Sure, the car might not be flash and maybe you have to wait longer to get a ride and you can't book one in advance (at least, not in my experience), but at the very least you can expect to get to where you paid to be taken to.

They're still operating as a taxi and should be subject to the same regulations. McDonalds might not be fine dining, but I still expect the food to be edible and not poison me.

I think we agree on most of this, tbh

The $1k pie is just a low-class parody of fine dining - 'let's throw the most expensive shit we can find into a pile and eat it,' which coincidentally is the exact thinking of a monumentally hung over 16-year old with billionaire parents.

Still, I wish these two pizza places existed in my town. Not because I would want to eat at either of them, but because I want to explore the range of options the market would hopefully fill the space between the extremes with. There might be a time, let's say once a year or so, that I want to try a pizza that costs and is worth $50-$60. I kind of wish I had that option.

Also I want a place that serves pizza made from real pokemon.

"[A Lord] said he had been left “scarred” after his dinner booking was cancelled suddenly. He complained that his wife was “unable to lunch elsewhere” because she was wearing a tiara." -- Independent

I would like to try to drown them in a bowl of eel pudding, the lot of 'em. Do I have your blessing?

Only thing that bothers me about Chicago deep-dish is how "fashionable" it has become (I'm looking at your SF) when really, it is no-where near as good as a thin, crisp slice of super greasy New York cheese. In SF there are tons of these places masquerading as fine-dining when the corner "New York" pizza shop down the block, playing metal to their pet cockroaches whilst stoned out of their minds make better pie for less.

One "slice" of Chicago deep-dish and I feel like I'm going to fall asleep from a heart-attack.

I bet that asshole goes to a fine dining restaurant and has dessert with an assload of creme fresh and doesn't understand that he's a hypocrit.

Macaronis, "cheese" and BREAD CRUMBS?

- Wow, that is some fine dining there, American business man!

Ok, weird tangent. I used to work in a fine dining restaurant here in Australia. On the night of the opening of the Sydney Olympics, I was working in the private dining room of the restaurant, serving a group of 20-odd rich white people. There was much debate about who would light the o;ympic flame that night, and I was coming in and out of the room giving updates of who was holding the torch etc. Each prominent (white) Australian athlete who held the flame met with grand approval from the room, until I came in announcing that Cathy Freeman, an Aboriginal athlete and most prominent Australian track star at the time (and since, to be fair) had lit the flame. The announcement was met with cold shock, and a number of "I'm not racist, but she's not appropriate etc etc..." sentences.

I can't put words in their mouths, but I'm confident they would all argue that they don't believe one race has a moral right to dominate another. However, it seemed to me that the main reason for their displeasure was the race of the athlete, and that they were indeed racist.

Where does this fit within your consciousness argument?

Love this movie and the book, but as a historian I felt it necessary to poke 2 holes in both. Napoleon is meant to resemble Stalin and all the horrific things he and his regime enacted. However I must bring into the picture that 1) in response to Napoleon being portrayed as a lover of lush things, fine dining, and expensive living costs; in reality Stalin lived a rather simple personal life. His own personal manor was no more fabulous than a member of the upper-middle class regardless of how revered he made himself out to be and 2) Stalin was made out to be an obsessive lover of Whiskey and liquor when in reality he very rarely indulged in them. Stalin actually would drink white wine or water and tell his comrades, whom he would invite to meetings to get drunk, that he was drinking hard liquor/vodka so they would get drunk while he remained sober. In this manner, Stalin was able to take advantage of his drunken counterparts and gain information from them they wouldn't ever dare tell sober. I'm not taking up for Napoleon (Stalin) by any account; they are both complete monsters. I am however pointing out some obvious holes in Orwell's theory while creating this fantastic tale.

I watched coverage of this on Al Jazeera English, but I found an equivalent video which covers the same center and program.

I don't really know how to react to this step by Saudi Arabia, but it really seems like another form of their policy to sedate and control the populace and most important of all make it clear to the outside world that it is countering fundamentalist terrorism. The Al Jazeera report went indepth on the counter-terrorist component of Saudi Arabia.

