I knew both policies have been relaxed before going in but I was still worried while I was there since I violated both cardinal sins.
This photography thing reminded me of JR Las Vegas. One staff member explicitly told me not to take any pictures with her in it after I try to take a picture of her carving our butter.
On another note, I think Urasawa banned picture taking…not that I’ve ever been…
While those policies seem stupid I guess I don’t see how it’s any different than a dress code. “Their roof, their rules.” ?
A Texas steakhouse? 
Did they mention the name? CT@BF is the only restaurant worth 3 stars in NY IMO, although I may be bias…
avatar checks out.
No. Hiro-san let me take photos at Urasawa on each visit. I even made a frickin’ hardcover photo album of the foodporn I’ve enjoyed there, and gave it to him as a gift for Christmas one year! 
not anymore.
No. They also mentioned some Japanese place in Texas that was also better and felt that the fish at CT isn’t as fresh. 
As for the stars comment, it does say a lot about EMP and the ridiculous World’s 50 ranking eh? 
That’s exactly what I read on Yelp.
But a restaurant wouldn’t scream at you and belittle you if you don’t stick to their dress code.
probably uchi
You concur with their assessment? I was under the impression that CT ships their fish over from Japan daily?
never been
Maybe we’ve been swindled all this time in LA, SF, and NYC. Texas serves the best fish.
That’s a super thing to have done. I’m sure he loved it.
I guess I didn’t realize that was a regular occurrence. Not good.
Meh if it is Uchi, they probably think Nobu is great “Japanese” food.
EMP a few years ago before they were crowned #1 was excellent. Although after they won #1 it was probably the worst Michelin rated restaurant I have been to, let alone 3 stars IMO. Nothing but gimmicks to justify their “simplicity”. Service was not there I waited nearly ten minutes for my water to be filled AFTER I asked. The duck came out cold and over salted (I complained and it still came back salty). The dessert was a joke, it was merely two quenelles of ice cream.
Think the cause of this is due to the over expansion of their mediocre sister restaurant.
Not much gimmicks this time around but “simplicity” was perhaps a bit extreme. To be honest, I enjoyed the 2 ** Californios in SF much more than I did Le Bernardin or EMP.
Chef Ramirez seems to have calmed down a bit. In the early days in Brooklyn, he was threatening to kick people out if he saw note or picture taking. He quietly, after the meal, told one person I know that she was not to ever return, as he saw her taking some notes.
When did this happen?
Now that’s a good question. Years roll by quickly these days and I can’t believe I’ve been on food boards for almost 20 years now. So… I’m guessing maybe 7-8 years ago. I’m pretty sure it was when it was byob, so maybe that’s a way to figure it out. At any rate, its even a better story (as told to me by 4 friends who were there that night, including the one who he said this to) but the rest of it isn’t really for publication.
I’m glad he took a chill pill over the years and relaxed the rules. Did any of your friends ever go back?
I’ll never forget the time I was at Flying Saucer. I may have reviewed the chef when he was cooking at another restaurant, maybe Auberge de Soleil, and maybe not too favorably. I can’t really remember. At any rate, he had borne a grudge for a long time, and he had eventually opened this little place which I thought was very good, very charming, and the food was out of this world. You couldn’t make reservations, so I waited for a table. I sat down, I started eating, I was taking notes. It was an open kitchen, and he’s looking over at me taking notes, and I could see he was just getting more and more upset. Finally he walked out of the kitchen with a 14-inch chef’s knife in his hand, came right over to me—he was sweating, he was hot, he was pissed off—and he said “Are you Patricia Untermann?” And I looked him right in the eye and I said “No! I am not! I am not Patricia Untermann!” Then he just—it was a cathartic moment for him. He poured out all his beefs about critics and how little they knew and how they didn’t understand what it took to be a chef and what kind of training was involved and how could all these shallow California chefs who had had no training be getting attention and getting good reviews, and Frenchmen who had studied and been cooking since they were 14 be discarded because they—I mean, he had some justification, to tell you the truth, but I don’t think it was a good way to treat a guest in the restaurant, I really don’t.