November 2006
Posted: Nov 29, 2006 9:38am ET
I‘m still thinking about going out for dinner, and the things that can challenge and unnerve a person. Last time I wrote about waiters and specials. This time, I’d like to talk about wine and tipping.
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Posted: Nov 22, 2006 11:13am ET
 My father likes to quote a sign that his old friend, the late Joe Baum , had hanging in his restaurant kitchens. It read simply, "THERE IS NO VICTORY OVER THE CUSTOMER!"  The customer may "always be right"—but only until he's very wrong, like the drunken, ill-tempered, waitress-badgering fool I invited to kindly leave and not return to the restaurant in Portland where I was working as a floor manager.
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Posted: Nov 20, 2006 10:29am ET
I was just thinking about dinner. ( I do that a lot!) Like most native New Yorkers, I’m very good at making reservations, and I love eating out, but there are a few things I could live without.  I don’t like being snubbed.
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Posted: Nov 15, 2006 11:51am ET
Hello! My name is Claudine Pépin, aka "the Daughter," and I am delighted, honored and somewhat mystified that I have been invited by the staff at Wine Spectator to chat with (and at) all of you. I hope that you'll all ask lots of questions, or it's going to be a very long month.
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