Corner Table

Extreme Let Down

by emirald56 at Citysearch

I was so disappointed in my recent visit to this restaurant. Our waitress was knowledgeable and was able to answer our questions, but it took us forever to get her attention, and we were the only ones in the restaurant!

The menu was tiny, but the selections all sounded delicious. I ordered a spinach salad, squash soup, and their special house pasta. The food was definitely the most disappointing part. The $8 "salad" was little more than eight spinach leaves, some pumpkin seeds, and a little dressing. The soup was good, but not hot enough, and again, the bowl was only half filled. The entree I split with a friend, and we each got about five bites. It tasted good, but not worth the $19 we paid for it. We both left still very hungry.

Our waitress was not very attentive, it took us awhile to get her attention to bring us our bill. Then she took fifteen minutes to tell us that the credit card machine wasn't excepting either of our cards, and making it sound like our fault. I had to leave my friend, drive down the block, and go to the gas station to withdraw cash (The ATM has no trouble accpepting my card) When I returned to pay, our waitress didn't even offer an apology for the inconvenience.

I was thoroughly unimpressed. I will not be back.

Loved the food and the staff

by bve43 at Citysearch

We celebrated our anniversary at the Chef's table and we were not disappointed. Scott and his staff were friendly and fun. We felt like they were old friends by the night's end. The food was excellent. The dish of carrots with maple syrup, sage and just a kiss of blue cheese was so good we gave Scott a "we're not worthy" wave. It wasn't "just carrots" Scott! I love polenta and they didn't disappoint me there either. Smooth and creamy. By the time we got to the rib eye I was so full and I had way too much wine but it was so good I forced it down. We had a wonderful evening and we'll be back soon.

• Pros: Organic, eclectic and fun food
• Cons: Street parking

The Chef is a jerk, the waitstaff pretentious, and rude.

by Matt Behnke at Citysearch

A great friend of mine suggested we come in here to eat.

Were were visiting from SF, and wanted a good organic meal out. We were treated like rednecks from some backwater. Our waiter insisted on explaining everything to us.

When we finally mentioned to him that we can read, and we would like a few minutes to peruse the menu on our own so that we could unwind.

He made a guttural noise, and coughed for at least two minutes into his hands. We watched as he went to get us some bread, and saw him handle bread with his unwashed hands, slice it, cough some more, and then sashayed over to our table with his lung butter biscuits.

--------------grosse!---------------------

I asked him why on earth he would cough into his hands, not wash them and bring us bread? (He had a deer in the headlights look) He without a word yanked the bread off of our table.

We decided to just finish our drinks and leave at that point.

The Chef came out and asked how we were doing, and we told him of the bread fiasco, and that due to it, we were not going to be eating dinner.

The Chef, Scott something or other, then told us to get off of the table, and go to the bar, we were taking up space that could be used for the guests who were dining.

We were quite put of by his inability to comprehend that the reason we were not eating there, was due to the waiters less then gross sanitary skills and his rude behavior.

We again pointed it out to the guy, and he told us "Look, if you came here trying to get a freebie based on some claim that my waiters is sub-par, why don't you try a scam some other place...not working here...in fact why don't you guy's just leave." He took out wine glasses from us, and handed us a bill. I told the man we would be happy to pay for the wine as long as we could drink it.

He rolled his eyes at us, and then hovered over us, as the table we were ushered out of sat empty.

Other guests where aghast at this too, and also mentioned the waiters coughing, and his sanitation habits.

The bread sat uneaten on other tables.

One guest told the hovering talkative chef, about the bread issues, too, and he ignored her, whilst chatting it up with some regulars.

I own a restaurant in San Francisco, and for this place to claim to be an organic, and seasonal restaurant focusing on local foods. It should have something a little more down home than a sneering waiter, and an idiot chef, who thinks that his staff can do no wrong, when even other diners have the same complaint about a food-safety issue.

I was utterly appalled that this place received rave reviews from the local press.

Either Minnesotans do not know anything about good food (which I seriously doubt) or this "chef" has something on the critic's that force them to inflate his ego.

That said, My nephew tried working there as a chef a few months ago, and this same guy worked him like a dog for an evening, and then told him to go home...he worked for free, did not get a thank you, or even a piece of bread. He was actually yelled at for eating a carrot scrap. Most restaurants when interviewing a potential candidate as a working interview, supply a meal for services rendered. Not this guy. He sent him packing.

My nephew was the Sous Chef at Le Bernardin in NYV before coming here.

This guy I think is in over his head. He's obviously cheap, and to treat a customer as he did, and my friends and family...all I can see is a troubled man in a troubled restaurant with a huge ego, and litlle social, or reasoning skills. I would not recommend this place to even people I cannot stand...unless I wanted to run them out of Minnesota.

• Pros: Overpriced bland food
• Cons: price, portion, flavor, ambiance, service, cooking inability

Unbelievable service (really, you won't believe me).

by HeartbreakHotel at Citysearch

After a typically extraordinary dinner there this weekend, I asked (without realizing who he was) Scott Pampuch if I could order soup to go for my mom who was sick. I was really just wondering if they had containers and could do takeout at all. He said "sure" and went back to the kitchen and filled up a huge container with (amazing) carrot soup. Then he refused to let me pay for it and wrote a get-well-soon note on the lid to my mom. Where else on earth are you going to get service that touches that??

• Pros: Food, food, setting, service
• Cons: Too far from my house

poor service, overpriced, bland food, loud

by rebeccatr at Citysearch

I have never written a restaurant review before, but feel compelled to do so in this case. First, I very much appreciate the attempt of many restaurants to serve local and organic food, and I would love to patronize such restaurants. But--this restaurant was extremely disappointing. The menu is small and limited, especially for vegetarians. Prices are very expensive and for small portions and pretty uninteresting food. The restaurant was so loud that I got a sore throat trying to talk to my friends. And the service was extremely poor. Our server recommended the polenta, but when it came, it did not look or taste like the polenta on the menu description. After talking to two other servers (ours never noticed my attempts to get her attention, even though she was serving the couple next to us at the "communal table"), I realized I had been given the incorrect item. When I finally received the polenta with wild mushrooms that I did order, my friends were finished with their meals, and I had had a lot of bread (which was the best part of the meal) and a salad, so I didn't think I could finish the polenta, but it was only about 5 smallish bites worth of pretty mediocre food. Earlier, I had had a spinach salad with roasted beets (about 10 very small dices) and shaved fennel (about 4 small half circles)--for $8. About the most pathetic salad for the price I have ever had. Our original server never addressed my polenta/wrong order, even though she was always close by and she came back for dessert orders. She never apologized or asked how our food was. And what service we did receive from her was with a very superior attitude and with no patience or interest in us at all. The polenta did not appear on the bill, which was evidently the server's way of addressing the screw-up. Needless to say, I will never go back here or recommend this place to anyone.

• Pros: we were seated promptly
• Cons: food, service, value, ambience