dining etiquette + children part 1: crying babies

Back in the good old days when children were 'seen but not heard' dining out had one less distraction. With the exception of Chuck-E-Cheese's (and some other family friendly restaurants) there is no place in an adult oriented restaurant for a crying baby/child.  Somewhere along the line parents forgot how to deal with the situation when it arises, allow me to refresh your memories:

The solution here is easy, when a small child starts to fuss, count to ten in your head, if the child continues to makes unpleasant noises beyond these first ten seconds, stand up, pick the child up and REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE DINING ROOM!  The allowable time frame does stretch a little when you are in a noisy diner or a family restaurant, but in casual fine dining establishments or above, allowing your child to cry in the dining room is unacceptable.  You may be used to the sound, but that couple having a romantic dinner at the table next to you are not.

This goes for a child of 3-4yrs as well.  Sitting in a pleasant coffee shop with a child who is acting up and trying to discipline your child while remaining there is unfair to the other patrons.  The key is to remove yourself and your child from the area where other people are paying for things (I can't stress this enough!).

You may not realize, but you could even cause a fine dining restaurant to lose money.  Due to your screaming child some people may choose to leave before dessert that they otherwise would have had, or even worse, the server may have to comp part of the meal (or all of it depending on the severity of unpleasantness).

Personally, I understand that part of the cost of dining out is paying a babysitter, I encourage other parents to adopt this same philosophy.

it's simple.

There are any number of reasons to dine at Simple Fish & Chips.  For take away or eating in, it keeps me coming back again and again, and I feel good about it!

Let's talk sustainability, because if we intend to continue to eat good quality seafood (or seafood at all) we have to pay attention to the over-fishing and habitat destruction that happens with most commercial fishing.  Simple does this!  They have begun hosting 'sustainable seafood dinners' on Monday nights, if you haven't made your reservation yet, I recommend you call soon as spaces are limited.

With a wide variety of fish on the menu, haddock, halibut, perch, pickerel as well as a brand new all lobster menu among other tasty dishes, available even with gluten-free batter (or tofu 'fish and chips' for the veggie), it's nigh impossible to leave unsatified.  The batter is crispy, golden perfection - almost potato chip crispness without being over-done or over-thick.  Fries are thick cut with just the right amount of seasoning or for those of you watching your waistline go for a simple salad with balsamic vinaigrette.  Coleslaw is delightfully creamy and you can't find better tartar sauce anywhere!

For years Madelyn's Diner has been touted as the best fish and chips in town - but look-out, Simple is surely going to claim that title.

corporate whores!

Why would anyone in Stratford eat at a corporate restaurant?

Not meaning to trash talk specifically, but in a city so blessed with independent operators in just about every category of dining, WHY?

Corporations like Kelsey's & Boston Pizza offer little more than mediocrity, they are the BIG BOX stores of restaurants. Yet, despite our aversion to Walmart, the dining rooms of the corporate places are sometimes bustling while the independent restaurants such as The Annex, Foster's, Bentley's, Pazzo, Simple Fish & Chips etc. have quiet nights through the winter.  Where is our support for community on a larger scale?  There is a nice tidy little group of people who support the independent operators but what about the 34,847 other people in this town!?

Your average corporation employs cooks who don't care so much about quality food as they do about food cost bonuses, and the servers are usually just passing through - not truly in tune with the needs of a guest.  Why waste your money on a frozen pizza, or vegetables microwaved from frozen in a bag and dumped onto your plate beside your over salted (hence the intense savoury flavour) sauce (also from a bag) slathered on your chicken breast (raised ethically? I think not).  That cheap T-bone advertised on the Crabby Joe's sign - where do you think they get that meat from? Perhaps the steak at Foster's is a little more expensive but at least they know the supplier!

The average person tends to default to the corporations, grandma prefers the festive special at Swiss Chalet because she has been conditioned to feel this way.  Birthday parties are booked at Boston Pizza because there's a free dessert and they sing and clap and there's a great deal of hooplah.  These are not valid reasons!

Some people cite "price point" as their reason for choosing corporate, let's do a comparison shall we?