But this program is almost like a halfway house for curing terrorism by making these individuals submit utterly to the state, which provide finical help, jobs and apartment space. Everything is suddenly forgiven, one of them actually claimed that he was a victim of the suicide bomb that he himself detonated, that he did know that was going to happen, that he thought he would die fighting the enemies of Islam. That's just inexcusable, they didn't know? What did they expect? They would go to Iraq and pelt the Americans with rocks?

I can just imagine the disgust people in the west would feel seeing former terrorists playing PES 2008 on PS2, enjoying fine dining, drawing pictures and living in absolutely immaculate conditions. The defense is that these people were wholly ignorant before. But I simply cannot agree to that.

I really don't know what to think.

Your food looks great!

I would come to Vancouver just to eat at your restaurant.

As an aside. My lady friend and I went to New York for my first vacation in 4 years. My goals were:
1) to eat at Carnegie Deli( or Katz's, Russ & Daughters)
2) have an H&H bagel
3) go to Gray's Payaya
4) see a show
5) go to central park
6) to eat at a Mario Batali restaurant (My #1 goal, a tasting menu for two)

So we made reservations at Del Posto (we asked too late to get us something at Babbo, and Lupo). My fiancee and I love great food, in a way fine dining is one of our hobbies. Once month we go out and try a new nice restaurant.

A Batali restaurant is high on my list of places to try. I have to say, I was not impressed. The service was good, though I have had better. Our table was dirty and the server was slow. My biggest problem was the palette we were given was less than spectacular and not cohesive.

My lady had the monk fish and I had the duck. The fish was overcooked and the duck was not pleasant. The biggest problem was the Duck however,

Duck Breast on a bed of polenta, padded with coarse toasted corn meal with black olives.

My friends it was no good. The polenta was overcooked, the olives were too astringent, and the toasted corn meal gave the duck a cereal taste that was not appetizing. I know what you are thinking, who am I to tell Mario Batali what does and doesn't work. Seriously, though this was not a good dish. It was bad take on a french dish I have had before. No good, friends and certainly not for the price tag at $300.

Moral of the story, all is not what it seems on TV.

After watching more videos on tasting menus I have come to appreciate what they are. I guess I more rail against the restaurants that serve up tiny dishes as THE meal... no large number of courses.

I would have been there in a flash if I were anywhere near Vancouver!

I've discovered a highly regarded restaurant which does tasting menus a couple of hours from me... one day I shalst go.

Good luck, hope it goes well.

In reply to this comment by djsunkid:
Mheh- too bad you're missing out on this:
http://www.videosift.com/talk/Sift-Up-in-Vancouver-Whos-Coming#comment-526180

No dandelion petal unfortunately, but each course will only be a few bites.

Then again, it is 12 courses, not just 3 or 4

In reply to this comment by spoco2:
>> ^djsunkid:
Sorry, have to downvote. It was a reflex reaction when they showed mcdonalds with fine dining over it. Want to see american fine dining? Try Alinea or MOTO or The French Laundry, or WD-50, or any of a hundred different places. America actually does have a cuisine. STFU. Fucking big mac. Argh.

I just watched the Alinea video, and while I'm sure the food is delicious, I HATE that form of cuisine...
"Here is your main meal sir"
"Where?"
"There sir, on the plate"
"I can see a flower petal on a stick"
"Yes sir, that is your meal, a dandelion petal infused with Yak butter broth, perched delicately atop a reduction of baby seal flipper, drizzled with aioli and ground camel hoof."
"Well, that sounds great, but I think I'll eat that in, erm, one, maybe two mouthfuls"
"Ahh, but of course, you just need to order another 18 courses sir"
"This one cost me $45 on its own!"
"Is sir a cheapskate?"
"No, but I do need to pay the bills"
"I scoff at you sir... scoff"

Really, a complete wank... I enjoy good food, I enjoy food with great presentation, but I can NEVER come at food where the portion sizes are so insanely small that even after a 3 or 4 course meal you're left empty. I don't suggest just going to a steakhouse and getting the largest damn slab o' meat you can, but come on, I go out to EAT not to sample.

