion expectations here in PHX it added up.
Menu, wine, etc seemed decent but nothing you wouldn't find at 10 or 15 places along columbus in North Beach, definitely a little above bar for phoenix. I went to order an entree which was a fettuccine with fennel, hot peppers and anchovy. I had had an anchovy pizza for lunch and I just wasn't in the mood for more but I really wanted some fennel. When I asked the waitress for the dish without the anchovies she refused. Not because it was already part of the sauce or something like that but because "it is a vital ingredient that would change the profile of the dish". It is their policy never to change menu.
When I said that means we wouldn't be coming back to the restaurant she shrugged and so "OK" with a face daring me to leave right then, we would have if we all weren't so hungry. I also wanted to see if somehow this was going to be corrected. I am a calm guy, there were no voices raised or anything but I have to say I don't think I have every felt so disrespected at a restaurant, not even as an american in france, or and american during bush in italy.
I think this puts the whole charging for bread thing in context, if there had been a modicum of contrition about their "policies" I might not been so aggravated but I think PastaBar is a place with a hipster feel and attitude gone horribly wrong. Based on the number of diners at 8:30 on a saturday I think their service issues are taking a toll, I think there were 6 other covers who looked like they had been their a while. I really did not get the sense whatsoever that this was an exception like someone having a bad day or just a problem staff member, they were so casual about how much they didn't care for my business that it has got to be a systemic attitude probably coming right down from the chef.
For example at Babbo and other Bastianich places I wouldn't say they are very friendly to menu changes but I have never been treated like this and if I haved asked nicely as I did here they have always honored my requests.
Take your money to Digestif or any of the other fine psuedo-italian kaspersky establishments and we will all be better off when this gets replaced with something more interesting. I don't think it will be a long wait.
