Today We Encountered the Rudest Hostess on the Planet
This afternoon, my adult son and I entered Sauvage and asked for a table for two. The hostess was immediately hostile in her affect toward us and abruptly demanded to know if we had a reservation (in a restaurant which was clearly 85% empty). We replied that no, we didn't have a reservation but could we possibly get a table for lunch anyway. Without responding, she turned away and stalked off. My adult son and I looked at each other, disconcerted and unsure if we were to follow her, but we followed her through a service area to a table for two. Ok, we know everyone has a bad day once in a while, so we shrugged it off and prepared to enjoy a great lunch. That isn't what happened.
A very polite male server came over and handed out menus, and we placed our order after a quick look at the options. Along with an appetizer of burrata, I ordered the mushroom risotto, and my son ordered the truffle linguine, as well as a second order of truffle linguine to take home to his girlfriend. The burrata was fine - nothing to write home about, but perfectly acceptable. The truffle linguine was beautifully prepared and truly delicious. However, the risotto was woefully undercooked. The rice was still hard so clearly needed additional cooking time with more stock added. When I told the waiter that the risotto wasn't done, he took the dish back to the kitchen, then returned to our table a few moments later to say that the chef had tasted the dish and said that was how he cooked the risotto, so that was how the dish was always served. Our waiter then asked if I would like to substitute something else. I said, "Of course, thank you, I'll have the truffle linguine," which he brought to our table very quickly. Our waiter provided very good service throughout the meal.
The issue arose when we received the bill and noticed that, along with a bottle of water, the burrata, and the three orders of truffle linguine, the risotto was also included in the total. We asked for the waiter, and the hostess stalked over. When my son and I politely informed her that I had sent the risotto back to the kitchen because it was undercooked, she became incredibly rude, insisting that both she and the chef had tasted the risotto and both thought it was "good" and that there was nothing wrong with its preparation. I am an accomplished cook, having cooked professionally, and I explained that I was quite fluent in the language of risotto preparation techniques, and that the rice should not be hard when the dish is finished cooking. She nastily responded, "You ordered it. Anyone could come in here and order food and say they don't like it. Too bad you didn't like it. You're going to be charged for it because you ordered it."
My son and I were stymied at the extent of her hostility toward us and her rudeness, as we had been very intentional in maintaining politeness toward her during this discussion. She was insistent that we were absolutely going to be charged for this risotto. I gave up trying to correct the bill, paid the charges, including the risotto I sent back to the kitchen, and we exited the restaurant.
Here's our takeaway from today's lunch at Sauvage:
If you love weird and intense hostility from strangers from the moment you enter a restaurant, being charged for dishes that are inedible, and rudeness and irrelevancies in your conversations with staff, this is the restaurant for you, and you should absolutely rush to make reservations (though you won't need them). Otherwise, I suggest you run, run, run the other way. read more