"night" news and stories

The folks at Lenny's, er, Denny's, surveyed hundreds of late-night eaters a few months ago. Some of their findings are available at Restaurant News Resource. The survey defined late-night eaters as folks dining out between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. on a weekly or monthly basis.

For the most part, the trends in responses aren't anything too earth-shaking: most of the people surveyed were out for typical American food like burgers and fries. I was a little surprised that only 6 percent said they were out late at night for dessert, however. I'm not totally clear on just who Denny's surveyed, but aside from the Slams and skillets, some folks said they wanted things like fried tofu and goat's milk. To those of you in front of the refrigerator drinking goat's milk from the carton at 3 a.m., you are not alone.

As the season goes on, the days are getting longer and barbecues come out of storage in preparation for the grilling season. No matter how late it stays light, sometimes there just isn’t enough time to fix dinner before the sun goes down. This isn’t a problem when cooking indoors, but it can be a problem when you’re grilling. In the dark, it is hard to see what your meats and veggies look like. Timers and guess-work can help, but nothing is better than being able to take a good look at what you’re doing.

Enter the Flashlight Grill Tongs from Red Envelope. The tongs are stainless steel and have a battery powered LED flashlight built into them. With the press of a button, you can easily monitor your foods on the darkest night as they cook up on the grill.

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With very few exceptions, I have never had a problem getting a reservation at a restaurant that I wanted to eat at. Holidays like Valentine's Day can pose their own problems, of course, but I am speaking of an ordinary night out. If I have not been able to get a reservation, I go somewhere else. If the restaurant is closing when I walk in, I go somewhere else. Some people don't want to go somewhere else, though, and either bribe the hostess or outright lie to get in. They have fake reservations. A fake reservation is what some diners use to get into restaurants that are full or closing, knowing that most restaurants will not question their claim. But here's something they may not know: they're not fooling anyone. The restaurant knows that you're faking.

No matter how much you want to eat at a restaurant, it's not going to be as satisfying if you're faking. Service will be slower because the staff is slammed. The staff will be annoyed that they have to hang around for hours after closing. You'll get annoyed because your waiter is brusque, or not all the specials are available. Try using OpenTable.com to make your reservation based on existing availability. This way you won't have to fake it.