A restaurant that bans children?

There's a restaurant in Pennsylvania that now bans children under six at all times. You can read about it here. What do you think?

Wrong wine?

In a recent post, Fredric Koeppel, author of the informative and entertaining blog "Bigger than Your Head," cited a time when he was sure that he'd been brought a wine different from the one he'd ordered.

Now we have to start by saying that Fredric has a much better wine palate than I have. But I do have a few favorite wines that show up often on wine lists, so I can order knowing what I'm going to get.

I was recently in a well-known upscale Memphis restaurant. I ordered one of my old faithfuls. When I got it I was pretty sure it was not what I'd ordered. I asked and the served assured me that I'd gotten what I ordered.

I thought perhaps there was a odd bottle involved. But still, I ordered a less expensive glass of the same grape variety for my second glass. Hmm...it was MOST definitely the same as the one for which we'd been charged $2 more.

I didn't try to argue. Next time at that particular restaurant (if we do) we will ask to see the wine poured from the bottle!

Happy Hour at the Beach

We've just come back from a week in a beach house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We filled a 5 bedroom house with family so it was a little hectic. Tom and I found a great little place, Cafe 12, just a couple of blocks from our house in Avon, on Cape Hattaras. From 4 PM to 6 PM they had great spicy steamed shrimp for $.19 each. We could have a lovely quiet time and chow down as well. We didn't eat any meals there but they had great looking dishes coming out from the back to a full house about the time we vacated the bar each afternoon.

Cute little desserts

Some of my friends and I frequent the Carrabba's on Poplar in front of Clark Tower. Mostly we go for happy hour. It's a pleasant place, quiet (except for the occasional opera piece on their muzak system) and the folks who work there are unfailingly charming.

I was in with a friend this weekend to get one of their fire-baked pizzas. They were rolling out these cute little desserts. They offered us samples. (See why we love it?) Our favorite was the one with marsala-scented zabaglione topped with fresh raspberries and blueberries. I also liked the one with butter cake on the bottom, pastry cream and strawberries, but all were very tasty.

With six varieties, they are all $2.25 each and just the right size for following a big Italian meal. If you have a tableful of folks, or if you're a bigger dessert eater than I can ever be, the whole rack of six is $13.00.

Fine Diner to Riffraff: Tipsy Tales of 4-Star Benders

Somehow this seems more suitable for the National Inquirer than the New York Times! Stories of tipsy customers at some of the very finest New York City restaurants! !