SFist: SFist Eats: Urban Tavern

Belgand

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:27:07 -0800

Finally another restaurant that I can't afford to eat at. Even better it's upscale comfort food. Yay! The most ridiculous trend in dining because comfort food is cheap and nobody wants to eat inexpensive food. It's not exclusive and it's definitely not trendy. You're not going to make your mark just by doing something really well, after all. So "unique reinventions" it is! Because using a more expensive cheese is really the most important part of macaroni and cheese. Besides, how else can you charge $18 for it? Oohh... and French upscale comfort food. Now that's the way to do it! You want to show how good you are? Using only wheat flour, water, salt, and yeast make me a great loaf of bread. Doing the best with a simple recipe composed of basic ingredients is the mark of excellence.

travin

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:25:14 -0800

Cy, for the record you don't have to be all sly about it. You can always follow up another time and most kitchens are happy to provide you with requested plates to photograph off-hours--providing they don't already have press photos you can have. And if you're worried about privacy, just tell them you're sending someone in, they'd have no idea it was you or actually send someone in.

cv

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:24:56 -0800

Okay, since you didn't like my answer and your question wasn't rhetorical, you'll just have to wait for another answer that you actually like. You aren't related to Al Davis by chance, are you?

Generic

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:11:33 -0800

If I could explain, I wouldn't have asked.

cv

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:55:44 -0800

Well, you explain it then. I promise I won't retort with a flood of "Fail" comments.

Generic

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:27:48 -0800

it quickly becomes disruptive Fail. it's not worth risking becoming a persona non grata Fail. grainy cameraphone snaps Fail. Seriously now (bloggers). Why the aversion to pix? We've democratized everything else.

DJTennessee

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:13:17 -0800

Shef! Awesome that you are writing reviews! /cannot afford to eat at any of these places during Bush Recession III

cv

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:19:51 -0800

Sadly, there are plenty of them around here.

ChesterY

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:13:19 -0800

There's nothing disruptive about taking pictures of one's food during a meal...it's only disruptive if one uses a flash. Only philistines would use a flash in the middle of a restaurant.

cv

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:06:46 -0800

@generic: Generally speaking, it quickly becomes disruptive (especially in a fine dining, white tablecloth environment). The more thoughtful restaurant bloggers probably recognize this and decide that it's not worth risking becoming a persona non grata for a few grainy cameraphone snaps. And what's lacking in food blog restaurant reviews isn't photography, but knowledgeable assessment of the restaurant's wine list and a general sense of noise levels and ambiance. At least Tiffany mentioned the poor service.

RobInSF

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:15:13 -0800

If I was Tiffany, I would be worrying more about the aggressive bums that wander around that part of town yelling "EXCUSE ME!!!" to anyone who will listen and hitting them up for money. Since the recession started (I know I know - we're not "technically" in one - right, whatever) I've noticed that service industry people across the board have been pulling a serious attitude. And I'm one of those rare, eternally pleasant customers who is easy to please.

Generic

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:10:29 -0800

Oops, I missed that byline. But great review! More like this, please. Random question: is there some unwritten (or written) rule against reviewers taking their own pictures of the food? With the ubiquity of cameraphones it's a wonder we don't see more gastro-photojournalism on the food blogs ...

Brock Keeling

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:14:37 -0800

Tiffany Maleshefski is a perfectly lovely person with no enemies!

Generic

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:08:21 -0800

... as if you didn't have enough enemies in this town.