small h

With the caveat that this is an AI response...

Nor can you sit there for a time interacting with them, which is one of the things I like about drinking (and liked about smoking cigarettes).

I am on record as liking that one quite a bit, even though it was rangy, and I prefer a more tightly structured film. I assume you've seen Sinners and Train Dreams?

You might be on Jeopardy some day.

Right, not disputing that. But often there's a list of complicated alcoholic drinks (with fancy ingredients in addition to the alcohol), and another list of complicated non-alcoholic drinks (with fancy ingredients but no alcohol), and the prices for both lists are very close together. So if you're conditioned to see a big difference in price between a vodka soda and a soda soda, you are going to expect that same big difference in price for your fancydrink. Is this expectation correct? Perhaps not. But it's unsurprising.

Good to know, anyway.

Before the "mocktail era," the non-alcoholic drinks on restaurant menus were significantly cheaper than the alcoholic ones. You could order a vodka soda for $10 or a soda for $3. It's not a mystery why people think it's the alcohol driving the price of the drink.

Thanks for the ear worm I hate you now.

I thought it was a good take. Nothing earth-shattering, but hard to argue with.

We have those at our upstate place. One of the only bird calls I recognize!

I guess I don't see it as much of a counterpoint. 'cause this is pretty much what I said myself. But neither is bad, of course. One is just (again, imo) better.

Maybe. But maybe not. cat.mov

How so? They're pretty similar, except (imo) one is better.

I'm a pescatarian. Never had mouse. Lemme ask Laszlo the Wonder Cat for his opinion.

Been there a bunch. I did not see its spruced up later days.

I am a fan of both those cheeses. I just got some Celeste from Cato Corner, and it's too mild for me. I prefer their Gossamer.

Vaguely related - I've stopped into Mudville on Chambers a couple of times this past winter to wait for the bus, and it's pretty fancy. Was it always? I seem to remember a sketchy place on that same block.

Found two packets of Mike's Hot Honey in a cabinet, made a Bee Sting.

Is it for the charoset or the lamb shank? I always forget.

Took my new(ish) oyster plate for a test drive. Works good!

This happened to me during a production of Hair in 2008 (the performance was delayed), and this past summer for Twelfth Night (the performance was cancelled, so we went again).

Well, that explains the bucatini.

I feel like this place must've been mentioned before, but damned if I can find it. We had dinner here on Monday with another couple. It's a very comfortable space, although you need GPS to find the bathroom (it's in the 9 Orchard Hotel). The items on the menu are arranged into "snacks," "appetizers" and "from the grill." Broccolini and tortellini en brodo are appetizers. French fries and beef tartare are snacks. This makes no sense. I started with The Pickle - cornichon gin, giardino secco, centerbe, patino’s pickle bitters. Which is a lot of words to say "gussied-up dirty martini." It was very good, but it also felt a bit too refined for me. I was hoping for a crazy amount of garnishes, not just an austere black olive and a cornichon. Next, the grilled mushrooms with fried egg and crispy buckwheat. I loved this. So much variety in texture that every bite felt like a new dish. It was, however, extremely rich, and I tapped out halfway through and traded the rest for some standard-issue scallop ceviche. And then the bucatini pomodoro, which was a fail. The pasta was overcooked and sticky, the sauce tasted tired and flat, and it was oversalted. Look at that sad piece of basil. I barely made a dent in it. I tried to put things back in the plus column with a sticky toffee pudding, but alas, it was just okay. Nowhere near Dame's version, or the ones I had in Scotland. Oh, well. Pear sorbet felt like an odd choice, but that muscovado sugar crumble made a nice bookend to the kasha.

Clean-out-the-fridge puttanesca.