Showing posts with label Tallahassee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tallahassee. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Advocacy Trip to Tallahassee, FL Nets Great Meals!
Every year we assist the Friends of our libraries in their advocacy efforts by joining them on a trip to Florida's capital city, Tallahassee. Although we certainly don't go hungry while we're there, as a college town Tallahassee is full of chain restaurants, bars, and pizza places. We're staying at the DoubleTree near the Capitol, and they have a restaurant, Jacob's On The Plaza, that leaves much to be desired. We told you about Jacob's in our post of Monday, February 15, 2010, "The WORST Restaurant Experience Ever!" Let's just say that Jacob's hasn't changed much in a year... Lisa noticed a restaurant right next door to the hotel...Avenue Eat & Drink. We decided to try it with the small group that was left here. What a terrific decision! Avenue has only been open about 6 months. The owner, Chris Clark, used to own what was (according to friends who live in Tallahassee) an excellent restaurant, Cafe Cabernet. Avenue Eat & Drink celebrates Southern Fusion cuisine that showcases many locally-sourced ingredients. We started with an Heirloom Tomato and Burrata Mozzarella Salad that featured both red and yellow tomatoes and soft, lucious burrata. For the unitiated, burrata is made just like the regular firmer mozzarella except that instead of throwing the formed balls quickly into ice water to firm up, burrata is formed into a pouch and filled with cream and scraps of mozzarella. It's a rich treat! Lisa had the Park Avenue Chicken Pot Pie as her entree, which was a different take on one of the most popular comfort foods. Avenue tops theirs with a corn souffle crust. Lisa thought there was more gravy (darker than any other chicken gravy we've had) than filling and would not order it again. Since we likely won't be back in Tallahassee until next year, we had to try other dishes. We tried the Anson Mills Grits with Smoked Cheddar and Stripling's Sausage. Anson Mills is an organic mill in Columbia, SC, and Stripling's is a family-owned sausage producer in Cordele, GA.. The grits were creamy, cheesy and rich, although they weren't very hot when they arrived. The small bowl of sausage crumbles tasted of sage, thyme, and mild pepper. Carol's entree was the Grilled Cheese and Pulled Short Rib Sandwich, served on sourdough bread with carmelized onions and horseradish mayo. Cheese was smoked cheddar. Short Ribs are the darlings of many restaurant chefs right now with their rich beefy flavor. All the ingredients in this sandwich work well together but again, it would have been better if it had been hotter. The side was sweet potato chips and they were good! A fun item that another diner ordered was chick pea fries...ground chick peas (garbanzo beans) blended with spices and formed into little logs before being rolled in chick pea flour and deep-fried. Dipped into Avenue's special ketchup, they were different and tasty. We HAD to try at least one dessert, and all shared the Bourbon Banana Pudding with Glazed Pecans. Avenue's version adds toasted angel food cake to the ingredients in the name. No one didn't enjoy this dessert! Strange as it might seem, we returned tonight for dinner! We had plans with our local friends to eat at another restaurant but we suggested Avenue since we knew they'd enjoy it and they also didn't know of its existence. We started with the Artichoke Spinach Dip with Tortilla Chips. Avenue changed the ratio of artichoke & spinach to creamy cheese sauce for a chunkier appetizer. The bowl was emptied pretty quickly! One of the reasons Carol wanted to return to Avenue was to try their appetizer of Braised Pork Belly With Cabbage. Yeah, she knows, pork belly is fatty...it's the cut used to make bacon. She thought having a small portion in a restaurant might prevent her from wanting to cook a whole piece at home. She decided to order it for dinner, along with a side of roast potatoes. The small chunk of pork belly was braised then deep-fried and served with spicy (VERY!) cabbage along with a vinegary dressing that cut the richness of the pork belly, although it was still unctious (Carol has always wanted to find a place to use that word!). Lisa's dinner was the Risotto with Boursin Cheese, Rainbow Kale, & Shitake Mushrooms. It was creamy and rich, but didn't have a lot of kale or mushrooms. On to dessert, again...tonight we had Mike's Reese's Peanut Butter Pie. Although not made in Avenue's own kitchen, it was delicious and surprisingly light, as the peanut butter filling was whipped. Before we close, we need to mention the service...at lunch we were served by Frankie and at dinner J.C. took care of us. Both gentlemen were extremely knowledgeable about Avenue's menu and were professional and pleasant. We're planning to return to Avenue Eat & Drink next year with our whole crew! Avenue Eat & Drink 115 East Park Avenue Tallahassee, FL 32301 850-224-0115 www.avenueeatanddrink.com
Monday, February 15, 2010
The WORST Restaurant Experience Ever!
We're in Tallahassee, FL for an annual visit to advocate for libraries. We'll spend the next two days roaming the halls of the Capitol talking to our local legislators about how Florida's libraries change lives, especially in today's economic climate. But first, we gotta eat, right?
We're staying at the Doubletree Hotel, right near the Capitol, a beautiful hotel with an emphasis on great customer service. That's why this dinner story is so distressing and puzzling, and why we're mentioning it here.
Tonight there were twelve of us dining, and I'd made a reservation last night at the restaurant onsite, Jacob's on the Plaza.. "No problem,", I was told, "We'll be happy to accommodate you!"
