Brandon M.
Yelp
My fiancé and I went to Proof for my birthday earlier this year and had an amazing time. Our server was attentive, the cocktails were wonderful, and the food was delicious! My steak was mouth-watering, and my fiancé's chicken was to die for. We recently decided to go back, so I made the reservation for the end of June, and we were very much looking forward to it. On the night of the reservation, we were seated at our favorite spot in the restaurant, and we were eager to get started. However, as our server approached, she was already scowling and huffing and puffing. See, my fiancé and I (both well over the age of 21) made the mistake of looking at the drink menu. Our server approached, didn't greet us or ask us how we were doing, didn't even smile at us. I couldn't even get a word out of my mouth before she sternly DEMANDED to see our ID's. I know it sounds like I'm reaching for something here and it wasn't that bad, but folks, my fiancé and I look our age, and we are well over 21 as I stated before. I know it is their job to check, and honestly it's a compliment when someone thinks I look young for my age, but this was not a kind exchanging of words. I was very pleasant, but she was ready to call the police. When she finally saw our ages, her tone very quickly switched. She knew she had offended us with her demeanor, so she tried to make up for it. All good, but this brings us to the food...
The server let us know that she could course us out, but it would still be like every fine dining experience. We would get our appetizers and cocktails, have time to eat at our own pace, finish our drinks, band then our entrees would come out after plenty of time. This is not what happened. We get our appetizer out and it was good! I had no qualms, and they were very accommodating with our dietary restrictions regarding pork. We had about half of the appetizer down in about 5ish minutes, and we were kind of stopping to chat and sip our drinks. We then grabbed the server and asked if she could have the chef pair our entrees with a good glass of wine! Our server said that she wanted to do it. Okay! no biggie, let's do it. Keep in mind, it has been maybe 10 minutes since we got our appetizers. our server goes to get our wine, and lo and behold here comes our food. I haven't even had time to enjoy my appetizer, let alone congratulate my fiancé on her achievements at work, the reason that we were going out in the first place. But hey, I paid 90 dollars for this steak, and 50 for my fiancé's risotto, let's just suck it up and accept that it's out very early. At least it'll be a mind blowing steak, right? Nope.
I ordered my steak medium rare, this is my personal preference. We all have our own preferences with steaks, and mine is medium rare. I cut into this steak and it practically Moo'd at me to stop! I mean... folks, this steak was blue. This steak wasn't just cold to the touch, it was freezing. I even showed the waitress and her jaw dropped. Was it even put in a pan? Did you breathe on it to heat it up? Perhaps you used a hairdryer for a couple of seconds on each side? Whichever, that was a raw steak. So the server takes it back and my fiancé reluctantly finished her meal while I sit and wait. Then we get our wine. First thing, the rice in the risotto was raw and crunchy, my fiancé just felt bad about sending it back due to the steak fiasco, and she didn't want to be "that" couple. I also want to add that the wine she gave us was far from a match. Good wine by itself, but a truly awful pairing. The steak finally comes out after a good 20 minutes (we could've just used those 20 extra minutes in the beginning) and I dig in. The steak is rare, but an edible rare, so I don't send it back a second time. It is no longer whispering cow secrets into my ear, so I know it is cooked enough to eat, not to mention I'm starving. First bite, meh. Then every bite after was worse than the bite before it. I didn't even finish the thing. There was no flavor.
I wish that were all folks, but it isn't. Dessert came, we got the Torta Tenerina, and it was as hard as a brick, perhaps even harder. I could've used it to effectively rob a bank. At the same time we got dessert, a group of young men sat next to us. They were dressed in athletic shorts and shirts. I know technically this is allowed, it just feels wrong. That wasn't the problem though, the problem was that these young men were very loud, and very foul mouthed. We all use expletives, but in an environment like this, it's extremely inappropriate. They didn't stop yelling horribly insulting things, even though the entire restaurant was glaring at the their table. They didn't pay any mind. Our server walked over to them (sweet justice) and begins laughing with them and taking their orders (aw man).
Overall it was an unforgettable experience, and not in a good way. We are sticking with Le Relais from now on for special occasions. If you made it this far, thanks!