FROM THE “GET A LIFE” DEPARTMENT: When Envy Is On The Menu.

As she and her husband continued on the progression of their Tour menu, she observed something happening at a nearby table that upset her.

A gray mat was delivered; the guest unrolled it, and Alinea’s chef de cuisine walked into the small dining room with trays of mise en place. He plated the same soft shell crab dish she had eaten two courses before on the table surface while the diners he was chatting with smiled and took photos of the event. He finished and returned to the bustling kitchen. She began to cry, got up from the table, and briskly walked to the bathroom. They cut their meal short and left soon thereafter.

Plus this: “Alinea’s food by nature is tedious, experimental and exploratory, and I mean that from the side of the guest and the staff that prepares and serves it.” Like I said. . . .