More economy woes, looks like everyone is feeling the hurt. On to, The Must. Owner Coly Haan once described her menu as "white trash food with a twist," apparently now it's erring more on the "trash" side. Per a tipster:
The Must Wine Bar in downtown: Cheese plates are not as advertised - Double Glouster Chedder, Explorateur Triple Cream Brie, Point Reyes, etc. are all in fact US Foods low-budget generic. You are paying $15 for $4 worth of generic cheese. House Made Beer Pretzels are in fact US Foods Super Pretzel brand nuggets. House Made Tater Tots are also US Foods Generic. House Made Peanut Butter is US Foods Generic. See the pattern?UPDATE: The proprietors of said establishment dispute the above. We've offered them the chance to respond here, with the response of their choice reprinted in full with no editing, but so far, they've demurred. Further updates as events warrant.US Foods? Every other vendor bridge has been burned in less than six months. All orders are strictly C.O.D. or no delivery. Besides not adhering to simple food saftey standards, such as soap, sanitizing, and throwing out chicken salad that's 2 weeks old, 90% of all 'fresh' menu items are cooked days beforehand and sit in the fridge, including all vegetables; even the ones that would take 5 minutes to cook per order. The Must, even with friends in the publicity industry, is sinking faster than the Titanic in an ice field, and long-time customers are duped into paying the same price for an inferior product.
UPDATE II: From this Eater LA post, an apology: "We ran this tip without contacting the owners of the restaurant, who have since refuted the tip in its entirety. We apologize to the owners of the restaurant, and our readers, for not investigating our source's claims before airing them on the site. The resulting post didn't rise to our standards, and we shouldn't have published it." Click through for the owners' response, too.