Comments on: Branzino http://www.wrightangle.com/food/blog/2008/06/15/branzino/ Dawn and Eric's culinary notes Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:41:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Larry Ockene http://www.wrightangle.com/food/blog/2008/06/15/branzino/comment-page-1/#comment-889 Larry Ockene Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:08:04 +0000 http://www.wrightangle.com/food/blog/2008/06/15/branzino/#comment-889 We tried Branzino on Saturday night with another couple, and it was a disappointment all-around. We were seated promptly, given bread (4 little pieces for 4 people), and told the specials. Then, at least 20 minutes went by, our bread was long gone, our water glasses were long empty, we had no wine, and there was no waitron in sight. The conversation was good, so we weren't too annoyed, but at one point, Sharon said "I wonder when our food will be here" only to realize that nobody had yet even stopped by to take our order. Finally, our waitress came by, and took our appetizer and wine order. This part was all fine - the charcuterie was wonderful, as were the calamari. Alas, another 4 meager slices of bread was not sufficient to soak up all of the great sauce surrounding the calamari. But at least partially satiated, we ordered our main courses. I had the tagliatelle, which is Branzino's take on carbonara. The dish was quite cold, and I ended up sending it back (I seem to have a lot of this in my restaurant karma these days). When it returned, it was maybe 10 degrees warmer. There was simply no excuse why they couldn't get this right. When the waitress checked in again and I told here it still wasn't right, she very apologetically offered to remove the item from the bill. The two women had the fish stew. The fish was fresh and tender, but the broth was so salty as to be inedible. So while the fish was devoured, nobody made any attempt to soak up what is normally one of the best parts of a good stew. Our other companion's scallops were also salted to the edge of inedible. For desert we all ordered coffee, and I ordered the pear tart. The coffee came first, 10 minutes ahead of the desert. It was cold (all 4 of us agreed) - huge groan. We asked for another pour. Waitress said she'd brew a new pot. In the mean time, dessert came; they brought me the wrong thing (creme caramel, which was delicious and velvety in texture). We shared it, but it was long gone by the time the new coffee came. Again - very apologetic waitress said she'd remove the coffee from the tab. She said twice (again, very contritely) that she hoped that we'd consider coming back. Not a chance. We tried Branzino on Saturday night with another couple, and it was a disappointment all-around. We were seated promptly, given bread (4 little pieces for 4 people), and told the specials. Then, at least 20 minutes went by, our bread was long gone, our water glasses were long empty, we had no wine, and there was no waitron in sight. The conversation was good, so we weren’t too annoyed, but at one point, Sharon said “I wonder when our food will be here” only to realize that nobody had yet even stopped by to take our order.

Finally, our waitress came by, and took our appetizer and wine order. This part was all fine – the charcuterie was wonderful, as were the calamari. Alas, another 4 meager slices of bread was not sufficient to soak up all of the great sauce surrounding the calamari. But at least partially satiated, we ordered our main courses.

I had the tagliatelle, which is Branzino’s take on carbonara. The dish was quite cold, and I ended up sending it back (I seem to have a lot of this in my restaurant karma these days). When it returned, it was maybe 10 degrees warmer. There was simply no excuse why they couldn’t get this right. When the waitress checked in again and I told here it still wasn’t right, she very apologetically offered to remove the item from the bill.

The two women had the fish stew. The fish was fresh and tender, but the broth was so salty as to be inedible. So while the fish was devoured, nobody made any attempt to soak up what is normally one of the best parts of a good stew. Our other companion’s scallops were also salted to the edge of inedible.

For desert we all ordered coffee, and I ordered the pear tart. The coffee came first, 10 minutes ahead of the desert. It was cold (all 4 of us agreed) – huge groan. We asked for another pour. Waitress said she’d brew a new pot. In the mean time, dessert came; they brought me the wrong thing (creme caramel, which was delicious and velvety in texture). We shared it, but it was long gone by the time the new coffee came. Again – very apologetic waitress said she’d remove the coffee from the tab. She said twice (again, very contritely) that she hoped that we’d consider coming back. Not a chance.

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