cornbread February 28, 2013 4:51 PM Subscribe
I BELIEVE ARREST RECORDS ARE PUBLIC RECORD
posted by maryrussell at 4:58 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by maryrussell at 4:58 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
grateful, just wanted to say I nixed the link to this thread in Ask MeFi, since it wasn't helping answer the question. Best to keep the goofy stuff here and not bleeding over to there.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:00 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:00 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
ADORNO MORE LIKE ACORNO
Next stop, Flavortown!
Aren't y'all glad I'm not there, so you can get my knowitallism in convenient pixel format rather than the in-person version?
Seriously, though, one of my "get better" goals is being well enough to come to a meetup someday.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:04 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Next stop, Flavortown!
Aren't y'all glad I'm not there, so you can get my knowitallism in convenient pixel format rather than the in-person version?
Seriously, though, one of my "get better" goals is being well enough to come to a meetup someday.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:04 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
We figure that we have already generated an AskMe and a MetaTalk, so we are hoping backseatpilot gets arrested in a spectacular enough fashion to make the news and consequently become an FPP. This will give us the hat trick.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:05 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:05 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Just make a site about it and post it to projects.
posted by Toekneesan at 5:09 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Toekneesan at 5:09 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
All *I* know is, not a single one of my German relatives knows squat about cornbread --- I still remember the first time I made some for my born & raised-in-Cannstatt grandfather, who asked "what the heck is THIS?"
posted by easily confused at 5:10 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by easily confused at 5:10 PM on February 28, 2013
Write a song about it and post to Music. There's a piano there!
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:10 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:10 PM on February 28, 2013
I'm going to post an IRL meetup at the next table.
posted by bondcliff at 5:11 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by bondcliff at 5:11 PM on February 28, 2013
Heading for a clean sweep of the site here.
PS-- based on Sidhedevil's recommendation, I have had a deep fried pickle for the fist time. Not too shabby.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:13 PM on February 28, 2013
PS-- based on Sidhedevil's recommendation, I have had a deep fried pickle for the fist time. Not too shabby.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:13 PM on February 28, 2013
Cornbread, I mean, not backseatpilot's arrest.
posted by Toekneesan at 5:13 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by Toekneesan at 5:13 PM on February 28, 2013
This is going to look great when my security clearance is up go renewal.
posted by backseatpilot at 5:15 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by backseatpilot at 5:15 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
Is this the fist time is up go renewal? Wish I was there.
posted by Toekneesan at 5:22 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Toekneesan at 5:22 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Wait a second. Are you all at the Mefi meetup right this moment and just sitting there together posting to Mefi? This takes things to a whole new level.
posted by young sister beacon at 5:26 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by young sister beacon at 5:26 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Can someone please tell my boyfriend I sent him a text?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:36 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:36 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
* sideshow bob rake noise *
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:37 PM on February 28, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:37 PM on February 28, 2013 [8 favorites]
Text received by dude next to me.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:38 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:38 PM on February 28, 2013
Oh, man, the piano player just played Wonderful
Tonight. It's like a musical Flavortown!
posted by ignignokt at 5:39 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Tonight. It's like a musical Flavortown!
posted by ignignokt at 5:39 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
fist time
?? That's some meetup you've got going there....
posted by HuronBob at 5:44 PM on February 28, 2013
?? That's some meetup you've got going there....
posted by HuronBob at 5:44 PM on February 28, 2013
PIANO GUY IS PLAYING MY SONG
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:49 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:49 PM on February 28, 2013
(He told me I could tell everyone this is my song. So.)
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:50 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:50 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
At this moment: an analysis of the semiotics of Piano Man.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:51 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:51 PM on February 28, 2013
Hey, Baby, they're playing your song ..
posted by initapplette at 5:54 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by initapplette at 5:54 PM on February 28, 2013
No, Adorno.
posted by Toekneesan at 5:54 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by Toekneesan at 5:54 PM on February 28, 2013
No, but the piano player was playing Your Song and we suck at identifying songs, apparently.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:55 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:55 PM on February 28, 2013
After a long day of academics, a few beers is a good good thing.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:00 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:00 PM on February 28, 2013
restless_nomad will be in Beantown on the 24th, tell folks to get ready for a Meet the Mods meetup later in the month.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:07 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:07 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
I told you it was my song, ricochet biscuit.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:11 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:11 PM on February 28, 2013
Geeze, it's like the end of a John Woo film here, but with phone cameras instead of guns....
