Restaurant Widow

So, You Want to be a [Food] Blogger, eh?

I suppose, as Restaurant Widow nears its second birthday, it's time to provide a tutorial on food blogging.  I've received numerous emails asking for blogging advice, so I thought I would put some suggestions out there, which you can take or leave as you see fit; I've been working on this for a week or so, but I am sure as soon as I publish it I will remember tons of things I should have said.  So it goes. These are, of course, my own personal opinions, based upon my own personal taste.  Here and here are a few other opinions to peruse, in case you don't agree with me.

1. First and foremost, think: do I have enough ideas to sustain this endeavor?  You must think constantly about food.  I constantly think about food, have dreams in which solutions to cooking problems and recipes and ideas reveal themselves to me, I think about shopping for food, sourcing out new ingredients, eating new things and in new places, strolling the farmer's markets, and even I am sometimes challenged to come up with content.  And sometimes what I do come up with seems uninspired.
2. Who is your audience?  The real world, or the on line world?  This is where my opinion differs from many other people who have offered food blogging advice.  I write primarily for people who live in or are traveling or moving to Columbus and Central Ohio, who aren't writing food blogs.  For this reason, I don't really participate in online foodblogging events - I did when I first started, but my average reader has no idea what "Is My Blog Burning" means.  When I first began reading food blogs, I found online events rather confusing.  Because most of my readers are probably not avid food blog readers, I have made the decision to focus on my own content and things happening in and around Columbus, and less on the online foodblogging community. 
3. Do you have the commitment to write on a regular basis?  Set a goal for how many posts you would like to write in a week, and then stick with it.  Pretend it's a "real" job; show up every day.  Most people will stop writing altogether after a few months, or even sooner.  If you are going to be gone for a length of time, your top post should tell people how long you are going to absent, and maybe why: "Dear faithful readers, I am taking a sojourn to study ice temperatures in Antarctica, and wireless access can be spotty at best, and until Typepad introduces moblogging via Morse Code, I will not be able to update.  Furthermore, I don't think you want to hear about how many times I have eaten seal.  I plan to be back in May, when I will resume blogging.  In the meantime, here are a few of my favorite posts from the past."  Now the reader won't have to keep checking in, getting depressed there's no new content on their favorite site.
4. Do you have a shtick?  Do you have to?  Some people cook through cookbooks, for example.  I hardly ever cook with a cookbook, so that wouldn't really be my thing.  A few people have e-mailed to suggest I get a shtick, but I like to be diverse.  And I like to think my thing is focusing on Columbus food, restaurants, and agriculture.  It can be hard to do some of that in the wintertime, but I like to focus on produce, especially in the summertime.  You might want to think of some sort of platform to jump from, just so you can maintain focus. 
5. Beware of free software.  I know a lot of people disagree with me, but I really think it's worth the cost - sometimes very low - to pay for your blogging platform.  I am especially fond of my service, Typepad, which has rarely been down, has never minded when I have (vastly) exceed my bandwidth, and is very quick-loading.  I will not knock other specific services, but I find many of the free services are incredibly slow-loading.  There are some websites I have just resigned to quit reading, because they loaded so slowly and would sometimes not load at all.  Others seem to always have broken feeds, bizarre looking layouts, etc.  I just tend to believe people who are charging you something have more motivation to provide a good and consistent product. 
6. Buy a domain name.  This not only eliminates confusion, but it allows you to tell people about yourself if you so choose.  It's so much easier to say "oh, I have a site where I write about food.  It's Restaurant Widow dot com," then saying, well, if you Google me, you can find it, or do you have a pen?  It's ht tp//lisacooksthingsallday.freeblogsoftware-lisacooks.us.com.  Besides which, you can then get cool business cards or Moo cards with your website address.  I have no idea how a domain name affects traffic, because I bought my domain name months before I published my website, but it seems so much easier, and it shows you are serious.  It also helps to establish your identity.
7. To picture or not to picture?  I have been known to have the attention span of a butterfly.  I also like pretty things.  For this reason, I would recommend putting some (decent) pictures on your site.  When I look back on my first year and a half of pictures, I could roll around laughing at myself, but we all learn and grow and find we can do things we never thought we could.  These days, you can buy a perfectly decent camera for under $200, and with the right lighting, produce a decent picture.  I don't think it's always necessary to have pictures in your post, but a few never hurt.  I always skim through the pictures first and if something looks good I'll read the article. 
