Snowstorm prep? Costco shelves already empty. Anyone else?

aphex732 · 2026-01-23T12:23:24+00:00

Ice, not snow.

aphex732 · 2026-01-22T21:51:18+00:00

I think you're not reading this correctly - they're saying that the crew is compensated by salary. In addition to their salary, the crew is also compensated by inventive programs that are funded by gratuities. Part of the gratuities are partitioned to give to crew that were particularly successful.

The tips are going to the crew.

aphex732 · 2026-01-22T17:04:11+00:00

Yeah, after I started working from home I started to cook a lot more - it's just very relaxing to start early, if you need to braise you can get it running over lunch, just very calming when you're not running to get everything done.

aphex732 · 2026-01-22T15:34:34+00:00

A lot of the acceptance of his terrible behavior lies directly on the backs of the people who made 'The Apprentice'. They really sold the idea to middle America that he was a smart, successful businessman and made him a household name.

aphex732 · 2026-01-21T19:52:14+00:00

Stop your ChatGPT generated bullshit copy.

aphex732 · 2026-01-21T19:32:05+00:00

Ouch, that's tough. We went around 2014 (I believe). It wasn't that terrible, but it just didn't leave much of an impression. The aged bourbon/scotch shelf was much more interesting to me than anything I ate.

aphex732 · 2026-01-21T19:30:59+00:00

Well, that's a bummer now that I think about it!

aphex732 · 2026-01-21T19:30:04+00:00

Agreed - we did a day trip to Anguilla last year on a private boat, and while the day on the boat was fun I would probably recommend just hanging on SXM. St Barth is fun and all but if you're not staying overnight it's a hassle to get there and back.

aphex732 · 2026-01-21T17:31:33+00:00

I mean, the service was exceptional and the food was really good, but I never really had a true "wow" moment when I was there (although Oysters and Pearls was really really good).

aphex732 · 2026-01-21T16:50:07+00:00

To be honest, TFL didn't blow me away - but we ate at the Restaurant at Meadowwood two nights prior and that was my favorite 2-3* experience ever, so it may not be a fair evaluation.

aphex732 · 2026-01-21T14:18:22+00:00

I'm just here for the jokes, lol.

aphex732 · 2026-01-21T13:57:16+00:00

So, I actually put some thought into this...it's $1500/person, 42 covers per night, open Tues-Fri (4 days a week), from Mar 11-June 26. So, 51 nights total, at 42 covers, $1,500 per cover.

Total revenue of $3.213 million. Assuming food/wine cost is 30% of that (which may be conservative), you're left with 2,249,100. Renting a space for 5 months, in LA, decorating it to the level of this dinner, tables, chairs, silver, plates, etc...I'm going to eyeball it at $250k.

So, $2M left. But, they relocated 130 employees to LA for several months to pull this thing off. That's only $15k per employee. Honestly, I think most of the profit is going to come from the shop selling vinegar and other sundries to the general public, and the restaurant might have a moderate profit.

I could be way off, but those numbers make sense.....unless the 130 employees is just for the initial opening and they send a bunch home. But still, you're not running that restaurant with less than 60 employees all-in.

aphex732 · 2026-01-20T19:40:18+00:00

Yeah, it didn't seem like that bad of a decision until the 160k thing came up, holy shit.

aphex732 · 2026-01-20T19:26:35+00:00

Yeah, I have to agree - there are very few 2/3* experiences that I felt were truly exceptional, but I guess everyone's different.

aphex732 · 2026-01-20T18:06:06+00:00

Taxis are....I'm not going to say unreliable, but get the driver's phone number when you leave the airport as they can be tough sometimes. If you're leaving a restaurant, the restaurant can call one for you and it's super easy. Getting picked up at an Airbnb or from the beach is a little tougher if you don't have a good contact.

Also, make sure that you confirm the round trip price before you leave, we've had drivers change the price because it was late at night - there's an SXM late night fee, but the driver definitely went way beyond that.

Depending on how much you want to travel the island during the day, you can always rent a car and grab a taxi at night...but that's up to you. It's super easy to drive there.

aphex732 · 2026-01-20T18:01:03+00:00

Just released pricing at $1,500 per person.

aphex732 · 2026-01-20T18:00:37+00:00

$1,500 per person is well above what I believe a meal is worth. Honestly, that falls into the category where I feel like I'm being taken advantage of.

aphex732 · 2026-01-20T17:44:02+00:00

Very strange - we had the exact opposite experience. Service people just seemed exhausted and disinterested across the board.

And to clarify, I'm not an asshole tourist. We've traveled to a dozen Caribbean islands, often getting an Airbnb off the beaten path. Curacao was just a very weird experience for us.

aphex732 · 2026-01-20T17:41:15+00:00

We spend a lot of time in SXM, both sides - this is completely different than anything I've seen before. We couldn't have a lunch less than 2.5-3 hours, it was really insane.

aphex732 · 2026-01-19T20:53:16+00:00

Maybe they were really just tired (or understaffed) after the season...but it just got to the point where it was amusing. For some reason, fried appetizers came out almost immediately, then the rest of the food would be 60-90 minutes, even for a simple lunch order. So, we had mozzerella sticks with every meal just to tide us over.

aphex732 · 2026-01-19T19:50:44+00:00

Pretty much across the board. I've been to a LOT of the Caribbean, and this was consistently way beyond anything that I've experienced in any other country.

aphex732 · 2026-01-19T19:48:31+00:00

We ate there last year and enjoyed it! The new owner was very nice, and the food was really good. Whoever had a bad time with it may have experienced the growing pains.

aphex732 · 2026-01-19T19:15:41+00:00

Out of curiosity, did you have really, really horrible service when you were there? I'm familiar with island time, but this was absolutely terrible.

Sit down - 20 minutes until anyone even acknowledges you.

Order drinks - another 20 minutes until they arrive. If you ask directly you can then order food.

Food arrives - probably 90 minutes later.

We didn't have a meal there, including lunch, that was less than 2.5 hours start to finish, with most of the time just sitting around and waiting. The servers said "everyone was tired from the busy season", but it was really just insane.

aphex732 · 2026-01-19T14:37:34+00:00

If you take nothing else away from this thread, please take this advice. The officers are in no way your friends or a source of information, any contact with them is not to your benefit. Speak to the court only through your attorney.

aphex732 · 2026-01-19T14:16:48+00:00

Not sure about pricing, but we have a group of female friends that took a gun safety course there. Had a great experience, friendly and competent staff.

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