Cafe Rouge – two different ways to think about a bad experience
A few years ago, things were rough at school and I was a bittermelon*. I got upset easily, turned people away from me, was critical of everything and mostly found faults in mankind. Long story short, I became a misanthrope and immersed myself in two things: anime and foreign language. Ironically, the former taught me to think more positively, and the latter brought me new friends. Then I realized that when I suppress my negative thoughts, eventually they dissipate on their own and I would feel so much better without bothering anyone with my complaints. In America, we are encouraged to express our negative feelings. People like to see and hear about problems (that’s why the daily news are mostly bad news and the reality shows are full of anger). Some people say that it’s good to let it out. That’s true, but it’s only temporary. Complaining is like eating chips, it’s impossible to stop**. Anger multiplies when it’s let loose. The more cynical I feel about a situation, the more depressing scenarios I envision, and it only goes downhill from there.
These days I try to appreciate everything more, and when some incident doesn’t seem so appreciable at first, I find it funny, which clears my mind and then I can see something to appreciate. But sometimes I lapse back into the critical mode, especially when it’s about food. It’s easy to lower my expectations and like everything. It’s also easy to write a very bad review. But it’s hard to find the good points while maintaining my high expectation. A bad review gives the temporary satisfaction of being in the position to judge. A good review for a not-so-good experience makes me appear goody-two-shoes and lose my credibility. One solution is that I only write about the good experiences. But I think that defeats the meaning of a blog. A diary doesn’t have only happy entries, why should a food blog talk only about the good food?
Every bad experience at a restaurant puts me into this dilemma. Cafe Rouge is the most recent one. Here’s my first draft when I sat down to write about it:
On my birthday, we went for drinks at Teance and then we got famished. Drinks for me are not alcohol but a few pots of tea. That’s the great thing about tea: it gives you an appetite. If you ever feel like you ought to eat something but just don’t feel hungry, drink some tea on an empty stomach, the next thing you know is that all you can think about is food. So we were famished, and we headed over to Cafe Rouge next door.
I should stress again that I was famished. Everything tastes better when you’re hungry, that’s a known fact. I could hardly wait to spread the velvety duck liver flan on my tongue and sink my teeth into a succulent slab of steak. The good thing is I didn’t have to wait too long. The problem, though, is that neither of my dreams came true. The duck liver flan was underseasoned and not smooth enough. The steak was so tough I thought I was chewing on a coil of rope.
Would a rare sear make it better? The full story goes like this: on the menu it said “Grilled bavette steak with sweet potatoes, broccoli, red wine cippolini onions and herb butter 24.” — I didn’t know what bavette steak was. The waitress asked me how I’d like my steak, I told her somewhere between medium and medium rare, she said let’s do the medium rare and if it’s too rare I can send it back to the kitchen for more sear. Turned out the cut was extremely sinewy. Even in the middle, where it’s still bright red. I told the waitress, and she said yeah well this is not like New York steak so hmm too bad…
So I gave up halfway and grudgingly waited for desserts.
We narrowed it down to 4 choices: vanilla panna cotta, chocolate streusel cake, granitas, and chocolate ice cream profiteroles, then we asked the waitress what she thought. She highly recommended the panna cotta, and said the following about the granitas: “it’s like a sorbet, if you’re into that kind of thing then it’s good”. We’re into sorbet, so we got the granitas. But granitas ain’t no sorbet, it’s water ice. Seven dollars for a tiny cup of water ice is too much. And not even very flavorful water ice at that. Huge disappointment.
So that’s my luck with Cafe Rouge. The seafood cioppino and the cassoulet that my friends chose turned out a little too seasoned for my taste, but a hundred times better than my steak.
I’ll file Cafe Rouge under “Won’t go out of my way to revisit”, although it’s really on the way every time I go to Teance.
The view from upstairs.
Here’s what I should think:
The restaurant is well-designed, I enjoyed looking from the upstairs at the people’s plates down below. My friends enjoyed their seafood and stew. Today Cafe Rouge’s dinner menu has “Grilled hanger steak with flageolet beans, radicchio and almond bread sauce”, so I wiki-ed “hanger steak”. This cut is “prized for its flavor”, which means its texture is tough. Then I clicked around and read about the other beef cuts. In the end, the steak taught me something new.