8. What about a picture of yourself?  The Amateur Gourmet (whose duck and bagel-stabbing self portrait banner is quite funny) insisted this was necessary, but I think one of the best (and worst) things about the internet can be the sense of anonymity.  I don't really want people to know what I look like.  Of course, there are restaurants where I know everyone, but I wouldn't consider criticizing them, for the most part.  I like to think I present a good impression of myself through words, and friends tell me reading my website is just like talking to me, so I hope I do a pretty good job of it.  I ran into a friend and former Giant Clothing Retailer co-worker the other day, who I haven't seen for quite some time, and he said "do you have a food blog?  With pictures and the writing sounds just like you?"  Yes, I suppose I do.  I've created myself with words - who needs pictures?  Some people, who shall remain nameless, have head shots - literally, like Glamour Shots - on their website.  That kind of stuff cracks me up.  It seems there's just no way to make it seem natural.  If I can ever convince Natalie Dee to put glasses on one of her girl cartoons and let me use it, I might put that up as my picture.  Until then, you'll just have to use your imagination. 
9. Put up a bio!  Tell a little about yourself, your gender, where you live, what you do, etc.  And your name.  It's rare that I enjoy reading things where I can't figure out anything about the person.  They call themselves Banana, and don't say where they live, what they do, or why they are writing about food.  It's weird (I'm sorry if there are really any people out there using the handle "Banana," I didn't mean to target you, it's just the first word I thought of.  Because I am currently eating a banana.)
10. Do you have enough time? Of course, if you have decided to only post once a week, or once a month, this won't really be an issue for you, but the truth is, writing takes time.  Shopping, cooking and eating take time.  I am fortunate enough to have a job which affords me lots of free time to devote to my writing, without interfering with work.  I probably wouldn't have been able to do this if were still chained to a desk, Big Brother monitoring my every keystroke.
11. Make your site look interesting.  You don't need to know a lot of code to do this; you can pick out a good template from your hosting service, design your own, or get someone to do it for you.     
12. Don't be discouraged if you don't get a ton of comments.  I think people would be surprised by my readership based solely on the number of comments I receive, which is pretty low, but I've learned to accept that. 
13. Get a good stat counter.  This can clue you in to the people who read your website.  For example, I know most of my readers view my site with Windows XP on high resolution screens, with IE 6 or 7.  That tells me what systems I should use to test how my website looks.  You should always try to test your website on a Mac and  PC, on different resolutions, just to see how different operating systems affect your design.  I personally use StatCounter.com, which is pretty reliable, although I've noticed it can sometimes leave out people using free wireless connections; it doesn't count all of my page hits, for example, when I am sitting in a coffee shop.
14. To advertise or not to advertise.  This can be a slippery slope.  You will probably not make a  ton of money, ever, from your website.  Personally, I don't mind some tasteful advertisements; I'm not really happy with my Google adsense, but they only pay you once you receive $100 in revenue, and right now I have about $90, so I'm going to keep it until I have reached $100.  One thing I personally can't stand is a Google ad pasted into every post.  I would like to see more people purchasing through Amazon and other affiliates, because then I wouldn't feel like my readers were being subjected to things they didn't want to see, but to things which were more relevant, such as my favorite cookbooks from Amazon.  Since I pay for all of my meals and gadgets out of my own pocket, I am in favor of trying to generate some money, which I always put back into the website in some way. 
15. Get a gym membership.  Since you will consider it your duty to consume everything that comes your way, you might pack on a few pounds.  Be prepared.

Well, I hope I've given you some practical advice for becoming a food blogger.  Now get out there and start eating!

Some Things About Restaurant Widow

I've always had a brief "about" page, and I thought I might expand on that.  Recently I read some rather harsh criticism about my site and my writing, which got me thinking.  This was my first negative "review," and at first I took it pretty hard, but I suppose everybody is entitled to their own opinion.  My visitorship grows exponentially, so you can't all hate me! You can read the critique here, if you choose.  So here's a little Q&A with self. In my characteristically stilted writing style.

