Bye bye MEAT! How will the post-meat future look?

[Spymaster]

X

Not high-end, just a regular restaurant in Sardinia. The waiter brought the wine to the table and opened the bottle in front of us. On a tray alongside the bottle were three glasses - two regular-sized ones, plus a third tiny glass. The waiter opened the bottle, sniffed the cork and proceeded to pour wine into the small glass. Having swigged the sample, he then asked me to taste it as well, rather defeating the object, I thought.

We were a bit too surprised by the entire performance to say anything. Looking back, I now admire his chutzpah. Will have got through a decent amount of booze by the end of his shift.

Yeah, sniffing wine corks is massively wanky, although I have seen one tit get into a row with a sommelier who insisted there was nothing wrong after dickhead said there was, so there’s an occasional bit of entertainment to be had.

 

[Cid]

Would be interested to hear where they went - I've never had a tasting menu that I didn't come away from feeling nicely full.

Yeah, this is generally a marker of how well balanced a menu is. Critics are as inclined to say 'went to the chippy' as LBJ's mates.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

X


Yeah, sniffing wine corks is massively wanky, although I have seen one tit get into a row with a sommelier who insisted there was nothing wrong after dickhead said there was, so there’s an occasional bit of entertainment to be had.

Pouring himself some, though, into his own special glass? Have you seen that before?

It was just the house red.

 

[ddraig]

The menu they offer or my comment?

Just counterpointing your OP on the place. They still sell meat from animals, both sea based cold blooded and land based warm blooded.

Yes you can make amazing plant based food to a Michelin standard, you choose if that means anything really, but they still sell meat and fish.

awww a failed gotcha! poor butcher

 

[sleaterkinney]

X


Yeah, sniffing wine corks is massively wanky, although I have seen one tit get into a row with a sommelier who insisted there was nothing wrong after dickhead said there was, so there’s an occasional bit of entertainment to be had.

Why?. You can tell if it’s gone off. I’ve sent wine back a couple of times over that, some restaurants will put out any old rubbish.

 

[Poot]

Pouring himself some, though, into his own special glass? Have you seen that before?

It was just the house red.

I can't tell you how full of admiration I am for the chap. I don't know the size of the restaurant but I reckon most people would order wine in a place like that. You'd be shitfaced! Brilliant!

 

[Spymaster]

Why?. You can tell if it’s gone off. I’ve sent wine back a couple of times over that, some restaurants will put out any old rubbish.

The reason the cork was originally presented to the customer was so they could match it to the bottle to prove it wasn’t a fake (the cork is printed with the same information that’s on the label). There’s generally not enough wine on the cork to give you a full scent so you’ll only get an adverse smell from it if the wine is seriously bacterially infected. There’s nothing that sniffing the cork can tell you that you won’t get a better idea of from sniffing the tasting sample that the waiter is just about to pour you.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I sniff the cork cos I think it makes me look sophisticated and knowledgable.

 

[butcher]

awww a failed gotcha! poor butcher

They sell fucking fois gras!

At no stage did I say they don't make decent veggie food but if Ed wants to promote a restaurant that sells fois gras to the incredibly rich bully for him.

Just another example of the hypocrisy trumpeted out on this thread thinly disguised as a valid point.

Did the Guardian do a review of the place Ed?

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Why?. You can tell if it’s gone off. I’ve sent wine back a couple of times over that, some restaurants will put out any old rubbish.

tbf you can't tell if a particular bottle is corked until you've opened it. Sometimes extremely good wine gets corked.

Bit that gets me is when you're still asked to test wine from a screw-top.

 

[friedaweed]

Again, it all varies hugely. If you want to avoid stuffy service then you won't be doing The Savoy (friedaweed's favourite), or Simpsons. Don't like hedge fund managers, avoid The City (although you'll be missing out on some of London's best eateries). Plenty of other options.

Where else would you take two beautiful women, a Viking and a Cockney Wanker for cocktails other than the American bar? I'm surprised you got in actually in that jacket you were wearing.

When I was doing some consultancy work for a big charridy in London my gaffer was right into taking us to posh high-end places for dinner when we were in the smoke for meetings. The only one I liked out of all of them she took us too was the Cinnamon Club. One of my mates from Yorkshire almost got us thrown out one evening when he proclaimed "9 fucking quid for a nan bread". She always paid, we were her little cheeky Northern boys who she liked to treat to her side of life. We drank about 300 sovs worth of wine one night

I could never tell my dad about that stuff.

 

[friedaweed]

It's the Savoy I was thinking of! Went there years ago on a deal. The food was excellent, the wine was superb, and with the deal the price was manageable. But the service was cold and claustrophobic.

(Pet hate: Don't refill my wine glass, please. Thinking about it, I should have just said so at the time, but I was a bit too intimidated by the place.)

They ran out of towels, soap and hand cream in the gents when I was there.

 

[friedaweed]

Pouring himself some, though, into his own special glass? Have you seen that before?

It was just the house red.

Sounds like he liked a tipple to me

 

[editor]

They sell fucking fois gras!

At no stage did I say they don't make decent veggie food but if Ed wants to promote a restaurant that sells fois gras to the incredibly rich bully for him.

Just another example of the hypocrisy trumpeted out on this thread thinly disguised as a valid point.

Did the Guardian do a review of the place Ed?

I'm not 'promoting' it, FFS.

I've twice repeated the point I was making and I'll do it again for the last time in the hope you'll stop your you disingenuous bullshit: you don't need slaughtered animals and all the vile cruelty that goes with that to produce world class, award winning, Michelin star rated meals.

