Berried Treasure

As the old adage goes, you eat with your eyes first. Chowder believes this doesn’t just apply to the dish before you, but also the ambiance. Some interior designs enhance the theme—take Redbones as an example—but even if a strategically placed set of lights does nothing for our seared tuna, we don’t have many deal-breakers.

But we did discover one the other night while grabbing a drink at Max and Dylan’s. We call her Berry Thong.

The walls of the Downtown Crossing space are decorated with semi-nude photographs of women. The model’s legs extend from beneath an umbrella. In another shot, she wears a lacy gown. Evocative, we thought. Risque, maybe, but tasteful.

But one photograph near the downstairs bar completely distracted us from our pint. The woman is nude, except for a strategically-placed string of what we think were cranberries that resembled a thong.

We couldn’t concentrate because the picture raised so many questions. Why would someone waste perfectly good seasonal fruit by wearing them as underwear? Were the individual berries sewn together like garland for a Christmas tree, or were they glued on? Chowder’s mind was reeling.

How about you, faithful readers. What are your dining deal-breakers? Loud music? Neon beer signs? Undergrads? As always, let us know in the comments.