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:15 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:15 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
Wicked homesick!
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:28 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:28 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
Ugggh, Jacob Wirth. What an utterly wretched restaurant.
My SO and I were in that end of town looking for a place that sold ice cream floats made with beer, but couldn't find it. Instead, we found Jacob Wirth and got really excited. We rushed in and ordered two draft beers, an order of potato pancakes and an order of Weißwurst with German potato salad. I was really excited about the Weißwurst because I hadn't been able to find any since I lived in Austria.
Just after we'd ordered, we found out that Wednesday afternoons were trivia nights, so we had to listen to this guy's voice over a PA system that was so loud we couldn't hear ourselves think, much less hear each other.
When the food came out, at first I thought we had gotten someone else's order by mistake. My fiancee's potato pancakes were tiny for $6.50, and my meal was unlike anything I'd ever seen in Europe.
What I had expected was at least two steamed Weißwurst on a plate with traditional, cold potato salad, along sweet German mustard. What I got was only one sausage, sliced down the middle and served on a doughy-yet-stale hamburger bun. The sausage didn't even taste like weisswurst- first of all, they're supposed to be steamed, not grilled, and secondly it seemed more like a really tough knockwurst. The potato salad was hot, not cold, and while OK enough it bore no resemblance to anything German. If I recall correctly, the mustard was French's Yellow.
So utterly disappointing. You would think that a city as big as Boston could do a proper German restaurant.
posted by dunkadunc at 6:32 PM on February 28, 2013
My SO and I were in that end of town looking for a place that sold ice cream floats made with beer, but couldn't find it. Instead, we found Jacob Wirth and got really excited. We rushed in and ordered two draft beers, an order of potato pancakes and an order of Weißwurst with German potato salad. I was really excited about the Weißwurst because I hadn't been able to find any since I lived in Austria.
Just after we'd ordered, we found out that Wednesday afternoons were trivia nights, so we had to listen to this guy's voice over a PA system that was so loud we couldn't hear ourselves think, much less hear each other.
When the food came out, at first I thought we had gotten someone else's order by mistake. My fiancee's potato pancakes were tiny for $6.50, and my meal was unlike anything I'd ever seen in Europe.
What I had expected was at least two steamed Weißwurst on a plate with traditional, cold potato salad, along sweet German mustard. What I got was only one sausage, sliced down the middle and served on a doughy-yet-stale hamburger bun. The sausage didn't even taste like weisswurst- first of all, they're supposed to be steamed, not grilled, and secondly it seemed more like a really tough knockwurst. The potato salad was hot, not cold, and while OK enough it bore no resemblance to anything German. If I recall correctly, the mustard was French's Yellow.
So utterly disappointing. You would think that a city as big as Boston could do a proper German restaurant.
posted by dunkadunc at 6:32 PM on February 28, 2013
OH YES and the menu spelled it "Weinerschnitzel".
That alone should tell you that nobody at Jacob Wirth knew anything about German food.
posted by dunkadunc at 6:36 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
That alone should tell you that nobody at Jacob Wirth knew anything about German food.
posted by dunkadunc at 6:36 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Well now I feel bad for enjoying my fish and chips.
posted by bondcliff at 6:44 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by bondcliff at 6:44 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Ugggh, Jacob Wirth. What an utterly wretched restaurant.
