A Chef's Journey

Lil v loves her celery!

Taken with Instagram at Zum Schneider Restaurant & Biergarten

Going to my great Grandmothers birthday party! (Taken with instagram)

Big bird and little piggys gettin all sweet and salty for tomorrow (Taken with instagram)

Taken with instagram

baddeal:

Gilt City has produced a candidate for Most Aggravating Deal of 2011: Danny Meyer’s The Modern is selling a $210 Veuve Clicquot picnic basket with no Veuve Clicquot. Compare that against a four-course meal for two at The Modern for $196. You reserve the picnic basket 48 hours in advance. But you wait a month to redeem the champagne. To understand why this is such a BAD DEAL, let’s pretend a guy named SUTTON is roaming the mean streets of Midtown Manhattan when a hairy fellow wearing a green bowtie pops out of a dark alley and tries to hawk this deal. We’ll call that guy YOGI. 

YOGI: Hey man, wanna buy a pic-a-nic basket? $210 bucks. 

SUTTON: That’s pricey for for a… . oh wait, are you selling me drugs? 

YOGI: No man, it’s just a picnic basket for two from The Modern. Check out this photo on Gilt City’s website. You get caviar, gazpacho, liverwurst, quail terrine, arugula salad, salmon rilettes, panna cotta, a brownie and champagne. 

SUTTON: What kind of champagne?

YOGI: Half-bottle of Veuve Clicquot. Thing is, we don’t actually give you the champagne when you pick up the picnic basket. 

SUTTON: Come again?

YOGI: Yeah, probably some legal thing. So you don’t get the champagne until you return to the restaurant’s terrace. 

SUTTON: But the Veuve Clicquot is photographed INSIDE the picnic basket on Gilt City’s website. 

YOGI: Read the fine print, hombre: “the image of the picnic basket does not represent the exact menu.” Think of it as metaphorical champagne with air quotes around it. 

SUTTON: Any other caveats? 

YOGI: The champagne “is to be enjoyed at a later date on The Modern’s Terrace between September 15 and October 15.”   

SUTTON: But that’s over a month away! Is the terrace closed until then?  

YOGI: No, the terrace is open. 

SUTTON: Is the champagne on backorder? 

YOGI: No, there’s never a shortage of Veuve Clicquot. 

SUTTON: So I’m putting a three-week down payment on champagne even though they’re selling the same stuff at The Modern right now? And I don’t get a discount? 

YOGI: Bingo! It’s like when Best Buy promises you $300 in savings for that flatscreen television and then they tell you to fill out a mail-in rebate and wait 3-6 weeks. Except in our case, you’re not really getting a rebate. 

SUTTON: Well, can I order the picnic basket without the champagne?

YOGI: No, but truth be told you are getting a picnic basket without champagne. 

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