Last Call: RIP "ladies First" Restaurant Service
Some customers hate the collective "you guys." Others can't stand the "ma'am" or "miss" that might come at the end of a question. They'll be relieved by this Eater piece that examines restaurants who are deliberately, via staff training, doing away with practices like serving women first and using the phrase "ladies and gentlemen." At Chicago restaurant Tied House, for example, servers are instructed to serve a table clockwise, beginning with the diner deemed to be seat one on the order—no matter their gender. [Kate Bernot]
Ivan Orkin, ramen artisan
A bowl of ramen, as of this writing, would be my last meal. Ivan Orkin is one of the world's great ramen practitioners, a white gaijin who—miracle of miracles—won over discerning Tokyoites by running two successful ramen shops. Five years ago, Orkin returned to New York and opened his eponymous ramen shop on the Lower East Side, and it's on my must-visits each time I'm in Manhattan. Orkin's approach to ramen is that of a true artisan, and that's what I love about this five-minute video. Every component in his ramen serves a purpose. Watch now and I'm certain you'll be jonesin' for a bowl. [Kevin Pang]