Rachel B.
Yelp
I hope your experience here is better than mine.
I should preface this with the fact that I have been a server/bartender in fine dining for close to 5 years. I have worked for two different Italian chefs and three of the top-10 restaurants in cincinnati, so perhaps I have high standards. I digress.
I'm very sad. Perhaps this was the perfect storm. Perhaps not.
After looking at the reviews online, my boyfriend and I were very excited for a nice dinner in Seattle. We sat in the bar area, because the vibes were immaculate. Stunning and exactly what you want for a romantic night out. Candles. Roses on the table.
We ordered two cocktails, which came out promptly. We then ordered our appetizers... the Arancini balls were amazing and the focaccia was great. There's a phenomenal spice blend in the arancini, maybe oregano and basil? Mmmm. Delicious.
At this point we begun being served by 4 different people. Each person seemed more scattered than the last, and didn't ask us how anything was, or take more than 5 seconds at our table. They were there to do the bare minimum and then run off.
We ordered a Ceasar salad to split and our entrees: gnocchi and vongole. The server rushed off before we could add that we wanted another round of drinks with dinner (I'm a sucker for vermentino with vongole).
Our entrees came out first... The gnocchi was solid, according to my partner. My vongole came out with a sand-filled clam, which leaked all over the dish. No biggie, that happens... but it took about 10 minutes for anyone to notice I hadn't touched my pasta, and we were at a high-trafficked table. When someone finally stopped, they mentioned "we didn't get our salads?". They took back my vongole to remake and said they'd grab the salads.
The salads came out, leaving my boyfriend with an entree in front of him, cooling as he waited for mine to come out. We weren't offered pepper with the Ceasar, even though every other table around us was offered pepper with their insalata. Still, nobody asked if we wanted a refill on our beverages, even though our glasses were empty.
My dish came out remade 10 minutes later, and with every clam opened to ensure it didn't have sand. It was pretty decent, not the best vongole I've had but very solid. The server who dropped it left before we could ask for drinks. Halfway through our entrees, we flagged someone down to ask for another round. I was really looking forward to a vermentino.
The drinks were made and sat on the bar, not 5 feet from us, for about 7 minutes. People walked past multiple times. We had paused on our entrees, hoping to enjoy them with beverages.
When the drinks finally hit the table, I took a sip... the wine poured was either a very oxidized bottle of vermentino, or a glass of moscato. It was sickeningly sweet.
Not one person stopped to see why we weren't drinking or eating anymore. For about 15 minutes, we sat waiting with no service. My boyfriend started drinking the wine and gave me his cocktail, hoping to save the experience. He doesn't mind sweet wines.
When someone finally came by, it was to drop the check without asking about dessert. They took off the vongole which was nice, but didn't stay long enough for me to ask about the wine. When they came to pick up the check, I finally had 2 seconds to mention the wine. They ended up taking it off the check.
All in all, just a confusing and saddening experience. We were looking for dinner, in order, with beverages and a server who we could snag for literally 10 seconds. Very sad evening.