This Is Pretty Much Every Morning in the Johnson Household

Why I Will Never Eat At Sino Again.

So it was my mom's 70th birthday last week, and to celebrate this momentous occasion, my sister, brother and I had a wonderful weekend planned for her. A nice dinner with just the family on Friday, and then game night with friends on Saturday. As mom said, it was the perfect plan.

If you know my mom, you know that she loves appetizers. She's known for filling up on appees before the main course is served, and is just fine with that, thank you. So my sister and I thought Sino would be a a great choice, since they serve small plates and mom could get lots of different dishes to try. So my sister made reservations for 8 at 7:30 PM on Friday through Open Table. She even put, "Celebrating Mom's 70th birthday" in the Special Requests for the Maitre D' box.

I case you don't know, this is what Open Table is, per their website:

When you book a table on OpenTable.com, your reservation is instantly recorded in the restaurant's computerized reservation book - the same one the restaurant's host uses to track all reservations. (It's the black terminal you may see when you arrive at the restaurant.)

Unlike other "online" reservation services which rely on faxes or table allocations, OpenTable has live Internet connections into the restaurants themselves. So restaurant availability information is up-to-date, and your reservations are confirmed.

My dad being the obsessive early bird that he is, we arrived at the restaurant about ten minutes early. We checked in and were told to come back when our entire party had arrived, and that they were just waiting for our table to clear. So as soon as my sister got there - right at 7:30 - we went back up to the hostess. They comment on how the enormous and beautiful flower arrangement my sister gave my mom was as big as she was, and we told them we were there to celebrate her 70th birthday. They told her happy birthday (lies!), and we were given a pager and now told that they "were just setting our table up". So we go outside to wait as the bar is crazy crowded.

10 minutes pass. Lots of people are walking in and getting tables. We have not.

Another 10 minute pass. We see a Sino employee outside having a smoke (yuk). My sister goes in to check on our table. Once again the hostess tells her they are "just setting it up". We are concerned that their employees are too dumb to know how to set up a table, but were tricked by the word "just" and continue to wait.

10 more minutes pass. It is now 8:00 and mom is irritated and hungry. So my sister goes back in and comes out a few minutes later and tells us they are missing a chair (what???), but to bring us all in. So we all go in and continue to stand around the hostess desk for a few minutes, when my mom, miss prissy pants, decides to go up there and tell the hostess that it is inexcusable to have us wait 30 minutes when we had a reservation.

This is when it gets good. So then the hostess tells us they don't actually take reservations, that using Open Table is similar to calling ahead, and that you are basically behind all the people that have already put their names down. So once you get there, even though you have made a reservation, you still have to wait behind all the other people that arrived at the restaurant before you.

Okay, I want to repeat that. Sino does not take reservations. Using Open Table, an online reservation service does not mean you have a reservation. Even when the restaurant calls you the day before to confirm your reservation - which is exactly what they did. No where on their Open Table page does it say they don't take reservations. Confused? So were we.

So my mom asks to speak with the manager, who incidentally turned out to be the same guy we saw having a smoke out front (apparently his cigarette was more important then finding his customers a chair). He comes over with this totally patronizing, "What seems to be the problem? Your table is ready now." Umm yeah... over 30 minutes later. No thank you.

So we told them we were leaving.

My sister reiterated how stupid it was that they had someone call to confirm our reservation that apparently did not exist. He told us it will be "very hard" to find a table for 8 in Santana Row at that time. We didn't care. We left.

We all discussed and decided to call our local sushi joint, Furu-Sato, to see if they could seat us. They said not a problem, that they would set up the table right then. As soon as we walked in they all greeted us warmly, gave mom the royal treatment all night, and we were happy to give them our hundreds of dollars rather than Sino. As mom and dad said, it was meant to be.

And now I will tell everyone I know that Sino has probably the worst customer service of any restaurant I have ever been to and I will never go there again.

Happy Valentines Day!

I know some view it is a Hallmark holiday, and that you should show your love for those close to you everyday. But in this fast-paced world of war, disasters and political craziness, its kind of nice to have a day where everything is all about love.

In the words of the great John, Paul, George and Ringo:

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

And what would elementary school be without it? You know you loved getting those cheap little valentines and heart candies.

Sustainable Love Makin'

For all you eco-conscious lovers out there, TreeHugger has put together a really cute Valentine's Day Gift Guide. My favorite (PG-rated) tip? Make your own Valentine's card. I know Trip would appreciate that since he yelled at me and called me a hypocrite for sending store-bought Christmas cards this past year (I hate it when he's right).

They also have the How to Green Your Sex Life (Warning: there are some photos of um...toys. So either scroll really fast past them if you're at work, or take a look at home.). It's actually got some interesting tips and statistics. Like this fascinating one:

Since days of yore, lovers have turned to natural herbs and special foods to find stimulation, endurance, and sexual health. While we can’t vouch for any of these, and all supplements should be taken with caution and/or professional advise, it is rumored that herbs like ginseng, kava kava root, damiana leaves, kelp, tribulus, ginko biloba, rhodiola rosea, and of course horny goat weed can help stoke the flames of passion—even more so if certified organic.

Horny goat weed? Who names this stuff? "Ginseng, kava kava root, damiana leaves, kelp, tribulus, ginko biloba, rhodiola rosea, and of course horny goat weed". Love it.

My New Obsession.

I had dinner with a friend in Palo Alto last night, and after our yummy noodle bowls from Zao, she suggested we go get some frozen yogurt. Of course I was up for it, but prepared myself for being let down, as I knew it wouldn't compare to Yummy Yogurt in Santa Clara. That place is seriously the bees knees.

So after our brisk walk down Emerson, we get to Fraiche Yogurt, and I am immediate in love. The decor is perfect. The staff was hip and helpful. And judging by all the Mac laptops - well, these were my people.

But it doesn't stop there. In fact, it only gets better. Like waaaaaay better. I should let them explain:

Fraiche is a homemade, organic fresh yogurt and frozen yogurt café located in downtown Palo Alto. All of our European-style yogurts are made from scratch, in-house using local Clover organic milk and a special probiotic-focused culture. Our fresh yogurts are the basis for our frozen yogurt. So, whether you feel like fresh or frozen yogurt, you'll still enjoy the same health benefits.

We believe in the goodness of pure, simple foods and that you shouldn't have to choose between "great tasting" and "good for you". We use only the finest ingredients to handcraft the most delicious yogurts and specialty toppings you can find. With our selection of fresh-cut fruits, local honeys and purees, toasted nuts, homemade granola, and hand-shaved Callebaut chocolate, we hope you have fun creating your own mouth-watering treat!

I think it goes without saying which topping I got on my soy froyo. And yes, it was as good as it sounds.

Actually, it's even better.

Check out this recent SF Chronicle article. And then go there. Fast. And bring me some.

Ummmm Okay....

This was in my inbox today:

Da-huh? What? I'm so confused.

I love how its the WORLD'S largest collection of Star Trek "artifacts".

Is His Term Over YET?

Doesn't this make you proud to be an American.

And speaking of Bush (who got us in this mess), how cool is this! 350 days, people! (Seems like FOREVER).

Only 350 More Days.

Doesn't this make you proud to be an American.

Speaking of Bush's term being over, how cool is this?!?