Twitter. Hmmmm. How would I describe my relationship with my twitter account?
Random. Yep, random is the best word I can think of. It's all or nothing with me and my twitter. I either don't talk to it for days/weeks or we spend hours catching up.
All or nothing.
Which brings us to this post and the day when I was all about twitter and my twitter feed was inspiring all sorts of crazy ideas to pop into my head.
Like the one I'm about to share with you.
I see this RT (Retweet) by DMN (Dallas Morning News) that DMN is seeking freelance restaurant critics & writers on dining subjects. Send resume to @lesbren.
My wheels begin to turn.
1. I write
2. I eat out regularly
3. I love food
4. I can be critical
5. This sounds fun
6. I watch the food network more than any other network therefore I "get" the judging thing, which is really what a critic is doing. Right?
So I tweet ms@lesbren: does watching the food network count for experience? As you can read in her response below, ms@lesbren thinks not.
For whatever reason, this comment has stuck with me like a bee in a bonnet. How does one become a professional writer and did anyone ever consider that a "not so" professional writer might have something to offer? I guess not.
Fast forward February 22, 2012. I take matters into my own hands.
Introducing my NSPRR
Not So Professional Restaurant Review #1
Where: The Mercury - Dallas Thursday February 9th
Why: It's in our neighborhood and even though we've lived here for several years, we had never dined there and since my hubs was going to be out of town on Valentine's Day, this was where we chose to have our early Valentine's date.
First Impression: Beautiful, dark, woodsy interior perfect place to hide away with your sweetie. I say that even though the place was packed with after work get-togethers, large group diners, corporate events and regulars trying to get a table.
For newbies? Nope, no tables tonight. They were booked.
(not so professional side note: I've never been told no tables. I've been told there's a 3 hour wait, but not that there were no tables for the evening). Weird. We were invited to find a seat in the bar and enjoy our dinner there. Which we did.
Pros: Found a high top fast
Cons: We waited a looonnnnggg time to be acknowledged by the bar tender who would become our waiter. You could see on his face how happy he was about that!
Pros: We're very capable of ignoring attitudes so we were pretty sweet when he decided to show up.
Cons: He gave us a run for our money
Pros: We ordered wine
Cons: They were out of it
Pros: They suggested another which we ordered along with a Shrimp Cocktail
Cons: We only ordered one Shrimp Cocktail. The shrimp were colossal, chilled to perfection, sweet, firm, and yummy! We will be back for more of these.
Pros: Our bartender waiter eventually came back to our table to get our order.
Cons: The halibut I had been salivating over since seeing it on the online menu was not on the menu tonight.
Pros: The blackened snapper also sounded good - so I was quick to make a change.
Cons: Mr. Happy Bartender told me halibut hadn't been available for several months. Which made me a little cranky knowing they were still promoting it online. (not so professional writer comment: when you go to their website they do say their menu changes regularly. I guess one should not assume that the website menu is managed to reflect these changes).
Pros: Dinner arrived and it looked beautiful. If this were a plate being judged on CHOPPED (food network) it would have received high marks for plating.
Cons: Not so good. The blackened snapper was very dry which conjured up the cranky feelings about the halibut all over again.
Bottom line: We'll give it another try. It would be wonderful to have a sophisticated casual (their words not mine) place where we could become a regular, get a table on a busy night and have everybody know your name.
Cheers!
The Mercury - Dallas
| 11909 Preston Road Suite 1418 Dallas, TX 75240 Their Website Monday - Friday Lunch - 11:00 am until 3:00 pm Monday - Thursday Dinner - 3:00 pm until 10:00 pm Friday Dinner - 3:00 pm until 11:00 pm Saturday Dinner - 5:00 pm until 11:00 pm Closed on Sundays Phone: 972.960.7774 Events: 972.822.875 |
