PX This.

Sin Nombre

Here’s another one dedicated to all the unsung heroes of the F&B/Hospitality industries… and our brutisher Y-chromosome fan club! Hooray!

I loved this film, and so will you.

:)

Welcome to: Where I Spent My Day Off —by a NYC Restaurant "Insider"

So, what do you do in the industry?
Now? I’m a consultant. But I used to work directly in the industry for about 20 years— I started as a waitress, but I’ve also been Read more »

Are we tired of hearing about Indochine’s 25th Anniversary party yet?

Never!
N E V V V E R R R ….!

:)

See also:
• SPOTTED: Indochine’s 25th Anniversary
• Video: Indochine’s 25th Birthday

PX This presents THE F&F REVIEW

Hey, sorry we couldn’t make it to "Friends&Family," we were out of town/ had to work/ not invited. We’re really glad we finally managed to come by, though— it’s so nice to see you!
What’s that? You would still like us to take the time to fill out the F&F survey, because you’d love to take advantage of all our vast experience, knowledge, insight, and expertise as long as we’re already here? Because you invited 75 people to F&F, and afterward all you got was 41 "Congrats[es]!" 22 "Awesome[s]!" 3 "Ciao[s]!" and 9 "Best of lucks[s]!" ?
Of course, we’d be honored. Oh ha, yesss, we’ll be honest— brutally honest even, ha ha! After all, that’s what friends & family are for!
No no please, don’t send anything more, we’re stuffed, we can’t breathe, you’ll have to roll us out of here, ha ha ha… !

Socarrat Bar de Vinos

What was your first impression?
Cozy, nice.

Please rate the Bar:
The bar is spacious and comfortable, but unfortunately the bartender is somewhat of a ditz. It took a little while for him to acknowledge us, even though the bar wasn’t entirely full. Then we asked for a taste of a wine by the glass. It turns out he had to open a new bottle. So, we try it and decide we’ll take the whole bottle and inform him thusly. We wait almost five minutes while he has a discussion with another group. Eventually, I ask a waitress behind the bar, "Can you just grab our bottle from him, please?" and she tells him we need his attention. He replies, "Oh, yeah," but seems annoyed by our impatience. He proceeds to present a brand new bottle to us, so I ask, "Didn’t you just open that other bottle?" He responds, "Oh, yeah, I could just give you that one, right?" and then finally gives us our bottle.
Later, after we’ve already ordered and eaten five tapas from the menu, we decide perhaps we’d like one more. As we’re perusing the menu, we just happen to overhear another waitress (temporarily behind the bar, fetching a bottle for one of her tables) advising the couple sitting next to us not to neglect "the specials," and she proceeds to run down a list of FIVE additions to the menu, three of which we surely would have ordered had we been given the option beforehand.
As we do decide we’re still slightly hungry, we ask the bartender, "Do you have any specials on the menu tonight?" And he responds, "Oh, yeah! Duh," and then describes them to us. And now we’re annoyed, as we would have undoubtedly preferred some of those choices instead.
By the way, earlier, he’d also informed us the "baby eels" were 86’ed— after we placed our order.

Please rate the drinks/ cocktails/ wine:
The wine list is brief and entirely Spanish. It could be improved upon (it doesn’t include some some good available options at lower price points, e.g.), especially for a place so decisively designated a "wine bar."

Please rate the Dining Room:
Not bad. A apt and imaginative use of such spare square footage.

Please rate the BOH:
Better than I expected. The menu is quite good and creative. Timing, presentation and execution all proficient.

How was the staff?
So-so. Not the most amiable bunch, and I can tell by the bartender’s demeanor, he actually thinks he’s good. So, if that’s an indication of the restaurant’s overall standards, they have some problems.
The runner on the other hand, though, was adept and particularly considerate.

What did you eat?/ How was the food?
Anchovy and goat cheese "cocas" (small flatbread) : Very good. Simple, but tasty.
Sardine with chorizo paste "cocas" : Good. Interesting. Not a fan of the slimy red peppers, though.
Jamon Iberico : Fine. But I didn’t need to have this; I wish I’d known about the "specials" earlier.
Sirloin empanadilla : Very good. Crispy and delicious. Great drinking food.
Shrimp in garlic sauce : Traditional style. Very good. Lots of garlic. Hearty.
Pork belly "special" : Very good, very tender. Rich and gratifying.

What did you like?
The food.

What did you dislike?
The bartender.

