Archives for the 'restaurants' Category
When the Barkeep Has a Circuit Board
Last month I noted how the unstaffed restaurant might be the wave of the future. Speaking of the whole wave thing, you might soon be able to wave goodbye to your friendly neighborhood bartender, Wired is reporting. Or at least one of the human variety, as Chassis, the mobile kegbot (pictured), would probably confirm.
Aficionados of alcohol and androids alike celebrated the first stateside gathering of cocktail-serving robots this weekend at Roboexotica.
Patrons delighted in drink-making droids that ranged from a fire-spewing drink warmer, a fully automated mind-reading mixologist and a shot-pouring conveyor belt built entirely from Legos.
“You have liquor, fire and robots,” said Johannes Grentfurthner, Roboexotica organizer and member of art collective monochrom in Austria. “How could we go wrong?”
The annual gathering of booze-pouring robots is usually held in Vienna, Austria. To celebrate its approaching 10-year anniversary, organizers threw a San Francisco satellite event.
Though the U.S. event was slightly smaller than its Viennese counterpart, the barbots landed with a booze-fueled bang.
What would Pimpbot think about these advanced mixologists?
Thanks to Caleb for the tip. (As a non-robot, I accept tips.)
A Johnny Depp Tip Buys a Lot of Cheddar
In addition to his acting chops–having starred in the food-named cult hit What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and the food-themed demi-chick-flick Chocolat–and swashbuckling good looks, Johnny Depp knows how to dine out. While on location in Wisconsin, Depp dropped a few grand on dinner in the city of Appleton, Wis.
Downtown Appleton’s economy got an economic boost from the presence of the movie’s big star.
Johnny Depp stayed at the Copperleaf Hotel for four nights, ate at Flanagan’s Wine Review and Black & Tan, and had a drink at the DejaVu Martini Lounge.
The night at Flanagan’s, on April 16, started at 9 p.m. Depp and nine others had dinner ($300), wines from the reserve list at $300 to $500 per bottle ($2,350) and left a generous tip ($1,500).
[…]
Depp, by the way, ordered the flat iron steak, medium well.
That’s the right choice for steak, no doubt, but such a tender cut should never be cooked above medium, in my opinion.
More here. If Depp isn’t a Crispy reader yet, he’s just a smart guy generally for avoiding the taco pizza at Butch’s in Appleton.
[Via TMZ.com]
UK BK Flirts with £85 Foie Burger
Best done in the voice of that movie voiceover guy…
In a land ruled by a queen… an upstart king tries to lure customers with a golden goose… against the wishes of a ninny prince… and PETA… and some other, lesser-known group of anti-humans…
This summer, it’s Burger King: Home of the Foie-pper Gras-pper .
Coming soon to a theater theatre near you.
World’s 50 Best Restaurants Announced Today
Today’s the day when the list (well, one of them) of the top 100 restaurants in the world is halved to fifty, with a winner chosen from that group. San Pellegrino will, for the seventh year in a row, dish out its World’s 50 Best Restaurants award at a London ceremony later today.
Vying once again for the top spot will be Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli, in Roses on the Costa Brava in Spain - last year’s winner - and Heston Blumenthal’s the Fat Duck, in Bray, Berkshire, the runner-up for the past two years and winner of the award for Best Restaurant in 2005.
The U.S. contenders are Alinea, Charlie Trotter’s, Chez Panisse, Daniel, Jean Georges, L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon (NYC and Las Vegas), Le Bernardin, Masa, Nobu, Per Se, and The French Laundry.
The selection criteria are Euro-slanted, with North America having only one judge, Beard foundation award winner Steve Dolinsky (whose name the folks at Pellegrino mis-spell) and Europe having eleven, but the criteria seem designed to reduce that bias at least a bit.
I’ll report back on the winners later tonight or tomorrow.
Update: It’s El Bulli. Again. The French Laundry won highest-rated U.S. restaurant, coming in fifth. Gordon Ramsay’s eponymous outlet came in at #13. Fergus Henderson won highest climber as his St. John climbed eighteen spots to #16. Only four of the restaurants in the top 50 hail from countries that are not the U.S. or located in Europe–Australia (2), Brazil, South Africa. None are from Asia.
What’s in a Restaurant Name?
One of the rules of the restaurant business–indeed of any business–is keep it simple when it comes to names. Pick a restaurant name that’s evocative of what you’re trying to do, but also easy to spell, easy to say, and easy to remember.
Those are the rules. But I’m not a big fan of rules.
What I am a fan of is the Grand Wailea Resort’s newly remodeled, upscale restaurant, Humuhumunukunukuapua’a. Yes, that’s right, Humuhumunukunukuapua’a. What’s it mean? It’s the Hawaiian name of the tiny reef triggerfish, the island chain’s once and present state fish.
More on the restaurant hotel remodel here. Restaurant website here.
If you have a favorite oddball or long restaurant name–and that might be tough, since most restaurants stick to the short-and-sweet rule–leave it in comments.
Restaurants Feeling Diners’ Cash Crunch
With the recession blooming like an Aussie onion appetizer, it’s not surprising chains from Outback to Legal Sea Foods, and mom-and-pop ops, too, are finding new ways to cope with diners’ lighter wallets, the Boston Globe reports:
Outback Steakhouse is serving up smaller steaks at the same price, while Legal Sea Foods is unveiling a seafood roll that costs $4 less than its $22.95 lobster roll.
Restaurants across the country are similarly shaking up their menus as talk of a recession grows to a roar. Many chains are slowing new openings and attempting to reduce expenses to offset soaring food costs and shrinking consumer spending. And, unlike in past recessions, the restaurant industry faces additional challenges this time: overexpansion, and a shift by consumers to grocery stores that offer high-quality prepared meals.
A banker friend who dines out regularly–and so has her finger pretty well trained on the pulse of dining economics–worries that the next year will likely be an incredibly bad one for restaurants.
The WaPo, meanwhile, reports how restaurants go about cutting corners without sacrificing quality by cutting back portion sizes.
