December 27, 2008
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BEWARE FOODIE POST
I was making beef tenderloin with portabello mushrooms for dinner and I remembered,
I still have a FOODIE post to do!
Before going to see WICKED at The Detroit Opera House, (link)
We had dinner at The Century Grille (link)
Located in the Gem and Century Theatres, a beautiful building.
They brag the Most Theatrical Bathroom in town.
(I didn’t get a picture of the plaque)
We started the meal with appetizers. No pictures because I was so hungry I forgot to take them.
I should point out this wasn’t the restaurants fault but my own.
I hadn’t eaten since noon in anticipation of a yummy meal.
We started off the meal with Baked Brie, Three Cheese, Spinach and Artichoke Dip, and The Century Grille Crab Cakes.
HEY! I didn’t get to try that last one!
On to the main courses.
Ben’s Prime Rib, He said it was okay. Not the best he’s had, but not the worst either.
Jon’s Stuffed Shells
He didn’t say how it was, but he cleaned his plate, this could be because it was good, but it could also be because he’s seventeen and has a hollow leg.
Six of us had the Fillet. It was good.
The first bite was a doosie, I hadn’t read the full description and missed the fact that there was blue cheese on it.
I like blue cheese, but when you aren’t expecting it, it is an odd surprise.
The food was okay and the atmosphere was nice…
Even if the wait staff didn’t understand the word’s “No ice please.”
Even if the waiter stuck his arm in front of my mouth as I was going to take a bite of food, getting artichoke dip all over his tuxedo sleeve.
Even if when the waiter was informed that the pepper shaker wasn’t working he said he couldn’t do anything about that and his advice was to remove the cap and shake the pepper into your hand and then onto the food.
To be fair the last slight was served up to my MIL and isn’t mine to be upset about, I was just astounded by the stupidity.
It was funny actually because the food was set in front of us and the waiter stood back and said
”Is there anything I can do for you?”
to which my MIL says “This pepper shaker isn’t working.”
Almost instantly the waiter replied “I’m sorry, there isn’t anything I can do about that.”
I started laughing because it is something I would have said to be funny as I handed someone a pepper shaker off of an empty table. When he went on to recommend she remove the cap and then shake it into her hand, I realized he was serious! I started to get up to get a shaker off of the empty table near us, but my sister held me down.
YES,I HAVE BECOME MY MOTHER.
Anyway, he was forgiven when he brought out the dessert tray,
which he placed between my sister and I onto the table so that we had to turn uncomfortably to get out of the way.
(alright, so maybe I’m still a little bitter.)
There amid the flourless chocolate cake, and the apple dumpling was CHOCOLATE MOUSSE!
One of my favorites!
It was made wonderfully, fluffy melt in your mouth decadence, with raspberry syrup on the bottom.
We left the waiter a full tip.
Then went on to have an incredible evening.
I was with incredible people, that made it easy.
Would I go back? Maybe just for dessert!
What do you think, am I being to hard on the waiter?
Does having poor wait staff color your dining experience?
(I do have a waitress credit on my resume, so I’ve seen both sides of the table, so to speak.)
Comments (34)
I can’t leave a note on account of all my drooling. the pics did me in.
The food looks wonderful….I don’t think you were being too hard on the waiter-especially at an upscale place like that. I’m sure the management would die of embarrassment if they knew he told you to take the top of the shaker…
@buckeyegirl31 - That’s what I thought! Thank you!
The wait staff can have a dampening effect on the satisfaction of the restaurant but it doesn’t usually effect the quality of the food. In the case of a defective pepper shaker – the waiter is clearly not doing his job. He should have taken the shaker from the MIL and given her a replacement ASAP. He was either a major slacker or one that figured he would get his tip anyway. Still I would have said something to the management. As for the food, it looks good except the veggies are all the same. I would think they would have different veggies for each different entree. But that’s just me.
@murisopsis - For what we paid… the food wasn’t that great… LIke I said, I’d go back for the desert… but that’s it… there are too many other palces waiting to be tried!
At an upscale place I would expect better service than that. The pepper shaker incident is pure stupidity!
I wouldn’t have been held down, I would have gotten shaker off another table, and done it right in front of him after he made his idiotic remark. And reaching in front of customers whether they’re eating or not is a huge no-no. The food does look delish though. How did you like Wicked?
It all looks yummy!!! The desert would be worth a trip just for that mousse!
I don’t tolerate poor wait staff much!!! I would of been the one opening the pepper shaker up, I love rough ground pepper!
I too have been a waitress and I can tell you from both sides of the table, waitstaff does affect the food/mood. It is possible he is new to the business and had no clue what to do or say. I would of given him the benefit and said sweetly, ‘no *insert name*, just bring me another one”‘. My smile usually says ‘or else’.
We have a place here I go to strictly for desserts on the rare occasion I have money to eat out on. Dinner is one place, but dessert is there. I think that would be one of ‘those’ places.You gotta give them stars for presentation tho!
Having worked both sides of the table I would not expect a full tip for not doing my job. Maybe a note to the management might do the trick. It has helped us in the past.
I AM IN LOVE! I don’t care how awful the food was or the staff was that is a GORGEOUS place! LOVE IT!
Maybe your waiter was new or in training. He certainly wasn’t doing a very good job of trying to earn a good tip but I commend you for doing your part. You’re a classy lady! There’s a little hole in the wall steak house in Hagerman/Dexter, NM that serves the best steaks in the whole wide world…everytime. If you ever come back out west…….Peace
The dessert looks delicious. ^^ That a lovely place!
How can you not get more pepper,I would yank it off of another table if necessary.
Hey, you had a good meal and time! :0( Have a good weekend!
