My wife, our baby and I were patiently waiting fourth, fifth and fifth-and-a-quarter on the line to place an order at the Columbus location of Joe the Art of Coffee, a busy coffee shop near both the real and fictional Upper West Side apartments of Jerry Seinfeld. When a table opened up I told my wife, a polite Englishwoman, to grab the table and sit down with the baby. I’d get the coffees. But just as my wife was laying claim to the table the bored sophomore who was standing ahead of us on line stepped in her way, insisting she was already sitting at that empty table.
In all my years of living in New York and abroad never before had a seen a mortal who was able to stand in line and sit at table at the same time. [Read more...]
We’re always keen to know where chefs choose to dine, ostensibly because they know more about food and what goes on in restaurants than we do. But isn’t it the chefs’ inexperience, as much as their expertise, that makes their dining eatineraries so compelling? With the exception of globetrotting figureheads they generally work mealtime hours. Starved for dining-out opportunities they are desperate to make the most of each one, unlike jaded food critics who can seem equally determined to make the worst of each meal out. 
