Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Two Dumps Where Only
The Rats Dine Now

WI-FI.
Very inviting.

9 comments:

Weird Dave said...

Not that I really care, but I wonder why some restaurants last six months and some last for years and years.

BadTux said...

1. Location, location, location
2. Incompetence. Actually running a restaurant profitably requires a set of skills that most wanna-be restaurateurs do not have.
3. Surliness. You have to be able to market yourself and your venue as a friendly place to visit. You can't do that if you're a jerk. Unless you're the Soup Nazi, of course. But there is only one Soup Nazi. And he's fictional.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Ortolan? They named their restaurant after the cruelest food ever?

M. Bouffant said...

Fine Dining Editor:
My fave stat factoid is that two thirds of restaurants don't last a yr. Or half don't last six mos. Or whatever it is. Risky, is what.

I wondered about location; these two ex-restaurants are about four blks. apart on a strip w/ plenty of thriving (& a few not as thriving, also too) culinary enterprises.

Jesus gawd, every time I messed w/ the photos I thought "I should see just what Ortolan translates as/means," but didn't. Now I wish you hadn't. Gaackk!! Maybe they'll call their next effort Veal-in-a-Box.

Weird Dave said...

mmmmmmm..Bite off the head and discard. L'ortolan should be served immediately; it is meant to be so hot that you must rest it on your tongue while inhaling rapidly through your mouth. This cools the bird, but its real purpose is to force you to allow its ambrosial fat to cascade freely down your throat.

M. Bouffant said...

Nauseated Editor:
Blecchh! I've never been more tempted to delete a non-spam comment. Or to give up food entirely.

Weird Dave said...

A few small asides:

The more cynical among us might think something like that would go over great in L.A.
(Wadda ya think? $200 a boid? $300? Ah fug it. $500 a boid. We'll have 'em standing around the block.)

And that such food exists is yet another good indication that there is something seriously, seriously wrong with my species.

M. Bouffant said...

Not a Lawyer But ... Editor:
I dunno, my interpretation of this: "In California, a ban was signed into law in 2004 by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; it forbids the in-state sale and production of products derived from force-fed birds. Restaurateurs and Sonoma Foie Gras, the only producer in California, were given eight years — until July 1, 2012 — to adapt" sez no ortolan either.

Also: Been dark for three yrs. And who knew?
Ortolan, which Emé owned with his wife Jeri Ryan, earned high praise from Jonathan Gold, who wrote "At a time when half the émigré chefs in California are putting their knowledge of Escoffier to work cooking pasta, Ortolan, which reflects Christophe Emé's Loîre-trained palate, may be the most serious French restaurant in Los Angeles."

M. Bouffant said...

Last Word Editor:
Good news!! The one in Leafs Suck! is still open.