• Why did you start Restaurant Widow? I have always been interested in food; a few years ago I became very interested in the idea of sustainable agriculture and began to seriously investigate it and learn to support local products.  I knew I wanted to write about food, especially local food, but I didn't really have an outlet for it at that time.  I have always wanted to be a restaurant critic, as I think everyone does at some point.  One day, in the middle of the long, malaise-filled late winter of 2005, it suddenly occurred to me to Google "food blog," thinking such a thing might exist.  I knew I had found my medium, and Restaurant Widow was born.  Actually, it was Frumpy Foodie then, but it was a work in progress for a few months.
• Why did you call your site Restaurant Widow?  It was actually Husband's idea.  During that time, I spent a lot of time waiting for him to get off work and going out to dinner by myself.  I used to call myself a Restaurant Widow, and he suggested I call the website that.  Since my Frumpy Foodie logo was going to be a girl in a cardigan with tomato sauce on it, this seemed like a good alternative.
• Why do you call Husband Husband?  This was a criticism of my hater on StumbleUpon.com - is Husband an automaton?  Of course not.  He has as much personality as I do.  If you are tired of reading "Husband," I can't apologize.  But here's why I call him Husband and also a few things about him, so you can put a personality to the title: When Husband was a bar manager and I would go to his bar, my tab was always under the name "Wife," or even worse, "Wifey."  "Don't your employees know my name?!" I would say.  It bothered me at first, but I began to refer to him as Husband.  I still do.  When I can't reach something, I say "Tall Husband, can you come here and fetch me the le Creuset tomato pot on top of the cupboard?"  Also, because we lived in the neighborhood where he worked, everywhere we went, we met people who wanted to talk to Husband about his job.  Sometimes we would be on a date or out to dinner (at that point, we only had a day off together every 2 weeks or so), and people would try to sell him things, or even put themselves physically between us, back to me, to discuss industry-related nonsense.  You can imagine how irritating this might be.  When I began this blog, I wanted to have a separate identity.  It seemed like a good time for turnabout.  Many writers choose to keep their and their significant other's identities private; a lot of them refer to them significant others by their initials, but I like to have a name attached.  I have always had a habit of referring to people by their title - when I refer to Chef, for example, that's what I call Chef to his face. It's natural in the restaurant business.  Of course Husband has a personality, and he is not an automaton.  He's very smart and good at what he does and has all sorts of wonderful qualities.  He is tall and has a full head of hair, which he flaunts in the face of balding friends by shaving his entire head on a regular basis.  He studied bugs in college and remembers everything he reads unless I wrote it (as in "Babe - take the trash out please").  He can list the qualities of almost any wine you would throw in his face and can probably pair it with anything you can think of.  He is a more adventurous eater than even I am, and loves all sorts of offal.  Husband looks especially good in blue, and is the funniest person I have ever known.  He loves to throw in bizarre references that 1 in 50 people understand and thinks it's funny when he has to explain himself.  He makes very tasty limoncello and is a champion litter-box cleaner.  He even laughs at the songs I make up for the kitties.  Or maybe he's laughing at me.  Husband thinks I am a hypochondriac and loves to roll his eyes at me when I suggest I might have bone cancer.  There, happy now?
• Why do you put up pictures of your cats when you have a food site?  I think I have admitted openly that I will one day be the old lady who dies alone and is half eaten by her cats.  It's not a depressing thing, I like to think of it as giving back, a fulfillment of the circle of life.  I eat animals, and one day, they will eat me.  Also, most people like the cat pictures.  No one has ever complained about the cat pictures, but they have written to complain when there are no cat pictures, so I've decided to keep the cat pictures.  Besides, it's fun to go back and see how the Tinies progressed, and now that we have Tinies 2.0 (our last batch unless we foster, I promise), it will be fun to compare and contrast.
• Do you have any actual authority to be writing about food and restaurants?  Years in the food industry and constant study.  I constantly read about food.  On Food & Cooking is never far from reach.  It's completely fascinating.  Also, I like to eat.  I don't really think this is a good qualification of a critic, but I know enough about food and the running of a restaurant to know when things are going well.
• Who is your favorite chef?  I have lots.  If I were to ever cook in a restaurant, I would probably most like to be like Judy Rogers (Zuni Cafe), whose food I have eaten, or Patrick O'Connell (The Inn at Little Washington), whose food I haven't eaten.  I like comforting, ingredient-focused food.  Of course, Thomas Keller is a demigod, but I don't foresee myself attaining anything like that.  Ever.  See?  Stilted.  My favorite local chef is probably Mike Kimura, from Kihachi.  I love the focus of Japanese cuisine.  Last time I went to Kihachi he presented me with roasted sea urchin wrapped in freshly toasted nori.  I didn't think I liked sea urchin until I tasted that morsel.
• Do you want to be a chef?  It's not that I'm lazy, but I don't like chef hours.  Chef works more hours in our restaurant than anyone else.  That being said, I do plan to own a restaurant some day and I would like to be in the kitchen in some capacity; probably as a baker or garde manger girl.
• Do you want to write a cookbook?  Some day.  A long way off.  I have little to offer at this point in my life, but one day.
• Why aren't you a vegetarian?  Something about me makes everyone assume I am a vegetarian when they meet me.  But I'm not.  I don't know how I can to be a meat-eater, as I have always been a bit of a natural bleeding-heart animal lover (see cat paragraph, above).  When I was young, I read a book called Mother Earth, Father Sky which gave me a unique perspective on eating meat, where the animal about to be eaten is thanked and revered for its sacrifice.  I try to eat meat which has been responsibly and kindly raised.  I think everyone should be aware of where their food comes from, and how it gets to the market.  I think everyone should watch an animal being slaughtered at least once in their life.  That being said, I'm glad I did so enough slaughtering in my childhood to vindicate my guilt.
• Why do you write about Central Ohio when it's so boring (in the opinion of the critic)?  This is where I have decided to live, for better or worse.  There are many great things about Columbus, and many things which can be improved.  I like to highlight the good things, in hopes of keeping them.  As for my critic saying I am a "unrefined native," well, I suppose that's a matter of opinion, but I will challenge her to a natto-covered sea cucumber eating contest any day of the week.

