Eleven Madison Park goes off the rails

Great Moh! I really wasn't saying anyone shouldn't go, and wanted to express all the positives too! I was trying to explain a very frustrating experience in as even-handed a way as possible. To some of the above posters, I agree that by the time we objected to waiting 5 minutes for the manager we were very upset. I hoped that by not trying to paint myself in some angelic light and pointing out several of the wonderful things about EMP (ambiance, food, greeters, and especially the manager) that people would respect that I was being as even-handed as I could.

I would like to reiterate on the wait times - the too-long waits were entirely between courses, (that is, from clearing to dropping, not from dropping to dropping). If that sounds about right, that means a 13 course meal is getting into the 6+ hour range (have to include at least 5-10 minutes with each plate in front of you). Which, of course, is fine if that's what you're after. But that is not the norm, nor is it what we were interested in that night.

I know the orignal post was long, but several above posts are less than accurate on the timing of the events. Here is a less verbose summary:

1) Amuses arrive (referred to in quotes above as "appetizers" because that's what the menu called them)
2) Cocktails arrive
3) Halfway through cocktails, champagne and first course arrive. (rushed)
4) 2-3 courses served with great timing (adjustment made, well done)
5) Course cleared, 15 minute wait, no communication from server after several minutes of looking around the room
6) Server, after being hailed, indicates that he thought we wanted to slow down which surprised us, we say no, he says OK. 5-7 minutes later, that course arrives.
7) At that point, I said: "But he was very apologetic, fine, we enjoy some more great food and move on, assuming the problem is behind us."
8) Course cleared, 15 minute wait, server somewhere between extremely inattentive and intentionally ignoring us by the end of that time
9) We hail server again, complain again, server disappears, reappears but avoids/ignores us
10) We speak to manager (after being unreasonably upset at being asked to wait 5 minutes), who is utterly fantastic about the whole thing but by now we are simply ready to move on. AKA, ryan and jess throw a hissy fit.

ryanandjess in Manhattan

Eleven Madison Park goes off the rails

I tried to make it very clear that the manager was great and did everything he could to make amends. But the evening should never have been allowed to devolve so far. The server should have involved others after our first complaint, if not before (when he noticed the lag without any mention from us - yes, that's the service I expect, and have generally gotten, at the very best restaurants). When we're out for a very special occasion, it's never about dollars and cents, and it's always a shame when the end result has to be measured that way. The tabs we paid at Alinea, Moto, and Avenues are long forgotten, but those very special evenings I get to keep forever.

ryanandjess in Manhattan

Eleven Madison Park goes off the rails

This past long weekend was a big celebration for my wife and I. We love New York, so we decided to do our celebrating there (we’re from Chicago). I wanted to find a great restaurant for the big night, so I spent a lot of time reading all the great information posted here (thanks all!). It seemed pretty clear that the near-consensus top pick for a very special occasion was Eleven Madison Park. I made the reservation and tried not to read the menu every day at work in anticipation.

When we arrived we were greeted with a smiling congratulations on our big day. The room is beautiful, and we were led to a romantic table and presented with personalized menus. We each picked a cocktail to sip while we decided if we were up for the tasting menu (OK, that actually took about 2 seconds to decide: of course we were up for it). The drinks came a bit slowly, and we were actually presented with “appetizers” ( a tray of 4 small bites for each of us – I remember a salmon and cream freche bite, and a delicious lamb empanada-type bite) prior to our drinks’ arrival. OK, unexpected that they arrived so soon but certainly not a big deal. The drinks do arrive and we sit back and start to enjoy (we waited for the drinks to begin nibbling – server take note!). At the halfway point of our cocktails, the first wine pairing arrives (champagne) followed quickly by the first course. Now I’m a bit miffed at the timing, but still hopeful it will be corrected by what I assume is an attentive, experienced serving staff. We finish our drinks without touching anything else, then move on to course 1. The champagne (sorry, I don’t have the list) was the best I’ve ever tasted. Generally if I’m up for a spluge, I do it on red, not sparkling, but this glass made a great case for a champagne splurge. The first course, caviar and poached egg, was outstanding. I felt myself settling in to be wowed. Alas, it was not to be so.

After the next couple of courses were timed just right – certainly not overlapping like the cocktails and first course, and with a few moments to savor each course before the next arrived – things slowed to a c-r-a-w-l. We don’t know what happened. It was a weeknight and getting later in the evening. There had been several 6-8 tops in our area of the room who were leaving. Was some of the staff (waitstaff? kitchen?) starting to do side work? Whatever the reason, after the foie gras (course 4) was cleared, we waited long enough to notice and start looking around the room quizzically, which went unnoticed. After the halibut plates were cleared, we waited. And waited. After about 15 minutes (!) with just bread on the table and several minutes of both of us clearly looking around for some help (and our server in the area the whole time), I have to raise a finger to get him to come by. (This should never happen in a room of this caliber, not after we’ve been clearly trying to make eye contact with someone, anyone. Not well after the point that someone should have been by with an explanation without prompt.) We tell him that it’s been quite a while since the last dish was cleared. He responds “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you were wanting to slow things down.” (Why would he think that? We had given no indication as such. It just came off like he was trying to avoid blame.) We said no. He says he’s sorry again and heads to the kitchen. He returned with our dish (wonderful pork belly!) about 5-7 minutes later, which again seemed quite long unless someone had forgotten to start our dish at an appropriate time. But he was very apologetic, fine, we enjoy some more great food and move on, assuming the problem is behind us.

