Tonight was the opening of Domenica, a John Besh venture at the newly remodeled Roosevelt Hotel. The setting was a mix of SoHo chic and Vegas opulence. Waiters dressed to impress in colorful paisleys reminded me of sweet confetti on a chocolate iced cupcake.
So many details are involved in an opening of a new establishment.... perfection of the menu is a must. Even then, if the food is not the way that it is intended when served.... the service should be a buffer.... Especially when the room was filled with industry VIP: Wine purveyors, chefs, hoteliers, and other avid local foodies.
What I experienced tonight was not a good prediction of the future to this fledgling restaurant.
It took 25 minutes after sitting to get a beverage of any sort. Even after every manager of the corporation stopped at the table to say hi, (this does include Besh himself, TWICE). The new executive chef even stopped by to say hi, but quickly excused himself to the go back to the kitchen and cook.... he should have stayed there.... maybe then the food would have been better.
We ordered a myriad of dishes.... two pizza's, a cheese plate, six appetizers, two main dishes and grappa for dessert....
The wine list was a fun collection that was easy to navigate, even for those who are intimidated by wines.
The octopus carpaccio was light and elegant with sweet hints of fennel and orange segments but missing any hint of my friends "salt and pepper". Mind, they were nowhere to be found on the table either. The spinach gnocchi and pea blossom with goat cheese was decent. The meatballs came swimming in a broth, with no spoon to be heard of. The most atrocious dish was the tagliatelle with oxtails. This dish, reminded me of the canned food from WIC that the government used to pass out.... just because it's nourishment doesn't mean it's good.... even if the government tells me it is.... lol. Oh by they way, your local Winn-Dixie's deli has better cuts than what was offered on the meat board.
The other dishes that followed were just blah.... hardly worth writing about. Pizza Hut's Tuscani pasta is more flavorful and delicious.
Their service left much to be desired. I know it was opening night.... but I believe my server should know more about the food than I do. I thought that these guys 'trained' before they opened? Besh's team of 'elite' managers were there and they couldn't even grab a server for us..... a friend of mine dining three tables away said, "Too many Chiefs and no Indians...."
I do plan on going back to give this place another go.... because things are always crazy on an opening night.... but if one is going to be paying for a product comparable to Pizza Hut.... I better be getting some hella flare....
Myriad stands alone - we ordered myriad dishes.
ReplyDeletedid you start this blog just to trash this place?
ReplyDeleteof course not... I know that it's a little harsh.... but I do highly respect Besh and his career. What I say, is my opinion... It was opening night and I plan to go back....
ReplyDeleteI started this blog because I was tired of reading other peoples praises and then being let down when I go to out. Dominica just happpened to be my first review because it was what I did that night.
It's not a personal attack..... I wish them well. Especially for opening a new concept in these times.
Beth, check your dictionary: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myriad.
ReplyDeleteAlmost no restaraunt has a great opening night. It is utterly ridiculous to review such a thing. Give them six months.
ReplyDeleteyou sound like youre pretty savvy about dining out, but you are really showing your ignorance by even thinking that an opening night is an appropriate time to review! and please..the fact that you would even eat tuscan pasta from pizza hut speaks volumes about you!
ReplyDeleteI have yet to have a bad experience with any of Besh's Restaraunts, i plan to head to this place on my next visit to New Orleans in October when i go to VooDoo Fest, and go with an open mind as i always do at fine dining restaraunts..
ReplyDeleteIt seems like the Blogger went in with his Bias and hate filled intentions already set..
There's no way anyone have this many problems even at a Denny's, you basically stopped short of saying there were flies and hair in your food and you were being cussed at by the waiters..
despite what your reply said above to the last reply i think you had your intentions set to flame and throw this Chef under the bus.
Every other opening rating i read on other sites from "PROFESSIONALS" said they had a fantastic experience and will be recommending everybody they know when they pay a visit to New Orleans or enjoyed themselves very well and food was fantastic..
Waiter issues is one thing but to say you had a complete and utter break down seems to be a bit of reach.
I'm wondering if you really know much about food and "1st nights".
ReplyDeleteSometimes people just love to "blog"...is this you?
Patz
Please let me know if someone else has been there so I may have some different perspectives . . .
