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drunkexpatwriter
11/22/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
Didn't Vadim rape and murder a young girl in 1990?
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miss_msry
11/22/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
Is his restautant located in Deadwood?
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Mediahohoho
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
Does he help subsidize their health insurance? Does he pay them a living wage independent of tips? Does he provide them with maternity leave when they get pregnant if they work full time hours for him? Is he, in short, different from every restaurateur in New York City? No? Then he doesn't treat them with respect.
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lobstr
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
It's funny, his name implied to me that he'd have some sort of ominous evil eastern European accent, which would have made that call sound a lot more villainous.. but instead he just sounds like some dick zhlub son of Russian immigrants who grew up on LI.

Buzzkill!
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Edited by lobstr at 11/20/09 8:26 PM lobstr was starred lobstr was unstarred

The Real JR
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
I actually was a frequent visitor to the Paradou brunches. There were unlimited mimosas, of course I was.

The waitstaff were good people. The place is super cramped with the bathroom in the middle of a tiny hallway where kitchen and dining traffic would go so imagine having to stand on a bathroom line. But the food was very good. This place was always packed and at times it was impossible to get a reservation.

I've now forwarded this info to my girlfriends who brunch with me. Each of us have dealt with asshole bosses. The thought of this dude makes me lose my appetite for this place. Seriously.

Yes, they have my email. Why? Because I liked this place. But in general there's nothing more anoying than getting asked for your email, especially while you're dining. If you leave postcard on the table asking for the info, fine. But forcing staff to shill for the info is ridiculous. In fact, I remember when they did get my email. The waitress mentioned that her boss insists she asks even though she didn't want to interrupt us or something. I was soused on the mimosas and felt bad for her. Now I feel disgusted.

Whatever for this place.
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lobstr
11/20/09

@The Real JR: On top of that, I imagine the waitstaff may fear a negative reaction from customers by bugging them for an email address, ultimately affecting their tip.. which is probably why there were only two emails collected in the month he was tracking this or whatever.

On the other hand, how hard is it for the staffers to just make up Jennifer2029@hotmail.com and SassyfrassNJ@gmail.com just to get this guy off your ass?
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Hiroine Protagonist
11/21/09

@lobstr: Because when they bounce he'll come looking for them?
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lobstr
11/21/09

@Hiroine Protagonist: k then, if the waitstaffer cared that much about this prick's spam list, they'd spend 10 minutes every week creating fake hotmail accounts. Bounce averted.
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TheBusinessGuy
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
This guy needs a PR person who will tell him to shut the fuck up already. Or, if he can't shut up, appear contrite. Given the harm this brouhaha is supposedly doing to his restaurant and family, why does he want to fuel the fire? By the way, just how junior high school is it to riff on Gabriel's name? And why is the name appropriate? Does he equate a negative posting about his puny restaurant with the announcements of the birth of John the Baptist and the Christ? One can only hope he is referring to Gabriel's announcement of the End of Days--and by that I mean I hope it is analogous to the End of Days wherein we read screeds from Dim Vadim. (Hey, making fun of names is easy--and fun!)
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Uncle_Billy_Slumming
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
Oh, and btw, what the fuck is a Paradou, and who the fuck are you selling people an "authentic" french experience. This is worse than Korean people selling sushi. Leave town and go back to telemarketing.
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Edited by Uncle_Billy_Slumming at 11/20/09 7:41 PM

Nigerian Business Executive
11/20/09

@Uncle_Billy_Slumming: Although sushi is originally Japanese, Koreans have been making their own distinctive kinds for hundreds of years. A lot longer than you've been eating it.

I'm with you on the Russian-Americans and their authentic French cuisine, though.
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MissNormaDesmond promoted this comment

Uncle_Billy_Slumming
11/20/09

@Nigerian Business Executive:

God bless 'em, and may they continue for another thousand years. BUT DON'T FUCKING CALL IT JAPANESE FOOD. There's a school in downtown Los Angeles that churns out hundreds of fake sushi chefs every year. It's so bad that you can try a new place, ask them if they're japanese, and they will lie to your face.

