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=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: ggw on May 12, 2011, 12:25:04 pm

Title: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: ggw on May 12, 2011, 12:25:04 pm
Fedora-clad DC restaurateur and TV food personality Spike Mendelsohn proclaims that it's "nice to be in a second-tier city where you can be a big fish in a small pond."

Local bloggers get snitty.
http://www.thehillishome.com/2011/05/get-over-yourself-mr-mendelsohn/
http://donrockwell.com/index.php?showtopic=16359
http://dcist.com/2011/05/spike_mendelson_dc_is_a_second-tier.php

Discuss.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: godsshoeshine on May 12, 2011, 12:31:08 pm
i like that spike was like third best dc contestant on top chef allstars. guess that makes him second tier
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Frank Gallagher on May 12, 2011, 01:07:27 pm
So DC moved up a notch then?
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Justin Tonation on May 12, 2011, 01:11:36 pm
New York City: 468.9 sq mi, pop. 8,175,133
Los Angeles: 498.3 sq mi, pop. 3,833,995
Chicago: 234.0 sq mi, pop. 2,695,598

Washington, DC: 68.3 sq mi, pop. 601,723
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: vansmack on May 12, 2011, 01:44:38 pm
New York City: 468.9 sq mi, pop. 8,175,133
Los Angeles: 498.3 sq mi, pop. 3,833,995
Chicago: 234.0 sq mi, pop. 2,695,598

Washington, DC: 68.3 sq mi, pop. 601,723

So what?

San Francisco, CA: 46.7 sq mi, pop. 805,235

Nobody thinks this place is second tier, especially not chefs.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: fatskippy on May 12, 2011, 01:58:28 pm
Is DC not a 2nd tier city?  It's certainly not on the level of NYC, Chicago, SF, and LA.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Got Haggis? on May 12, 2011, 02:05:31 pm
José Andrés > Spike
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: godsshoeshine on May 12, 2011, 02:10:47 pm
andres is an unfair bar to clear

mike isabella > spike
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: ggw on May 12, 2011, 02:14:45 pm
I think Mendelsohn's quote is pretty accurate.  He would be a nobody in NY, Chicago, SF, or LA.  Judging by the amount of words he gets on local blogs, he is a relatively big fish in DC.  But it is probably best not to point that out to the residents of a city that attracts so many self-important types.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Relaxer on May 12, 2011, 02:15:06 pm
How are cities being tiered? If it's population, then of course DC and SF aren't 1st tier.

And just because DC is the nation's capital, that doesn't necessarily make it Tier 1. That's like saying Albany, NY is on the same level as NYC because it's where the governor sleeps.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Relaxer on May 12, 2011, 02:16:39 pm
And what exactly makes SF a Tier 1 city? What does SF have that, say, Seattle doesn't?
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: ggw on May 12, 2011, 02:16:52 pm
Sometimes the governor of NY "sleeps" in more places than just Albany.  

nudge-nudge-wink-wink
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: ggw on May 12, 2011, 02:17:33 pm
And what exactly makes SF a Tier 1 city? What does SF have that, say, Seattle doesn't?

vansmack.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: godsshoeshine on May 12, 2011, 02:22:31 pm
I think Mendelsohn's quote is pretty accurate.  He would be a nobody in NY, Chicago, SF, or LA.  Judging by the amount of words he gets on local blogs, he is a relatively big fish in DC.  But it is probably best not to point that out to the residents of a city that attracts so many self-important types.
maybe

i'd still know who he is either way

top chef is pretty popular
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: reggie on May 12, 2011, 02:57:49 pm
DC is a world class city, a cultural tastemaker like Paris, London,Tokyo, and Berlin.  ::)
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: sweetcell on May 12, 2011, 03:00:06 pm
And what exactly makes SF a Tier 1 city? What does SF have that, say, Seattle doesn't?

as far as restaurants go, SF is pretty hard to beat.  it's punching way about it's weight there. 

and, vansmack.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Relaxer on May 12, 2011, 03:04:19 pm
New Orleans has almost an entire genre of food attributed to it but I wouldn't call it a Tier 1 city, despite its voodoo awesomeness.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: notme on May 12, 2011, 03:30:46 pm
dosen't  Mendelsohn own fast food restaurants?
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Thousand Made-Up Loves on May 12, 2011, 04:12:34 pm
Spike's burgers are small and overpriced. He can walk in front of a fucking Metro bus for all I care and this second tier city won't miss him a bit.