Mheh- too bad you're missing out on this:
http://www.videosift.com/talk/Sift-Up-in-Vancouver-Whos-Coming#comment-526180

No dandelion petal unfortunately, but each course will only be a few bites.

Then again, it is 12 courses, not just 3 or 4

In reply to this comment by spoco2:
>> ^djsunkid:
Sorry, have to downvote. It was a reflex reaction when they showed mcdonalds with fine dining over it. Want to see american fine dining? Try Alinea or MOTO or The French Laundry, or WD-50, or any of a hundred different places. America actually does have a cuisine. STFU. Fucking big mac. Argh.

I just watched the Alinea video, and while I'm sure the food is delicious, I HATE that form of cuisine...
"Here is your main meal sir"
"Where?"
"There sir, on the plate"
"I can see a flower petal on a stick"
"Yes sir, that is your meal, a dandelion petal infused with Yak butter broth, perched delicately atop a reduction of baby seal flipper, drizzled with aioli and ground camel hoof."
"Well, that sounds great, but I think I'll eat that in, erm, one, maybe two mouthfuls"
"Ahh, but of course, you just need to order another 18 courses sir"
"This one cost me $45 on its own!"
"Is sir a cheapskate?"
"No, but I do need to pay the bills"
"I scoff at you sir... scoff"

Really, a complete wank... I enjoy good food, I enjoy food with great presentation, but I can NEVER come at food where the portion sizes are so insanely small that even after a 3 or 4 course meal you're left empty. I don't suggest just going to a steakhouse and getting the largest damn slab o' meat you can, but come on, I go out to EAT not to sample.

But nobody says that fast food is America's fine dining. As a fan of american fine dining, that really rubs me the wrong way. Especially because not everybody knows about the real american cuisine.

It's funny, I really would like to go to those restaurants, but I'm *SO* not crossing the border into that crazy country as things are now. I love america's food, but hate american politics.

In reply to this comment by MrFisk:
In reply to this comment by djsunkid:
Sorry, have to downvote. It was a reflex reaction when they showed mcdonalds with fine dining over it. Want to see american fine dining? Try Alinea or MOTO or The French Laundry, or WD-50, or any of a hundred different places. America actually does have a cuisine. STFU. Fucking big mac. Argh.

I hear you, amigo, but in all fairness USA invented fast food.

>> ^djsunkid:
Sorry, have to downvote. It was a reflex reaction when they showed mcdonalds with fine dining over it. Want to see american fine dining? Try Alinea or MOTO or The French Laundry, or WD-50, or any of a hundred different places. America actually does have a cuisine. STFU. Fucking big mac. Argh.

I just watched the Alinea video, and while I'm sure the food is delicious, I HATE that form of cuisine...
"Here is your main meal sir"
"Where?"
"There sir, on the plate"
"I can see a flower petal on a stick"
"Yes sir, that is your meal, a dandelion petal infused with Yak butter broth, perched delicately atop a reduction of baby seal flipper, drizzled with aioli and ground camel hoof."
"Well, that sounds great, but I think I'll eat that in, erm, one, maybe two mouthfuls"
"Ahh, but of course, you just need to order another 18 courses sir"
"This one cost me $45 on its own!"
"Is sir a cheapskate?"
"No, but I do need to pay the bills"
"I scoff at you sir... scoff"

Really, a complete wank... I enjoy good food, I enjoy food with great presentation, but I can NEVER come at food where the portion sizes are so insanely small that even after a 3 or 4 course meal you're left empty. I don't suggest just going to a steakhouse and getting the largest damn slab o' meat you can, but come on, I go out to EAT not to sample.

>> ^spoco2:
And I'm sorry, but currently... this is kinda how the rest of the world views you.
Hope your next president can turn things around.

I'll accept that observation. Except for the fine-dining. I've eaten very well.