[wangkon936.xanga.com]

[search.hankooki.com]

(disclaimer: stupid people, this is about lying restaurateurs, not Koreans)

#tips
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Nigerian Business Executive
11/20/09

@Uncle_Billy_Slumming: Awesome. Harsh language and personal attacks. You and Vadim would hit it off perfectly.

#tips
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Uncle_Billy_Slumming
11/20/09

@Nigerian Business Executive:

See what I did there?

#tips
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Uncle_Billy_Slumming
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
We're going to find Vlad the eMAILer, Denton, Foster Kamer, Choire Sicha, and Felix Salmon all getting blitzed later, aren't we.
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Foster Kamer
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
For the record: Gabriel and Nick have never called me a lazy motherfucker. Most of the time just "Foster" or "Really? Really?"

Also, someone down below already pointed it out, but this guy would be a perfect front-of-house presence for The Awl's Goddamn House of JUST ENOUGH Fucking Steak and Pie Crust: What About The Actual Pie? Who Gives A Shit IT DOESN'T MATTER.
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Spy from the Land of Rainpeople
11/20/09

@Foster Kamer: I don't think you realize who you're dealing with. Check out: [en.wikipedia.org] .

It's been a while since I dealt with that kind of people, and the ones I dealt with were rather low-level. But the speech patterns and intonation are unmistakable to my ear: [en.wikipedia.org] .
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Hiroine Protagonist promoted this comment

i'm a bottle
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
I don't think he'll be collecting any more e-mail addresses in the foreseeable future.
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Lizawithazee
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
As I was playing this audio, my dog started howling incessantly.
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RandomLunatic
11/20/09

@Lizawithazee: My beard went completely white within a few seconds of clicking.
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CumaeanSibyl
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
Collecting emails? What is this, Best Buy? I'm paying for some kind of classy "atmosphere," I don't want your waiters trying to upsell me on the two-year protection plan.
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lobstr
11/20/09

@CumaeanSibyl: But o wouldn't it be nice if that foie gras came with a warranty? :[]
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CumaeanSibyl
11/21/09

@lobstr: The only thing I'd pay for from a restaurant would be a get-lucky guarantee, and even then I'd like to think I wouldn't need it.
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Edited by CumaeanSibyl at 11/21/09 12:50 AM CumaeanSibyl was starred CumaeanSibyl was unstarred

TheSometimesWhy
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
And on a side note, Paradou will be closing its doors this weekend for a makeover into its next iteration--the Devil's Island Cafe, featuring genuine French Guyanan cuisine.

Interviews will be conducted in extreme isolation.

Last one there is a flesh-eating malcontent who is satisfied if not downright ecstatic at the prospect of putting together his next "team."
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hamburgerhotdog
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
From citysearch reviews:

"The owner constantly berates the servers in plain view of guests"

"Before we were leaving, one of my friends went to the rest room and we were waiting for her in front of the bar. One of the owners was there, totally drunk, cursing people out. He ended up pushing me and telling me to get the f** out of there."

"management refused to redo the order claiming "they are not obliged to make the food to our liking"."

Vadim also personally addresses negative reveiwers and accuses them of being liars.

Granted, the service sounds pretty crappy there but that's this dude's job, to manage his service and he seems to be doing a crappy job of it. Maybe he should be the one who's fired?
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Edited by hamburgerhotdog at 11/20/09 5:31 PM hamburgerhotdog was starred hamburgerhotdog was unstarred

Sergio Hernandez
11/20/09

In reply to Horrible Restaurant Owner's Charm Offensive Includes Screaming at Us
I loved the part where he asks if you'd fire an insubordinate writer and then spins it like he's the more merciful boss for just abusing employees instead of firing them.
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Edited by Sergio Hernandez at 11/20/09 5:25 PM Sergio Hernandez was starred Sergio Hernandez was unstarred

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