That's Kinda Neat

The New York Post notes how some restaurants like the "21" Club, The Palm and Peter Luger still keeps tabs for some steady customers. At "21," there are a whopping 5,000 such accounts. By contrast, Michael's has only six tabs left on the books. Given the tie-policy debacle of 2009, this is a nice reassurance that "21" retains some old-style policies.

The Post publishes another cool, old-restaurant story about the accounts book at Gino, the Upper East Side Italian joint. I've seen this thing. It's a huge, beaten-up, leather-bound monster, full of the names and debts of everyone who's ever eaten at Gino. Among those who have or have had Gino tabs: Frank Sinatra, Gay Talese, Harry Winston, Oleg Cassini and Bernie Madoff (did he pay his tab?). Early entries in the old book feature the hand of original owner Gino Circiello.