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    Dumb Article from Wall Street Journal – Celebs at 23Hoyt

    By PDX Food Dude Last Update May 12, 2017 21 Comments

    I see my share of stupid articles, but sometimes one comes along that is so incredibly stupid, I have to write about it. Case in point, a recent report in The Wall Street Journal called Power Tables – 23Hoyt, Portland, Ore. It focuses on, I kid you not,  which tables various ‘celebrities’ have dined at in the restaurant.

    “… friend of Al Gore’s, dines at table 24 at least once a week”

    “Jennifer Aniston, who is in town shooting a film, ate a Greek salad while dining with crew members at table 51. Dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov sat at the large family table when in town for an event at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. PICA curator Kristan Kennedy watched dinner mate Kenny Mellman, of the drag cabaret duo Kiki & Herb, perform on the piano after dinner at table 17.”

    Most of the people named are hardly celebrities, and the whole article is somewhat embarrassing. It includes a floor plan with each table rated from “A List” to “A++ List” , so you’ll know just how you rate. Just think – you could sit where Peter Stott from Con-way sat just last week!!!!

    Maybe I’m just jealous, because the last time I was at 23Hoyt I got stuck at table 30.

    I smell the hand of a PR firm on this one.

    Related

    Category: Portland Food and Restaurant News and Discussion. Related posts about 23 Hoyt Restaurant.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Papaki says

      October 31, 2007 at 3:23 pm

      You’re in good company, Dude: The one and only time we dined at 23Hoyt, they stuck us at table 30 too! Haven’t been back since because of it. (Well, that and the fact that both of our entrees were so over-salted that salt was pretty much the only thing we could taste.)

      Reply
    2. Food Dude says

      October 31, 2007 at 3:26 pm

      I actually think the food at 23H has been pretty darn good. Order the right things and it is outstanding. I haven’t been in about 3 months though, so things may have changed.

      Reply
    3. Nikos says

      October 31, 2007 at 3:40 pm

      Not table 30! They must have recognized you!

      Reply
    4. Nancy Rommelmann says

      October 31, 2007 at 3:45 pm

      First, this isn’t really a story; it’s a blurb. Second, as we know, Portland is flavor-of-the-month, so, anything for pdx to appear in print, however wee and twee. Third, this to me smacks of receiving gobs of PR from 23 Hoyt (just as WSJ does from every other restaurant), and deciding to use the who-sits-where as the hook.

      That said, and contrary to what the Dude and Papaki think, I don’t see this as a dumb idea but one that, in editorial parlance, is evergreen: people don’t seem tire of reading about celebs, where they go, what they eat, how they’re different from you and me, including getting preferential seating. It’s always been thus. Many restaurants get by on good food; others don’t mind coupling it with buzz, and Jennifer Aniston’s mug is probably going to generate more of that than Papaki’s.

      Not that he isn’t blindingly handsome.

      Reply
    5. Food Dude says

      October 31, 2007 at 3:57 pm

      Nancy, what you say is obvious, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t stupid.

      Looking at my receipts, I’ve sat at table 30 three times. Humph.

      I think Nancy is defending them because she is one of the ‘in, glitterati’ crowd that gets table 52! She sits there preening in her ermine and pearls, batting those smoking hot eyelashes, saying seductively over her gimlet, “I’ll have the chitarra”. Wink.

      I know, because I’ve seen it all from table 30 (if I use my binoculars)

      Reply
    6. Nikos says

      October 31, 2007 at 4:13 pm

      Portland needs all the publicity it can get. I am tired of telling people I moved to Portland and sometime later they ask me: How’s Seattle ? (Seattle IS the pacific Northwest in most peoples mind, sad but true)
      So, bring on the wee and twee, doesn’t matter. Better name and geographic recognition please!(what can I say, all us newcomers are shallow people!)

      Reply
    7. Papaki says

      October 31, 2007 at 4:19 pm

      Nancy, for the record, I never meant to imply that I thought there was anything “dumb” about this idea. Heck, even I’m more interested in Jennifer Aniston than Papaki — and I’m Papaki.

      I only wanted to grouse about the fact that 23Hoyt seems to enjoy sticking nobodies like me — and Food Dude — at table 30. (Sorry, Dude.)

      Maybe we need to start creating our own buzz about how table 30 is THE hot place to sit.

      Reply
    8. Nikos says

      October 31, 2007 at 4:29 pm

      Fake fur is all the rage now and real pearls ought to stay in the drawer for security reasons! I miss the days when Maria Callas or Jackie O would create a stir about the restaurant they would be spotted going to, now it’s Jennifer Anniston from Friends (!). Marilyn must be spinning in her grave.

      Reply
    9. Dave J. says

      October 31, 2007 at 4:35 pm

      I’m down with the idea of creating fake buzz for the “non-cool” tables.

      “Table 30 is so hot right now!”

      Reply
    10. Food Dude says

      October 31, 2007 at 4:38 pm

      I’ve heard, Food Dude sits at table 30!

      Papki, if we do that, then they’ll start putting me in the basement.

      Reply
    11. Hunter says

      October 31, 2007 at 4:42 pm

      I’ve always been seated at tables 20-25, always. Damn, I rock.

      Reply
    12. Papaki says

      October 31, 2007 at 4:54 pm

      OK, everybody, here’s the plan: Next time you call 23Hoyt for a reservation, ASK specifically to be seated at Table 30. Refuse to settle for anything less!

      Reply
    13. Nancy Rommelmann says

      October 31, 2007 at 5:03 pm

      I love you guys. But, as the Dude well knows: I only dine at 23 Hoyt in my sienna wig and dark sunglasses.

      Reply
    14. Nikos says

      October 31, 2007 at 5:12 pm

      Wig and dark glasses, that was my idea!

      Reply
    15. FrannyGlass says

      November 1, 2007 at 12:53 am

      I’d be happy if someone just invited me to have a drink with them at the bar! Papaki? Food Dude? Nancy, I have some nice wigs you could borrow…

      Reply
    16. reflexblue says

      November 1, 2007 at 11:00 am

      Wow, that’s just completely sad. I left the land of starfuckers behind, and I intend to keep it that way.

      Do we really want these people expanding their leaching ground? When Aniston gets her meal comped does the management makes sure the servers etc… get their due? Hasn’t been my experience, or the experience of anyone else I know.

      Reply
    17. megan says

      November 2, 2007 at 6:48 am

      How do you know what table you are at? I would feel silly asking!!!

      Reply
    18. FrannyGlass says

      November 2, 2007 at 1:32 pm

      The table number is usually written or printed on the check somewhere.

      Reply
    19. Food Dude says

      November 2, 2007 at 1:39 pm

      well, if you have to ask, you just aren’t cool ;)
      All the hip people know where table 30 is

      Reply
    20. eastsidegirl says

      November 4, 2007 at 10:59 am

      So, am I missing something, but when looking at the table numbering there are quite a few gaps: 9, 18, 19, and 26–>29 – what’s that all about?

      Reply
    21. Marshall Manning says

      November 4, 2007 at 11:53 am

      Those are the secret tables for the real hipsters!

      Reply

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