Bluebird Debate

[siliconghost]

Yet again, another positive review of the Bluebird Tavern with a condescending tone to it.  I have figured it out !  There should be a DNA test to determine the bloodlines of patrons so as to not let any "mutts" dine with the "purebreds".  I guess us mutts will eat at Ponderosa because that will allow our ignorant gluttony to be satiated at a trough suitable for us. This will allow the privileged and intellectually superior few to dine without fear of having to rub elbows with such street urchins.     

I have to go start preparing a slow-braised osso bucco served with homemade gnocchi
and paired with a 1996 Barolo. I know, you probably thought I was going to be making something with Spam in a crockpot served with a suitcase of Miller Highlife while I sat around belching and watching Nascar.  Surprise !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mmmm... just made osso bucco last night, but swap out the barolo for 2001 opus one. jimmy @ the shelburne supermarket cuts the shank for you fresh if you ask for it. and my girlfriend hates the marrow.... so i get both

i suck at making gnocchi. wish i could have done that myself. i just steamed some okra and microwaved a bag of uncle bens.

[inapickle]

Hummm....so angry, so personal, so odd to be so annoyed Tonyo.  Me thinks I smell a rotten fish.

You misunderstood my intention and review.  Just because you may like coffee and I tea does not mean Bluebird buys, prepares or sells bad tea. This is not a point of condescension; it’s just not your thing – you're just not that into it!  I don’t happen to care for Osso Bocco which does not mean what you are making today will be bad, or wrong, just not my cuppa tea so I don’t eat it (super easy fix over endlessly complaining about it).  The 96 Borolo however…….I could even withstand the misplaced antagonism to share that with you.

Here’s hoping you have a low blood pressure, delicious dinner. I will be happy as a bird gobbling up a multitude of coveted leftovers from last nights Bluebird feast!

And on casting stones for perceived haughtiness:  I am not sure what your characterization  is meant to imply but I do happen to buy and consume Miller Highlife by the suitcase – it’s just the right thing on a hot day in the garden……. or maybe even the Nascar track  (Sometimes it makes me belch too).  

[tonyo]

No anger here !  I just find it hard to believe that I should be "honored" or "priviledged" to dine at any restaurant.  To the contrary, the owners of said establishment should have such a sentimenet towards their guests ! 

Believe it or not, I hope they do well, I really do.  The world has too many Applebee's and McDonald's.  I have enjoyed their food and my comments have been in an attempt to e broaden their appeal, not change their vision or mission.  I think they have a niche audience that just may be too small to succeed.  Additionally, the comments commending them almost always seem to have verbage directed at the detractors like "don't understand" , "eat garbage", "glutton" etc. Sometimes my attempts at humor blur my point (intentionally on some level).

[siliconghost]

No anger here !  I just find it hard to believe that I should be "honored" or "priviledged" to dine at any restaurant.  To the contrary, the owners of said establishment should have such a sentimenet towards their guests ! 

Believe it or not, I hope they do well, I really do.  The world has too many Applebee's and McDonald's.  I have enjoyed their food and my comments have been in an attempt to e broaden their appeal, not change their vision or mission.  I think they have a niche audience that just may be too small to succeed.  Additionally, the comments commending them almost always seem to have verbage directed at the detractors like "don't understand" , "eat garbage", "glutton" etc. Sometimes my attempts at humor blur my point (intentionally on some level).

I feel honored every time I eat at Ponderosa

[fooddeliveryguy]

I figured i would chime in here, having worked in the restaurant biz for 12 years locally and owning my own restaurant marketing and delivery biz for the past 5 years - I want to applaud Blue Bird's efforts for creating a local niche and working hard to educate consumers on local farming and products. I can't imagine this is an easy task figuring the demographics of food consumers in Chittenden County and Vermont. If this was Austin, Texas I could see a wide spread appreciation for local farming, local products and local producers/distributors. Vermont has a growing established local foods scene with many established producers and a growing number of start-ups. Cities like Austin, have a larger population that can support niche start-ups. Vermont and Burlington does not. I personally think it is important for businesses to create niches and being able to learn and grow based on a smaller niche may be a better business experience than say focusing on the masses (like chain restaurants). I am a regular observer of the forums and restaurant reviews and I do think it is important for businesses like BlueBird in the start-up stages to take note of feedback from customers and potential customers. The experience of the customer ultimately changes the way we do business. One thing we could learn from the chains is why do chains alway's ask for feedback from customers? Why do chains have feedback hot-lines and feedback forms on dining tables? Because chain restaurants marketing is purely focused on the feedback of its customers. Chains change marketing tactics all the time based on the information and feedback collected by its customers. It typically takes a chain 6 months of lab testing, focus group testing, and segmented market testing to bring 1 new dish to the mass market. Why 6 months? Because they want to make sure there not spending millions of dollars marketing the wrong product to a mass of hungry consumers.

Sorry this post was all over the place (which is why I don't usually post) haha

Patrick

[tonyo]

Patrick makes some great points.  I don't really think the "debate" surrounding Bluebird is about right vs. wrong or whether people "understand" what the conceptis. To me, it is about opinions and observations.  I really am shocked that no one from the BB has entered a post.  I think nearly all of us appreciate it when an owner/manager/employee of an establishment takes to time to respond to the posts we take our time to write.  Whether it is to say thanks, to clarify and issue, to say go to hell, or any other response, at least it is an acknowledgement to those that made an effort to bring something to the table (nice play on words huh....).  I find it nearly impossible that no one from the BB has read these posts.  If I am wrong, then maybe one of us should bring them to their attention.  If they have and are just staying out of the mix, then maybe a simple post stating "thanks for the input, we do read your comments and we are___________".  In my many years in the restaurant biz, I always appreciated feedback (good and bad) and made a point to respond to anyone that took the time and effort to bring something to my attention. I can remember how angry I was with one local restaurant that never acknowledged a lengthy letter I wrote them about an experience I had at their place.  Not even a phone call.  To me, that is a poor business decision. 


OK, I am done with this topic unless I visit the BB.....................

[Undead Molly]

We were really nervous about trying Bluebird Tavern. We don't have a lot of money and were wary of getting ripped off for the poor service and microscopic portions described in so many user reviews.

But we finally decided to risk it last night, and I'm so glad we did! We ordered a roasted chicken and foraged mushroom bread salad built-for-two supper and were thrilled with the service, presentation, quantity, and quality. I wasn't psyched about the chef's choice starter which featured two of the only three foods I dislike, but I probably could have avoided that by mentioning my preferences to our server.

The salads were large, fresh, flavorful. We chose the venison sausage and frites for sides and were pleased with both. The sausage was a little dry inside, but the flavor was excellent, especially paired with the relish of sweet/sour red cabbage and mustard seed that came with it (I think that's what it was). The frites were great! Crispy and intermingled with fried basil leaves, and came with savory malt vinegar aioli and their sweet, cidery homemade ketchup.

The chicken, oh the chicken! It was so juicy and tender that we didn't need knives to cut it up. The flavor was perfect, just the perfect essence of roasted chicken saturating every bite. The bread salad and mushrooms were lovely, too. Mushrooms were firm and bread remained magically crunchy, not soggy, even though it was all drenched in delicious drippings.

Even though we were full after all this, we decided to have a peek at the dessert menu and ended up ordering the cookie jar. While the idea was cute, we were least impressed with the cookies. If you're going to go for dessert, I'd try something else.

Overall we were very, very impressed. Very satisfied. Very happy. I don't think we can afford to go regularly, but we'll certainly keep it on the short list of special occasion destinations.