We should have listened to the waitress in the matter of desserts. Again, we went in not knowing what “granitas” was and went out knowing exactly what it was, so we got wiser by paying 7 dollars. That’s a cheap price for information.
Most customers around us ordered the burger ($14). While fancy burgers are like Rothko’s paintings to me, some people appreciate them. Maybe the rest of the menu also connects to people at such levels, which I simply couldn’t comprehend.
I probably won’t go out of my way to revisit Cafe Rouge, but its menu changes often and I go out of my way to Teance all the time anyway. When I have a more forgiving heart, and maybe a lot of hunger, I’ll stop by.
I prefer the mild, more positive view, although it’s like steamed rice. Next, I need to figure out how to make it funny. 😉
FOOTNOTE:
(*) Actually, I LOVE bittermelon! Bittermelon soup, bittermelon stir fried with egg, stuffed bittermelon. I love it so much that the first word I could think of that contains “bitter” was “bittermelon”.
(**) In high school health class, the teacher showed us a video about two anorexic twin sisters. When asked how they became anorexic, the surviving sister said that they were chubby when they were little, so one day they decided to lose weight and competed with each other to see who could lose more weight. The only detail that I remembered is that they would eat only 2 potato chips when they ate any chips at all. The interviewer asked her “How could you eat only TWO chips?!” With a lot of willpower.
Housemade charcuterie plate ($15) – rabbit pate: ok; duck liver flan: I’ve had better’s; air dried beef: well, it’s dried meat… Good pickled onion though.
Cafe Rouge bar ribs ($7) – Not fall-off-the-bone tender, but I liked the sauce.
Cioppino ($27) — dungeness crab, rock fish, mussels and clams in red wine tomato sauce. Good but too spicy for me.
Cassoulet of duck confit, garlic sausage, pork, baked beans and bread crumbs ($24) – good beans, tender duck, the sausage was too grainy (and doughy(?!)). Read more about it from Kristen’s point of view.
Blood orange and grapefruit granitas with shortbread cookie ($7) – The flavor wasn’t there.
I would like to thnkx for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I am hoping the same high-grade blog post from you in the upcoming as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.
1I was recommended this web site via my cousin. I’m now not positive whether or not this submit is written by him as nobody else understand such designated about my problem. You are wonderful! Thanks!
2certainly like your web-site however you need to take a look at the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling issues and I in finding it very troublesome to tell the truth then again I will certainly come again again.
3I got what you intend,saved to bookmarks, very nice website .
4Having read this I thought it was very informative. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this article together. I once again find myself spending way to much time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it!
5After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.
6I’m impressed, I need to say. Actually rarely do I encounter a blog that’s both educative and entertaining, and let me let you know, you’ve hit the nail on the head. Your concept is excellent; the difficulty is one thing that not enough persons are speaking intelligently about. I am very glad that I stumbled across this in my search for something regarding this.
7Please let me know if you’re looking for a writer for your site. You have some really good posts and I feel I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d absolutely love to write some articles for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please send me an email if interested. Kudos!
8Some truly interesting information, well written and broadly user friendly.
9Glad to be one of several visitors on this awesome web site : D.
10I’d incessantly want to be update on new content on this internet site, saved to bookmarks! .
11Hi my loved one! I wish to say that this article is amazing, nice written and come with approximately all vital infos. I’d like to see more posts like this .
12Some really nice stuff on this site, I like it.
13I am really loving the theme/design of your web site. Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems? A number of my blog visitors have complained about my website not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Safari. Do you have any suggestions to help fix this issue?
14Whats up! I just wish to give an enormous thumbs up for the nice data you might have right here on this post. I will likely be coming again to your blog for extra soon.
15fantastic points altogether, you simply gained a brand new reader. What would you recommend about your post that you made a few days ago? Any positive?
16I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this web site. Thanks , I will try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your website?
17Would you be all for exchanging hyperlinks?
18A powerful share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing somewhat evaluation on this. And he actually bought me breakfast as a result of I discovered it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! However yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I really feel strongly about it and love reading extra on this topic. If attainable, as you grow to be experience, would you mind updating your blog with extra details? It’s extremely helpful for me. Massive thumb up for this blog post!