ReplyDeleteOn tonight's Craigslist: Re: Besh Group (New Orleans Metro)
ReplyDeleteDate: 2009-09-03, 7:50PM CDT
Reply to: see below
I had the displeasure of working for this company as they made us jump through hoops for 3 wks of training only to give us positions different then the ones we were hired for. The tip out is 34% which includes a tip out to "the house" which covers things like broken dishes and family meal...basically if you serve there they pay you 2.13 per hour and you pay them more then that back to have the "great opportunity" to work for awsome god Besh. I have worked other places with family meal it is supposed to be a bonus of a restaraunt. If we have to pay for our food, then let us order what we want, not whatever they decide to give us.
The managers do not communicate with one another. One particular manager runs around like a bunny on crack in short skirts and tennis shoes while she berates the service staff for not looking professional or neat enough while they move tables to the dining room via escalator.
This company is not worth your time unless you enjoy not making money while being told how lucky you are to have this job
Also, we were told never to mention the egg incident, only Besh's accomplishments. How holy are you my lord that you have made no mistakes in life or none that we may speak or we shall face your terrifying wrath.
Location: New Orleans Metro
Compensation: 2.13
This is at a non-profit organization.
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
Anita, you're illiterate and know even less about food and the restaurant business. Presumably, you were fired from a Besh restaurant or dumped by a guy who worked at one. My advice? Get over it. Delete this stupid blog and order takeout.
ReplyDeleteMe-ow people! So much meanness & negativity ... & I'm wondering why everyone thinks this is a serious review, I read it as her experience that night, some things were good, some things, not so much.
ReplyDeletePeople respond to situations individually & if I had to wait for a drink as long as they did, with all those people coming by, I know I'd be cranky.
It sounds like she knows her way around eating out & found some good items on the menu worth mentioning & maybe a few to avoid.
I look forward to stumbling upon Ms Soileau's future nights out.
(Love that Winn-Dixie link!)
You go girl!
& whoever sent in that Craig's List post ...Priceless! LOL! "The Egg" reference ... brillant ...
ReplyDeleteI think that it is great that there is so much dialog on this topic. I love that everybody is so passionate about what they have to say.
ReplyDeleteI started this blog to become a better writer and it's easy to talk about food... we all eat!
What I merely did was share how my first experience was on opening night... I stated 'twice' that I would go back. My experience on opening night gives me a point of reference for the next time I do patronize the establishment.
I have read other reviews from "PROFESSIONALS", and I respect their voice as well. I do have to wonder... did these "PROFESSIONALS" have a different experience because of who they are? (making THEIR review biased)...
As for what kind of diner am I? An unpretentiously adventurous diner...
Lastly, I have never worked for or dated anybody from the Besh Corporation...
Do they have "poached eggs" on the menu?
ReplyDeleteAnita Soileau, you should stick to what your name says and not reviews.
ReplyDeleteAnita, since you chose to review Domenica on its opening night, allow me to offer you a review of your debut review. Firstly, your abundant lack of knowledge regarding cuisine and dining are clearly evident by the fact that you chose to review a restaurant on opening night, how very clever of you. I guess you are the one person who can glean an accurate snapshot of a restaurant based on the one night when there will obviously be problems. What is even more apparent is your lack of tact and skill when it comes to culinary reporting. You've peppered your literary turd with tedious one liners that apparently seemed funny to you at the time, so much so that you even included an "lol" like the canned laugh track from some lackluster sitcom. Thank you for pointing out to the reader that you laughed at what you just typed. You're so funny you just crack yourself up! As for your culinary vocabulary, I'm pretty sure there are better food descriptors on the sides of those WIC cans upon which you were waxing so nostalgically. Try actually describing the food, (for better or for worse), rather than vaguely comparing it to your favorite fare from Winn Dixie or Pizza Hut, (Dear, your class is showing), or summing it up with the concise adjective "decent". As for the service which you excoriated in this little pile of doggerel, I can say that I was one the "Industry Insiders" sitting in the dining room on that fateful opening night, and as a career long culinary professional I viewed what appeared to be a relatively smooth opening. I witnessed none of the calamitous events so prevalent during a first service, no tray of champagne flutes dumped on a paying customer, no patrons storming out without having been fed, and certainly no one who was not showered with attention by a James Beard Award Winning Chef, (who came to your table TWICE!). I also know for a fact that Chef Besh paid for just about every meal that was served that night. Perhaps your check was not picked up by the house, and if so they were right to charge you as far a karma is concerned, but methinks it likely you did not pay for anything that night, even if it was comparable to Pizza Hut. Be careful what seemingly witty sentiment you throw around with your "hella flair" as some of your readers may have been in the dining room next to you, it could spoil what little credibility you have. Anita, take these words to heart, watching a few seasons of Top Chef or Hell's Kitchen doth not a culinary critic make. You would like to think that you write like Anthony Bourdain talks, but alas you do not. You write like a teenage girl texting her friends about the food court, complete with mall slang and more dot-dot-dots than I'd care to count, (HINT: Try placing a single dot at the end of a complete thought that contains both a subject and a verb, we call that a sentence here in adulthood). So taking into account that you're hardly the next Ruth Reichl, what I read here tonight was not a good prediction of the future of your fledgling blog. I do plan on coming back to give this blog another go, because things are always crazy on opening night. But if one is going to be wasting their time reading a review comparable to my daughter Instant Messaging her adolescent friends, I'd better at least get a "Hella" description of the food.
