We’re such rebels. We celebrated Valentine’s Day on Saturday instead of last Thursday. My parents had given us a gift card to one of their favorite restaurants, Bonefish. We’d taken them there for their anniversary and the food was excellent so we were looking forward to it.
We’d made a reservation for 8:30 but ended up getting there a little bit early so we had to wait. The joint was hopping. We overheard the gal at the door tell those arriving without a reservation that the wait was an hour and a half.
Our table was, in my opinion, one of the best in the house. It was in a corner; it was quiet. Perfect for the romantic, date night dinner we were anticipating.
Chris, our waiter, made his appearance. He seemed to be a nice fellow and took our drink orders (tea for MrWurdi; a Hendricks martini – stirred and water with no ice for me). In a reasonable amount of time, considering how busy the restaurant was, he returned with the tea and water, chock full of ice. They were busy. I didn’t say anything. I fished my ice out of my glass with a fork and put it in MrWurdi’s tea.
When Chris returned later, much later, with our bread and my martini, I was impressed. Chris could have been an actor. He was smooth. There was no monotone recital of the ingredients in the olive oil (Italian butter, by his reckoning). He had this description down to an art form. It was interesting. Seriously. I am not at all being sarcastic. It was a great description of the oil. He probably could have recited the menu and it would have been entertaining. He was an actor and Bonefish his stage.
Since this isn’t one of our regular eating destinations, I was unfamiliar with the available sauces. I had to ask what was in the sauces before making a decision on which I’d prefer with my scallops and shrimp. Then, after I found out what was in them, I wanted to decide which of the available wines would best go with my dinner. I wanted to know if the steamed vegetables were simply steamed or if they were also buttered. Since they were buttered, I wanted to know if it was possible to get them without butter. You see, if they’re only available buttered, I’ll get one of the other sides and manage my portions.
Fortunately, the crowd had eased up at this point and it wasn’t all that busy anymore. Unfortunately for us, Chris, the handsome and entertaining actor/waiter, did not really want nor did he appreciate audience participation. This is where I began to feel like I was ordering my dinner from my car through a clown’s mouth. If you’re going to use the drive-through, it’s good to know what you’re going to order before you get to the clown’s mouth. You and the people behind you expect speed at a fast food restaurant. I don’t want to be rushed through my meal at a place with candlelight, linen napkins and a decent wine list. Chris rushed us through the ordering process and seemed rather impatient with my questions about the food. The audience isn’t supposed to care how the set was made.
When our meals arrived, our beverage glasses were empty and had been for a while. The wine was nowhere in sight. My steamed veggies were coated in buttery badness. The manager, Mr. Don Driscoll, had been working the room. He chose this moment to come and ask about our Bonefish experience. Err. When we, tactfully, told him, he not only asked what he could do to turn things around, he did it. He took both of our meals back to the kitchen (so we could both have hot meals at the same time) to get my veggies minus butter. Within a few moments, Chris was there with water and tea. Mr. Driscoll, himself, returned with our meals and my wine. Chris came back with more bread and was friendly and interacted with us. I’d made no mention of actor/audience, so this was a nice change.
A few notes on the menu items and food:
There are fourteen martinis offered on the menu. Not a single one contains gin.
I won’t order the Caesar salad there again. Powdery parmesan cheese is icky.
The bread was not good and I wasn’t interested in wasting Points on it.
MrWurdi’s dinner was Lily’s Chicken. A “fire-roasted chicken topped with creamy Chèvre Goat cheese, sautéed spinach, artichoke hearts and a lemon basil sauce.” It was fantastic. Chicken at a seafood place? I’d have never guessed it would be so good.
The steamed veggies, the veggie of the day (spaghetti squash), and my shrimp and scallops were delicious.
Chris failed to deliver on the requested ice cream with MrWurdi’s dessert. Fortunately, I just wanted a bite or two of my brownie so MrWurdi got my ice cream.
While Mr. Driscoll saved the experience for us, Chris hurt his tip with the first three-quarters of his service and only slightly redeemed himself in the end. We left 15% and a note to read this blog.
Service: I paid for that, just not as much as I normally would.
Management: Mr. Driscoll will be paid in future business.
Food: I paid for that, gladly.*
*Okay, Mom and Dad (with the gift card) and I (covering the balance) paid for that. Gladly.
3 comments:
This is how we celebrated Valentine's Day on Saturday, albeit with better service. Even when there was an issue with plate cleanliness on the appetizer, the manager came over to sincerely apologize and replace the item on the house. We weren't perturbed since we know mistakes happen and were happy with the resolution.
I had the seared ahi tuna, rare, with pan Asian sauce. The boyfriend had blackened Chilean sea bass with mango salsa.
Our meal was great and we're happy we paid for that.
This is somehwhere that we frequent with an old customer of ours so we're *very* familiar with the food and the service. The particular gentleman that we go with takes his time to dine and it gripes me to no end to have waiters try and take his salad/dinner while he still has his fork in his hand. I have now started telling them that we need a very patient waiter who will NOT turn in our order until the salads are FINISHED and that we take our time. They now know and most of that is because of Don. I know him from restaurants past and his is an ACE of a manager. If you tell him you like your steak rare, you'll get it rare too!
For a corporate store, that place is good. Ask for Amanda next time!
Wormy
We celebrated Valentines Day on my Birthday the 11th. We went to Carino's where they serve Italian Nachos. YUM!! The rest of the evening consisted of a slinky red nightie, but you all don't need to know about that. :D
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