Learn how to serve

I want to be the first between the two of us to comment on the meal that gave birth to this blog idea. As aforementioned, we usually go to our fave places (a few of note here in ATX are Asti, Enoteca if we are feeling spendy, Titaya, Wink for happy hour, Phara's) instead of trying a new place. If it seems enough buzz has been generated or if we get a very legit recommendation from a good friend, then we end up trying something new. In this case, we had seem multiple good and some bad reviews on Yelp about the restaurant Primizie, which has not been open all that long and is on East 11th and in the most gentrified section of the street. A block west of Victory Grill, I still think that the building leaves something to be desired, but as we soon discovered, many things were left to be desired.

I want to point out from the beginning that the food was not the worst of the situation! In fact, out of the 3 items we ordered, 1 was excellent, 1 was very good, and 1 was very weak.

Let me start at the beginning I suppose:

We arrived, roughly 8:30pm on a Friday night, it's busy but there are several tables available. It's seat yourself and nobody is sitting at the bar, though, so we opt for this. I don't want to take a 4 top table away from a waiter when there's just the two of us, you know? Plus, I really prefer sitting at the bar most of the time.

We sit and we wait. Between 5 and 10 minutes before we get water or asked what our drink order is or get a menu. The only person that gives us more than a cursory glance the entire meal will be the bartender, but for some reason, she's also helping tables? Let's just say, maybe we were anticipating the worst, but the service was lacking from the very moment we arrived.

We both get a cocktail, then we get menus. We order, an appetizer which was a cheese and breadcrumb stuffed artichoke heart, baked and served steamy. Or as they billed this $11 bore, Carciofi Ripieni: a whole artichoke stuffed with taleggio, fontina, and parmesano reggiano. It was like they forgot to season it. I adore artichokes, but if I have learned anything about them, they need exponentially more seasoning than the average bear. In any case, it was partly our fault that we failed to see that this disappointment cost $11, we probably should have said we were unsatisfied.

At the same time, as they bring the appetizer, we get our entrees. I had a Caprese salad, very pretty execution, the romas seemed like they were sundried in house. The dressing was a very sweet balsamic, could have been a little less sweet, but overall super tasty little salad.

Nate ordered their Gnocchi which had roasted corn and a sage brown butter sauce an was, unequivocally excellent, although, I can't say we would return for it. The Gnocchis themselves were perfect consistency, well seasoned, everything tasted great, but definitely a bit heavy. This is most certainly a delicious dish.

Now if only we didn't sit there with dirty dishes and no check or anyone checking on us for the next 20 minutes after we ate. I mean, the service was just really that apathetic and nothing frustrates me more. I know what it means to serve somebody, so, what is the problem? You go out to eat for the experience, not for just the food!

My suggestion would be for there to me a more significant management presence, and maybe even take into account that repeat business and tipping is directly connected to satisfied customers that feel welcome? I don't know, it was just really disappointing. We spent like $60 on nothing special. I wish we'd gone to somewhere we know we like.