We went the weekend it opened. Here are a few impressions:
The place is gorgeous. They did a really good job on the decor of the restaurant, and it's nice to see the old hotel with what would appear to be a serious facelift.
Menu: Looks good, lots of selection.
Plates, etc are nice, upscale and show the owners made an effort.
Price: expensive, but I am not one to complain about the price of a good meal.
Service: Friendly but undertrained.
Examples: There would appear to be no staff meetings before shift, as the waiter was unaware that the cut of steak I wanted was unavailable. Nobody wants their waiter coming back telling him he can't have what he ordered. As a former waiter, I can say that I was always informed before my shift of what was and was not available, and as a former restaurant manager and owner, I made sure the waiters were up to speed. Not like the place was so packed they ran out that shift or anything. No big deal, obviously, but something that doesn;t happen when you run a tight ship.
Also, the restaurant offers steak Pittsburg style (that's black and blue for those who might not happen to know). As I enjoy my steak Pittsburg, I ordered the NY, Pittsburg. At which time the waiter asked how I would like it cooked. Alarm bells are now ringing, so I politely explained what Pittsburg actually is (Black on the outside, blue inside, as per the menu from which I ordered), but asked him to ask the chef if he knew how to do it properly, as I really don;t want to put them in the spot of me sending it back. I would prefer just to order it medium rare if the chef isn;t confident he can do it (it's actually harder than you would think to do a proper Pittsburg). A few minutes later he came back to tell me the chef didn't really know how to do it, so I ordered a NY medium rare. Fair enough. I'm grateful he was forthright and didn't try to wing it.
Steaks come. I get a ribeye put in front of me. I ask the waiter if this is the NY, and he says "Yes, it's a NY". Of course isn;t, but at this point I'm not about to give the guy any more of a hard time, and I figure I'll enjoy a ribeye far more than being 'right' at his expense). After a bit, I notice my friend, who had ordered the ribeye, has a NY in front of him. Go figure. But a waiter in a steak restaurant who can't tell a ribeye from a NY, even when the guest calls him on it speaks volume about what kind of training, if any, he received. This is not the waiter's fault, but management's for not properly training him for the job they had him doing.
Waiter was friendly and did his best, but asking how the meal is when it's almost done is, well, a bit late (hell at least he asked, most placed don't even bother). Again, this is a training issue and shouldn't reflect on the waiter.
Food: My steak, although a bit thin for my taste, was actually fairly decent. Nothing that has me dying to go back, but definitely passable. The sauce, while basic, was quite good.
Both my friends did NOT like their meals. At all. They will not be back, and I doubt any of their friends will be either.
What got me was that at the next table was seated what I assumed to be either an owner or a manager talking about a wine order with a couple of gentlemen. Had she made the rounds of the tables at least once to say hello, no doubt she could have made it right for my two friends. As it is, the restaurant has lost both those guys (residents who eat out often and expensive) as clients and gained some poor word of mouth.
As for me? I'd give them another try if a friend wanted to go. Restaurants are notoriously hard to get off the ground and it looks like they made a serious effort, at least in the bricks and mortar.
If they have professional management, I would suggest taking a page from any any number of owner-operated high end restaurants in town and get out there and meet your guests. If they don;t, they should get some. I would also humbly suggest investing more time in training the staff (something too few owners do) as opposed to leaving the status quo or changing them out.
To be clear: No restaurant can get it right every time for every guest. I know that from experience. But a bit more attention to detail on these points will make all the difference. I hope they do well.
Give it a try, report back.
(Sorry about the huge post, but we were just talking about this the other day so it's all still fresh in my mind.)