I could understand waiting in line if it was something so utterly unique and stupendous “nothing like it ANYWHERE!”. But in the SF Bay Area, there’s very little that falls under that category. We are divinely spoiled by an abundance of choices, LOL.
We have the luxury of being able to go almost any time, but even so I know that reservations in advance are essential (such as trying to get into Belotti/Oakland, Farmhouse Inn/Forestville, or La Folie/SF on a weekend for dinner).
But if any of them can’t take us…well, there’s probably 12,000+ restaurants around the immediate Bay Area. It might not be our first choice - but it might turn out to be even better.
I’m reminded of this because we re-visited Iyasare/Berkeley on a Wed eve. last week. We had not been here since early 2014. It used to have lines out the door, even with reservations, almost every day.
Now? Empty at 6p. Maybe half-full by 7:30p. Yet the cooking was better than ever. We were amazed and impressed; it isn’t often a restaurant that’s been around for several years will improve noticeably. Kamio’s new uni risotto with matsutake mushroom broth wowed both of us; we actually thought it better than his original uni risotto which was stellar.
But everybody runs to the hottest/newest places, and those open for a couple of years are considered “yesterday” - even when they deserve to be applauded. This was food several levels better than the current overdone ramen craze (and admittedly, a lot more expensive).
My experience of Asian trendsetters here in Sydney is that they are just as on-trend as other groups, posting and instagramming the latest hot spot. They will be queuing equally for the latest burger pop-up (In-N-Out) or the latest dim sum place (Tim Ho Wan from Hong Kong)
Yes. I totally forgot about the lines at Tartine, Swan… There’s definitely a tourist effect for those two. Although I am thinking about the ridiculous weekend wait at Koi Palace and wonder if its truly nonpareil- i think they are good, but earth-shattering enough to justify that kind of wait.
Cheesecake Factory too?
I am curious, did the lines get longer compared to pre-social media days?
In general I agree re: HONK(very funny) but I used to be fond of their HONK scallops, because it was basically a whole meal on one plate. It did taste a lot like everything else there though.
It began when Patricia Unterman posted a gushing review of House of Nanking in the Chronicle in the runup to the Chinese New Year festivities in 1989 and every visitor to Chinatown had to check it out. That put it on the path to inclusion in every San Francisco guidebook ever published since that day.
It was novel, and not that bad at first, then Peter Fang discovered that every gueilao with a sweet tooth loved the red sauce (more Jiangnan than Shanghai style) and started dousing every dish with it.
B[quote=“Souperman, post:27, topic:6820”]
It was novel, and not that bad at first, then Peter Fang discovered that every gueilao with a sweet tooth loved the red sauce (more Jiangnan than Shanghai style) and started dousing every dish with it.
[/quote]
I’ve wondered how his daughter’s place, Fang, is. On top of the regular stuff, as pictured on Yelp, they have a handwritten Chinese menu, or at least at one time had.
“are there the same queues in France, Italy or Spain…?”
No queueing in France.
First of all, the bistros tend to be small, not like these huge dining halls in US restaurants. Therefore if a queueing system exists in France, one risks waiting for a very long time.
And the bistros much prefer that the diners reserve, possibly mainly to allow the chef to ensure fresh ingredients in small quantities.
The only place that has a substantial queue in Paris is a Vietnamese pho place on rue Volta/rue au Maire.
Going to SF soon and dreading the queues.
There is no queuing in Spain either. Or, as in Frane, only minimal queuing.
Restaurants who encourage queuing instead of relying more on a reservation system may want to create an image of being sought after, which attracts even more queuers. – Sort of like some Paris that notoriously do not answer their phone. I won’t name names.
Generally no, a few bistrots have no reservation policy, including La Cocotte or Yves Camdeborde’s Le Comptoir. I seldom queue but really want to try Le Comptoir, it was a Saturday and I waited for 1 hour for a 7:30 meal. I think it didn’t worth the hype, as many bistrots this level accepted reservations. I noticed most people queuing were tourists.
