I really hate to be writing this, because it used to be my favorite restaurant when we lived in the area. I waited long enough to pass my judgement, but this place has turned from a quaint European-like cafe with delicious food, outstanding service, and ambient vibes into a noisy fast-food joint (except it's everything, but fast) with questionable and inconsistent food quality & poor service. I will describe several occurrences to back up my opinion.
1. A year ago, my husband ordered a take-out with my favorite smoked salmon omelet, along with a meat omelet for himself. The salmon was way over salted, the potatoes were undercooked( literally half-raw crunchy stuff), the egg was over-cooked and rubbery. His omelet was very underwhelming as well. I wrote it off as an odd unpleasant experience, and refused to give up hope on this place. We've been it's loyal customers for a very long while some years ago, after all.
2. A few weeks back, we stopped by on a Saturday afternoon to grab some sandwiches to go. It was very hot (no A/C, no fans running inside btw), the place was super loud and crowded. After I waited in line for 20 mins, and tried to make my order of 3 grilled cheese sandwiches (for the kids), wild smoked salmon Reuben (for myself), and a pastrami Reuben (for my husband), I was informed that they serve only breakfast on weekends, and they can't make sandwiches. Yes, not even the grilled cheese, which would literally require them to put 2 slices of bread ( which they had in abundance) with some cheese in between in a panini press. The girl at the register was rude and dismissive. At 11:30am their fridge was practically empty of any croissants, savory pastries or cookies, so I left empty handed. The information about them serving only breakfast on the weekend is not communicated anywhere on their website or mass media pages, unless I completely missed it.
3. And here's the drop that spilled the glass for me. It's our 12th anniversary for my husband and I. 12 years ago a dear friend of mine, who used to work her way through college at Wild Wheat, gave us Marjolene (Marjolaine) cake as an after-wedding gift for us. And it was amazing! Everything was just right about it. The perfect combination of delicate hazelnut merengue married to rich chocolate buttercream, enveloped in the most decadent chocolate ganache. This cake was the embodiment of my childhood memories from when we would go out to a French bakery with my mom. It became a dessert staple whenever we'd go to Wild Wheat since. So, it became the most obvious dessert choice to celebrate our anniversary this year. I ordered the cake in advance by phoning in, not asking for any changes in the standard design or decor. I just asked for a simple signage "Happy Anniversary" on top. When I came to pick up the cake today it was not signed, and instead or the standard hazelnuts, it had almond slivers around it. That raised the alarm for me, so I double checked with the cashier that it was indeed the Marjolene. He assured me that it was just a different decor that they chose, but the cake inside was indeed the Marjolene. I asked if they could still sign it for me, since it hadn't been done. He said I'd have to wait for 10 mins, but they would do it. Lo and behold, 37 mins later, after 2 attempts ( first time it looked like my toddler got ahold of the frosting and decided to write smth on a cake- which would be cute if it was indeed my toddler, and not a patisserie chef writing that) of doing the signage, I walked out of the cafe. Sure enough, when we cut into the cake tonight, it was anything and everything, BUT Marjolene. I would assume we got the Chocolate Mousse Cake, but in all honesty it looked like smth you would pick up last minute at you local Safeway. The bottom sponge was soggy, the mousse looked like undercooked pudding, literally falling apart the second you cut into the cake, the top sponge was dry, and the frosting tasted like one of those quick out-of-the box mixes. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement. I spent an hour in traffic both ways, driving to the cafe and back home, paid $50+tax+tips, to get something I never wanted, and ruin a highly anticipated by the family dessert time on a special for us holiday.
If Mark Handman is reading this review, I hope something is going to change about the restaurant, because I remember talking to him on multiple occasions when the place had just opened up, and he was literally living and breathing this business, nurturing it to life. I love Wild Wheat bakery, & I'm staying loyal to their breads that we always get at our local Whole Foods & Central Market, but I will urge everyone I know to STAY AWAY from their cafe/restaurant, until/unless it returns to its former consistent outstanding quality.
PS below are the photos of the original cake, and the "creation" that I've received today. read more