Every big city in America has at least one old-school power joint like this, with the old waiters in black bowties, the thick porcelain plates, lots of stiff drinks and overpriced old-school eats.

Don't get me wrong, I'm actually a fan of places like this.

I certainly prefer the scene at Tadich, or the orginal Palm in NYC, or Galatoire's to the scene at Chez Panisse, which, inexplicably, receives a very high rating for bland, tasteless food.

Chez Panisse, of course, doesn't belong in the same category as the other places I've mentioned, but it's also a shrine, a tribute restaurant. CP, though, pays hommage to the so-called hippie sensibility (which is, in actually nothing more than BoBo [Bourgeois Bohemian] sensibility).

When Alice Waters opened CP, her mesclun salad with goat cheese was a revolutionary item in the American culinary canon. Now you can find it at Wendy's.

At least at Galatoire's or 21, there is a certain bonhomie, while the ambiance and mood at Chez Panisse is painfully aloof and withdrawn.

That's why Chez Panisse still gets my vote for the most overrated (28 in Zagat!)