Yesterday was Mondo's 29th birthday. We went to Carraba's for dinner to celebrate. The evening did not start out well...
6:00pm - Phoned in a call-ahead reservation for 11 at 7pm
6:45pm - Arrived and checked in. Told by hostess that we should have been told at the time our call-ahead reservation was accepted, that another larger party was already booked and we probably wouldn't be able to be sat for another half hour.
We asked if breaking up our table would make it faster. She replied no, it will still be about the same time. We said okay, we'll wait for the table.
7:25 - We're taken to two tables. And although you could argue that these tables were
side by side, there was clearly a partition separating them.
I went back up to the hostess and told her that we didn't realize they were going to break us up. We were under the impression we had been waiting for so long because we were going to be seated together.
Here's where it started going bad... The hostess replied "
no, you said you would like to be seated at separate tables if it would be faster". "
Yes, and I meant like it will take 15 minutes instead of a half hour faster.... but it wasn't faster, it's actually been longer than you said. And since we've waited this long, what we would rather do is continue to wait for the large table so we can sit together." She kept on saying how I said we wanted separate tables - which brought up another point in my mind that ticked me off. We've taken separate tables before in cases like this (and actually were seated faster) - but I've never been seated at separate tables that were so separate you couldn't see the other people in your party. It just wasn't going to work and I didn't understand why I had to ask three times to wait for the big table.
I was already writing a blog in my head. It makes me so mad when someone in a customer service type roll - like a restaurant hostess - would argue with a customer like that. It makes no sense.
But Mondo said "let it go".
Wait. It gets better....It was Mondo's birthday, so I did let it go and we went on talking and waiting for the big table. Soon after, a woman named Kim (I think) stopped by and let us know she was a manager on duty and she heard there was a mix up with our tables.
I told her what happened and how not being told about the party when I called and waiting for the table was not the issue (I've worked in a restaurant before, and I know you have no control over how long a party sits at a table. I also know that the bigger the party, the more they might sit around and talk), but the argument from the hostess was a bit much on top of it. She acknowledged it as an error and offered to get our party an appetizer while we continued to wait.
That turned things around. I like that they took the initiative to better a situation that was giving me a bad taste in my mouth before I even sat down to eat.
At about 8pm, we were finally seated -
together.
Our waitress was rockin'. She was extremely friendly and did everything right. And when Darren's order came out as bruschetta instead of shrimp scampi, she took it away without any issue and quickly had the correct dish made up for him. ....Which, he didn't like at all! Doh! So she brought him some noodles with butter, which made him happy. It was such good service in fact, that it didn't even bother me when she offered dessert mini's to us and then came back and said they were all out. Or that when she asked us if we wanted to try anything else and Darren ordered a regular dessert - and she came back and said they were all out of those too - didn't bother me.
So, the night didn't start out so well. But it was quickly fixed and made all the difference in the world. The family enjoyed the birthday dinner and had a good time. And their Customer Service Rating went way up in my book.
About the food...Appetizer: Calamari (how can you complain about free food. The manager sent out a double order and it was great to have a munchie while we waited. Even my niece Aubrey tried some - way to go!)
Drink: Italian Margarita (I think they call it a Rabbarita or something like that). Very tasty, except I like them with sugar on the rim and it was served salted. Mondo had a Mojito (de uva?) - it was a grape Mojito and he liked it too.
Entree: I had the
Spiedino di Mare which was good, although I'm not sure I would order it again. Mondo had the Pollo Rosa Maria, which I would order. Karen and my dad had the Lasagne and weren't very impressed. I never order lasagne out - homemade is too good :)
Carrabba's Italian Grill
http://www.carrabbas.com/303-940-5620
7401 West 92nd Ave
Westminster, CO 80021
This weekend I had a go at my "to do list" by planning a cooking day with my friend Claudia. She saw my previous post and offered to tackle some of the things on it with me including taking a cooking class. We're signed up for an Hors D'Oeuvres class next month. At the same time we were discussing taking a class, she offered to host a cooking day at her home. Here's the list I sent her of some of the things I want to try this year...
Well, we decided to get together on Sunday and Claudia said she had a great easy recipe from one of her favorite cookbooks - "The New Best Recipe" by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated - for pizza! Yesssss! So simple. Yeast, Flour, Salt and Water... mixed in a food processor.
