Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

kiwi9717, thanks ! I will definitely check them out.

Folks, go easy on the good ol' Tamas here, he is locked in mortal combat on a lonely crusade against the evils of our culinary world.

@jcruz, I meant it as a joke. Please don't go out there searching for precracked eggs.

Sudenveri, I totally disagree with you. As a professional with a pretty solid reputation (cookbooks on the bestseller list, etc...) she should have been obligated to point out to S. Lee how ridiculous her request really was. The article does not mention whether she tried, so we have to presume that she did not. The way this article sounded, was like she derived a guilty pleasure in watching someone with no sense of taste go on and on. I know how working for commission feels, my wife works on commission and it's not an easy job. I would not defend SL on any day, but this feels like a mature adult taking an advantage of a simpleton.

Same parent company now owns the travel channel ? I guess that would explain why that channel has turned to total crap. What a waste.

No, I did not see that episode, but I wish I did. Is that show still on ?

Especially after C. Cosentinos' touching recounter of how it felt to slaughter an animal with his own hands (in the last issue of Food & Wine)
That was powerful stuff.

Maybe MaltyMom is Paula Deen's mom ? Hence the foaming at the mouth, defending its kin.
But you do have to give Paula her due, she did become a successfull busineswoman from nothing. I for one will never cook or eat anything she makes, but I do recall (vaguely) that she did not advocate eating like this on a daily basis either. Love her or hate her, she did find her niche in life.

Go to menupages.com and click on gastropub. From your description, I think this is what you're looking for.

Save yourself an hour and don't stand on line for Shake Shack. It's a an ok burger but mostly hype.

@cybercita, with the prices they were charging, I'm not surprized.

I am not defending this, but there is a reasoning behind it. If you running a franchise, you don't want individuality in every place, you want a sense of familiarity. You want everyone to dress and act the same way. This behaviour may have worked well in some trial places and so they extend it to all locations.
And seriousb, what do you mean noone told him to do it ? His wife told him to stand there and shake hands with everyone, or else !
(just kidding of course, he is a great chef)

I've read some time ago either here or on some other blog, that some restaurants, especially chain ones, require their servers either to introduce themselves by name or get down to the customer eye level (by either kneeling at the table or sitting down next to them). The servers themselves may hate it, but they have to follow the corporate culture imposed on them. You will never see this in higher end restaurants, but in more casual places run by some corporate office this may be the norm.