So, I guess you'd say it's...Wirthless?
posted by ignignokt at 6:46 PM on February 28, 2013 [14 favorites]
So, I guess you'd say it's...Wirthless?
posted by ignignokt at 6:46 PM on February 28, 2013 [14 favorites]
The piano has some redeeming value, though, no?
posted by backseatpilot at 6:53 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by backseatpilot at 6:53 PM on February 28, 2013
Ironic value only. Dude is entertaining, but it is only because the prospect of a lounge piano renovation of I Wanna Be Sedated is somewhere in our future if we sit here long enough.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:28 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:28 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
We wanted a sedated I Wanna Be Sedated. We didn't receive it. But we did get a version of "Roxanne" that didn't even hit any quarter notes.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:56 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:56 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
There's totally a "So it's not the [word rhyming or alliterating with 'length'], it's the Wirth?" joke to be made about dunk's comment. But I can't make it make sense.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:39 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:39 PM on February 28, 2013
Memorable songs delivered in semi-lounge jazz piano format
Take 5
Summer Night from "GREASE"
Call Me Maybe
Piano Man (of course)
The worst cover of "I Will Survive" I've ever heard
The Theme from Cheers (by request!)
Johnny Be Good
Santeria (never has popping a cap in Sancho sounded so cheerful)
An even worse cover of Roxanne, like wow-bad
I Want It That Way (as we departed, despite my best attempts to get lost in the front of the restaurant)
posted by maryr at 9:41 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
Take 5
Summer Night from "GREASE"
Call Me Maybe
Piano Man (of course)
The worst cover of "I Will Survive" I've ever heard
The Theme from Cheers (by request!)
Johnny Be Good
Santeria (never has popping a cap in Sancho sounded so cheerful)
An even worse cover of Roxanne, like wow-bad
I Want It That Way (as we departed, despite my best attempts to get lost in the front of the restaurant)
posted by maryr at 9:41 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
hey! i got a text message!
posted by not_on_display at 9:44 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by not_on_display at 9:44 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
Johnny Be Good
So, for people cursed not to have come, the guy handed out little booklets listing his repertoire. One of the songs available was "My Ding-a-Ling." We were talking about taking him up on this, but for some reason we didn't follow through.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:45 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
So, for people cursed not to have come, the guy handed out little booklets listing his repertoire. One of the songs available was "My Ding-a-Ling." We were talking about taking him up on this, but for some reason we didn't follow through.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:45 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Just after we'd ordered, we found out that Wednesday afternoons were trivia nights
Ugh, yeah. I've been in that situation multiple times at multiple restaurants, including Jacob Wirth. Trivia night is a neat idea for people who are into it, but it can suck for patrons who accidentally walk into it.
Jacob Wirth aside, I'm just surprised that MetaFilter is doing a Boston meetup. I thought every "Boston" meetup was invariably across the river.
posted by cribcage at 11:11 PM on February 28, 2013
Ugh, yeah. I've been in that situation multiple times at multiple restaurants, including Jacob Wirth. Trivia night is a neat idea for people who are into it, but it can suck for patrons who accidentally walk into it.
Jacob Wirth aside, I'm just surprised that MetaFilter is doing a Boston meetup. I thought every "Boston" meetup was invariably across the river.
posted by cribcage at 11:11 PM on February 28, 2013
I'm sorry, if I'd known people were going to be going to Jacob Wirth, I'd have given you all a heads up about my experience. As well, I'm sure it's a bit better with non-German food on non-trivia nights!
posted by dunkadunc at 11:43 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by dunkadunc at 11:43 PM on February 28, 2013
Dunkadunc: not_on_display and I were talking about the German Lite levels of authenticity on display (heh) there. I reckon that maintaining a German restaurant in central Boston through two world wars must take the edge off the more true Teutonic aspects of the business. They have all kinds of old menus on display around the place; I wonder if you could find one from 1942 or so and see the sauerkraut morphing into "liberty cabbage".
And as with bondcliff, I had fish and chips there and found it quite good.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:56 AM on March 1, 2013
And as with bondcliff, I had fish and chips there and found it quite good.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:56 AM on March 1, 2013
Damnit people stop making me want butter fried cornbread.
posted by The Whelk at 6:51 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 6:51 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I said it last night and I'll say it again: Fried pickles are overrated. The whole sour thing deep fried doesn't do it for me.
