congrats and another food post. (or, why eat hamburger when you can have steak? - for reals)

1. congratulations to my classy friends daria & diego, who got engaged monday night. (diego popped the question in the middle of the brooklyn bridge; it sounded pretty classy.) as i told them last night, it's nice to know that in this facacta world, two nice people can still find each other.
2. before heading to daria's for the impromptu engagement party, i had dinner at blt steak with the fam last night. i have to say, im not a big steak person (in fact, i usually dislike it), but the steak at this place is effing awesome. and it makes me want to comment on--nay, diss--peter luger yet again. see, it seems everyone and their mother praises peter luger (usually people, including myself, say 'peter luger's', malapropping it a la 'barnes & noble's', or worse, 'blockbuster's', but that's a pet peeve post for another don.) as if jesus christ himself is back in the kitchen there, cooking up the steaks. and i've never understood this. the steak at luger is great, to be sure, but in my estimation it doesn't come close to justifying the exorbitant prices there, especially when you consider the drab decor (i think many people would call it 'faux drab' but that sounds like 'drab' to me) and less than supplicant service (at those prices, waiters should be supplicant no matter how good the food is). (btw, it's not that the service isn't good: just that they don't kiss your ass and junk.)

here's my point. blt's waiters arent totally obsequious either, but they're closer than luger's. and the decor is a lot classier. and the prices are about on par. and the steak is every bit as good if not better. and the location of blt is in-the-thick-of-it midtown, as opposed to williamsburg. so my question is, all things being equal--more accurately, all things being slightly better at blt--why would anyone ever choose luger over blt?

i think luger is just one of these venerable nyc institutions that's coasting on rep, despite having lost its pep. if blt and luger came to the city at the same time, no way in hell luger survives. i see through you, luger. you bastard.