You can see some queuing (around 10-20 minutes) before some good Asian restaurants (Chinese, Vietnamese or Japanese). Also, few minutes queues in front of better bakeries or pastries shops.
There are always some queuing in the Fooding events, to get your individual dishes. So go early if you want to eat all the dishes.
Nice to see you posting Parigi - always good to read.
Its good to hear things haven’t changed.
I did wonder if a there were any on-trend hipster places that were generating queues. I was hoping the range of great food made it less likely that fashion/FOMO would dictate popularity.
Just returned home from Northern Italy and loved the the depth of food culture. I fondly think we have good food in Sydney but in Italy we were eating well, without too much effort, no reservation anxiety, and no small plate tyranny. It was also great value for money. A pleasant change.
The Comptoir du Relais’s queuing system is an exception.
Yesterday I saw a queue of 2 dozen hipsters on the oppressively hip rue des Martyrs, in the middle of the afternoon. It was for a waffles place, lol.
The only meal-serving place, besides le Comptoir du Relais (I always write out the full name because a Paris visitor upon recommendations once went to a restaurant called le Comptoir and had bad Lebanese food. There is also the very good Comptoir-Canailles and other Comptoirs coming out of our ears, lol), is the pho place on the corner on rue Volta and rue au Maire, as I mentioned upthread. Oh and Frenchies To Go. This queuing genre is generally not a thAng.
“I did wonder if a there were any on-trend hipster places that were generating queues.”
As I just replied upthread, besides Le Comptoir du Relais and the pho place on rue Volta and that tapas place in Upper Marais whose name escape senile me, I can’t think of many others. A Noste has a bit of a queue during rush hour, never too long a queue and never long waits.
“I was hoping the range of great food made it less likely that fashion/FOMO would dictate popularity.”
I’m afraid I don’t understand this part. Senility must be taking away my English.
In general in Paris the hipster places do not have good food. There are exceptions. But it’s like Chinese restaurants with a beautiful - instead of crappy - interior. When you enter a Chinese restaurant and see a well-designed interior, your heart sinks. Ditto with hipster restos. Some of the more outer-lying good bistros escape this rule, like Mamagoto, Flesh, etc.
“Just returned home from Northern Italy and loved the the depth of food culture. I fondly think we have good food in Sydney but in Italy we were eating well, without too much effort, no reservation anxiety, and no small plate tyranny. It was also great value for money. A pleasant change.”
All true. I do love the simple, streamlined, non-fussy good food of Italy. Sometimes that kind of dining experiecne is more deeply satisfying than the more sophisitcated class of restaurants. Returning to Rome for Xmas-New Year. Can’t wait.
I was postulating that because many European food cultures have depth and breadth in terms of the food available there is nothing especially hip and fashionable about another good restaurant. Unlike other countries where the good new ones are still exceptions and thus need to be instagrammed in order to prove you are in the know.
I think the hipster/good food thing is very country dependent. If the food culture is lacking then it can be hipster to be doing something interesting in food (in a hipster interior/fitout). If the food culture is mainstream then by definition it not attractive to hipsters so the hipster fitouts are all form and no substance.
Craft beer, bread, and bar dining are examples here in Sydney where the hipsters passion and efforts have raised standards and increased variety.
Often the case. However, interestingly, here in Australia, I see a lot of the kids of the Asian immigrants who came here from the 70’s now opening very good restaurants based on their family heritage.
Many are also very hip and have a love of good design. So we are lucky are to have both good food and decent interiors.
It lets you show how cool you are that you know about an “obscure” restaurant serving the best soup dumplings that were previously only available in a cool foreign country.
And other cool people will be in line with you, so you can check each other out and hook-up, or look each other up on Tinder.
I don’t think people standing in line feel cool. Ask them and 9 out of 10 would probably tell you that standing in line is a nuisance, whether for croissants, or ice cream, or porchetta sandwiches, or burritos, or pasta. It’s the people who get in when there’s no line, before the places become famous, who feel cool.