ReplyDelete-Good Luck, You're gonna need It!
PS: It's called a Food Lover's Companion, pick one up at your local bookstore, along with a thesaurus.
Woa, way hash Tye.
ReplyDeleteI too had the displeasure of training and ALMOST working for that crazed, bi polar rabbit you speak of. I am so glad I got out before it was too late! I would like the opportunity to talk about my scars, if you are so inclined. As would another fellow almost employee, and YES, we have someone in the inside too, where we have have some wonderful "truths" from....
ReplyDeleteAs seen on today's Craigslist:
ReplyDelete------------------------------
Besh Group
Date: 2009-09-18, 9:51PM CDT
Reply to: job-gbzwy-1381651398@craigslist.org
Don't waste your time with this company. They will lie to you about your wages and not pay you for all the hours that you work. They make servers tip out 34% which includes "tipping out the house" which basically means that severs are tipping out the restaurant for the pleasure to make their company money. It is unfortunate that Domenica is being run in such a terribly disorganized sweat shop manor. I doubt that Chef Besh has any idea the type of establishment that he is lending his name to. Any place where 15 people quit within 2 days of one and other, and at least 1 or 2 people quits a day has serious issues. Also, they flag every negative post about the restaurant, giving them only a possitive image.
If you know others who are looking for a job please tell them to avoid working for the Besh group...especially Domenica
Compensation: at least 1$ an hr less than they told you
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
PostingID: 1381651398
If a restaurant can nail the opening night, then they are gold.
ReplyDeleteThe BEST night of any restaurant's tenure MUST be opening night.
To be unprepared in business is unexcusable.
If the managers and owners and chef's are passing by the tables and cannot even see there is no salt and pepper on the tables then they probably had to many 'tastes' of wine before the shift.
I mean COME ON folks, if you can't nail opening night then you are riding on the tears of sympathy.
Business is business, no excuses.
Did the people who came on opening night PAY FULL PRICE?
ReplyDeleteI mean, all these excuses by all these people but I KNOW everybody paid full price.
NO EXCUSES, you wan't my money, you get it right the first time.
Get OUT OF THE KITCHEN if it is too hot.
i came across a craigslist post about working at domenica. too many expletives to repeat, but basically this "bunny on crack" is not well liked. i just came across this blog today and when i went back to copy the craigslist ad it was already removed. anyway, back to my 2 cents...
ReplyDeletealthough kinks are expected during an opening night of a restaurant, some things are just plain unacceptable:
- waiting 25 min for a drink. ridiculous. first impressions are everything. when you are seated, sure its nice to be greeted by every manager plus the chef, but a beverage (beer, wine, even water for god sakes) should be offered within first few minutes. every waiter knows that and if they don't, the front of house is on the road to failure, my friend. i do not believe the blogger went in with any intention to "throw the chef under the bus" or with "hate filled intentions".
- server not knowing the menu. embarassing.
again, for a restaurant of this caliber Denny's should not be the last place your server has worked. *some* knowledge of the menu should is mandatory (yes, even on opening night).
how's that eating your way through New Orleans going? oh wait, this is your only entry. boy you must be starving...
ReplyDeleteyou must be starving by now!
ReplyDelete