Northstar North

Northstar North has opened - a soft, unadvertised opening for lunch and dinner only; full service will begin sometime in April.  Because it's only recently opened, I will only highlight the positives.  Expect a full review sometime in May.

A few design kinks have been worked out from the original Northstar - the line area is more spacious, and there is more of a barrier between the door and the seats.  Anyone who has visited the Short North Northstar location on a Sunday morning knows how irritating it is to wait in line for 45 minutes, watching people walk around with their food looking for tables while some people sit, holding their tables.  Apparently, the sign asking guests to wait until they've ordered to find a table doesn't apply to everyone; just the masses. 

The kitchen of the new Northstar is huge.  Strangely huge, considering the size of the menu.  The first thing one notices about the kitchen is the large rotisserie full of golden chickens.  I immediately had two thoughts: why don't you chop up some of those chickens and put the pieces on a nice big salad, and two: what happens to all of those carcasses?  Note to the Northstar folks:  MAKE SOME SOUP!!!

I think it's a testament to the Northstar burger (a veggie burger) that I ordered it with bacon.  It's that good.  A mixture of beets and brown rice, with a little cheese thrown on, it's perfect with some of their great bacon, some house hot sauce, and a good smattering of salt.  New for the North location is the addition of a decent tomato (for March), some chopped sweet onions and a few really good pickle slices.  These standard burger accouterments really add a burgery flair.  Tasty.  The burger is served with a very decent and lightly-dressed side salad full of far-above-average-even-for-organic greens, including some chopped green cabbage, which I can appreciate as someone who finds the standard field green mix rather listless sometimes.  I like the added crunch from the cabbage.  The portions are too big for me; I could only eat half of the burger and half the salad.  Fortunately, to go boxes are cute brown boxes (you know I'm all about the packaging):

Husband ordered his usual Turkey sandwich with herb mayo and bacon on house made foccaccia.  I didn't manage a bite of his, but it was the same as the Short North location.  It seemed perhaps a touch bigger, and was served with the peanut slaw which has way too much cilantro in it for me, but that's personal.  There was no option for the fantastic brown rice pilaf served at Northstar number one, which made me a little sad.