That was my second time eating at Jacob Wirth and both times I found it perfectly adequate. Not the best German food I've had, that would be at Heidi's Farmhouse in Twin Mountain, NH, which doesn't exist anymore. But I'm Irish/Italian and don't really know German food beyond "steam brats in beer and onions for 20 minutes, brown on the grill, then eat on a bun with sauerkraut in front of a football game on the TV". I also don't spell Weißwurst with that fancy B thing, so I think it's safe to say I don't know from German food. Maybe not 100% authentic but perfectly adequate food.
I really felt bad for that piano player.
posted by bondcliff at 7:38 AM on March 1, 2013
That was my second time eating at Jacob Wirth and both times I found it perfectly adequate. Not the best German food I've had, that would be at Heidi's Farmhouse in Twin Mountain, NH, which doesn't exist anymore. But I'm Irish/Italian and don't really know German food beyond "steam brats in beer and onions for 20 minutes, brown on the grill, then eat on a bun with sauerkraut in front of a football game on the TV". I also don't spell Weißwurst with that fancy B thing, so I think it's safe to say I don't know from German food. Maybe not 100% authentic but perfectly adequate food.
I really felt bad for that piano player.
posted by bondcliff at 7:38 AM on March 1, 2013
Memories of the Wursthaus (and mustn't forget to mention The Tasty next door) in Harvard Square.
posted by ericb at 9:45 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by ericb at 9:45 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I read that AskMe and it gave me the hankering, so I went to the pantry for a box of Jiffy cornbread mix - a staple that that mom keeps around to make johnny cakes with - but there was no Jiffy mix there because I haven't lived with my mom for 20 years. So I made regular pancakes, and they were good but they had no cornmeal in them at all.
Yeah. True story.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:59 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah. True story.
posted by dirtdirt at 9:59 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Last time I was at Jacob Wirth they actually had Schweinhaxe which wasn't too bad but not nearly as crispy on the outside as you can get in the Fatherland. There really aren't any other options in the area for German food as far as I know... that is, until Bronwyn opens up.
posted by backseatpilot at 11:03 AM on March 1, 2013
posted by backseatpilot at 11:03 AM on March 1, 2013
I'm going to Boston March 18-23.
Am this close to posting an AskMe asking...what on Earth I should do there. And this and the Ask make me think we have some experts here...
posted by RainyJay at 12:48 PM on March 1, 2013
Am this close to posting an AskMe asking...what on Earth I should do there. And this and the Ask make me think we have some experts here...
posted by RainyJay at 12:48 PM on March 1, 2013
ericb: "Memories of the Wursthaus (and mustn't forget to mention The Tasty next door) in Harvard Square."
Hah, last year my SO took me to what she remembered as this amazing German restaurant in Harvard Square. We were confused when it didn't look like what she remembered, the whole place stank of bleach, and the most German thing on the menu was pastrami on rye.
She'd gone to the Wursthaus. We went to Grendel's.
posted by dunkadunc at 1:05 PM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
Hah, last year my SO took me to what she remembered as this amazing German restaurant in Harvard Square. We were confused when it didn't look like what she remembered, the whole place stank of bleach, and the most German thing on the menu was pastrami on rye.
She'd gone to the Wursthaus. We went to Grendel's.
posted by dunkadunc at 1:05 PM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
So sad that many iconic places in the Square have been replaced by pretty middle-of-the-road offerings. At least Cardullo's Gourmet Shop is still around. Frank Cardullo was also the owner of the Wursthaus.
posted by ericb at 1:10 PM on March 1, 2013
posted by ericb at 1:10 PM on March 1, 2013
We went to Grendel's.
Ah yes, Grendel's Den which prevailed at the U.S. Supreme Court in the Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc., 459 U.S. 116 (1982) lawsuit.
Ah yes, Grendel's Den which prevailed at the U.S. Supreme Court in the Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc., 459 U.S. 116 (1982) lawsuit.
