Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Though not a great one for formality, I do think it is important to be comfortable enough to enjoy your food. I'd love to try the food at Ko, and don't need to be pampered ,hovered over, or draped with fine linen. I don't need a long adjective-laden description of what I'm going to eat, and I'm happy to have whatever's being served. It all sounds like great fun.

But I can't hope to concentrate on/enjoy the food while sitting on a backless stool at a counter, because my back and legs will hurt the whole time. I know there are a lot of people like me in this regard, because I know many of them. personally. I guess it's so difficult to get in that another layer of exclusivity doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

But I think it would be a mistake to imply that any problem folks have with the setup is due to fussy pretentiousness or a need to be coddled. Real chairs are not extravagent- they have them at Bruegger's for heavenssake.

I moved to pittsburgh 2 years ago and as a vegetarian, haven't always had the most exciting choices when dining out. For the first time in a long time, my own (retched) cooking has been more exciting. I know I can't compare it to New York, but either I need vegetarian suggestions or the city has an need and opening for this corner of the market.

Anyway some friends dragged me out this week to a bar/lounge called the Firehouse for a cocktail and appetizers and I was very excited by my options on the menu. I wasn't stuck with grilled cheese, a salad, or a veggie patty. The menu was tapas style, but I would have to say some of the best food in the city ( and a beautiful, extensive wine list to boot).

I had great service there at Ko, but i cannot compare it to four star restaurants because I've never been to one. Maybe some people expect too much? Some may have this idea that "I am paying for service!"

No, I am sorry. You are paying for a product, or the right to try a product. It just so happens that expensive restaurants care about service because they know they are expensive and want patrons to come back. The price is tied to demand and rent rates, not to how well they feel customer services is, and what ppl would put up with.

Experience is so tightly tied to expectations, and I had high expectations of the food, and it was such an enjoyable experience. Maybe I did not go in expecting to be pampered, and that helped.

@susquehanna, regarding Bourdain:

Yes, I was really frustrated too. I guess that it was to be expected, with a young crowd of line cooks. Though I probably wouldn't mind having a beer with Tony, that is for sure! I think that he was probably slightly amused but I'm sure he thought it was a little obnoxious and was being gracious. I also, was a little too shy - the girl next to me asked a question. Although, after I got home, I thought of the perfect question: "Was the photo shoot in My Last Supper your idea?" :)

@Susquehanna:

My husband and I were at the Bourdain lecture last night too. I was also seated in the second balcony, right in front of a group of restaurant folk who were so rowdy they made it hard to hear his responses during the Q&A. I think anyone who has read his books or watched NR fairly often has heard what he had to say before, though he certainly has his schtick down pat! We did enjoy the lecture despite the lame Q&A.

@Littlebluesiren: I was at Bourdain's lecture. Up in the second balcony. Weren't you frustrated with the audience's lame questions? Nobody asked about projects he may be developing, Top Chef, his best frenemy Ruhlman, or what it's like being a new dad. Shyness kept me from the Q & A mike. Wish I wasn't that way.

Anyway, the Pgh line cook contingent was out in full force! Can you believe how they were begging the man to go out for drinks with them or to "come back to my restaurant"? Do you think he was genuinely amused with this -- 'cause he was laughing pretty hard -- or was he just smitten with how pathetic the quality of the Q & A had become? Maybe it's a common thing at his public appearances.

@anybody: Did anybody else go to Bourdain's Drue Heinz lecture?