Sarah F.
Yelp
I was invited to this bistro with some friends, and as a vegan, I called ahead to check their options before accepting the invite, especially since I could see it is a pricey bistro. The hostess who answered asked if she could take a few minutes to ask the chef, and said she would call me back. Sure enough, she called back in a few minutes and described a yummy sounding dinner with zucchini noodles, sauce, and some veggies. It was priced at $18, which I did think was steep for the ingredients, but it sounded good and interesting, so I went for it.
But then, when I actually ordered, I referenced our earlier conversation and said that I would have the vegan option with the zucchini noodles, etc, and she did one of those, "Oh yeah, about that...we don't have that but we have a nice pasta with veggies." Well, I was not pleased, but now what could I do but smile and say "Sure?" so that's what I did. And I paid $18 for a bowl of corkscrew pasta, with a very very few pieces of onion and bits of tomato, and some herbs. I can't explain how disappointing it was.
The worst is that I called and was told one thing, and then was given another. For a restaurant that bills itself as serving exciting, innovative food, the chef ought to be able to do better than what I was serving my kids when they were toddlers. If not, then it should be priced more appropriately, like 4.95 or something. I get it that not everyone is vegan, but come on. If you're a professional chef or restaurateur, then you ought to be able to imagine a plate besides plain pasta. Beets and garbanzo beans on a bed of grain with a nice sauce? Tofu stir fry? A bed of greens with navy beans on it and lots of veggies? These are all extremely simple and any vegan would be happy to see these types of nutritionally complete and interesting plates.
Needless to say, I won't be back, and that means neither will my family of five non-vegans, nor our extended family, nor my neighborhood dining group, etc. Sorry, yellow door, all the cocktails and fancy lighting in the world won't make up for that!