“It has become the landmark precedent in the law of separation of church and state because it really was the first case in which the Supreme Court considered this very basic principal of whether religious bodies could be given governmental power,” said Laurence Tribe, a Harvard Law professor and constitutional law scholar who argued the case before the Supreme Court on behalf of Grendel’s Den.*posted by ericb at 1:14 PM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I have an unholy love for Grendel's. There, I said it. Now get me reuben.
posted by backseatpilot at 1:56 PM on March 1, 2013
posted by backseatpilot at 1:56 PM on March 1, 2013
I posted pics. There's one of our piano dude. I can't believe we didn't request My Ding-a-Ling.
posted by not_on_display at 6:45 PM on March 1, 2013
posted by not_on_display at 6:45 PM on March 1, 2013
I'm going to Boston March 18-23.
Am this close to posting an AskMe asking...what on Earth I should do there.
Have a meetup with the locals. I will carry tales of their wisdom and hospitality back to my people in the frozen north and the villages of my children will sing their names.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:48 PM on March 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
Am this close to posting an AskMe asking...what on Earth I should do there.
Have a meetup with the locals. I will carry tales of their wisdom and hospitality back to my people in the frozen north and the villages of my children will sing their names.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:48 PM on March 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
So sad that many iconic places in the Square have been replaced by pretty middle-of-the-road offerings.
I don't think that's a fair statement. I certainly won't defend Qdoba where Bob Slate used to be, but best I can tell, there's no good reason the Chinese place across from the Cambridge Savings Bank survives. Bartley's is loud and kitchy and beloved. Au Bon Pain could be called iconic in Harvard Square (it's in Good Will Hunting! People play chess!) and it's basically equivalent to Panera. I was sad to see it go, but I find I don't really miss Herrell's - JPLicks took over the Tosci's and Lizzy's makes surprisingly good ice cream. The Harvard students seem pretty damn pleased with Pinkberry. I love new additions Clover and Crema and I hear good things about Flat Patties.
Places that are iconic or middle-of-the-road to you may be middle-of-the-road or iconic to the next generation of students or even the next person over. Harvard students seem to adore Pinocchio's for reasons I can't fathom. To me, that lawsuit is the coolest thing about Grendel's. I've never found the food or drinks particularly memorable, although the atmosphere is cozy and it's inexpensive. backseatpilot, who has generally good taste from what I've seen, loves it. Maybe he's right. Maybe you just have to order the reuben to appreciate Grendel's.
Down Mass Ave near the school not named after a subway stop, Mary Chung's is a time-honored site for large group dinners (except on Mondays). It's not particularly standout Chinese food. (I like the baby bok choy and the peking ravioli is hit or miss.) But when my college friends fly in from San Francisco, that's where they want to eat. It's not iconic because it's good. It's iconic because it's nostalgic or established. Similarly, the food and music at Wirth's was solid. Not great, but they seated a large party and there was nothing objectionable about anyone's meal. They had a good beer list and the piano was entertaining in its strengths and weaknesses.
I know I'm guilty of this nostalgic, crotchety thinking myself. It is a small tragedy that The Greenhouse went out of business and was replaced by that tony-looking preppy-named Tory Row restaurant that I've yet to even read the menu for. But, you know, The Greenhouse was just cheap diner food. That giant three layer cake wasn't actually very good. And as much as I loved those greasy omelets, the restaurant had no bathroom, which seems like it can't have been very legal. And the niche that was vacated when it departed has been stepped into by IHOP - which folks seem pretty content with, soulless chain or no. Harvard Square still has plenty of options for food, cheap or expensive, adventurous or average, good or just established or both. You can still stand outside the T station for 20 minutes arguing about where to eat dinner. And you can still conclude that there's no where there you'd want to eat.
posted by maryr at 8:56 PM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
I don't think that's a fair statement. I certainly won't defend Qdoba where Bob Slate used to be, but best I can tell, there's no good reason the Chinese place across from the Cambridge Savings Bank survives. Bartley's is loud and kitchy and beloved. Au Bon Pain could be called iconic in Harvard Square (it's in Good Will Hunting! People play chess!) and it's basically equivalent to Panera. I was sad to see it go, but I find I don't really miss Herrell's - JPLicks took over the Tosci's and Lizzy's makes surprisingly good ice cream. The Harvard students seem pretty damn pleased with Pinkberry. I love new additions Clover and Crema and I hear good things about Flat Patties.
