Mike B.
Yelp
What a snooty place! I stopped by on a rare visit to Petaluma for the opportunity to check out what I'd heard is one of the best cafés and pastry shops in the region. Boy, I haven't been treated this poorly since visiting a small patisserie in rural France with a rowdy bunch of American bigots. No fewer than five Della Fattoria staff looked at me as I entered, and not one greeted me. A gal dressed like the maitresse d' also ignored me even as I walked up to her to ask where I might get a coffee. Four more staff observed our exchange as she pointed me to the espresso bar, including, as it turns out, to the barista.
As I duly waited at the espresso bar to place an order, said barista literally turned his back on me to continue an argument with two of the unoccupied staff about whether a previous order had been decaf or not.
Clearly, customer service or even a modicum of courtesy was not in the works today, maybe because of a foul full moon or misalignment of café portents. On my way out, thinking about where I might actually be able to order a coffee, I stopped by the pastry counter for something to go.
Again, standing at the pastry counter, the two unoccupied pastry staff continued their conversation - about clothing, apparently - while gazing at me like they'd seen a ghost (or worse, a human being). One of them emerged from their bovine-like reverie long enough to inquire if I wanted to order something. And whether I wanted it in a bag.
Refraining from uttering any of the sarcastic ripostes that came to mind, I ordered two pastries and responded that I didn't need a bag. The pastries were shoved across the counter in their individual sacs with sufficient force that, if not for my weight training, they might have landed in the Petaluma River.
No thanks, Della Fattoria, next time I'll stay out of your glitzy glamorous snoot palace and have a burger and fries around the corner. Whew!