Today I met my friend for lunch at a tea house. They weren't serving lunch due to a short staff, but we shared a "dessert tea" for two, which included a scone with cream and jelly, a red velvet cupcake, chocolate and of course - tea.
I love love love talking to Lori. She's a real sweetheart and she is so fun to get to know. If you're on Facebook, you might have seen the posting of "25 Things About Me". Lori and I both did one and we decided to make a list to share for our tea. 37 things. I'm so happy we did this... some things were fun, some were serious, some were unbelievable - but they were all Lori. Can you believe, we talked for almost 3 hours! Can't wait til we can do it again!
Water for Elephants, A Novel by Sara Gruen
Ricotta & Large Curd Cottage Cheese mixed with an egg, Mozzarella, Salt and Pepper
.... and I celebrated today!
Friday - Got off of work early to catch my flight at 3'ish. Yvette picked me up at the airport and we headed straight to a retirement party for one of her friends. Kinda crazy because I had actually met a few of the people that were there for the celebration... they had attended a convention in Denver a few years back. We had a late dinner at a Mexican restaurant and I was pleasantly surprised. You might not know this about me, but I don't usually choose to go out for Mexican food.
Met up with my nephew Jess and his family at McDonalds for a quick lunch. Then we headed to the Museum of Nature and Science to see "Dinosaurs Alive" at the IMAX. I know, I just saw it last weekend with Darren. Here's the story - Josiah (my great-nephew), came over last week and said "Auntie, I want to go to the movies." So I asked him if he wanted to go see Bolt or Hotel for Dogs and he said "No, I want to see Dinosaurs." There ya go. He loved it. When it was ending he said "I want to see it again" and he was not happy that we couldn't.
I talk about these amazing fondue dinners, but Darren never gets to go for a couple reasons -
The end result was amazing! Since about August or September, I hadn't been able to do much with my tootsies - the neuropathy from my chemotherapy made them extra sensitive and touching them hurt. Since it is finally subsiding, I was ready to soften them up. The shea butter cream was heavenly. Really nice. And I am definitely looking forward to our next party there!
We got there about 6:30pm which was good timing. It wasn't crowded at all (but it really got busy after we were seated). Concetta had been there before, but it was a first time for me and Claudia. I was excited because I love trying new places.
Dessert: Nutella Cake: Chocolate Hazelnut Cake, Cabernet Caramel Chocolate Sauce, Fresh Berries, Toasted Hazelnuts. Like I need to tell you how good this was huh? But there was a funny story. We were all so stuffed, but really wanted to try the dessert, so we decided to share one. Concetta asked the server if she could cut us a little bit bigger piece since we were splitting three ways. She said that they were pre-cut, but she would work out something for us. So here come two desserts - one with a candle to celebrate my birthday! Haha, I rolled with it.
We (my brother Mario & his wife and me) really like hosting fondue parties in the winter. And I have to say, we've got the plan down pretty good. Tonight it was us, a couple of couples who work with us at Sun, my brother Mondo and a friend from out of town, Eden - who came in last minute.
After dinner and dessert, me, Mondo and Eden headed out to meet some friends for a movie. I only went to spend time with Eden cause I really had no interest in seeing "My Bloody Valentine". Thank goodness it was sold out. We made a stop at Bar Louie and Rock Bottom while we were there though. Neither impressed me much. Actually, I am lying. After the gigantic dinner we had, we ordered a pretzel and it was good. Two gigantic pretzels with and artichoke cheese dip was pretty yummy.
I had a great day with Darren.
There was time, right after my nieces died that I had trouble thinking of specific memories of them and it broke my heart. I didn't understand why I couldn't remember things, knowing we spent so much loving time with each other. Then slowly, those memories would pop up into my mind and it would be like a gift from God. I think He was telling me, I only held it back because you couldn't have handled them all at once in your grief. And He was right.
When Mondo asked "What's for breakfast?" this morning, I said "How 'bout a quiche?" Food Network had a recipe for a Hash Brown Quiche that looked tasty and it's one of the recipes I wanted to test for a brunch I'm thinking of hosting soon.
Tonight was the season home opener for the Colorado Mammoth. They got creamed. At one point the score was 11-1. Final was 14-5. uck.
