Gin for PMS. It really works-found it in an old remedies book. I guess it's a mild diuretic (to ease bloat) as well as the slightly "who-gives-a-crap" qualities provided by the alcohol. And the book said it works better at room temp. I have no idea why, but it seems to be true.

The whole "put a fish we want to get rid of on a plank of wood" thing. The same fish, which is probably getting a little tired and needs to move, would be $6 cheaper without the inedible wood, and I, for one, am not a fan of splinters in my salmon.

Duck, lamb, rare beef (in a good chophouse).
Thai coconut milk soup.
Chiles rellenos. Rajas.
Veal at an Italian restaurant. Especially Saltimbocca.
Anything called "braised" or "slow-cooked".
Smoked meats. Smoked fish.
Any of those salads that have a great cheese (goat, roquefort, Maytag) coupled with fancy nuts (macadamias, candied walnuts/pecans, hazelnuts) and bits of fruit (especially apples or pears). It's gotten so bad with these salads that DH just calls them "Mandy Salads", because he knows they're my kryptonite.

Okay, so it's not in the graveyard, but my fave seems to be long gone...Coconut Almond Fudge Chip. I found it in scoop shops for a while, but can't even find it there in the last two or three years. Maybe it's just not a hit in Southern California, where I'm now living? Dunno, but boy howdy, I miss that stuff!

Norm's in Torrence. DH and I drove all the way from Carpinteria (by Santa Barbara) on a date-night because we'd seen the commercials and were anxious to try a "real" diner. Apparently had we turned left rather than right on the 1 in Santa Monica, we could have experienced the terrible food an hour earlier...but we turned right and followed PCH all the way to Torrence (admittedly, on a kid-free date-night, we like to go for drives and listen to OUR music). It was poorly lit, dingy, rather smelly, and some of the vinyl booths were repaired with duct tape. Rather than the late night crowd of hipsters we were expecting, it was full of teenaged boys eating the $4.99 prime rib special. I think I've effectively blocked out what we ate, suffice to say that I had an egg-thing and he had a sandwich-thing. It was awful and we had a two-plus hour drive back home to our ONE bathroom. It was a long night, and not so romantic.
Joe's Crab Shack sucks, too...Father's Day dinner @ the Ventura location last year...ick...and I'm pretty sure our waitress was cranked out.

Fresh pina coladas...coconut, pineapple and spice notes from the rum...yum!

Wow...I wish most of you drank at MY bar!

I have been a bartender for almost a decade, and am working for the first time in a very upscale establishment ($11-21 for a martini-style drink). All of our drinks are handshaken, use fresh fruits and fresh-squeezed juices and premium spirits. An average bloody mary takes a while to make, as we grind our own celery salt and grate our own horseradish. A mojito or a bramble can take even longer, what with the hand-selection of the best mint and berries and the muddling. I take a lot of pride in the drinks I serve, I love my job, and I always serve them with a smile.

You would be appalled (or if you're not, I may be describing you) at the stingy tips I get. Many people even use the higher price of a drink as the reason for not tipping better! As though I set the prices! I make minimum wage, and don't expect a lot from a patron if all I'm doing is pouring a glass of wine or a pint of beer. But if I'm making you a $16 bramble with fresh mint, limes and blackberries, I damn well expect more than a dollar!

And for those of you concerned with the poor service of cocktail waitstaff adversely affecting your bartender, you're absolutely right. I work where there is a generous "tip-out" from the servers, and I still get only 8% of their total liquor sales at the end of an evening (usually works out to $15-20 per server). So if they screw up your table and you tip them 10% on the total bill, I'm seeing 30-80 cents on that table. If your drink is great but your server sucks, by all means, stop by the bar on your way out and TIP THE TENDER! We will remember and be appreciative...and you'll probably not get sat down in the crappy section ever again (yes, we can influence these things).

Phew...glad that's off my chest.

I work in a very upscale bar and restaurant in Southern California. I personally think that most people don't tip as well as they would if they knew what goes on with their tip after they leave it. A server in our restaurant has to tip out 5% of their sales to the expediters (the gentlemen who keep track of the courses as they come out and deliver them to the tables...these are the guys you see who don't actually take your order or reccommend wine to you, but can balance five plates on each arm). Then that server must tip out the same percentage to their bussers (who are resposible for clearing, keeping waters filled, bringing bread and butter, etc). Then the servers must tip out their bartender, based upon their liquor sales figures (that's me..oh, and then I also must tip out bussers and expediters for bringing and/or clearing any food consumed at the bar). So say the bill is $100. That's $5 to the bussers, $5 to the expediters, another few bucks for me if the diners drank...and if the diners left 15% ($15), the server is keeping a few bucks.
Granted, this is a problem. And it becomes more of a problem because then a server feels cheated and doesn't tip out internally the way s/he should. So things happen like that particular server's food always seems to come out a bit late, or the waters don't get filled as promptly as they could, or the drinks seem to be a bit weak...and then the cycle begins anew with the leaving of a smaller-than-average tip.
I don't know the solution. I know I'm irritated when I make drinks all night for a particular server and I get three dollars from them at the end of the night while they are claiming "bad tippers". But I know the servers are irritated at having had sales figures on food totalling $1500-2000 and walking out of the restaurant with 80 bucks. Maybe if we were salaried, this wouldn't be the case. But a lot of bartenders and servers I know do these kinds of jobs for the cash...there is an attraction in being able to put one's paychecks in the bank and never touch them because there is always cash in the pocket. Having served and bartended for years, I am a good tipper...quite good...but with the internal tip-out system varying from place to place, even I don't know if the tip I'm leaving will come out accurate for everyone in the end...and I can't afford to start tipping 40-50% across the board.
Phew...what's to be done?

I love a belgian fries place in San Francisco called Frjtz (yes, no "i"), and they serve an amazing amount of dipping sauces. My favorites are the curried ketchup and the balsamic mayo...yum, yum, yum.

I make and freeze baba ganoush every summer and it turns out surprisingly well...just be sure that the container in which you freeze is airtight, as freezer-burnt baba is no ganoush (I couldn't resist)!

Quiche! Yum! Roasted veggie quiche sounds fantastic...or a frittata, whatever your pleasure.

I'm such a cliche...I can't get enough for 4 days out of every month...the rest of the time, I can take it or leave it, but for four days? Give me flourless chocolate cake or give me death!