All stories about "Ask Eater"
Ask Eater: What Kind of Clubs Allow Smoking and Membership Fees, Nude Table Service?
Have a restaurant or nightlife question that you'd like the Eater readership to tackle? Send it in to tips@eater.com and it may just get the "Ask Eater" treatment.
The following email is way too technical for us to comment upon, so we're throwing it out to you restaurant owners, real estate experts, and interns at the DOB. Maybe someone will even make a deal out of it (here if you're interested):
"I just landed the exclusive rights to market 321 W 51st Street, the old Rene Pujol space, and I have question for you: the 5000 square foot restaurant has a certificate of occupancy on the second floor for a 'non-commercial club'. I have heard from different people that it means you have to charge a membership fee to get into the second floor, you can smoke inside, and that if there is a 'PRIVATE' sign on the door, there are certain authorities who can not enter.What about nude table service?.>>
Ask Eater: Is a Resy Contract Really Necessary
We received an email yesterday from a reader who was a tad perplexed by Parlor Steakhouse's resy policy:
"I called three weeks in advance to reserve a table for 6 on a Saturday @ 8:00 PM. I was called every three days to confirm, then I was sent a contract on the Thursday before. Here is the Kicker. THEY WERE HALF FULL."Is this totally necessary?
Top Chef Questions: Can Judging Be Fair in NYC?
A reader and friend of a cheftestant sends the following blind item/question to the Top Chef tip line:
"Say a certain contestant had had a little tryst with a rakish new york rock star chef who is known to be a guest judge on the show. How does this affect his/her decision making ability when the celeb chef has to judged the contestant's food?For the record, we don't even want to know about the "tryst." (Is it you Talbot, Iuzzini?) But he does have a point. As the caliber of contestant rises, will guest judges like Boulud, Dufresne, and Portale eventually be scoring their former sous chefs and line cooks? And would it affect the supposed "fairness" of the show?
The larger issue...is the fact that a lot of the contestants will have worked in the New York restaurant world, and a lot of the guest judges will be from the New York restaurant world, and there are bound to be some pre existing relationships between contestants and judges. How will the producers make sure that the judging is fair?"
· Eater Call to Action: Recruiting Top Chef Season 5 Spies [~E~]
Reminders: Tipping is Customary
We here at Eater just wanted to stop for a second to express our gratitude to you tipsters and contributors out there who keep the site afloat with all your plywood shots, rumormongering, and gossip spilling. We really couldn't do it without you. To the rest of you who are unfamiliar with tipping, here's a quick primer on how to get involved in the obsessive coverage of the restaurant world we all love so much:
The Eater Tipline: Have a shot of a new restaurant going in near your office? What about a teary shutter sign? Did you overhear of a new Zak Pelaccio project and want to share? Or maybe you experienced a restaurant shitshow worthy of the complaints dept. Your tips are our lifeblood, and you can send them all to tips@eater.com. For all you paranoid industry workers, please remember that all tips are completely anonymous.
And For you food porn nuts.>>Ask Eater: What's Up With the Frying Pan?
Have a restaurant or nightlife question that you'd like the Eater readership to tackle? Send it in to tips@eater.com and it may just get the "Ask Eater" treatment.
We received the following email, and since we don't begin to know the answer, we're throwing it over to you fine people:
"Do you folks at Eater know what the deal is with the Frying Pan? Is it going to reopen at its new location this summer? I've walked by it and the sign still says they are waiting for approval. What's taking so long?"It is curious. Last we heard the boat was scheduled to open as early as May and at the very least by the Summer '08 party season. So, do we have any moles at the DOB or anyone in owner John Krevey inner circle willing to share the scoop?
· The Return of the Frying Pan [~E~]
· Ask Eater: Why Do They Need My Phone Number to Check Availability? [~E~]
Ask Eater: Why Do They Need My Phone Number to Check Availability?
Have a restaurant or nightlife question that you'd like the Eater readership to tackle? Send it in to tips@eater.com and it may just get the "Ask Eater" treatment.
We received an email that we think was meant to the Complaints Dept., but we're going to throw it over to Ask Eater. The reader in question calls up Wildwood to inquire about availabilities tomorrow and the reservationist asks for her phone number:
"Why does he need my telephone number? Does he want to see if I’m a return customer or a VIP? I should be treated like any other customer in terms of checking availability, no? I understand that once I decide I want to make the reservation that personal details will be asked of me. Upon which, he could certainly recognize my status as a return customer or friend of the owner, etc and treat me accordingly. Maybe there’s some secret database of phone numbers which leads to a blacklist of people who are chronic no-shows. This may exist in the elite tiers of opentable; I don’t know."This policy is not unique to Wildwood. It's found throughout the BR Guest empire and we're pretty sure a number of places outside of their web. So, hosts, hostesses, reservationists, restaurant owners—what's the story?
Ask Eater: Tipping at Momofuku Ko
Have a restaurant or nightlife question that you'd like the Eater readership to tackle? Send it in to tips@eater.com and it may just get the "Ask Eater" treatment.
The latest Ask Eater question is in regards to, what else, Momo' Ko: "Has anyone written about tipping at ko? How does one tip when there are no servers?" Good question. When you add your tip at the end of your meal, does all of it go to the waitresses who pour your wine and clear your plates, does part of it go to the restaurant, or does the staff divvy it up? Furthermore should you tip as much as you normally would given the circumstances? We put it to you. How would you tip at Momo' Ko? Put your answers in the comments or email the tipline.
· Ask Eater: 787 Seventh Ave. [~E~]
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