Normally I’m quit to come to the defense of a seemingly rude server. I, too, have spent a lot of time on “that side of the table” and I know it’s really hard. But to not replace the pepper shaker? That is absurd. I don’t know much about fine dining, but I can’t see how that would be defensible at any type of restaurant.
Thanks for sharing the meal! That mousse does look splendid. I’ll have to make it in the new year. I’ve never made mousse. Have you?
grr… i lost my comment after refreshing.
I’ll just say: You’re wonderful, Angi! ;-D
The food looks yummy, and yes, I agree- poor staff sometimes ruins the experience. But when the food is good and there is good company, it doesn’t bother me too much!
When I am at an upscale restaurant, I expect upscale, over the top service as well. Maybe your waiter was filling in for the actual one who had the flu. LOL!
Oh, the mousse! heaven in chocolate. And yes, wait service does affect the dining experience for me. I figure dining out is an experience of many parts – otherwise I would get something to go. It’s all about the whole expérience. ;o)
I just think it’s funny that you kept stopping to take pictures. Didn’t that annoy the other people at your table? Do they find your whole xanga posting fixation quirky and cute or just plain quirky? Not that I don’t appreciate the visual journal of your evening out; it’s just if I did that, my wife would nail me to the wall with her evil eye look and that would be the end of it.
that is so funny-do you think he had a problem? I have waitting all my life on people and the customer is always right even in the medical field.
once one of the girls at work called her husband to say her car isn’t working right and he said ,”I got my own problems” so we always said that to each other and would laugh at work.
Even if it wasn’t broken you just automatically say,”I’m sorry,let me get you another.” if they think it’s broken that’s all that matters.lol
yes, it does make a difference-once I had a fellow that said,”i’m sorry, I’m the only one actually working here.” and you could tell the others were slackers and it make me like him cause he didn’t let the others see him sweat.
you know you would have pushed past the sub par main courses had the waiter not been an ass, I used to wait tables foreva,I cant believe that he said that , you shoulda called him on it
a waiter or waitress will only be as good as they have been trained. their service is a direct reflection on the expertise of the management, chef included.
@ideaguy - I’ve been doing this for three years now, so they come to expect it… I take pictures of EVERYTHING, ALL of the time… If it isn’t with my (currently broken) camera, it’s with my poloroid or water camera… I think that they all know it’s just part of what comes with Ang… Also… they all have a few peculiarities of their own… for instance, my sister has to stop all of the time for geocaches.. it takes forever to get anywhere.
I love food pictures!
I think that waiter needs a bit more common sense training. What a noodle head he was being!
Less than stellar food can be completely overwhelmed by good service but not the other way around. I can forgive ignorance; like the place where tag team wait staff kept bringing one course after another without removing any of the dirty plates until there was no room to set even a pepper shaker on the table. My sister kindly suggested that, when she waited tables, she never left a table empty handed. I agree with droptop11, staff is only as good as the management. In this employment environment there is no excuse to keep unenthusiastic workers on. There are many good workers eager to fill their spot. Pick me, pick me!!!
You didn’t mention how much of a tip you left…..
Since I get to eat out so rarely, when I go I want it to be an enjoyable and yummy experience. Having a wacky wait staff makes memories, though.
@craftea - The total bill was 350. Our part of which was 70, so we left a seventeen dollar tip, then my mother in law left twenty percent of their half of the bill he made out alright, better then he probably should have…
Yummy! Looks like a fab place to dine. Such a wonderful atmosphere. But the wait staff’s atittude sounds odd and I have to say the food presentation a little sloppy, but I’m sure it still tasted fine! (I’m ever too critical, you don’t want to take a chef out, no I’m not always critical (only when needed)).
Happy New Year & Happy Holidays (if you have some!).
I definitely think that how the wait staff does has a bearing on how I think the restaurant was overall. Bad service makes me not want to return to the restaurant even if the food was good.
I was ALL ready for bed, then I saw your post, and now I’m hungry!!
my question is where were you originally gonna go for dinner?
I will look at pictures of food anytime!!
Never been much of a steak person and I don’t understand the appeal of prime rib. Meh, that’s just me…to each his own! Gee, the upscale places I go to the waitstaff grinds the pepper for you! he he he
I’m
not quite sure how to start this response so I guess I’ll just tell you
exactly how shit went down after you posted this… I came into work
New Years Eve at The Century Grill and quickly found out that there was
a recent negative review of our service posted by a local blogger. I
was only half paying attention to the story, since I was working, until
my coworker said that some significant people in charge thought that I
was the waiter in question. You can imagine my horror when I found out
that everyone who has the authority to fire me on the spot considered
me to be the culprit. Immediately I asked around and found out the
address to your blog, read it, and realized thankfully that it was not
me. I would never tell someone to put pepper in their hand, I mean come
on, even when I was working at the flippin Olive Garden I knew better
than that! But, that forced me into a very uncomfortable situation, do
I not say anything about the situation and let everyone I work with
including those who could easily fire me on the spot continue thinking
that I was the waiter in question? Hell No, I had to quickly go into
“damage control” since I realized that my job could potentially be on
the line, and for the record it’s one of the coolest restaurants to
work for in the city of Detroit! Needless to say, this led to finger
pointing on my behalf, not something I’m at all proud of, but it was my
job in question here, and one I totally love at that. Next time please
just ask for a manager on your way out and express your feelings about
your experience. You could have saved me a lot of time and worry, and
potentially given that waiter a chance to improve upon his skills. You
started a shit storm honey and I don’t think it was intentional but
most of us underestimate the power of the internet.
Kisses,
Not your waiter
(ps.willing to wait on you at the Century Grill at your request)