It's been a while since I wrote a food review; I just haven't had the time lately. But after our…read moreexperience last night, I reconsidered. So we went to 9 Craft Kitchen for what we thought would be a higher-tier food experience for my wife's birthday. We do this almost every year we are here in MV. I originally booked at Atria (Edgertown) but canceled and booked here because we did Atria the last time we were here.
From the moment we entered the establishment, the hostesses greeted us almost coldly, without many words. I explained that I initially booked the reservation for 3, but our son got sick at the last minute, so it would be just the two of us. Sometimes there are sensitivities around the party size, but the restaurant was completely empty. She sat us down in the back of the room, without much interaction. That's fine, but it goes against the warmth other restaurants show guests when they enter.
Several minutes later (about 10) a waiter shows up with water, again, no words, and leaves. She comes back a few moments later with menus and returns a minute later with a question about the drinks we are going to order. The whole interaction has my wife lifting her eyebrow in a manner that I understood as, "That's weird." There was a coldness that was present, which at first we thought maybe was because the place was empty. It was 4 p.m., so right after the lunch crowd, but before the dinner rush.
So we ordered drinks, and that interaction was fine; the drinks arrived with a bit more interaction and professionalism when she said, I hope you enjoy your drinks. Would you like to order appetizers and/or dinner? Ok, so maybe the in-between reservation was unusual for them. Ok, I get it. We ordered a few appetizers and 2 entrees. I went to the bathroom, and I could see the wait staff huddled together, laughing at something. When I came back to my seat, they were still huddled together, laughing at something. That didn't bother me, since they weren't busy, but it also explains the lack of interaction and the pause between menus and drinks being served.
We didn't wait long for our appetizers. But that's where the issues really start to rear their heads. By the time she brought the appetizers, we had already finished our drinks. We were going to ask for another round, but she brought the appetizers so quickly that I guess she forgot to ask. We ate our appetizers, and there was about a 25-minute wait before she came to remove them and make room for our entrees.
We thought she would interact with us then and ask how our appetizers were or whether we wanted another round of drinks. Silly me, she did neither. She removed the apps and came back within the next 2 minutes with our entrees. At this point, she asked if we needed anything else. I said no, and she left. After we ate our entrees, she came back and asked if we needed anything else. I said no, just the check. The whole experience was rushed, as if we were interrupting staff service or something.
Bad service happens sometimes. All of us have had bad days in the office or at work. Somehow, the level of service and interaction here doesn't reflect the service on the island, which, at places like Atlantic Fish & Chop House, was outstanding and warm. Like they wanted us back. Same for Rockfish. Even places like Biscuits, which is always packed, remain warm and friendly. The service here was subpar. Even the hostess's interaction left us feeling like, hmmm. The food was solid, but I wouldn't call this place an upper-tier restaurant. There were certainly some racial undertones at play, but again, everyone has bad days at work. As we say, life by lifeing sometimes. But as we spread the word to our friends about our experience here, we have heard this isn't an isolated experience. And for that, we say, hmm, ok. We won't be back. There are just too many other higher-tier restaurants to eat at to experience this and feel like we should give it another go. I thought you all should know.
