On a lark we went to the wine dinner at Bar Mezzana, running through Sunday March 31. Dishes were all served family style, and they added an extra course at the beginning - more substantial than amuse, a very lovely seasonal dish with ramps, fava beans, and fava puree, bread crumbs for texture and brightened with citrus zest. Next was lingua crostini, a play on steak and cheese, an umami bomb. If we had a favorite course (hard to choose) it was the pasta, orzo with crispy fried artichoke, spinach, anchovy croutons for additional texture, citrus zest again, and just a hint of heat. Then roasted pork loin with a “trotter cake”, asparagus and puree of celery root. The trotter cake was another umami bomb. Finally a polenta olive oil cake with citrus, plenty of citru zest, pistachio and honey. Portions were generous, so much so we thought we wouldn’t come close to finishing the orzo, but it was light and we did finish.
We shared one wine pairing, all from women wine makers. The orange wine (Kelley Fox “Nerthus” from Oregon) with the first course and the Nero d’Avola (Martha Stoumen from Mendocino) with the orzo were excellent, as was a Pedro Ximenez sherry with desert (El Maestro Sierra).
The chef (Eliza Purvis-Lemasters) brought out every course and described them with obvious passion. She was having fun with the menu.
I was there for the first time last Sunday (not for this event) and we had a waiter whose demeanor could best be described as sour. We (table of 4) were there early; the place was not close to full and they seemed to have enough staff. We asked to put in some appetizers first and were told “the kitchen prefers you put in your entire order at once.” There was no budging from that directive. He disappeared for long stretches and showed no enthusiasm. I got the skate with broccoli and found the vegetable to be drowning in butter/oil and the fish overcooked.
Bummer, sorry you struck out. We’ve been probably half a dozen times and never encountered that admonition about putting in the entire order. In fact we typically would order a couple of crudos and a glass of wine while considering the rest of the menu.
I wonder what people here think: if I was told that directive, I’d be inclined to order one drink each and one appetizer each and then stop talking. Especially if it’s early.
Then if server says, what else, if we had to say something, I’d say, that’s all we are prepared to order at this point, and then we’d stop talking.
I’m not a fan of passive aggression, to say the least, but if that is the directive and it cannot be modified, that’s all I’d order. Then we’d leave.
I’m sort of with you here. I’d be up front with the server if my intention was to only order apps, but if that wasn’t sufficient for them or if I was just uncertain and they insisted on knowing what else we intended to order I’d probably leave. And I’d be unlikely to return.
My first response was to think I’d say, this is all we are prepared to order now. If we can’t order apps now, with the intention of ordering more later, we’ll just leave now.
Screw that. Unless the restaurant is packed or it is some sort of special menu, there is absolutely no reason for this. I’m willing to bet this was the server’s preference and not the kitchen. If the service was indifferent, I’d vote with my tip. I usually start with a base tip in mind and adjust up or (rarely) down based on the service.
