It's understanding that makes it possible for people like us tolerate a person like yourself.
I should have known that the dinner wasn't going to go well when Hilary punched me in the face as soon as I got there. To be fair, she's tall and I am at punching height. Plus I probably had it coming. It really was a taste of things to come, though. I have been wanting to go to Fraiche for some time now, and when The Baking Mafia called up and said that was place of choice for dinner, I was all for it.
Culver City is the new black, if you didn't know. What used to be a small sleepy town filled with movie studios and studio people, now great restaurants are starting to line the block and it's becoming a 'destination.' Fraiche is just one of the many 'it' restaurants right now. When we sat down, the menu looked great. Our waitress came over, and upon seeing that Nanette was pregnant, proceeded to complain about the fact that Nanette...WASN'T drinking. Because according to the waitress, "Rules are stupid." And she plans to drink, eat sushi and eat raw beef when she gets pregnant. O...kay. Gotcha. She reminded me of those crazed mommy bloggers that I hate, that's what her spewing sounded like anyway, but I kept quiet. I just wanted to eat.
On to the meal. We were all set to order when...the waitress said that we could not order 'just pasta' that we had to have an entree too. Er. Sure we kinda believed her when she said the portions were small, but still. I was feeling bullied. Not to mention, my part-time job doesn't pay enough for me to be spending a lot on dinners, plus I don't eat much. So Jami and I split a tortelli pasta (supposed appetizer) and entree - a pork chop.
The tortelli was AMAZING. It had a brown butter sauce and the filling was perfect. And the waitress was right. It wasn't big, but still. At least now I couldn't wait for the entree. When it finally did come, I stuck my fork in the pork chop and...blood came out. I don't know about you, but I prefer my pork without a side of trichinosis, thanks. Jami politely said that 'the meat was a little pink.' The waitress protested. Jami said, 'well, we'd like it cooked a bit more anywa...' when the waitress said, "CAN I FINISH? I am explaining why it's pink." Ridiculous. Apparently it was cooked 'sous-vide' style - any Top Chef devotee will tell you that this is contestant Richard's forte. I will tell you this. I've cooked a lot of meat in my time I don't give a f*ck, sous-vide or not, there was blood coming out of that pig.
The waitress refused to recook our food so I simply told her flat out, "I'M NOT EATING IT." I mean, isn't the customer always right? Even if they're not, don't I have a right to NOT eat raw meat? Plus I'd had enough of her opinionated ass. The pork came back, still pink, but by then I had lost my appetite. I didn't want to be vomiting up uncooked pork all night, or whatever else she decided to do to it back there.
I was so sickened by the waitress' attitude that I skipped dessert - which I never do. I will never be going back to Fraiche again, which is sad for the loss of that really good tortelli. If I Yelped, which I don't, I would not give it high marks.
When I got home I ate these:
...blondies that Hilary made. Surprisingly, they weren't as sweet as they looked, honest! They were just PERFECT. I ate them all. It made for a better dinner than earlier in the evening. And on the plus side, the blondies didn't give me attitude.
Culver City is the new black, if you didn't know. What used to be a small sleepy town filled with movie studios and studio people, now great restaurants are starting to line the block and it's becoming a 'destination.' Fraiche is just one of the many 'it' restaurants right now. When we sat down, the menu looked great. Our waitress came over, and upon seeing that Nanette was pregnant, proceeded to complain about the fact that Nanette...WASN'T drinking. Because according to the waitress, "Rules are stupid." And she plans to drink, eat sushi and eat raw beef when she gets pregnant. O...kay. Gotcha. She reminded me of those crazed mommy bloggers that I hate, that's what her spewing sounded like anyway, but I kept quiet. I just wanted to eat.On to the meal. We were all set to order when...the waitress said that we could not order 'just pasta' that we had to have an entree too. Er. Sure we kinda believed her when she said the portions were small, but still. I was feeling bullied. Not to mention, my part-time job doesn't pay enough for me to be spending a lot on dinners, plus I don't eat much. So Jami and I split a tortelli pasta (supposed appetizer) and entree - a pork chop.
The tortelli was AMAZING. It had a brown butter sauce and the filling was perfect. And the waitress was right. It wasn't big, but still. At least now I couldn't wait for the entree. When it finally did come, I stuck my fork in the pork chop and...blood came out. I don't know about you, but I prefer my pork without a side of trichinosis, thanks. Jami politely said that 'the meat was a little pink.' The waitress protested. Jami said, 'well, we'd like it cooked a bit more anywa...' when the waitress said, "CAN I FINISH? I am explaining why it's pink." Ridiculous. Apparently it was cooked 'sous-vide' style - any Top Chef devotee will tell you that this is contestant Richard's forte. I will tell you this. I've cooked a lot of meat in my time I don't give a f*ck, sous-vide or not, there was blood coming out of that pig.
