Pasta Tree

Do we even HAVE a waiter?!?!?!. I just wanted to share this with all of you. This is the letter I just mailed to the restaurant. I think it sums up our absolutely terrible experience. To Whom It May Concern On Wednesday, December 29th, 2010, my fiance, James and I decided to eat at your restaurant. We had heard FABULOUS things about it. Great food, great service great wine...it sounded like a perfect date night. We had made reservations for 8pm for 4 people, however, our dinner guests had to cancel so it was just the two of us. We decided to arrive early and sit at the bar and enjoy a cocktail. We were seated at 7:30pm at a nice, cozy table next to the fireplace. Since we spent half an hour at the bar, we already knew what we wanted. Our waiter, who never told us his name otherwise I would provide it for you, took our order, dropped off some bread and left. We continued to sip our cocktails, wondering when the bottle of wine and beef carpaccio would arrive. Suddenly, it was 8:30. We had been sitting at our table for a complete hour. Our bread basket was empty, our water glasses were empty and our wine hadn't even been delivered. What could possibly be going on? We thought. Surely, our waiter should be returning with an explanation. Alas, our waiter never even once stopped back to our table. We heard from the guests at the table next to us that your computer system had crashed. Well, it would have been LOVELY if someone had told us that. It was have been even LOVELIER if our bottle of wine had been delivered. Surely, that does not involve a computer system. At least wine and bread would have kept us in your establishment while your computer problems were sorted out. But no, we were not even given the courtesy of a refilled glass of water! We decided to wait another five minutes because someone HAD to be coming over to provide an explanation or an apology. Nope. We never saw our waiter again. I mean, we SAW him, he walked past our table many many times. I even tried to flag him down but to no avail. We were completely and totally ignored. So, after an hour and ten minutes of sitting at our table completely unattended, James and I decided to leave. Surely, as we left, at least the host would provide an apology or an explanation. Certainly, as two visibly confused and upset patrons were leaving your establishment SOMEONE would say SOMETHING to us! But no, we walked out completely unnoticed. I shouldn't say completely unnoticed. One of your other patrons stopped us to assure us that the restaurant was never like that and the service was usually amazing. ONE OF YOUR PATRONS APOLOGIZED TO US FOR YOU. I certainly hope that you see how this is a serious problem. We were going out that evening to celebrate me graduating from nursing school and passing my boards. Unfortunately, our night to celebrate was ruined by our experience at your restaurant. The staff was rude and inattentive. And you may have excellent food and wine, but we never got to have any. For a restaurant that has won so many awards and has been named the most romantic restaurant, you sure did kill the mood that night. All someone had to do was come over and ACKNOWLEDGE our presence! At least say "I'm so sorry, we are having technical difficulties", bring our bottle of wine over, bring more bread, hell, at least refill the water glass. Will we attempt to dine at your establishment again? Your menu looked impressive and I was incredibly excited to try the un-oaked Italian Chardonnay but I don't really know if the promise of good food and good wine can get the incredibly bitter taste out of my mouth.

Brittany Gusho…