As the server in question, I would like to first apologize that I offended you. I do not believe giving my version of events will make anyone feel better about our encounter. I made an error in judgement, it's as simple as that. My comments at the table were an attempt at humor, but I realize they were not funny at all.
I would like to make clear that my behavior was completely atypical of Restaurant Eve employees. Our managers emphasize kindness, friendliness and care. We are trained to treat our guests with the utmost respect, to coddle them and make each person feel special. In fact, every single preshift meeting ends with one of the managers saying, "Have a nice shift. Be kind to our guests."
Restaurant Eve recognizes that the guests are spending a large sum of money for dinner, often for special occasions. In response, we as servers are taught to spend unreal amounts of time and effort to make sure that every detail is perfect -- from ironing the tablecloths, to never presenting a corked bottle of wine. This dedication includes carrying one plate per hand both to and from the table. We do not want to belittle any dish by stacking something on it. I am sorry I did not communicate this style of service effectively to you, and I am humbled by your disappointment.
Never before at Eve have I recieved even a minor complaint, and I will use my interaction with you to grow and make sure it never happens again.
I'm going to preface this by saying that I have taken my husband to the tasting room once a couple of years ago and had a wonderful experience. Todd was there and the wines and service was fantastic.
I'm on call these days (with our own place) so I seldom have time to escape from Clarendon to go out to dinner. So I was really looking forward to heading there last night for a good meal on my one night off.
We were greeted warmly by the hostess and headed to the bar for a pre-dinner cocktail, which was wonderful.
However the evening took a turn for the worse when we entered the dining room. We sat in the bistro room this time, which was fine on all accounts except that the tiny two-top(next to the fireplace) that sat us at was in ear shot of the dishwashers. So I had to lean in to hear what my husband was saying most of the night because of the pots and pans clanking around.
Service was joyless, slow and also a bit spotty in kind of a knee jerk reaction kind of way most of the night. But, other than the dishwashing noise I was having a pretty good time.
We ordered a bottle of wine and a nice young lady brought it by to show it to us, and took it to the back to open it, which I thought was odd. I have been taught to always open a bottle in front of the customer. So she returns 5 minutes later with the open bottle (foil at the top mutilated) and pours me a sip and I taste it (mind you I have a cold, so I ask my husband if he minds tasting it as well...and I didn't think it was corked I just wanted him to try it and she jumps in immediately to say she had tried the wine in the back and it was fine. Then she pours him a sip and he likes it, then she insists on decanting it, which I said wasn't necessary (2007 Tablas Creek from Paso) but she takes off with the bottle nonetheless.
The night came to a screeching halt when our entrees arrived. The food runner stood there for a moment(as if to insinuate - can I bring you anything else), so I kindly asked if they were going to bring a side of risotto that we had ordered with our entrees as well and then the food runner gets this confused look on his face and walks toward the kitchen and is intercepted by our server. The server then approaches our table and jumps down my throat and he says "he only has two hands. Your risotto is coming, he’s only allowed to bring out one dish in each hand, he only has two hands". The tone in his voice was so rude that we just asked for a check and we left without touching our entrees.
That server (I should have gotten his name, but I was close to tears and walked towards the front door) ruined not only a rare night out for us, but on top of it all it was also my birthday last night as well. We should have just stayed in Clarendon. My husband said they didn't charge us, but it didn't really matter to me at that point because the damage had been done.
Restaurant Eve, Old Town Alexandria - Chef Cathal Armstrong and GM Todd Thrasher - Closed Jun 2, 2018
in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining
Posted
As the server in question, I would like to first apologize that I offended you. I do not believe giving my version of events will make anyone feel better about our encounter. I made an error in judgement, it's as simple as that. My comments at the table were an attempt at humor, but I realize they were not funny at all.
I would like to make clear that my behavior was completely atypical of Restaurant Eve employees. Our managers emphasize kindness, friendliness and care. We are trained to treat our guests with the utmost respect, to coddle them and make each person feel special. In fact, every single preshift meeting ends with one of the managers saying, "Have a nice shift. Be kind to our guests."
Restaurant Eve recognizes that the guests are spending a large sum of money for dinner, often for special occasions. In response, we as servers are taught to spend unreal amounts of time and effort to make sure that every detail is perfect -- from ironing the tablecloths, to never presenting a corked bottle of wine. This dedication includes carrying one plate per hand both to and from the table. We do not want to belittle any dish by stacking something on it. I am sorry I did not communicate this style of service effectively to you, and I am humbled by your disappointment.
Never before at Eve have I recieved even a minor complaint, and I will use my interaction with you to grow and make sure it never happens again.