- about the strong buzz
- The Strong Buzz
- In The Press
- Strong Buzz Events
- Our Favorite Links
- About Andrea
- Television Appearances
Google Ads
| << previous next >> |
pot luck
“Artisanal Going Down Hill?”
When restaurants first open there’s a fearfully hyper level of attention to detail (one hopes, at least). They’re waiting to be reviewed so service is monitored by eagle eye managers, the staff is sharp and motivated, and the food is precise and inspired. But then, over the years, fatigue can set in. The staff can get lazy and turn over, the kitchen can lose its edge, and the managers can let it all go to pot.
That’s not quite what’s been happening at Artisanal, but it’s quickly and unapologetically heading that way. I’m here to let you know that someone is no longer minding the ship.
I’m a sucker for fondue, so I often find myself there at lunch or dinner, eagerly anticipating a cherry red crock pot bubbling with some heavenly combination of cheeses.
But on my past few visits, while the fondue has been always good, the service has been awful and the portion sizes continue to shrink.
First, the service. This week, I waited as the Maitre D’ finished a phone call before I was greeted. First rule of restaurants: put the caller on hold and greet the customer standing in front of you. This guy had very bad form. I waited and waited and he didn’t even make eye contact with me. He just chatted away, oblivious. I should mention that I am also visibly very pregnant and it would have been nice to be seated sooner rather than after he finished his conversation. Strike number one.
Once Craig and I were seated, a waiter who looked like he’d rather have a root canal without anesthesia than take our order reluctantly shuffled over. After he took our drink order, I observed about a half dozen servers congregate in the middle of the aisle, ignoring tables in need of, well, service. There they were, chatting, laughing, catching up, backs turned to their tables. This is not a good sign.
When our dinner order was taken, that was the last we saw of our waiter. We were left alone the rest of the evening. No one checked on us other than the efficient busboy who kept our water glasses full and who eventually did us the kindness of alerting our waiter that we needed the check.
This service issue is one that has recurred over the past few times I have visited. On a previous lunch with my friend Diana we were waving our arms so violently to get our waiters’ attention that we might have taken flight. The same scrum of congregating waiters was the culprit. Not a soul at Artisanal seems to pay any attention to the task at hand, which, like it or not, is service.
These days, when restaurants are closing at an alarming clip, I feel like restaurants should be serving customers fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and offering free foot massages to lure in diners for dinner; it seems Artisanal has moved in the opposite direction. Instead of offering hospitality, they’re serving up a strong dose of aloof indifference.
But it wasn’t just the service that turned me off the other night. It was the complete lack of value on the menu. While our fondue ($23 for a small, plus a ridiculous $3.50 for a half an apple sliced into cubes), was flawless, our paella spring rolls were in fact not spring rolls, they were spring roll. Yes, one lonely spring roll (stuffed with what basically amounts to seasoned rice) sliced into three little pieces for $12.50. I was appalled. Are they kidding? I was miffed, but not as upset as when we were served our organic mesclun salad, which included about 9 lettuce leaves in a shallow cereal bowl for $11.50. Not a sliver of radish, not a slice of red onion, not a pine nut. Just lettuce. For $11.50.
The irony of all of this is that the PR folks at Artisanal have also been inundating my inbox with their recession specials: Comfort Food Mondays, Brew Tuesdays, and these specials gave me the idea that they were trying to be sensitive to the recession. I guess not. I don’t know about you but I make decisions on where to eat by factoring in quality of food, with service and, especially these days, value. Artisanal is failing at the latter two. So from now on, I’m going to stick to restaurants that seem to care that I am sitting in their booth and who offer more than nine lettuce leaves for $11.50.
| << previous next >> |
Share 
! Post a comment
I was subpoenaed last week and appeared today. There are at least two class-action lawsuits pending against Artisanal, and their rating with DOL is lousy, so they are investigating the charges made by several past and present employees. The DOL and the plaintiffs pray that management of Artisanal shows up at hearings so they can be placed under oath. "We appreciate your help as this is a big case." Does this sound like a repeat of the Ollie's mess? Let me know if anyone knows anything.
I got my subpoena this week! Anyone else? Has anyone already appeared? Let me know. I appear next week. I think a big story is about to break, and a big fine is coming. If anyone knows anything, let me know.
I think the various people weighing in have a fairly clear idea of what they're writing about. Things may be able to turn around after all, because I heard Brennan accepted responsibility for "taking his eye off the ball" at a staff meeting and promised changes. I would assume this is a reflection on his dissatisfaction with the fumbling management.
