The Shun List

I was inspired to post this after an incident that occurred last night (more on that later). People tend to be quite interested in the Shun List, so here it is.

The Shun List is comprised of local businesses that Luis and I shun. These are mainly restaurants, and in case you don't see the connection to running, I'll explain. After a hard workout, particularly a speed workout or a long run, one needs to rehydrate and refuel quickly in order to help the body repair and recover. In such cases, it's really nice to relax and be waited on, and thus the importance of the local food establishment when it comes to running.

Origins of the Shun List:
The Shun List started as informal notes to ourselves to avoid or boycott certain places. In fact it was originally called the Boycott List. I don't remember who our first boycott was (Luis, maybe you can fill in here, but, I'm thinking it was either Olive Vine or La Taqueria). Businesses make it onto the list for 3 main reasons:

1. Poor service - rudeness, excessive slowness, lack of responsiveness, etc.

2. Lame food - potion size, crappy taste, over- or under-cooking, etc.

3. Being un-neighborly - harming other local businesses, not being friendly to residents, etc.

We became intrigued by the concept of "shunning" after a discussion with some good friends about the TV show, "The Office" (US version). In an episode titled "Safety Training," Andy returns from anger management, and Dwight decides to shun Andy for 3 years - an Amish technique. Here is the clip. The first minute and a half explains the shun, and we are introduced to "un-shunning" and "re-shunning" about 4 minutes in.

Luis and I further researched the concept of the "shun" by watching the documentary "Devil's Playground," and we decided that this concept was a good fit for our list. Wikipedia provides still more information about shunning.

The Shun List:

1. Olive Vine (7th Ave & Lincoln) - As I mentioned this may have been the first place we shunned. Olive Vine has engaged in 2 egregious acts of un-neighborly conduct. First, they burned down the best, best, best produce stand in Park Slope. The nail in the coffin for Olive Vine, however, was when they pushed Oscar's (the best, best, best pizza in Park Slope) out of business. For that, we will forever SHUN!

2. La Taqueria (7th Ave & Berkeley) - One night Luis and I ordered take-out. I ordered some big taco salad, but when I got home and opened the bag, all I had was a shell with lettuce. Luis, being the knight in shining armor that he is, ran down there to have them fix the situation. The guys there were not only rude and unapologetic, they actually accused Luis of taking the salad home, eating the chicken and toppings, then bringing it back for more! How freaking ridiculous. We have shunned ever since. It's been over 2 years, and there have been many nights when nothing would've hit the spot more than a Taqueria burrito, but still we SHUN!

3. Peperocino (5th Ave & St. Marks) - Luis and I went here a once to carbo-load before long runs, and at first we liked the atmosphere. This turned out to be beginner's luck because we came back one night and had really annoying, hurried service. There were probably 3 parties in the whole restaurant and our waiter was running around like a chicken with no head. The food was mediocre at best. The kicker was when ordered a dessert and later saw the same exact thing in Costco. SHUN!

4. Le Gamin (Vanderbilt & Bergen) - Un-neighborly conduct. The owner of Le Gamin admonished her staff for selling cups of ice to the neighborhood kids. "If you do it once, they're going to keep coming back." God forbid. Black kids in a french bistro. Horrors. So for racism and rudeness to residents, we SHUN!

5. Black Pearl (Union bet. 6th & 7th) - Some background: Luis's parents own this building, and Luis's mom has an art studio upstairs from the restaurant. We gave this place a fair chance and went there several times (even had a fundraiser there). Eventually, the food became very inconsistent. Potion sizes starting changing, the food was becoming greasier, and it felt like we were rolling the dice when we ordered. Then summer time came, and the restaurant owners started seating people right in front of the door to the studio. Lainey (Luis's mom) got in several arguments with these guys. They were extremely condescending, demanding to talk to Frank (Luis's dad), and such. Well, the building is actually in Lainey's name, and it's her damn studio. Jerks. This alone is definitely shun-worthy. But to top it off, one day I saw the chef out front smoking. He was so nasty and dirty looking - I couldn't believe I'd ever eaten something he might have touched. Eww...SHUN!

6. Dizzy's (8th Ave & 9th St. ): Dizzy's practically refused to seat us once. Just because we were a big group of sweaty runners. Then our waiter acted positively pained to have to serve us. For shame. Or should I say for SHUN!

7. Tempo Presto (7th Ave & 3rd) - This place closed for a reason (although the 5th Ave location remains open). Crappy food. I got a salad there once that was inedible. It literally tasted like dirt. We are quite gratified that our shun was effective.

8. La Villa (5th Ave & Garfield)- Ahh...the newest addition to the list! Last night, the BK TNT folks made a reservation for 20 at La Villa. A big group, but they agreed. So we arrived, and they were completely unprepared. We waited no less than 1 hour to be seated. Unacceptable. But even more unacceptable was the attitude of the hostess. Miss "Trampy in Pink" had the nerve to roll her eyes at Coach Lisa when she made a suggestion for getting us seated. She then claimed she would get yelled at if she moved another table over. What if I yell at her if she doesn't?! I SO wanted to walk out of there, but we really wanted to all stay together and where were we all going to go? If I'd been alone or just with Luis, we'd have left in a heartbeat. SHUN!

(p.s. To the very nice waiter we had, this shun is not aimed at you. We'd love to get you a new job at a better establishment.)

So that's the main list. I could be forgetting some places, but those are the biggies. It's up to you to decide if the reasons I've presented here are enough for you shun as well. On that note, we do accept submissions for the Shun List. Usually, we like to witness the shun-worthiness for ourselves, but compelling cases have been made by friends (i.e. it was my friend who witnessed the incident at Le Gamin).

Also of note, the Shun List has spawned a couple corollaries.

Places We Wish We Could Shun, But It Would Be Really Hard:
Key Food (all locations) - over-priced, poor selection, poor layout and organization, crappy produce
Target (Atlantic Center) - It's always too hot. It's always over-crowded. They never have what I want.
The Post Office (all locations) - Do I have to explain?

Crunch - We're on the verge of shunning. Well we've been on the verge of shunning for about a year. Too crowded. Music in the spinning classes is ridiculously loud. I don't take the classes, but the entire gym shakes. Most of all, it's too hot!!! It's a gym for god's sake. The windows should not be getting foggy every day. It's just so close to our apartment.

And finally, on a more positive note,

Un-Shun-Able:
Bogota - We can't say enough good things about this place. Super friendly, great food, yummy drinks, gay-friendly. We've actually been served the wrong food a couple times, but guess what? It didn't matter! We ate it anyway and it was delicious!
Al di la - No reservations? 2 hour wait? No problem. The food is Just. So. Good.

Convivium - same as above, except they do take reservations.