Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Restaurant Dirty secrets!

Wow... I just read this article and I am amazed at some of the topics included! (Even worse are some of the comments at the bottom). While some of the stories I could tell about my days waiting tables at Houston's in ATL are entertaining, I will note that I did NOT see gross things like they talked about in the article. I loved Houston's then and still do! Sigh... ask me what I had to ask some of the people who ordered "Prime Rib" sometime and you'll get a chuckle... Cheers, Bo

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

BYOB!

Don't remember what BYOB means? Bring Your Own Bottle! I have mentioned that I love to bring wine to one of our favorite dining spots in Cobb (partly to save money, but mainly due to a limited wine list) but I just learned that there is a new website called "GoBYO.com" that allows you to search for restaurants that allow you to bring your own wine! Not only that, you can search using different zipcodes and you can further narrow it down using filters allowing you to search for the cost of corkage (corkage = a restaurant charge for the 'service' of opening your bottle and providing you glasses). There are a LOT with no fees! How cool is that?

Monday, September 21, 2009

Baby left in car to die; news at 11

Unfortunately we hear a headline like this at least once a year here in the South, either for a baby/child or a dog (insert joke about never hearing about dead cats here). As we all know (but yet someone each year fails to figure this out) a car can turn into a furnace in a VERY short amount of time. Well, we need to keep this in mind when we purchase (and transport) WINE as well! Yes, this is a stretch to compare a human being or animal with wine, but remember that wine is a living creature as well, evolving over time and (hopefully) getting more interesting or complex. If you leave wine in a car, it can die as well! Not only that, it can more or less 'cook' the bottle and its' precious contents! Heat will create pressure on the cork and can push it out of the bottle. Even if it is only pushed up a tiny bit it can allow the cork to seep and make a mess in your car. I learned that one time (even though it was NOT hot outside) when I discovered that the trunk of a previous car got warm just above the exhaust pipe-after a 2 hour road-trip one bottle had already leaked a bit onto other luggage. Just keep that in mind as you travel and even if you're just 'running inside the store for a moment' think about a police officer coming inside to put you under arrest for the 'death' of your vino :)