Take the pledge

A proposition for you as cinetrix and Fesser are away from their own laps. Emma's pizza, a childhood staple, shares not menu, location, or proprietor with the original. The original was a classic pizza joint  in Huron Village, AKA Totebagistan, helmed by the eponynmous Emma, who would summarily reject proposed topping combinations, and terrorize her husband. Currently, it is in East Cambridge, and serves newschool pies with a thin crust to folks who sometimes have more than one electronic device on their belts. In its current avatar,  it is deservedly popular, resulting in waits. Against my better judgement, while waiting I picked up the most odious of the local Boston birdcage liners, and was reminded that, after some fits and starts, that a freaking Ruth's Chrs steakhouse would be moving into the jewel-like Old City Hall location that was the home of the much-loved Maison Robert, which was arguably the first serous French spot in Boston, a favorite of the Codparents back in the day, not to mention Rose's Lime.
Like Jonathan Richman says, I sense a trend that has got to stop. The proliferation of the high-end (non-Sizzler) chain steakhouse suggests that the upscale lowbrow demographic is gathering steam. Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Capital Grille, et al, ad naus, strike me as the Blue Man Group of dining. Just as baldheaded franchisees spilling paint on one another is what passes for avant garde, seared cow and supersized martinis are what pass for fine dining for the Blackberry generation.  We cannot stop these places from opening, but perhaps we can stop their patrons from passing on their genes:

I pledge not to sleep with any date who takes me to a chain steakhouse.

Clip it, sign it, and keep in your wallet or purse. Please.

Comments

[Rose's Lime]

Some corrections/comments:
1) Emma's is in eastern Cambridge, but not East Cambridge - the almost-island on the other side of canal that used to run where Cardinal Medieros Avenue is. I think officially Emma’s is in Area 4, an area locally termed “The 'Port”, but since it's almost directly across from the One Kendall Square complex, not to be confused with the Kendall Square development on Kendall Street which is of course technically in East Cambridge. And for the record, I carry upwards of two battery powered devices on my person, but never on my belt.

2) I’d defend “Stuff at Night” as the premier weekly stylish free oversize tabloid. In its defense, it’s been home to some of Boston’s most up-and-coming columnists, and has the chutzpah to devote a weekly column to restaurant gossip. You can pick up a copy to read over a large ABP corn chowder and not have to worry about bogarting your table. Plus it treats its fashion coverage as a consistent opportunity to throw in a little T&A. What’s not to like?

3) On the proliferation of steakhouses, of course, one can only hope that there's a tragedy of the commons afoot that starves both the restaurants and the patrons. But, while chains are the mucus on which the virus of mediocrity travels, they aren’t any more virulent than the locals who succumb to and participate in the trend. Je t’accuse Davio’s “Northern Italian Steakhouse”. I’ve had several overpriced mediocre meals both here and local Grill 23. Some I even paid for out of my own pocket. I’ve never eaten at Ruth’s Chris, but I can’t blame them for Maison Robert’s departure. All good things come to an end. If they didn’t, there’d be lines out the door at Jacob Wirth’s and the Union Oyster House. Needless to say, I won’t be taking a date or celebrating my anniversary over a steak or a burger dog.