Friday, June 16, 2006

The Genius of the Concierge

Several years ago while driving around in New Jersey the Concierge and I, and possibly even Reissberg and Leary, we noticed a restaurant, Ming Dynasty, which billed itself as the "Best Chinese Food in New Jersey." We thought it to be a boastful, presumptuous and even meaningless claim. We speculated that had they said second or even third best, it would have been better because then you would assume that some sort of competition took place. That's the back story, here's the e-mail the Concierge just sent me:

"I really want a story about Ming Dynasty- The Second Best Chinese Restaurant in New Jersey.
Today- I had an analogous encounter when I saw a sign on Wall Street for the Best Braised Short Rib Sandwich. This led to my previous conclusion that had they said they were the Second Best Braised Short Rib Sandwich, I might believe it. It carrys more credibility. Then I got to thinking, when did this contest for Best Braised Short Rib Sandwich take place? What was the criteria by which the sandwich were judged? Was it televised? Who were the judges? - Then I thought- How many Braised Short Rib Sandwiches were in the competition? - I mean it is not everyday you see thing sandwich on a menu.- maybe there was only two sandwiches in the competition- maybe it was an internal contest in which they used several different recipes for Braised Short Rib Sandwiches and then said Ah-Hah?- This one is the best one; and so they offered it for sale as the Best Braised Short Rib Sandwich."

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