Boston Pizza dinner for 2 sharing a pizza, water to drink:
- Caesar salad $5.49 (starter size) be careful though, the bacon costs extra
- Rustic Italian Pizza $16.49 (10" serves 1-2)
TOTAL = $21.98

Pazzo Pizzeria dinner for 2 sharing a pizza, water to drink:
- Caesar salad with Italian bacon $9
- Za Za Gabor $15.00 (approx. 12" serves 1-2)
TOTAL = $24.00

The bacon alone is worth the extra $2.02, not to mention the atmosphere, service, quality & the fact that you are supporting a local independent restauranteur.


My dear Local-Come-Lately, where's Chew?  I can tell you where I'm not!

me love sushi longtime ~pearl vs. mr. kim~

Pearl Sushi was recently taken over by new management, and they do serve some fine sushi. But, we are lucky in this town to have options when it comes to all things food so it is necessary to compare the sushi from both Pearl and Mr. Kim (the General Store).  In reality it's more a comparison of the Maki rolls served at both places, and I am comparing take-out.  I'm pretty sure for ambience that Pearl would win quite handily, so we will try to remain objective.

Comparison of Dynamite Roll, Unagi Roll, Spicy Tuna Roll and Edamame:

MK = Mr. Kim
PS = Pearl Sushi

Price/Wait time:
MK - $28.75 total / 20 minutes
PS - $32.65 total / 20 minutes

Dynamite Roll:
MK (Deep fried shrimp, avocado, cucumber, crab) - roll is a good size, texture of rice is just right, flavour is good
PS (Deep fried shrimp, avocado, cucumber, caviar and sauce) - colours are vibrant, roll is drizzled with a sweet white sauce (coconut), taste is fresher and fuller

Unagi Roll:
MK (BBQ eel, avocado and cucumber)- toasted notes from the BBQ eel are extremely pleasant, slightly sweet as well and a generous size
PS (Eel, fish, egg and cucumber) - roll was poorly made, sloppy and small, slight fishiness to the eel, not their best effort

Spicy Tuna Roll:
MK - focus on the spice, roll is well formed with a top of crunchy tempura bits mixed with spicy sauce, great texture but the tuna is somewhat lost
PS - focus on the tuna, nori is wrapped on the outside of the rice, tuna and spicy sauce in the centre, spice doesn't come through strongly enough

Edamame:
MK - look and texture of the pods are overdone (microwave?), baby beans inside are quite delicious and firm
PS - pods looks great, bright green and firm (steamed), beans are a quite fresh and al dente, perhaps too much so?

Accoutrements:
MK - ginger is natural in colour, tastes less commercially made, wasabi is good and hot and is nicely piped with a swirl pattern, soy sauce is slightly sweet
PS - regular pinkish ginger, wasabi is hot (though less so than MK) and is plonked down without much presentation, soy sauce is saltier

Conclusion:
Somewhat a split decision: for the simple fun enjoyment of some filling Maki Rolls it's gotta be Mr. Kim's.  At a slightly better price and significantly larger portions he's the better choice.  But for more 'serious' sushi with a focus on the fish instead of the extras Pearl has some winning notes as well.

allow me to introduce your kitchen staff...

If anyone has read Kitchen Confidential you will know that Anthony Bourdain paints a very frightening picture of most of the kitchens he has worked in.  Descriptions of cooks passing out on the line and having to be dragged to safety until they recuperate, plenty of drugs - from marijuana to heroin - and far more sex on the flour bags in dry storage than one would like to consider!  Can this really be true? Surely not!

Now, to be fair, I haven't worked in every kitchen in this town but the ones I have been in certainly are not this extreme.  Stratford has a reputation for being serious about food, and it really does extend into most of the kitchens around the city.  Though to a degree Mr. Bourdain is not that far off, the difference being that the drugs don't extend so far into the hard stuff, most kitchen staff stick to weed/alcohol and the sex happens after work, though often with the co-workers who would otherwise be taking it on the flour sacks.

In the midst of battle, on a hot day in August, a kitchen can reach temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius.  And its not just about the heat, there is the humidity to deal with - sometimes the ceilings drip, mingling with the sweat on the brows of those hardworking men and women who slave away to provide delicious meals for hasty demanding guests.

The relationship between the front and back of house is an odd thing.  There is no shortage of physical contact between the two but somehow there is a huge gaping chasm that is nigh un-crossable at times.  Chefs, cooks and commis alike have a certain smugness about them when they are behind the line, they are king of their castle, captain of their ship and in the midst of service they really do control the flow of the restaurant.  For better or worse the front of house staff depend desperately on their kitchen and the kitchen staff know this.