The waitress refused to recook our food so I simply told her flat out, "I'M NOT EATING IT." I mean, isn't the customer always right? Even if they're not, don't I have a right to NOT eat raw meat? Plus I'd had enough of her opinionated ass. The pork came back, still pink, but by then I had lost my appetite. I didn't want to be vomiting up uncooked pork all night, or whatever else she decided to do to it back there.
I was so sickened by the waitress' attitude that I skipped dessert - which I never do. I will never be going back to Fraiche again, which is sad for the loss of that really good tortelli. If I Yelped, which I don't, I would not give it high marks.
When I got home I ate these:
...blondies that Hilary made. Surprisingly, they weren't as sweet as they looked, honest! They were just PERFECT. I ate them all. It made for a better dinner than earlier in the evening. And on the plus side, the blondies didn't give me attitude.Labels: baking mafia, culver city, los angeles, restaurants
14 Comments:
What the fuck? My husband waited tables and tended bar for a couple years, and you NEVER talk to customers like that. EVER. Sure, there are customers who are picky know-it-alls and make the job suck by not wanting the food they ordered. So the expediter probably spits on it the second time they cook it. But not UNCOOKED PORK. Jesus fucking christ. That waitress should have been so embarrassed that your food wasn't done.
Again, so sorry for the punch in the face. You short people, you.
That waitress is still pissing me off, even the next day. G-d she was stupid!
Glad you liked the blondies! I had no idea they were so...ugly until I saw this picture. At least they taste good!
Ugh! Annoying wait staff really irritates me and I hate it when I lose my appetite over it. Sheesh.
Now Darlene and want to go there and order the same thing... just to make a scene and throw over the effin' table, Hungry Like The Wolf-style!
Write a polite but angry letter. That way you get free stuff. Just don't order anything that can kill you.
Wait, Nanette's not eating sushi while pregnant? But the waitress said it was okay!
Like I said, just stay outta Culver City. Red light tickets and bad service.
I had my comment composed in my head and then got distracted by Paul's Duran Duran mention! Ha!
I've heard some doctors say it's okay to eat sushi, but WHATEVER. That waitress should STFU because who cares what she plans to do and why not respect other's choices? Bah.
We went to our favorite local pizza joint last night. They were a bit crazed due to the Lakers game earlier. When they brought our bill, the waiter said, "Since service was less than stellar tonight, I bought your drinks and discounted your dessert." I'll stick with that place vs. the one you went to.
I was trying to put my finger on what ticked me off, because she really was kind of friendly despite all the extremely accurate incidents Jenn noted above. I think it's that she was wholly inappropriate. She gave us tons of unsolicited diatribe, she was snippy and argumentative and interrupted us.
So I called today to speak to a manager. I'm not convinced Jessica, who I talked to, was a manager, but let's pretend she was. (Before she'd identify herself as a manager, she had to - somewhat suspiciously - ask me why I needed to talk to one. So that made me suspicious.) Anyway, she said our waitress was Kat, and that she is one of their best servers and that they get frequent compliment on her service.
I explained that our experience had really put a bad taste in our mouths, and I thanked her for listening. I didn't really expect much else.
Not going back there, though. And I gave it a 2 on Yelp, because the dining experience (company excluded!) sucked, despite that most of the food we had was very good. I'm with you... I don't make enough $ to spend a bunch on dinner and be argued with by my waiter.
But the blondies were delicious!
What a terrible server! The menu says nothing about how you cannot order "just pasta". It's a whole separate category! The server and the restaurant think a little too highly of themselves.
You forgot the part about where she said we shouldn't just order pasta because "the kitchen gets really mad when you don't order an appetizer." What? Screw the kitchen!
I am so glad we didn't end up ordering dessert. They don't need any more of our money!
I worked in Fine Dining for years and one never would talk to the customer like your waitress did. Yes, we were often pressured by the Chef to insist that customers don't put any sauces on the side, or that they order an appetizer and an entree (and dessert) to create A Full Ticket. But, we always had to be polite with guests. Not like Your Waitress.
Next time, ask to speak to The Manager right then and there. And, I would still write A Letter.
BTW, I am totally Drinking Wine when I am preggers. You think I am joking, but...I Am Not. I figure, people in France do it all the time.
she gives kats a bad name.
-kat
In my view every person ought to look at it.
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