Ludovica Petricone
Google
The sorbet I had was decent, but the wine was both opened and acidic.
The absolute worst part, however, was the service.
The menu, unavailable online, perhaps because it is seasonal, was displayed on a board in a dimly lit setting. Starters, main dishes, and desserts were not separated or clearly marked, which created confusion.
I am from Rome, and I can confirm that aubergines in carrozza are a traditional main dish of our cuisine, not a starter. Two out of the four people at our table ordered it as a main dish (together with the acidic wine). When served, the portion was quite large for a starter, so they understandably did not want to order another main dish afterwards yet they were thinking about ordering dessert.
As for myself, I only ordered a glass of wine and had planned to order dessert (since I had recently been ill and didn’t want a heavy meal, but also didn’t want to order nothing out of respect). The fourth person at our table had a glass of wine and a main dish. When placing the order, I clearly explained all of this to the waiter. Despite this, not only did he forget my dessert, but he also spoke negatively about our table to a colleague, saying that we did not want anything else, which was untrue. We were simply taking some time to decide.
What happened next was even worse: his colleague came to our table and told us, “If you are not eating anything else, you need to leave in case new clients come in. We are a small business and will fail if people stay for two hours and only order this little.”
This was outrageous for several reasons:
There were no clients waiting and an empty table for six nearby.
This is part of a well-known chain of popular bars and restaurants in Paris.
If they fail, it will be because of the absurd €52 cotoletta alla milanese on the menu (not even langosteria) not because four paying clients sat at a table for an hour.
No new clients arrived. In fact, we ended up ordering three more desserts, mediocre ones, admittedly, but still better than their customer service. Needless to say, they achieved the very outcome they feared most: they lost four clients.