I guess I first should mention that Lisa & I had dinner at Jacob's last night, and while it wasn't the best meal we've ever had, it wasn't the worst either. Our complaints were that Lisa's filet mignon was tough and grisly & my baked potato wasn't quite hot enough. We didn't complain, and perhaps we should have. We also had breakfast there this morning and it was OK. Anyway, back to tonight's debacle....
We arrive for our 7:30pm reservation, and all order dinner. We talk and wait for dinner...and talk & wait....and wait some more.... The menu states that bread comes with meals but none is brought. One of our companions asks for bread since we're waiting so long for our meals. We wonder if the server heard her because no bread comes out for a l-o-n-g time but then finally arrives...a basket of rolls that was fresh....yesterday! Today they were dry and tasteless....
It was 9pm and still, we had no dinner! One of our party walked to the hostess station to inquire, and by the time she walked back to our table, the plates began to arrive, just like magic!
To make a long story a bit shorter, NO ONE was happy with their meal....most of dinners were unacceptably cold...one person's filet was cold, and the rice served with it was ice-cold, as was the rice on another's plate (although her hamburger was warm enough), someone's vegetables tasted like fish, my ribs were barely warm & my baked potato wasn't warm enough to melt the butter I put on it!
Some of us ordered new meals, some didn't want to since it meant waiting again, and I asked that mine be heated up. We asked why it had taken so long for our meals to come out in the first place and the servers gave lame excuses about problems in the kitchen, too many room service orders, and a group of 15 in their private dining room (but that party was leaving the restaurant when we were first being seated!). I had to interject that these weren't acceptable reasons since we'd eaten there last night and my potato was barely warm then! We asked to see the Manager, and after 10 minutes were informed that she'd left for the night. A few minutes later we were told that the Manager was returning to the restaurant. When she got there she apologized to us, said all meals would be "no charge" and that she would resolve the issue. She came back a few minutes and began clearing off the table, telling us that she'd had a "little chat" with the cook, and something about "having a son his age" (I didn't see the relevance!).
We were nice enough to give the servers a small tip, even though many of us felt that they'd been part of the problem...they never came out & said they were sorry it was taking so long, and when asked why, they blamed the kitchen staff for it all.
I think we've all had a negative restaurant experience or two but I've never eaten somewhere where EVERYONE was dissatisfied! As librarians we emphasize service, and we can see that the problems at this restaurant start at the top. I guess we won't be having dinner at Jacob's again during our stay!
We're staying at the Doubletree Hotel, right near the Capitol, a beautiful hotel with an emphasis on great customer service. That's why this dinner story is so distressing and puzzling, and why we're mentioning it here.
Tonight there were twelve of us dining, and I'd made a reservation last night at the restaurant onsite, Jacob's on the Plaza.. "No problem,", I was told, "We'll be happy to accommodate you!"
I guess I first should mention that Lisa & I had dinner at Jacob's last night, and while it wasn't the best meal we've ever had, it wasn't the worst either. Our complaints were that Lisa's filet mignon was tough and grisly & my baked potato wasn't quite hot enough. We didn't complain, and perhaps we should have. We also had breakfast there this morning and it was OK. Anyway, back to tonight's debacle....
We arrive for our 7:30pm reservation, and all order dinner. We talk and wait for dinner...and talk & wait....and wait some more.... The menu states that bread comes with meals but none is brought. One of our companions asks for bread since we're waiting so long for our meals. We wonder if the server heard her because no bread comes out for a l-o-n-g time but then finally arrives...a basket of rolls that was fresh....yesterday! Today they were dry and tasteless....
It was 9pm and still, we had no dinner! One of our party walked to the hostess station to inquire, and by the time she walked back to our table, the plates began to arrive, just like magic!
To make a long story a bit shorter, NO ONE was happy with their meal....most of dinners were unacceptably cold...one person's filet was cold, and the rice served with it was ice-cold, as was the rice on another's plate (although her hamburger was warm enough), someone's vegetables tasted like fish, my ribs were barely warm & my baked potato wasn't warm enough to melt the butter I put on it!
Some of us ordered new meals, some didn't want to since it meant waiting again, and I asked that mine be heated up. We asked why it had taken so long for our meals to come out in the first place and the servers gave lame excuses about problems in the kitchen, too many room service orders, and a group of 15 in their private dining room (but that party was leaving the restaurant when we were first being seated!). I had to interject that these weren't acceptable reasons since we'd eaten there last night and my potato was barely warm then! We asked to see the Manager, and after 10 minutes were informed that she'd left for the night. A few minutes later we were told that the Manager was returning to the restaurant. When she got there she apologized to us, said all meals would be "no charge" and that she would resolve the issue. She came back a few minutes and began clearing off the table, telling us that she'd had a "little chat" with the cook, and something about "having a son his age" (I didn't see the relevance!).
We were nice enough to give the servers a small tip, even though many of us felt that they'd been part of the problem...they never came out & said they were sorry it was taking so long, and when asked why, they blamed the kitchen staff for it all.
I think we've all had a negative restaurant experience or two but I've never eaten somewhere where EVERYONE was dissatisfied! As librarians we emphasize service, and we can see that the problems at this restaurant start at the top. I guess we won't be having dinner at Jacob's again during our stay!
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