Banned on Chowhound: Be Nice to Pat Kuleto, Please
Friday, March 7, 2008

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Welcome back to Banned on Chowhound, in which we right the wrongs suffered by you at the hand of those eraser-happy Chowhound moderators. Wrote a post only to have it banned? We can most certainly help.

It's been a while since we've dipped back into the Banned on Chowhound feature—mostly because there hasn't been much controversy over yonder; we've been watching—but late last night, the following email found its way through the giant fish tanks and transplanted olive trees to the Eater Inbox:

Hi Eater, you might like to know that Chowhound is deleting posts, or at least one post, about the new Pat Kuleto restaurants on the water. The other day, someone filed in a very fair, albeit underwhelming report about Waterbar and mentioned in passing that they couldn't recognize the dishes they ordered [Ed note: the post in question]. Someone then replied that this was not OK at a restaurant of that caliber, or something similar and then POOF! it's gone...

Upon reading this, a trip to the old rss reader was in order, and lo, look what we found:

Here is the first response to the aforementioned report that got quickly deleted by the Chowhound moderators:

"neither of us recognized the dish that arrived, my friend even asked if they'd made a mistake " Knock yourself out, Gary. If the dish isn't what is described no matter how good it is, that is a major flaw that I'm not going to throw over $100 bucks at ... a "Soul-less" "expense account" restaurant ... bon apetite to you ... I'll spend my money elsewhere ... or is that too marginal? I look forward to your report on the place.

While not necessarily a "helpful" post, we're not sure it warrants exile, especially since an unrecognizable dish would indeed be considered an issue at a restaurant of Waterbar's stature. It would appear that the Kuletoville bandwagon does not want to get derailed.

n any event, the aforementioned tip got the Chowhound wheels a-turning, so imagine the surprise when it was discovered that all mentions of the 4% health care surcharge at Epic Roasthouse have been removed. Several people voiced displeasure on this thread regarding the charges tacked on, but now, nothing. One of the banned posts:

These types of surcharges have been much debated on the board (Incanto does something very similar). I just have to say that the wording on this menu is probably misleading (which I find more annoying than preachiness). I'd frankly be very, very surprised if the health insurance package that they offer comes anywhere NEAR to being the 'the very best' available. and for ALL of their employees, regardless of length of employment and number of hours worked per week? I most sincerely doubt it. It is probable that a statement such as 'In order to provide a health insurance package for all eligible employees that is as good or better than provided at any other restaurant in San Francisco' is much closer to the truth. But that doesn't sound as good on a menu, does it?

Now, obviously, Chowhound does not need keep a full discussion about the politics behind the health care debate; nonetheless, call us crazy, but we're of the mindset that some diners may want to know if a high-profile restaurant like Epic (or Waterbar for that matter) is charging an extra fee. This is valuable information for diners, right?

Whatever your feelings may be on the matter, let it be known that the Banned on Chowhound Team is back and better than ever, and we want your stories.

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