China Poblano at the Cosmopolitan

[lil mikey]

“It’s not fusion. You get Mexican and Chinese food.”

Mexican is well prepared, and I agree with previous comments that the barbacoa tacos were better than the cochinita pibil. But the cochinita tacos come with a nice piece of fried pork skin to give them a crunch.

The fundito was served in a warm skillet and the chorizo added nice flavor. You also get four very flavorful warm tortillas. This dish really needs more tortillas. But when you ask for more, they charge you another $4 and bring out six, which is too many. They should serve it with six. Ah well…

The dan dan mian consisted of soba noodles, and had the cherished Sichuan peppercorns that make this dish distinctive.

Jose Andres got it right again. These two cuisines are very complementary.

[JMLenart]

I just find the 10% staff training charge so highly offensive I can't bring myself to go there again.

[Dave Feldman]

Could you explain what the "staff training charge" is? I've never heard the term before. Thanks.

[LongIslandChef]

I'm with you Dave, I'd also love to hear what a "staff training charge" is. Been in the business for over 15 years and I've never seen or heard of that one.

[JMLenart]

Sorry, my mistake, it's an extra 3% added to the mandatory 18% tip on parties of 6 or more totaling 21%. The extra three % go for "training and incentives"

[Dave Feldman]

I found this but no explanation for what it really means, other than the obvious point that the servers are probably not receiving the 3%: http://www.vegaschatter.com/story/201...

[LongIslandChef]

Thanks for posting that Dave. I guess its as close to an answer that we'll get.
So basically, its the restaurant milking extra dollars out of their diners. By making it sound important, they're making the diners feel better about paying it, or at least trying to.

[Dave Feldman]

If the implications in this article is true, I don't blame JMLenart at all for his not wanting to support the restaurant. This is almost as bad as the tip skimming that Batali and Bastianich (I guess CP gets small props for even these weasel words that I assume are meant to mask that management is taking a cut of tips).

Even disclosure doesn't make the practice much more acceptable to me. It reminds of of 12B-1 Fees in mutual funds. This is usually an annual fee of .25% of assets charged to investors so that the mutual fund can market itself! By making it a separate fee, the mutual fund is allowed to not include this fee as part of its expense ratio. There's nothing illegal about it, but it makes me question the integrity of the fund, and I make it a point never to buy such a fund for my retirement account.

[LongIslandChef]

I think you hit on the key word there Dave, Integrity. There's definitely nothing illegal about what they're doing, its just bad business and I also wouldn't support such a thing.

[BillB656]

And the cocktails are incredibly good