I am a big fan of the chocolate truffle cookie from Northstar.  It's rich and full of really good-quality chocolate flavor, being a chocolate base with high percentage cocoa chips tossed in for good measure; rich and chocolatey without being overly sweet, it's about a four-person cookie, or a one-person cookie which can be purchased and nibbled upon for a day or two. I have taken a picture of the it in my greedy little mitt so that you might gaze upon the vastness of this cookie.  And, at $3 a cookie (okay, $2.81 with Northstar's bizarre pricing structure), it should be vast:

 
The restaurant is spacious and open; a skylight has been installed on the south side of the dining space, which is nice, as the long dining space (leading to the restrooms) in the old Northstar has always seemed a bit dark, so it was nice to see that problem solved.  The lighting in the new location - both natural, as the design made good use of available sunshine, and the artificial, was nice and bright.  There is a good deal of interesting woodwork, as illustrated by the picture below:

There are four giant booths - seating around 10-12 people, down the middle of the room; you can join perfect strangers or have a huge group.  It's an interesting idea, but the practical side of me couldn't help but wonder what would happen if you were in the middle and suddenly found yourself in need of a refill - ask the person on the end to get it for you?  Ask the 3 people next to you to slide out?

Here are a few facts, presented without comment:
There is no soda fountain in this location.  8 ounce glass bottles of Coke and Diet Coke are available, or house made ginger ale, as well as coffee, smoothies and tea.  Husband and I opted for water (he would usually have a soda).
Still no soup.
Availability of single pancake for breakfast remains to be seen when breakfast service begins.
The restaurant seats about 150 guests.  There is one stall in the men's room.  I don't know how many in the Ladies' because I didn't visit it.  It took Husband at least three tries to use the loo.
Lunch tab for 2 sandwiches and 1 cookie was $27.
Northstar still does not have an operational website. 

I'm looking forward to grand opening of this location, to see what - if any - additional menu items they will offer, and to have breakfast.  Strangely, although I only live a few hundred yards south of Clintonville proper, this location is further from my house than the Short North location.  I am guessing the clientele will vary slightly.

Info:  Northstar Cafe, Clintonville/Beechwold location 4241 N. High St - just as with the Short North location, there is no sign, so keep your eyes peeled.  This location is at the Northwest corner of Deland and High street.

Weekend Cat Blogging - Tinies 2.0, Week 2

Well, all of the Tinies 2.0 batch are growing like weeds and doing well.  Their eyes are just beginning to open - by Tuesday they should all be open.  They all have these funny little mohawk heads.  It's cute.  Mama Mimi is doing a great job; she is very protective of the Tinies and is eating nonstop!  Should you need a bigger Tiny fix, please check out the Tiny set on my Flickr page.

5 Reasons to Love Carfagna's

A pictorial tribute - and I didn't even visit the meat counter this time!:
1.  My favorite canned tuna:

With the tab opening on the bottom:

2.  This isn't the most expensive tin of tuna in the store.  By half at least.

3.  White anchovies.  If you've never had one, you don't know what you're missing.  You'll never look at anchovies the same way again.

4.  Real D.O.P. San Marzano tomatoes:

5.  Italian cookies "with fiber."  So-called cookie-hating Husband can eat these by the bowl full:

Info: Carfagna's Italian Market 1405 E. Dublin-Granville Road (NE side) 614.846.6340

Mini Kiwi

I was interviewing Stephen Beard from North Market Produce yesterday when one of his employees mentioned they had mini kiwi.  Well of course I had to try those.  These are real kiwis, just tiny, and hairless.  They taste like regular kiwi, with a musky sweet flavor reminiscent of Muscat.  Perfect for packing in lunch boxes, these little babies are $2.49 for a half-pint box.  The third picture has a dime in the frame for comparison.  You should go buy some.  They're good.  And cute to boot.