 

[sleaterkinney]

The reason the cork was originally presented to the customer was so they could match it to the bottle to prove it wasn’t a fake (the cork is printed with the same information that’s on the label). There’s generally not enough wine on the cork to give you a full scent so you’ll only get an adverse smell from it if the wine is seriously bacterially infected. There’s nothing that sniffing the cork can tell you that you won’t get a better idea of from sniffing the tasting sample that the waiter is just about to pour you.

Surely they open the bottle in front of you?. Big warning bells if they didn't.
I'd have a sniff and a taste of the wine anyway.

 

[friedaweed]

My Mrs, who collects all sorts of shite, quite clearly, asks to keep the cork if it's a really nice celebration bottle.

 

[Spymaster]

Surely they open the bottle in front of you?. Big warning bells if they didn't.

They do. Back in the day, some scrotes would refill empty wine bottles with cheaper booze. The corks had been discarded so they'd recork them with plain ones or ones from other bottles. To prove the integrity of the contents, the waiter first shows you the label. He then uncorks the bottle in front of you and gives you the cork you've just seen removed. You can then match the cork to the label.

 

[friedaweed]

They do. Back in the day, some scrotes would refill empty wine bottles with cheaper booze. The corks had been discarded so they'd recork them with plain ones or ones from other bottles. To prove the integrity of the contents, the waiter first shows you the label. He then uncorks the bottle in front of you and gives you the cork you've just seen removed. You can then match the cork to the label.

Yep. It's still like that in the Toby Carvery in Crewe. Never had a bad Blossom Hill in there.

 

[DaphneM]

If plants are so intelligent, should we stop eating them? | Emma Beddington

Recent research suggests plants may be able to learn and communicate. This really put me off my baked potato, writes Emma Beddington

www.theguardian.com

We should all become Breatharians

 

[CNT36]

Old news. If it's not been brought up here it has been on a clone thread.

 

[bcuster]

Civil war amongst the human herbivores?

The death of the vegetarian

Veggies outnumber vegans by almost two million, but they’re in danger of being cancelled by a plant-based takeover of the nation’s menus

getpocket.com

 

[Jeff Robinson]

Powerful undercover investigation into the brutal methods of pig extermination in US death factories:

Spy Cams Reveal the Grim Reality of Slaughterhouse Gas Chambers

Animal rights activists have captured the first hidden-camera video from inside a carbon dioxide “stunning chamber” in a US meatpacking plant.

www.wired.com

This is also how the vast majority of UK pigs are killed too.

 

[bcuster]

Powerful undercover investigation into the brutal methods of pig extermination in US death factories:

Spy Cams Reveal the Grim Reality of Slaughterhouse Gas Chambers

Animal rights activists have captured the first hidden-camera video from inside a carbon dioxide “stunning chamber” in a US meatpacking plant.

www.wired.com

This is also how the vast majority of UK pigs are killed too.

horrible. gird your loins if you want to watch this...

 

[T & P]

Civil war amongst the human herbivores?

The death of the vegetarian

Veggies outnumber vegans by almost two million, but they’re in danger of being cancelled by a plant-based takeover of the nation’s menus

getpocket.com

I know several veggies, not least of them my own partner, who are well pissed off about this. Not least because try as they might to make it taste remotely like the real thing, vegan cheese is and will always indescribably fucking shite

She also has no interest in plant-based burgers made to look, 'bleed' and taste as closely to meat burgers as possible. But in many places with suppossedly vegetarian options, that's all you get nowadays.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

I know several veggies, not least of them my own partner, who are well pissed off about this. Not least because try as they might to make it taste remotely like the real thing, vegan cheese is and will always indescribably fucking shite

I bought Cathedral City’s plant-based cheddar today. It’s had a bunch of reviews suggesting it’s the best vegan alternative yet. Will report back tomorrow!

 

[editor]

Powerful undercover investigation into the brutal methods of pig extermination in US death factories:

Spy Cams Reveal the Grim Reality of Slaughterhouse Gas Chambers

Animal rights activists have captured the first hidden-camera video from inside a carbon dioxide “stunning chamber” in a US meatpacking plant.

www.wired.com

This is also how the vast majority of UK pigs are killed too.

It's a filthy, cruel and disgusting industy.

 

[Silly Monkey]

It's a filthy, cruel and disgusting industy.

Oh wow, I always assumed that all animals are shot for meat. I always assumed that pigs are simply shot for pork. Why prolong the suffering and why not keep it simple?

 

[editor]

Oh wow, I always assumed that all animals are shot for meat. I always assumed that pigs are simply shot for pork. Why prolong the suffering and why not keep it simple?

Profit.

 

[Silly Monkey]

Profit.

Somehow a CO2 chamber yields more profit than directly shooting ?

 

[Agent Sparrow]

I know several veggies, not least of them my own partner, who are well pissed off about this. Not least because try as they might to make it taste remotely like the real thing, vegan cheese is and will always indescribably fucking shite

She also has no interest in plant-based burgers made to look, 'bleed' and taste as closely to meat burgers as possible. But in many places with suppossedly vegetarian options, that's all you get nowadays.

However, better for vegetarians who are lactose intolerant or allergic to milk protein, which would have been a much more difficult combo back when I was vegetarian and so much convenience or restaurant fare was cheese saturated. Not sure how much better things are for vegetarian celiacs and others who can’t tolerate wheat/gluten, or those allergic to soya.

All these food issues exist within my family and in restaurants I have sometimes found myself wondering how these relatives would manage if they were veggie. Unlikely to be an issue for my mother but quite possible for my daughter, given she’s recently converted to veggie sausages because she doesn’t want to eat “organs”.