This is a review of the "Holiday French High-Tea" which properly should be called "Afternoon Tea" service at Brindille.
On November 17 I made reservations for 6 for December 14, indicating that there was one Vegan guest and we were celebrating my birthday, which is on 12/14. These were two pieces of information that I was encouraged to add to the reservation by Open-Table and then the many calls I had with Brindilles' staff.
The food was, as always, exquisite and beautifully served. Our first morsel was the Provence French Pumpkin Soup served as a large shot, followed by a delicate flaky savoury Orange-Currant-Anise Scone and a Crumpet. Six Canapés were served to each, all delicate and flavorful, the feuillette of beech mushrooms, celery root and truffle was my favorite. Cumber, Fennel, Fromage bland and candied buddha hand lemon; tomme crayeuse, with fig, over apple and rustic toast; cured smoked salmon with quail egg and smoked arctic char roe; roasted chicken salad with greek village honey and prune; and the last date nut bread, maple cream with cranberry and Armenian walnut syrup - All delicious nibbles. For my personal taste, there was an imbalance of finger-sandwiches (salty) and desserts (sweets)
To complete the tea serving a cornucopia of festive holiday desserts was placed on our table. I enjoyed a Delicate flavorful black tea - blend of black teas from China, Sri Lanka and India with wild aromatic roses which they call Samurai Rose Noir and a glass of Pommery Brut Rose - my favorite since my youth in Buenos Aires.
You may be wondering why I am giving the service only two stars.
Going back to the reservations, which I did almost a month in advance and talked with the staff at least once per week as they called me for confirmation several times, the service we received was subpar for this establishment and the exorbitant price for the tea-service. I was expecting an ALL-ENCOMPASSING EXCELLENT experience which fell very short and disappointed all of us.
I confirmed several times throughout the month that we have one vegan in our party. This information was corroborated during each call (minimum of 4 calls) and the hostess when we arrived. Much to our surprised, our server informed us "is so busy and there was miscommunication", "communication was not passed down", "we are so busy we disconnected". Our severed seemed too preoccupied with time, too hyperactive, to even care to attend to my friend's vegan dietary restrictions, which let me remind the audience, was address several times with Brandille's staff during the month before the event.
All six of us felt rushed through the whole tea event. Our server continued to apologize and make excuses for the lack of choices, rushed us through the process, did not re-fill our teapots with hot water promptly (or asked if we wanted a refill). On the menu, the first course offered two choices and our server did not provide us with any options. She was completely oblivious to our vegan friend's presence and we had to ask her to talk with the chef to bring our friend something to eat. They brought a beautiful salad and sorbet for which they expected her to pay a full tea-price of $80. Again, we expressed our disappointment to our server and asked for a discount on the vegan option as our friend did not get to partake in the exquisite food experience.
At the end of this event, which was to celebrate my birthday as expressed during reservation (written and over the phone), I apologized to my friends for the extravagant overprice tag ($120+ per serving) for the atrocious and unpleasant service.
I have dinned at the Michelin-Starred Naha (prior to relocation and become Brindille) and at Brindille and would have never expected this lack of consideration to their patrons. read more