Right then. What do you say we fire this puppy up? Apologies on a slow start this Monday AM. Hopefully we can make it up to you with huge piles of Eater goodness for the duration.
A dispatch of note from the Stillmans' Quality Meats:
Went to Quality Meats last night. The space is gorgeous, but Avro-ko is going to have to start inventing some new designs, because they’re quickly becoming a one trick pony.Yee Haw. Happy Monday.Anyway, the drama was table side last night. The four top next to us was completely obnoxious. When the executive chef, Craig Koketsu, came out to carve their 64oz rib eye for two tableside they started berating him and tried to get him to do tequila shots. He politely demurred, and they started calling him names. It was painful to watch. It was the razorback of the group’s birthday, and they were in rare form. So then after they finish their meal, they berated the waitress on how much they didn’t like one their steaks (after they ate all of it). Disclaimer: everything we ate was great, steaks especially. Then they got the manager involved. They bitched him out, and then bitched out the waitress again. Finally, as it turned out the CEO of the Smith and Wollensky Restaurant Group was in house overseeing the opening. He went over to the table to table like the very Godfather of Steak, very smooth, completely professional, and with a quiet reserve and “forty years in this business” tried to resolve the situation. The guy was frothy at this point, and there was nothing that was going to make him happy short of euthanasia. They proceeded to tell off the CEO about how they couldn’t be bought off with free food and how he doesn’t know how to prepare steak, etc. After that their check quickly appeared and they thankful left. The CEO was a gentleman apologized to us and sent us a bottle of dessert wine for having to play audience to the debacle. The whole situation was completely ridiculous, and I commend the staff of QM for maintaining such a high level of professionalism in face of such drunken abuse. I'd have kicked the guy out on his ear…