Having just been subpoenaed to appear at a DOL labor hearing in actions against Artisanal, I think they have bigger problems on their hands than we ever realized. I will keep you posted.
From reading these comments, I was sure that my stand by Artisanal had suffered some radical transformation since none of the comments here rang true for me. I just came back from an amazing and affordable lunch at Artisanal. It was delicious and the service is great. I can't think of another restaurant that has such attention to ingredients ( amazing selection of cheeses) in such an energetic atmosphere. Can someone find something real to complain about please???
It's too bad about Artisinal's turning into just another sloppy New York French bistro, but things begin with the chef. I worked for Terrence Brennan at Picholine in the early days and loved it. The food was inspired and the clientele left happy. However T. Brennan was a bore with no social skills and a huge ego based on nothing. Ithen moved to Chicago and worked for Tru, where I experienced how a chef run and manages a restaurant effectively. The chef is well liked and things run beautifully
Terrance Brennan, who is unbalanced and Marvin Numeroff, who was arrested for disposing of hazardous medical waste on the street (too cheap to pay for the proper disposal). The waste included two blood vials containing Hepatitis B as well as "an unspecified number of syringes, 60 loose needles, 25 urine samples, 15 blood vials, a scapel blade, five petri dishes, a sperm sample and a bag marked ''biohazardous material.'' (NY Times). Avoid the cassoulet and soup dishes--you may be eating some wast.
It seems that some are piling on with the negativity here. Once upon a time, Artisanal was a wonderful place to visit for the food and the staff. While both have gone totally to pot, as a recent visit confirmed, this wasn't always the case. Last time I was there, a little bird flew by and told me Brennan was using Artisanal to finance an ambitious expansion project, the classic "robbing Peter to pay Paul." Well, we all know how that goes, so why expect a different result here?
I gave up on this place months ago, and I agree that the service and the food were both lousy. However, in the years I went to Artisanal, I saw and was served by hundreds of servers, bartenders, etc. and they were ALL lousy. So were the managers I would call to my table. This leads me to believe that the fault lies with Mr. Brennan and the management of the restaurant, since they've yet to get a good team in the six years I've been going. Find the head fish and cut off its head.
Once this place finally bottoms out, anyone who takes on its flotsam should think twice before hiring the GM, even if only as a dishwasher: consider yourself warned.
Once this place finally bottoms out, anyone who takes on its flotsam should think twice before hiring the GM, even if only as a dishwasher: consider yourself warned.
At least the table cloths are straight....
The truth is coming out about Artisanal. I have given this restaurant so many opportunities, and it never fails to let me down. Way too expensive; way too snooty; way too noisy. I'm amused by the stories of how rotten it is to work there, but it's worse to be a patron. Never again. Boycott the place and let it slip away from us all, allowing better employment for an abused staff and an equally battered clientele.
Artisanal is finished as this blog and the comments indicate. Besides being ridiculously overpriced for steadily shrinking portions, it's run by a crew out of "High Plain's Drifter": Brennan is Clint Eastwood, and the GM is the bufoonish dwarf placed in charge of an operation he's incapable of running both in terms of intellect and practical experience. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.
Artisanal today fired the only manager they had who was helpful and had restaurant experience. They keep, however, their incompetent managers and psychotic maitre'd. Overpriced, miserable, drafty--is there a mercy killing for restaurants?
It's over. The staff is demoralized because the marvelous Mr. Brennan slashed their benefits and his managers yell and scream and can't do anything. They fire one manager per month; others quit or go on auto-pilot. There is no money; no spirit. It's over. Expect a closing notice or some other drastic series of cuts to keep the miserable place open.
Went for brunch, Service was good. BUT - I do understand what you are talking about in respect to the server convention that happens in the center of D. Room. Had to sit next to the center in Feb and it was a disturbing that servers congregate and hang out. Obviously has gone too far based on your experience. Maitre D was very kind to my wife as she accidently walked in with a softdrink and he graciously poured it into a glass and had it delivered to our table.
Advertise on the
StrongBuzz site and emails.
August 26, 2009
1:16.25 am
As a former investor in Brennan's restaurants (I sold out my shares at the beginning of this "depression" and because there are serious managerial problems) I can only say that despite your collective wishes for the death of Artisinal there is no way it is going down hill. Their profits are incredible...this month. The class action lawsuit, assuming Artisinal will be found guilty, will not really affect the restaurant. Fact is, Artisinal is the best at what they do: cheese.