Places that are iconic or middle-of-the-road to you may be middle-of-the-road or iconic to the next generation of students or even the next person over. Harvard students seem to adore Pinocchio's for reasons I can't fathom. To me, that lawsuit is the coolest thing about Grendel's. I've never found the food or drinks particularly memorable, although the atmosphere is cozy and it's inexpensive. backseatpilot, who has generally good taste from what I've seen, loves it. Maybe he's right. Maybe you just have to order the reuben to appreciate Grendel's.
Down Mass Ave near the school not named after a subway stop, Mary Chung's is a time-honored site for large group dinners (except on Mondays). It's not particularly standout Chinese food. (I like the baby bok choy and the peking ravioli is hit or miss.) But when my college friends fly in from San Francisco, that's where they want to eat. It's not iconic because it's good. It's iconic because it's nostalgic or established. Similarly, the food and music at Wirth's was solid. Not great, but they seated a large party and there was nothing objectionable about anyone's meal. They had a good beer list and the piano was entertaining in its strengths and weaknesses.
I know I'm guilty of this nostalgic, crotchety thinking myself. It is a small tragedy that The Greenhouse went out of business and was replaced by that tony-looking preppy-named Tory Row restaurant that I've yet to even read the menu for. But, you know, The Greenhouse was just cheap diner food. That giant three layer cake wasn't actually very good. And as much as I loved those greasy omelets, the restaurant had no bathroom, which seems like it can't have been very legal. And the niche that was vacated when it departed has been stepped into by IHOP - which folks seem pretty content with, soulless chain or no. Harvard Square still has plenty of options for food, cheap or expensive, adventurous or average, good or just established or both. You can still stand outside the T station for 20 minutes arguing about where to eat dinner. And you can still conclude that there's no where there you'd want to eat.
posted by maryr at 8:56 PM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
I left Boston in 2007 and this thread has been quite revelatory in remapping Harvard Square for me. No more Herrell's or the Greenhouse? Qdoba in place of Bob Slate?!
It's not iconic because it's good. It's iconic because it's nostalgic or established.
This is pretty much how I feel about Canter's here in Los Angeles. I suppose the same is true of Pink's Hot Dogs, but that place doesn't even deserve to be patronized, whereas Canter's will do in a pinch.
posted by mykescipark at 9:45 PM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's not iconic because it's good. It's iconic because it's nostalgic or established.
This is pretty much how I feel about Canter's here in Los Angeles. I suppose the same is true of Pink's Hot Dogs, but that place doesn't even deserve to be patronized, whereas Canter's will do in a pinch.
posted by mykescipark at 9:45 PM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Quit talking about cornbread; I can't get it up here in the wilds of Canada. Fuckers.
posted by deborah at 10:57 PM on March 1, 2013
posted by deborah at 10:57 PM on March 1, 2013
Can't you get the ingredients to make cornbread? If you can get chicken and gravy potato chips, you should be able to get cornbread.
posted by booksherpa at 9:26 AM on March 2, 2013
posted by booksherpa at 9:26 AM on March 2, 2013
Here's the thing: I have had cornbread dozens of times in my life -- maybe a hundred -- and I am certain that until last Thursday, every single time I did so was in Canada. I assure you, we have it there.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:54 AM on March 3, 2013
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:54 AM on March 3, 2013
The piano has some redeeming value, though, no?
Smash into firewood-sized pieces, bake campfire cornbread in Dutch oven.
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:51 AM on March 4, 2013
Smash into firewood-sized pieces, bake campfire cornbread in Dutch oven.
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:51 AM on March 4, 2013
Can I just say that I am surprised and delighted: while frequently deletions (usually of posts, but sometimes of comments) occasion bitterness in metatalk, mathowie's mention of the deletion in the original thread garnered a favorite from the user whose comment was axed... and whose username is the entirely apropos 'grateful.' It could scarcely be more meta than that.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:59 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:59 PM on March 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
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posted by backseatpilot at 4:55 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]