Category Archives: General remarks

Should restaurant reservations be for sale?

Here is the entire NYT forum, here is my contribution, “Democratizing the Dining Experience,” excerpt: Consider how it works when you can’t just buy a place at the table, as is still the case in most restaurants today. Tables at … Continue reading

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*The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu*

That is the new and excellent book by Dan Jurafsky, due out this September, and I found it interesting throughout. Here is just one bit: In fact, the more Yelp reviewers mention dessert, the more they like the restaurant. Reviewers … Continue reading

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Customized restaurant markets in everything privacy is dead

A restaurant with three Michelin stars is now trying to up its customer service game by Googling its customers before they arrive. According to a report from Grub Street, an Eleven Madison Park maitre d’ performs Internet recon on every … Continue reading

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What makes most restaurant reviews worthless

Not just the general reason why they are bad, but rather a very specific reason. Caitlin Dewey reports about: . . . a new paper appropriately titled “Demographics, Weather and Online Reviews.” The study analyzed 1.1 million online reviews of … Continue reading

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Lines are overrated, and totally empty restaurants are underrated

Some readers (or journalists) ask me if I have further principles for finding good food which are not outlined in my ethnic dining guide or in An Economist Gets Lunch. Of course I do, though many of them are not … Continue reading

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“But we just had Indian food yesterday!”

I’ve never understood this argument, which is sometimes cited as a reason to go to a non-Indian restaurant on a given day. How should people cope who live in India? They have Indian food many, many days in a row, … Continue reading

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How to frame your food decisions

According to research published this spring, people make healthier menu choices when calories are listed beside each item – but they make even better choices when they’re told how far they’d have to walk to burn off the calories consumed. … Continue reading

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Is there a case against small plates on restaurant menus?

That is the current rage in the DC dining scene, namely that you can more easily order lots of “small plates” rather than a big plate with steak and spinach. Neil Irwin makes the case against that practice here, Matt … Continue reading

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More food writers should be making this kind of point

Arabic Knowledge@Wharton: So when companies like Wal-Mart bring their logistics ability to Africa, it actually could be a good thing for the poor people of Africa? Cowen: It’s exactly what we need more of. Yes. Arabic Knowledge@Wharton: Yet there’s a … Continue reading

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Six Rules for Dining Out

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Posted in An Economist Gets Lunch, Beautiful Women, Eden Center, Falls Church/Seven Corners, General remarks, General Tips, Indian, New York, Pakistani, Thai, Vietnamese, Virginia | Tagged | 2 Comments