Hope he's not behind on his rent AGAIN, either.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Christine Moritz on May 12, 2011, 05:09:24 pm
Fedora-clad DC restaurateur and TV food personality Spike Mendelsohn proclaims that it's "nice to be in a second-tier city where you can be a big fish in a small pond."

Even if D.C. isn't on a par with London, Paris, Tokyo, etc. (although does Chicago really belong in that exalted company either?), this was an incredibly impolitic remark on Spike Mendelson's part.

(My immediate reaction when I saw the thread title was: "Them's fightin' words!")

He could have conveyed the same idea less insultingly by saying that it's "nice to be in a smaller place where you can be a bigger fish in a smaller pond."
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Justin Tonation on May 12, 2011, 05:18:59 pm
a cultural tastemaker like Paris, London,Tokyo, and Berlin. 

Reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw years ago: Paris, London, Tokyo, Odenton
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: walkonby on May 12, 2011, 05:19:49 pm
i like that people "round these parts" still use terms like " . . . fighting words" and "discuss." 
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Herr Professor Doktor Doom on May 13, 2011, 07:04:39 am
Who cares what "tier" DC is versus other cities?   DC is not NYC, and that's just fine.

Spike Mendelsohn is an idiot for thinking he's a big fish, though -- even in this second-tier pond, most people don't know who he is, and among those who do, a substantial number think there's nothing special about a restauranteur who specializes in burgers and pizzas.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: godsshoeshine on May 13, 2011, 08:08:03 am
Who cares what "tier" DC is versus other cities?   DC is not NYC, and that's just fine.

Spike Mendelsohn is an idiot for thinking he's a big fish, though -- even in this second-tier pond, most people don't know who he is, and among those who do, a substantial number think there's nothing special about a restauranteur who specializes in burgers and pizzas.
that's pretty true. if i wanted to live in new york...i'd live in new york. if i want a burger i'm not going to capitol hill to get it
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: eltee on May 14, 2011, 12:05:35 am
Who cares what "tier" DC is versus other cities?   DC is not NYC, and that's just fine.

Spike Mendelsohn is an idiot for thinking he's a big fish, though -- even in this second-tier pond, most people don't know who he is, and among those who do, a substantial number think there's nothing special about a restauranteur who specializes in burgers and pizzas.
that's pretty true. if i wanted to live in new york...i'd live in new york. if i want a burger i'm not going to capitol hill to get it
Especially at his place, unless you want food poisoning.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: saltenya94 on May 27, 2011, 12:52:26 am
Everyone knows DC is not a 1st tier city at least in food terms.  But does everyone know you can food + beer specials cheaper in New York (not great trendy restaurants I mean cheap anything food ) than you will ever find in DC.  Most DC people never believe me, when I tell them I can get 2 x the food and 4 x the beer in NYC then DC prices.  Of course they are never places the NY Times would write about.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: sweetcell on June 06, 2011, 11:05:23 am
i'll stay out of the first vs. second tier debate, but one thing is certain: DC is nerd central (http://gawker.com/5808876/whether-liberal-or-conservative-hip-young-dc-residents-are-nerds).

best quote ever, from the source WaPo article: "We?re recent college grads with high GPAs from prestigious institutions. Why are we unemployed?"
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Relaxer on June 06, 2011, 11:43:31 am
Everyone knows DC is not a 1st tier city at least in food terms.  But does everyone know you can food + beer specials cheaper in New York (not great trendy restaurants I mean cheap anything food ) than you will ever find in DC.  Most DC people never believe me, when I tell them I can get 2 x the food and 4 x the beer in NYC then DC prices.  Of course they are never places the NY Times would write about.

Wait just a minute, pal. Are you saying that a city of 18 million people has more food options than a city of 600,000? GET OUTTA HERE!
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Christine Moritz on June 06, 2011, 12:54:07 pm
Wait just a minute, pal. Are you saying that a city of 18 million people has more food options than a city of 600,000? GET OUTTA HERE!

You're comparing the population of the NYC metro area to the population of the city of Washington, D.C.

If you compare one metro area to the other, then it's 18.9 million vs. 5.6 million.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: Relaxer on June 06, 2011, 02:10:29 pm
How dare you introduce facts to my heckles.
Title: Re: DC is a "second tier city"
Post by: ggw on June 06, 2011, 02:20:07 pm
"We?re recent college grads with high GPAs from prestigious institutions. Why are we unemployed?"

1. A high GPA means nothing in an era of grade inflation and your institution probably isn't as prestigious as you think.

2. You may want to expand your employment search beyond networking happy hours for the "idea-crafting" field.