What was your last impression?
I wonder if I should come back and try that paella….

Would you come back?
Maybe.

Thank you, and hope to see you soon!
Thanks, it was a pleasure.

wow look what i found. "to mr. fuji’s house of pain…" :)

that’s where i first met gilbert-stafford, at Mr.Fuji’s. how many people went from CoffeeShop to Mr.Fuji’s? there was even a rumor charles-milite almost had a nervous breakdown in the office. [no offense, charles we love you xo.]

what a time.

Rest in Peace, Gilbert Stafford.

♡

(sorry i didn’t make it last night.)

– image courtesy of frank151.com

Cancilla Cellars Pinot Noir Reserve 2007 – Williamette Valley, Oregon
Cost: $34.99

This is a medium-bodied but dark, ruby red colored pinot noir showcasing a perfumed nose of strawberry, cassis, cherry-pie, clove spice, and Dr. Pepper soda. It has a crisp mouthfeel, with grippy acids and tannins that dry the upper innards of your mouth, but the flavors are potent and laser-like, showcasing an array of red and black fruits that grapples with the mid-palate. Finishes long and dry, but the acidity and tannins linger on the back palate. Overall, a nice pinot noir that you can enjoy with pasta, grilled seafood, and lighter meat dishes.
Rating: 88

Just a little teaser trailer for Big Chief, a project by your friends, Tim Naylor and Zainab Jah.

click here! —> Big Chief <— click here! (Quicktime required – free download)

:)

PX This presents THE F&F REVIEW

Hey, sorry we couldn’t make it to "Friends&Family," we were out of town/ had to work/ not invited. We’re really glad we finally managed to come by, though— it’s so nice to see you!
What’s that? You would still like us to take the time to fill out the F&F survey, because you’d love to take advantage of all our vast experience, knowledge, insight, and expertise as long as we’re already here? Because you invited 75 people to F&F, and afterward all you got was 41 "Congrats[es]!" 22 "Awesome[s]!" 3 "Ciao[s]!" and 9 "Best of lucks[s]!" ?
Of course, we’d be honored. Oh ha, yesss, we’ll be honest— brutally honest even, ha ha! After all, that’s what friends & family are for!
No no please, don’t send anything more, we’re stuffed, we can’t breathe, you’ll have to roll us out of here, ha ha ha… !

Choptank

What was your first impression?
Well, it’s ‘warmer’ than BarQ.

Please rate the Bar:
Spacious! There’s a bar and there’s also a ‘raw bar’ / bar. It’s a little sloppy, but maybe they’re really going for that casual, laid-back look.
The bartender is friendly, and "…Eddie, the oyster-shucker" is particularly amiable. Very welcoming.

Please rate the drinks/ cocktails/ wine:
Apparently, "not all the liquor has arrived yet," but they have a healthy-enough inventory. The drinks are generous and inexpensive. The list is relatively eclectic and decent, especially considering its brevity. Perfectly satisfactory and compatible with the menu and ambience.

Please rate the Dining Room:
It’s OK. Not my particular style, but comfortable and commodious enough— a little ‘corporate’ even. I would imagine they’re enthusiastically anticipating the warmer months to make use of their ample outdoor dining.

Please rate the BOH:
Pretty good. I love the simplicity and nonchalance of the menu; make no mistake, this is an everyday place. If you’re the type that only goes out once a month or on special occasions. it’s probably not for you.
The only thing I’m somewhat confused by is: what— a fried ckicken, a burger, but no fish & chips? Odd.
Plus, there are a few missteps— but we’ll get to that…

How was the staff?
Very friendly. Good. On point.
The one guy that hovers around frowning at everything is a little daunting, but— well— I guess we’ve all worked with someone like that before. He doesn’t seem to be contributing anything productive at all, so he must be an owner or something. LOL.

What did you eat?/ How was the food?
Chips with Crab Dip : It’s offered on the menu, but I didn’t order it. But then they sent it anyway. So maybe it’s only delivered gratuitously (in lieu of bread, e.g.) if you order food; I’m not sure.
They were good— the potato chips are homemade and the dip is tasty.
Polish Sausage with mustard and sauerkraut: LOL. Love it. I thought this was a seafood house, but there’s the polish sausage. Go figure.
A nice healthy portion and pretty good.
Mushrooms with egg yolk: Delicious, but the presentation is a little blah. Maybe that’s their "thing," though; who knows? They should watch it on the salt— personally I liked it, but that usually means it’s too salty for most palates.
Topneck clams: This one needs a re-think. There’s a good reason these big, aging clams are usually chopped in strips and fried and/or minced for sauces. Shame— the broth is really delicious.
Fried chicken: Very good, but whoa!— that is one tortured side of kale all right. Tortured to death.
Brussel sprouts: OK, clearly, vegetables are not their forte. These poor veggies are straight out of Abu Ghraib. You can almost hear them whimpering.

