I felt like I was stuck in the first five minutes of the Food Network's Restaurant Impossible. We were shown to our seats and found two versions of the Bistro's menu in front of us. We waited, and finally our waitress came, removed the incorrect menu, told us that we had come in on their second night of operations at their new location and took our request for water. The water arrived in mismatched glasses and without a single cube of ice. A young man came to open our wine, and failed to cleanly remove the foil cap before pulling the cork. As we waited, I noticed runners moving from table to table asking diners if they had ordered the dishes they were carrying. This happened continuously throughout our visit. We decided to share the "Sicilian Caesar Salad". What arrived at our table was a large bowl of Romaine lettuce, almost devoid of dressing or Parmesan cheese and scattered with large chunks of semi-stale bread. No serving utensils were provided. We asked for a pepper grinder, and the young lady who brought the salad disappeared, never to be seen again. We again asked our waitress about the pepper grinder, and, after a quick trip to the kitchen, she announced that they did not have one! Entrees appeared. All three were immense. My "special" Penne with Pesto and Garlic Shrimp was a huge mass of green-tinted penne surmounted by exactly three shrimp. The shrimp may have been in the same room as the garlic, but it certainly did not seem that they had been in the same pan. My wife's Penne tossed with Sweet Italian Sausage, Tomatoes and Broccoli Rabe was quite tasty, although the broccoli rabe's flavor seemed a bit off. My daughter ordered the Artichoke Chicken, which she pronounced as well prepared but rather bland. We decided that discretion was the better part of valor and skipped dessert.
Random comments:
The menu is very heavy on chicken without any explanation. Is the chicken sourced locally or does the chef consider chicken to be his/her specialty? We were offered no explanation.
Flatware, wrapped in napkins, was mismatched - some diners got full size forks, others got salad forks, all - apparently - got tablespoons.
Wine glasses (only one type was available regardless of the wine brought by the customer) were all labelled with the name of a local winery.
The "front of house" operation was poorly organized and controlled (see runners comment above).
Large portions do not make up for inadequate care in preparation of food.
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