Service, Tipping, and how to be a Good Guest

I've been reading a lot lately on what people expect when they go out, how much they tip, etc.  It's always a heated conversation when people start discussing tipping - in the comment board Bruni's blog recently, a fellow commenter suggested I "get a hold of myself" when I suggested I made a fairly decent living being a server.  Another commenter became heated when I mentioned I expect to leave work with a certain percentage of tips after tipping out my fellow workers, stating she would never want to sit in my section; she only wants people to wait on her who would be "happy with 15%."  While I don't want to descend into a diatribe on tipping, I thought it would be interesting to discuss service from a server's point of view. 

First, I'll start by telling you my service pet peeves when I go out, just so you know I'm human.

My biggest pet peeve, an offense almost always committed by bartenders, is thinking, because I am in the business, I want to listen to you whine and complain how terrible your night has been.  If I'm paying $9 for this martini, your job is to listen to me whine, not the other way around.  Of course, I have a few friends who are bartenders, and they are exempt from this rule.  Here's how to tell: if you don't have my number in your cell phone, you're not on that list.  As a server, I tell everyone I'm having a great night.  No one wants to hear about my problems.

My second biggest pet peeve is not refilling my drink.  My rule, as a server, is if the guest has 1/4 of their drink left, I offer another.  A few rare people see this me trying to boost my check average, but I think most people want the comfort of knowing their next drink is on the way before they finish their current drink.  This is especially true in a bar, especially in a bar on a Friday night, when people are decompressing from work.

Another pet peeve is the condescending server.  Of course, the server might know more than I do, but there are nice ways of educating your guests.  Years ago, I ordered a stuffed calamari steak in a restaurant.  when it arrived, an entire squid on a plate, it proved impossible to be cut through (even with a steak knife), chewed or otherwise eaten in any way.  When I brought this to the server's attention, he said in a very scoffing tone "Oh, you've probably only ever eaten fried calamari, so you don't know what to do."  Actually, I do know that if you cook calamari correctly, or treat the steak properly before cooking, it can be edible.  Your chef obviously doesn't know that.  See?  Years later, I still harbor a small amount of hostility towards that restaurant.  Your server should not offer excuses; they should try to make you happy.

Okay, those are my top three pet peeves.  Now let's talk about how to get the most out of your dining experience.