19Nice read, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little research on that. And he just bought me lunch as I found it for him smile Therefore let me rephrase that: Thank you for lunch!
20Thanks for helping out, wonderful information.
21I am not real superb with English but I line up this very easygoing to understand.
22I am often to running a blog and i actually appreciate your content. The article has really peaks my interest. I am going to bookmark your website and hold checking for brand spanking new information.
23Yeah bookmaking this wasn’t a speculative determination great post! .
24Hey there this is kind of of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
25I’ve recently started a website, the info you provide on this site has helped me greatly. Thanks for all of your time & work.
26I like what you guys are up also. Such clever work and reporting! Carry on the superb works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my site 🙂
27Whats Taking place i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It absolutely useful and it has aided me out loads. I’m hoping to contribute & help other users like its aided me. Good job.
28hi!,I love your writing so much! share we communicate extra approximately your article on AOL? I need an expert in this space to solve my problem. May be that is you! Having a look forward to peer you.
29I truly enjoy looking at on this website , it has excellent content. “Dream no small dreams. They have no power to stir the souls of men.” by Victor Hugo.
30Hey very cool blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds also…I am happy to find so many useful info here in the post, we need work out more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
31Hi there, just changed into alert to your blog thru Google, and found that it is really informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels. I’ll be grateful if you happen to continue this in future. Numerous other folks will be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!
32I simply couldn’t leave your site before suggesting that I actually enjoyed the standard information a person supply for your guests? Is going to be back regularly to check out new posts
33I’ve recently started a site, the information you offer on this site has helped me greatly. Thanks for all of your time & work.
34I together with my guys were found to be looking at the excellent suggestions found on your web site and immediately I had a horrible feeling I never expressed respect to the site owner for those strategies. Most of the young boys are already consequently glad to study all of them and now have really been making the most of those things. Appreciate your getting well considerate and then for deciding on this form of good tips millions of individuals are really desperate to be aware of. Our sincere apologies for not expressing gratitude to you earlier.
35I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this blog. Thank you, I’ll try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your website?
36Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and help others like you helped me.
37I do not even understand how I stopped up right here, but I thought this publish was once good. I do not recognize who you might be but definitely you are going to a well-known blogger when you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!
38Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to far added agreeable from you! However, how could we communicate?
39Yesterday, while I was at work, my sister stole my apple ipad and tested to see if it can survive a 25 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is totally off topic but I had to share it with someone!
40I delight in, result in I discovered just what I was looking for. You have ended my 4 day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye
41I would like to express my admiration for your kindness for individuals that actually need help on that concept. Your special dedication to passing the message around has been pretty effective and has constantly encouraged somebody like me to arrive at their objectives. Your valuable report denotes this much to me and a whole lot more to my colleagues. Thanks a ton; from everyone of us.
42Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I actually enjoyed reading it, you happen to be a great author.I will make sure to bookmark your blog and will come back in the foreseeable future. I want to encourage you to ultimately continue your great work, have a nice evening!
43you are really a just right webmaster. The web site loading speed is amazing. It sort of feels that you are doing any distinctive trick. In addition, The contents are masterwork. you’ve performed a wonderful process on this topic!
44Only wanna remark on few general things, The website layout is perfect, the content material is rattling wonderful : D.
45Greetings from Ohio! I’m bored to tears at work so I decided to check out your website on my iphone during lunch break. I really like the knowledge you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m shocked at how quick your blog loaded on my cell phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, amazing site!
46Wonderful work! That is the kind of info that are meant to be shared around the net. Disgrace on the search engines for now not positioning this post upper! Come on over and visit my web site . Thanks =)
47I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not know who you are but definitely you are going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!
48I have been browsing online greater than 3 hours these days, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It is lovely worth enough for me. In my view, if all website owners and bloggers made excellent content as you probably did, the internet might be much more useful than ever before.
49A person essentially help to make seriously posts I would state. This is the first time I frequented your web page and thus far? I surprised with the research you made to create this particular publish extraordinary. Excellent job!
50