Midweek Dinner Out

Thursday night Andy and Barbara took me and Jerry out for our annual birthday dinner. We tried out the new 51 Lincoln at the site of a former favorite fancy-pants restaurant, Le Soir.

The food was exceptionally good—really, all of us couldn't say enough about how delicious it all was. Andy and I both had the same appetizer (scallops and bacon with hand-made arepas, queso sierra, and mango butter), and Andy pronounced it one of the best appetizers of his life. For entrees, Andy had cast-iron seared sirloin steak, truffled polenta fries, baby carrots, and cabernet sauce; I had a special that was a veal chop with chanterelles, taro root cake, and blood orange reduction. Everything was yummy, although Andy felt that his steak was a wee bit overdone.

The service, on the other hand, was very disappointing. Our waiter was certainly competent, but he added nothing positive to our experience. For one thing, he didn't once smile—and neither did the host, nor any of the other waiters, which made us conclude that the staff training manual must include something like "Act really cool and bored, as if you're somehow better than your customers." Our waiter also replied to everything we said with a thoroughly unemotional "Absolutely." Obviously, after the third or fourth "Absolutely," we realized it was meaningless. He also didn't offer any helpful suggestions when we were choosing our food—for instance, Andy couldn't decide between the sirloin and the skirt steak, and the waiter just explained the two different cuts of meat and didn't say anything like, "Oh, the ___ is just great tonight" as most waiters will do. Or, when Barbara was ordering coffee and asked what "Danish Decaf" meant; the waiter said, "It's our decaf." Jerry asked whether it was strong, and the reply was, "People seem to like it."

We eat out a lot, and we certainly go downtown frequently enough, but we've rarely encountered such too-cool-for-school arrogance as this, particularly out here in the 'burbs! I have no use for cold, surly, blasé waitstaff. I'll definitely try this restaurant again—the food was that good—but I'll hope to get a brand-new waiter who hasn't yet mastered the rudeness required for this position.

       

Comments

[scott]

Yay for good food, boo for bad waitstaff. There used to be a restaurant here in Milwaukee where the waiters and waitresses were so rude they would openly mock you when you asked what the special was or where the restroom was. It was part of their schtick. The place was called Ed Debevic's and it closed in 2001. There is still one in Chicago, I think.

[Karen]

We have a place here in Boston called Durgin Park that is also famous for its rude waitresses, but it's more of a touristy gimmick than the real thing. This guy was totally full of himself and arrogant.

[amy]

had a similar experience at 51 lincoln, great food, arrogant service. maybe they train them to be that way? reminds me of a restaurant in p-town called "cafe blasse", and the staff are, in fact, quite blasse. perhaps 51 lincoln should be renamed "51 attitudes" or something similar.

i've been reading your maytag experience posts with a horrible sense of de ja vu; we had the same kind of deal with a maytag fridge we got at home depot. it never froze any of the frozen good i put in it ($220 worth of dream dinners), guy came 3 times over a 2 month period to "repair" it, and at one point--and karen, only you could believe this one--he told me that "the freezer is not designed to FREEZE things, only to keep things cold that are already frozen." After the 3 visits that yielded water in the icecube tray every time he left, my husband loaded the fridge into the back of a friend's truck, drove it back to the home depot from whence he had purchased it, deposited on their front walkway, got a manager, and said "here's your refrigerator back. I'd like a new one. YOU deal with Maytag.". Several managers later, and faced with an angry customer literally on their doorstep, they took it back and he drove off with a new one from a different manufacturer. And this one actually FREEZES things! What a concept!

[Karen]

Well, I'm glad to hear you confirm my experience (suggesting that it wasn't just my imagination), but I have to admit I was half hoping we'd just hit the place on a bad night. I probably will go back sometime, but I'm not in any hurry.

And, oh oh oh on your Maytag experience! So your repairman would suggest you go to the store and BUY ice and then bring it home to keep it frozen in your freezer???? Good for your husband, meanwhile. And good for Home Depot.

[Risottogirl]

Wow, good to know. If the food is good enough, I'll always give a place a second chance, but my SO definitely won't.

Does the space look very different from when it was Le Soir?

We had dinner tonight at Sel de la Terre, kind of spur of the moment. It is busy and a bit loud but I have never been disappointed in the food or the service.

[Di]

I expect you and amy to continue to test restaurants so that when I come up there this summer we can eat somewhere fabulous! My almost-veg friend amy who loves me even when I order the oh-so-un-PC foie gras...I tested this twice in Savannah...will have her input, you will have yours and maybe we can have a battle of the blogged-about bistros!

[TwoBusy]

Arrogant service drives me [email protected]%#@ bonkers. If I'm out at a nice restaurant, I want to have a good time -- not deal with some arrogant SOB barely hiding his disgust at the fact that I may actually have a question or two.

Your dinner - in terms of the food - sounds intriguing. However, I don't know that I'm really eager to pay +/- $150 for the privilege of walking out of a restaurant thoroughly annoyed with my experience. (Especially when I know I can walk next door to Baker's Best and have good eats with no hassles (beyond lines) at a fraction of the cost.)

[Karen]

I'm willing to allow for anyone to have a bad night, and it's not as if the waiter ruined our experience (we've had that happen before, too), but the fact that all of the waitstaff seemed so sullen doesn't bode well. Hell, what do I know, maybe they'd all just gotten a reaming-out from the chef or something. Really nice food, though! And I wasn't paying. :-)