1. Make a reservation: this typically ensures you will get a better table, and it also gives the restaurant and your server an opportunity to learn your name.  As you become a regular in a restaurant, they can look forward to your arrival and maybe even go out of their way to make sure your evening is special.  We used to have a couple who would come in (they moved), and when we saw their name on the books, someone would go around the corner to buy some biscotti for them, because they enjoyed it with their after dinner drinks.
2. Be specific about what you want.  If you want to know the price of a special or something, ask!  Personally, I don't list prices when I am reciting specials, unless it is out of the price range of our standard menu, but I will always happily tell you the price.  If you require something along with your meal that isn't automatically served, the time to tell your server is when you are ordering.  If the special item hasn't arrived by the time your food does, remind your server.  I have one guest who gets everything plain and dips every bit (no matter what the item) into aged balsamic vinegar and Parmesan cheese.  She always tells you when she's ordering, and I bring it as soon as the bread arrives.
3. When it comes to wine, do not let the server bully you into buying something out of your desired price range, and specify which glass of wine you want, to avoid being given the $15 glass.  Which brings me to another pet peeve, something I have never been able to do with good conscience.  I don't agree with the server who, when a guest orders "a Cabernet," will bring the most expensive one.  I will usually bring the house cab, or list the glass pours, saying "good better best."  The best wine on the list is not always the most expensive, and a good server will take pride in pairing you with a wine you'll love.  The extra 50 cents is not an incentive for me, because I'm the sort of person who will mull over a service-related offense for quite some time, and I wouldn't want the guest to awake in the morning and say "I can't believe our waitress brought me 4 glasses of $18 wine without telling me!  I'm never going back!"  Indeed, I get a kick out of recommending some of our more "value" wines, especially when it's noted by the table that I didn't pick out the most expensive.  "Now you know I'm honest!" I always say.  A good restaurant will have good wine options in all price ranges.
4. Here's an example: I was eating in a local restaurant, and the server suggested a wine as being their "special feature."  This wine was not on the list, and I knew it to be rather expensive - around $65 a bottle - and blurted it out without even thinking.  He king of hemmed and hawed, and finally admitted the wine was $22 a glass.  If I would have ordered that without knowing, I would be livid.
5. Husband and I are working on an "ordering wine" tutorial, so I won't go into that now.
6. If something is wrong, incorrectly cooked, tastes bad, or isn't how it was described, allow the server to fix it for you.  It doesn't do anyone any good to wait until you're leaving to air your grievance.  Try to get as much information about something when you are ordering, making any special requests known (it's the easiest time), but if something is amiss, tell your server, and give them an opportunity to fix the problem.  They should be happy to.  I wouldn't worry about your food being "sabotaged."  I've been in the restaurant business a long time, and I have never seen food sabotaged.  It might be a guttural, childish temptation, but the truth is, no one has the time.
7. Be aware when the problem is the server's fault, and how they fix the problem.  Here's an example: the other night, I had four people were really enjoying themselves, they had some good wine and food, and one man's steak was overcooked.  Really overcooked.  He sent it back - as he should have - but this requires an entirely new steak, and it takes awhile.  I got him a small salad to munch on with the rest of the party.  He got a new steak without sitting, dinnerless, for 10 minutes (an eternity when you have nothing to do but watch your friends eat), and I felt as though I handled the situation well, and my tip proved it - 22%.  This is what I mean by knowing if something is the server's fault: obviously I didn't cook the steak, but I took responsibility for what happened and worked quickly to resolve the situation.  The diner did his part by expecting to get his money's worth.  There's nothing wrong with that.
8. I don't know if it's my place to say what an appropriate tip is, being that I have a rather selfish interest in it.  Or rather, the people who expect payment for the cable, phones, etc in my house do.  Nearly all of the people I wait on are wonderful and generous.  I usually figure I'm the one who determines how much money I make, which is why I don't feel I should tell others what to tip.  Just to say:
9. If the service is bad, tip accordingly.  It it's good, do the same.  And, if you're unhappy, don't go back. 
10. I hope this has been helpful.  I'm just trying to help you get the most out of your dining experience, especially when you are paying dearly for the privilege.  No one wants to shell out $200 on dinner for two and walk away feeling maltreated.  Of course, there are loads of bad servers out there; there are loads of bad managers and restaurant owners out there, but hopefully you won't be unlucky enough to have them serving you.

Crumbs

It is snowing outside.  I was just commenting to someone the other day on how we Ohioans always pretend we've never seen weather like this before.  It never fails; each Spring, we lament the "strange" weather.  As though none of us remember Mother's Days or Easters or Passovers where it has snowed.  As thought we didn't have a frost in May last year, or snow in April the year before.  And yet, every year, I herald the arrival of Spring weeks before it really arrives, I show up to the Farmer's markets way before anyone else, I dream of ramps and morels and asparagus, of tulips and hyacinths and crocuses (crocae?  whatever), of lamb feasts and spring greens and Peeps (just kidding, I hate Peeps; sorry, Peep lovers).  And every year, we have a day like today:

In truth, this is probably far from our last day of this sort.  But I'm supposed to be writing about food, right?

• I got a sneak peak inside the new Rosendale's!  Looks very cool.  The plan is still for opening day to be Saturday, March 17th.  I'll be there and will be taking some pictures should the mood strike me.  (Have no idea what the lighting will be like)  You can view the menus online now.  Anyone else dying for truffled popcorn?  Oh, it's just me?  Well, it's two of my favorite things, joined together.
• Of course, everyone knows by now that the new Northstar has opened in Clintonville.  I haven't made it over yet, but I hear there's still no soup.  We're going to have to start a campaign.  I've been complaining to them about their soup-free existence since they opened, and still, no soup.  Who's in? 
• I suppose that's all the food news I have for now.  Guess I was just looking for an excuse to post my picture of my sad little Thai basil plant.

Zen Cha Tea Salon

I have meant to write about Zen Cha ever since I started this site, nearly two years ago.  Husband and I used to live very close by, and would venture there once or twice a week, for their giant tea selection and their ramen noodle lunch specials.  While I love all sorts of teas, Husband was usually the adventurous one, and Zen Cha owner I Cheng would always say to Husband "ah, you have very good taste in tea, very Japanese," while I ordered the (very good) Masala Chai for the 14th time.

