Michael Romano: Equally Nice the Morning After
Last week the Wall Street Journal conducted an international doggie-bag experiment (subscription required): A waiter in Russia was huffy about providing one, a Japanese server flatly refused, and in China they literally send people home with dog meat in bags decorated with puppies. And yet the article failed to address the quirks of a couple of local restaurants. At Yakiniku Juju, the adorable shabu-shabu joint, scoring leftovers from the copious $25 all-you-can-eat barbecue is out of the question: If you don’t down every last morsel, you’re charged double. Meanwhile, for eight years, Union Square Cafe has obsequiously bagged that untouchable last hunk of “filet mignon of tuna” with a note, machine-printed, but apparently meant to be chef Michael Romano’s handwriting, profusely thanking the diner for bothering to bring leftovers home. Still, pictures of puppies would be nice.
— Daniel Maurer