Somehow, during the shift towards equality, and better workplace standards, the world of kitchens got left in the dark ages.  Breaks are few and far between and your boss is more likely to 'discipline' you through yelling and throwing things or calling you names and forcing you to endure hard manual labour than speak sensibly.  It's often a thankless job, where the servers take all the glory for great food and rake in all the money that comes from a job well done.  But hey, minimum wage makes it all worth while!

tipping out

You're a good tipper right?  You're a generous individual who appreciates good food, service, atmosphere, etc.  You may have just experienced life changing service, your day was brightened, there was playful banter and yet somehow every single possible need was deftly handled by your server, you almost didn't notice him/her except when you needed something, there it was.  So, you leave a large tip.  Where does it go?

Every restaurant is different but the theory is that the more 'support staff' a server has at their disposal (bus people, host/hostess, floor manager, bar back, food runner, etc.) the more they will tip out.  The range is anywhere from 1.5% to 5% in fact there is tell that a restaurant in town, that will remain nameless for now, takes the tip completely.

Most places base the tip out on server sales, which means that the size of your tip doesn't affect the amount tipped out.  The more you give, the more the server directly taking care of you gets, but if you give nothing, the tip out still remains (read: your server pays to serve you).  Now this is no fault of the guest, sometimes the service sucks, and ultimately your money belongs to you.  The servers understand this fate before signing up.  This is merely meant to be informative.

The only time this becomes very important is with very large bills.  You may be a large party that has racked up a $500 bill, or perhaps you're like me and you're just a little gluttonous and your table for two can reach into the hundreds of dollars as well.  Now is when you should consider the tip-out.  Let's say the average is 3.5%.  Of that $500 bill your server will pay $17.50 whether you leave a dime or not.  So when you think a $20 is enough be aware that the person who just took care of your unruly large group (a topic for a later post) is getting $2.50.

~ chocolate barr's vs. rheo thompson's ~ (the minty debate)

Disclaimer: neither of the two candy makers in this blog have given me any kind of information regarding this topic, it is merely hearsay and speculation - but interesting none the less!

The story goes something like this...

Once upon a time a local candy maker, famous for his smooth mint chocolates, began to age.  Shall we call him Mr. T? As age wore on, Mr. T began to consider selling his candy empire to an interested party.  This interested party, though keen on the purchase of the store and all its recipes was not so interested in the current chocolatier, or perhaps the chocolatier was not interested in the new ownership.  Through a series of events, the chocolatier packed his things, donned his chocolate maker's hat and stepped forth into the world, intent on finding a new outlet for his love affair with chocolate.  After a short amount of time, this young chocolatier began an empire of his own, which includes a smooth chocolate mint.  And they lived competitively ever after.

On an obviously unrelated note, I have conducted a blind tasting of both light and dark versions of the Rheo Thompson Mint Smoothie and the Chocolate Barr's Minties...the results are as follows...

RT = Rheo Thompson
CB = Chocolate Barr's

Price:
RT - 1 pound box of milk and dark "mint smoothies" retails for $16.95
CB - 450g mixed "minties" gift box retails for $16.75

Appearance:
RT - the chocolates have a uniform, moulded look with a glossy finish.
CB - chocolates appear individually hand-made (which shows a great deal of care and personal attention), and have a matte finish.


Milk Chocolate:
RT - the filling and outer shell are perfectly integrated, first bite offers a delicate minty-ness that is wonderfully creamy.
CB - outer coating is distinct from the creamy centre, flaking slightly with the first bite, overall meltability/mouthfeel is glorious when eaten all at once.

Dark Chocolate:
RT - slight brittleness from the dark chocolate coating, mint is pleasant but seems somewhat lost behind the chocolate.
CB - perfection! the front-runner of all four chocolates, texture is creamy and decadent, mint begins softly but sharpens for a refreshing finish, flawlessly balanced with the dark chocolate.

Conclusion:
A slight overturn for the 'newcomer' to the chocolate world - Mr. Barr wins the tasting via his dark chocolate minty.  Now for the true test, to see which my mother likes better.

Chocolate Barr's is located at 136 Ontario st. Stratford ON.  

Check out a great story on Derek Barr's chocolate making style written by the Local-Come-Lately:  From Cocoa Beans to Chocolate Barrs