What did you like?
The fried chicken was very good.

What did you dislike?
Those sad, whimpering, forlorn, tortured vegetables.
:(

What was your last impression?
It’ll be interesting to watch… sort of.

Would you come back?
It’s a possibility.

Thank you, and hope to see you soon!
Thanks, it was a pleasure.

As the Limelight “Mall” nears completion, PX This would like to mark the occasion by presenting the following excerpts from PX This – Diary of the “Maitre d’ to the Stars”:

[** REVISION: This post has been updated in recognition of the release of Limelight the documemtary, premiering September 23, 2011. **]

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2000. 8:33AM

… speaking of Palladium. So I finally got up the guts to call Alessandra Gatien. I have been thinking about her a lot lately, she’s pretty cool. I don’t think I ever mentioned about the meeting we had a whiles back, I was going to put a little Geld Iaz showroom dealie inside the new Limelight, but obviously it never panned out. Anyways holy cow, that Alex Gatien really impressed me intellectually, she is so smart, she practically knocked me out of my chair. And you knooow I ’m not awed that easily, especially by girls because usually they’re so fucking stupid. Anyhow, so all those “dragon lady” things everybody said about her— whatever— she is not messing around. Dragon lady or no dragon lady she got it going on, heehee eheee that poor one eyed fuck never stood a chance.
We chatted about websites and she showed me the new logo she designed for Limelight, it was great. Simple, just circular gradiated white center to green edge inside a sphere. To signify “captured light”— she said: “After what I’ve been through, that is how I feel. Like I captured light.”
And it was absurd, she showed me some fifty page “catalog” and it’s literally 500 of the ugliest unimaginative most generic logos you’ve ever seen. She said she was appalled, at first she tried to hire some graphics company but they wanted big money for this, “they take the letter L and the color lime and they plug it into a computer” and it spits out these McLogos and then you’re supposed to just pick one. Can you imagine, how lame.
She said she likes the Geld Iaz logo too, she is attracted to circles just like I am. That’s a “very Japanese” fungshooey thing apparently.
So there we were conversing all about other small business stuffs and the subject drifted to marketing and advertising and so then she gave me fun facts like: “to put your ad on the side of one bus is $30G’s but to put them on all the buses and all the stops is a mere $100G’s, see how fucked up it is?” And then she busts out with this web development outline talking about how she is learning HTML because all the web building companies want to charge her an arm and a leg and so she is simply going to build the website herself, she had projections for streaming deejays from around the world and Limelight albums and souvenirs and paraphernalia and geezus all manner of other money making hullabaloo …

SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 2001. 9:45AM

… so anyhoo! Eric Goode’s brother… knows Baunau the ho-stess, and so he just randomly walks up to us at the podium one night and he says to Baunau “pleeease set my brother up with somebody.” And then they wander off together to chitchat. About a minute later Baunau comes back and immediately asks me if I "have a boyfriend?" So I reply yes and right away she asks “is it serious?” eeheee ha ha ahaa. Hellooo, can you imagine? Eric Goode! I am kinda a little in awe of him, you know. He’s one of my idols— Area and MK, how fierce is he. Even Andy Warhol says Eric Goode is great, come on now. Ha ha ahaa, if I were single and dated him, I would Alessandra-Gatien that boy so fast he would not know what hit him…

For more information about PX This – Diary of the "Maître d’ to the Stars" visit http://pxthis.com/thebook/

PX Me – The Sequel to PX This
(How I Became a Published Author, Got Micro-Famous,
and Married a Millionaire)
– COMING SOON IN THE SPRING OF 2012 –

* * * * *

Have you heard?
Until the release of PX Me – The Sequel to PX This (Spring 2012), this website will henceforth be updated only intermittently (approximately once or twice a week).
Abbe Diaz’s new (daily) blog is now at: abbediaz.com

Thank God it’s Friday. Let’s celebrate!

In the words of former doorperson/security extraordinaire, Jeff Telvi, “If you can’t dance to this, you’d better get yourself some lessons mi gente.”

:)