Zen Cha has a comprehensive tea selection, to say the least.  The teas are arranged according to "series," really countries or regions of origin - Japan, China, Taiwan, and even European selections from France, Germany and England.  The selection of teas, which probably numbers into the hundreds, might seem intimidating at first, but each tea is accompanied on the menu by a very detailed explanation, and the staff is also very knowledgeable and helpful.  Furthermore, they offer samples so you can taste other teas while enjoying whatever you have ordered.  Each type of tea is presented differently; some are served over a warmer, some with just a small pitcher of hot water. 

On most occasions, the server presenting the tea to you will inquire if you've had this variety before, and if not, they will inform you on how long to steep the tea, etc. 

When I visited for brunch this weekend, I opted for the Kyoto cherry blossom green tea, which the owner let me know is a very popular choice among Americans.  Hmmm.  It was nice; floral without being sweet, and almost a little tart on the finish.  Next time, however, I will have to try the shiso green tea.

When I first heard Zen Cha had started serving brunch, I knew I had to try the Sencha pancakes.  Fluffy pancakes are spiked with matcha powder (green tea powder; traditional tea ceremony tea powder) and served with red bean sauce (adzuki paste, sweet red beans) and chopped candied chestnuts.  The stack is finished with just a touch of syrup and whipped cream.  The overall affect is sweet without being cloying; it's a nice introduction to Japanese sweets and reminded me of a very good version of Japanese green tea and red bean tea cakes.  Even with its light sweetness, I could only eat half, so I might recommend sharing these with a sugar-loving friend.

Next time I visit, I'll have to go back to my good friend Masala Chai (Indian spiced black tea with milk), and have it with the Masala Chai waffles, which the gentleman at the table next to me was enjoying, and they looked delicious. 

Zen Cha serves a limited menu for lunch, and has brunch on the weekends, with savory options beginning after noon.  Service is very helpful; it might seem slow to some the first time you visit, as it requires more equipment to assemble the tea service than, say, someone whipping up a latte.  The setting is very serene, with light woods, soft lighting, and quiet, Japanese-influenced "earth music" playing. 

Of course, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the large selection of bubble teas Zen Cha has to offer (for the uninitiated, bubble tea is a lightly sweetened tea which features a good amount of chewy tapioca "pearls" at the bottom.  It's light a refreshing snack, and I always order one on my way out the door when I'm at Zen Cha, even though I once overheard the owner tell another customer bubble tea is "really for kids."  Well, I'm a kid at heart.  And it can't be denied, bubble tea is fun and delicious.  Husband, that adventurous and "very Japanese" tea connoisseur, loves it too: he favors passion fruit, while I go for lychee and mango.

Info:  Zen Cha Tea Salon 982 N. High St in the Short North 614.421.2140

Weekend Cat Blogging - Tinies 2.0 are Here!!

And the good news is, I think they might all have homes already!  (Husband and I can be very persuasive when finding home for kitties.  I think we might have a future in kitty foster home services.)  We knew Mama Mimi was getting close to having the kitties, and we gave her a nice cozy spot in a basket in our bedroom closet.  I awoke yesterday morning and went looking for Meems.  I couldn't find her anywhere, and knew something was amiss when I fed the other kitties and she didn't come running, as she has a voracious appetite these days.  Imagine my surprise when I found her, in the basket in the closet, with three tinies already!!!  She was completely silent.  I woke up Husband with my exclamation of "THERE ARE KITTIES IN HERE!!!!" So, without further ado, here are the first pictures of Tinies 2.0.  Please excuse the picture quality, tinies are very difficult to photograph.  The funniest thing about them is their instinct to hiss; I mean, they weigh 3 ounces and if they sense someone nearby the open their tiny little mouths and try to hiss at you.  It's adorable.  Mama and all kitties are doing well and eating nonstop. You can keep up to date on a daily basis, if you so desire, on my Flickr page.  I'll also have my daily bentos there, too, when I pack them.