Wednesday, March 16, 2005

This is Wrong

I don't rant much, but tell me what you think. I stop at a local restaurant on the way home (a recently rated top #5, maybe even higher) to have a glass of wine and an appetizer. I don't want to mention names here to embarrass anybody, but I think the following is not right. I order a certain Pinot Noir to taste and an appetizer. The wine is delivered and I announce to the bartender that I am in the business and start taking notes. This place is very cool/hip/not friendly as I sip and write my notes. Twenty minutes later the sommelier arrives to ask how I like the wine and informs me the wine served is not the Pinot on the menu but something else. Oh? "She served you something else." Oh? When he leaves, after gathering up the wine menu which I had been studying, I ask the bartender why she didn't tell me that she served me the X when I ordered the Y. "I was told by the sommelier to serve X when someone asks for any Pinot Noir."

Let's just stop here. That is totally wrong.

Now, the second wrong. If I owned the restaurant, or was the "sommelier", in this situation, I would have comped for goodwill purposes the first glass (I am now on my second glass of "Barbera"?) if it happened to a customer. Stuff happens. The customer would be happy. If the customer were in the business and talking with 10 wine reps a week and knows who is paying their bills and who is not and what restaurants are hot and what restaurants have HUGE inflated egos, I would send over a glass of the good stuff and apologize for the screw up. Cincinnati is a small town. Nothing was done or said. My bad for showing up. That is the second wrong.

By the way, the appetizer sucked and was for some unexplained reason served in two shifts!

Tell me I'm wrong!

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just curious? Where you in Oakley?

10:49 PM  
Blogger jens at cincinnati wine said...

Madison Road runs from Indian Hill to Hyde Park, and yes Oakley is on the way! When you are #1 there is only one way to go!

11:08 PM  
Blogger John Fremont said...

The third bad is not posting the restaurant.
What kind of pressure is put on the place if no one knows?

Out them!

2:02 PM  
Blogger jens at cincinnati wine said...

Good Point! I will consider but Cincinnati is a small town. Also, many in town will know which restaurant I am referring to. See the first comment. Thanks for commenting.

2:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is a nice restaraunt across the street with the best list in town, sorry Pigalls its true. Also the apps are great and constantly evolving. How many times can you have brussel sprouts.

9:56 AM  
Blogger jens at cincinnati wine said...

I was just at that "nice" restaurant across the street, and the wine list is great! And the staff is friendly! And they have parking! I don't know what I was thinking.

10:50 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

From time to time when I order a glass at a bar I ask to look at the bottle. Often, I don't know the wine, so its an educational thing for me.

In the future, I think I'll not only ask to see the bottle, I'm gonna watch while the bartender pours!

10:32 AM  
Blogger jens at cincinnati wine said...

Good idea. And thanks for the Protocolo order!

1:28 PM  

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