If I knew how to insert the image of a skull and cross-bones, I would place it here.

I tried this restaurant a couple of years ago and thought I would give it another chance.  The food and service have deteriorated since my last visit.

Service was inattentive.  We had problems with the delivery of silverware to the table.  Staff removed the original setting when they took away the first course.  They delivered the second course without bringing replacement utensils.  We waited.  No one returned.  I got up from the table to find our waiter.  When I told him we had no silverware, he said he would send someone over.

That is what he did, literally.  A busser came to the table to ask what we needed.  The waiter must have told him to “see what table 14 wants”.  What we wanted were forks, knives, and spoons – both entrees were served in a liquid sauce that called for a spoon.  He came back with multiple forks but only one spoon.  When I asked for a spoon for myself, I received, after an interval of only a couple of minutes, a small teaspoon.  It was useless for my intended purpose, but I should have hung onto it.  It would have come in handy later.

Incidentally, the diners at the next table had exactly the same problem.  Their entrees were delivered without silverware.  They waited patiently.  It was a relief to know that we weren’t being singled out.

Just as we finished our entrees, the waiter reappeared to ask if I would like another glass of wine.  A little late, but I give him points for thinking of it at all.

The low level of service begins when you enter the place.  The hostess made minimal eye contact and dropped her smile the second it was no longer needed.  (She should have given it another two seconds to avoid detection.  You never know who may be watching.)  That level of service continued right through dessert.  After we ordered it, nothing arrived.  When the waiter checked back to see how we had enjoyed the dessert, he seemed surprised that it hadn’t arrived.  Again, let’s award points for seeking our reaction but we also have to deduct points when the question about dessert is presented to a table that is missing a dessert.

To top it off, coffee was served in a mug with several deep chips in its surface and a handle that had been broken and mended – badly – with glue.  Cream arrived with coffee but without a spoon to stir it.  And I had let a precious teaspoon out of my grasp only a few minutes earlier!

I wonder – did the staff start off being inattentive and then graduate to not caring about quality of service, or did they not care in the first place and come to express the attitude through inattention?

Still, I would overlook – if not forget — these service issues if the food had compensated.  It didn’t.  It was bland, unimaginative, unmemorable.  A tagliatelle dish that was to have been flavored with truffles was instead overwhelmed with the flavor of garlic, while a veal preparation had no noticeable flavor to speak of.

I enjoyed the ambiance of the restaurant.  The décor is a pleasant combination of rustic and industrial elements.  The place is relatively quiet, considering the expanse of flat surfaces that can reflect sound.  I look forward to the next bistro to occupy the space.