That dish was cleared, and we wait 15 minutes again, the last 5 spent searching the room for eye contact, visibly annoyed. I again have to flag the waiter down (really? Twice?). I say, more forcefully this time, “the timing has really slowed down since the foie gras.” He replies “I’m terribly sorry, your dish is being crusted right now. I’ll go check on it,” and off to the kitchen again. He returns to our area of the room with no dish, talks to two or three other tables while we try to get his attention, then disappears. Now we’re pissed. An assistant comes by to fill our water or something and we tell him we need to speak to a manager. He returns and says the manager will be by in about five minutes (are you kidding?) and I say no, we need to speak to him now. Assistant disappears, manager appears and asks what the problem is. We explain the situation, and that our server now seems to be avoiding us. He is very apologetic and says he will straighten things out. He returns a few minutes later with our beef dish. In those few minutes, we’ve just gotten more and more upset that we’re out celebrating and having to argue and deal with incompetent service issues. Manager returns and my wife tells him again that this has really been unacceptable, that we’ve been to great restaurants and never experienced issues like this (all the while throwing out compliments about the quality of the food). Manager is as apologetic and professional as it is possible to be and asks what he can possibly do to make things right, and won’t we please enjoy our next course. We say OK, but now we’re both just too upset to stay any longer. We take a few bites of the (again, exquisite) beef, catch the manager’s eye and tell him that we have to leave, please bring the check. He has comped the food portion of the bill and asks if he can contact any of the great restaurants in Chicago to “arrange for something special” for us. We paid the remainder of the bill and left, just wishing there were some way to get our big night back.

ryanandjess in Manhattan

Pairing challenge

Just thinking about a "powerful zin" since I've never had that one. How about braised pork belly or veal cheeks? They hit me as bold enough flavors, but the fat when braised really seems to compliment the berry and spice of a zin.

ryanandjess in Wine

ZAP Chicago tonight - can't misses?

Thanks - Carol Shelton was at a local wine shop Saturday doing a tasting. Loved it - joined her club!

Looking forward to some good stuff tonight.

ryanandjess in Wine

ZAP Chicago tonight - can't misses?

Any must-tastes on this list? Or definite skips? Of course your reasons for saying so would be helpful, too. Thanks!

Alexander Valley Vineyards
Artezin Wines
Bonterra Vineyards
C.G. Di Arie Vineyard & Winery
Cardinal Zin
Carol Shelton Wines
D-Cubed Cellars
Dogwood Cellars
Edmeades Winery
Esterlina Vineyards/Everett Ridge
Four Vines Winery
Fritz Winery
Gnarly Head Cellars
Ironstone Vineyards
John Tyler
Klinker Brick Winery
Mariah Vineyards
Medusa Wines
Meeker Vineyard
Moss Creek Winery
Opolo Vineyards
Peachy Canyon Winery
R & B Cellars
Rancho Zabaco Winery
Ravenswood
Renwood Winery
Ridge Vineyards
Rosenblum Cellars
Starlite Vineyards
Starry Night Winery
Storrs Winery & Vineyards
Trentadue Winery
Trinitas Cellars
XYZin

ryanandjess in Wine

Danby mid-size wine cooler thoughts/reviews

I am looking for a mid-size wine cooler (50-75 bottles) and the Danbys look pretty good on the price/size/available-reviews spectrum. Mostly the wine will be stored for less than a year, but a few bottles will end up being in there longer than that. It will be in a spare bedroom where the temp is reasonably stable around 68F, out of direct sunlight.

The Danby 75-bottle cooler looks like it actually holds 75 bottles. (Their "65-bottle" version looks like it would take some very creative arranging to achieve that capacity - and all the pictures of it show it with about 35 bottles.) I think I'll really like the slide-out shelves. Looks like I can get it delivered for about $700.

Manual: http://www.danby.com/manuals/DWC612BL.pdf

Thoughts? Thanks!

ryanandjess in Wine

Pre-auction tasting - what to expect?

Thanks to both of you; that's ,sadly, about what I expected. Just had to ask on the chance that the replies went "Shhh! Pre-auction tastings are the luscious, secret way to taste crazy-good wines."

Doesn't sound like it'd be worth my Sunday morning, nor my $60. I'll go buy a nice bottle instead.

ryanandjess in Wine

Pre-auction tasting - what to expect?

OK, so if I get there early I would possibly get to taste my pick of ONE of the stratospheric-priced wines, then several tastes of the Ridge-type wines? Or is the whole tasting finished in just a few minutes?

ryanandjess in Wine

Brunch Ideas (visiting from Nawlins')

Frontera is closed on Sundays, so that's out. If you want good Latin, Nacional 27 and Zocalo are pretty close and both very good. I used to go to the cafe area at Bin36 occasionally for very good thin crust pizzas and wine, but when they opened A Mano downstairs they nixed the pizzas at Bin and serve them at A Mano. Otherwise the menu at Bin is a bit seafood-centric for me when I'm in a wine-drinking mode. What I've had has been good, though.

ryanandjess in Chicago Area

Brunch Ideas (visiting from Nawlins')

I've only eaten at these places on weekends - you'd need to check if any of them serve other days of the week (and some are only Sat. or only Sun.). Some of my favorites in the loop/River North areas:
The Gage
Orange on Harrison - no bar
Bongo Room - everyday?, crowded weekends
Yolk - serves everyday, crowded on weekends
Rockit
Bijan
Frontera Grill (Saturday only, kick-*ss upscale mexican brunch, awesome drinks to pass the long wait)
Garret Ripley's
3rd Coast - might serve daily
if you're homesick: Heaven on Seven

Enjoy your trip!

ryanandjess in Chicago Area