Don’t settle for ill-prepared food and drink. Diners deserve better. They can and should reject anything that fails to live up to the highest standards.
This article has two parts. The bad part happened at a restaurant in Sarasota Florida.
—We reserved a table for a holiday dinner.
—We ordered starters from the regular menu. When we asked about sparkling wine, the server suggested Prosecco, not our favorite, and neglected to mention the Spumante on the menu. We ordered a Spumante with the starters, then a still wine with the entrees. Orders of entrees included a Snapper Francaise dish. When the dish arrived, the person who ordered it tasted the Snapper and made a face. The person called for the server and said that the dish had been overcooked and did not appear to be fresh. The server hesitated and returned the dish to the kitchen but quickly returned with it and told us that the chef had checked the dish and found it fresh and properly prepared.
Now it happened that the person who had ordered the Snapper Francaise had grown up in New Orleans and that person and others in the party had worked at four-star restaurants. They knew how Snapper Francaise should taste and, further, that a fine dining restaurant (one that charges over $30 per entree on the menu) would not hesitate to accept the return of a dish that a diner did not find acceptable. Instead, the kitchen refused to replace or cancel the order. After settling a check for over $100 per person, the dispute about the Snapper Francaise spilled over into the reception area.
—The hostess at the reception desk began screaming at out party, other members of the restaurant staff came forward to confront us, and the chef came out of the kitchen brandishing an empty wine bottle and threatening harm. A man come from the back of the restaurant and began pushing us toward the front steps. He pushed a person in our party to the floor. We called the police as did the restaurant. The resulting melee left us bruised. The restaurant has banned us from returning to the restaurant. Not a chance of that happening unless one of has a stroke and develops an uncontrollable urge for Snapper Francaise with a side of assault.
—We won’t name the restaurant since we don’t pan a restaurant based on a single visit. We will say that their reviews on the web indicate infrequent but troubling conflicts with some customers. Not a good sign. We failed to check for that before making a reservation.
—Our search for a basis for comparison, another restaurant serving Snapper Francaise, led us to not one but two Sarasota Florida venues for fresh finfish and shellfish. Kacey’s Seafood and More on Lockwood Ridge and Kacey’s Seafood on Fruitville Road offer friendly service and excellent food and drink at reasonable prices.
—The starters include several tasty items: Chilled Ahi Tuna, sesame crusted and served over a seaweed salad ($13) and Crab Cakes ($15), not ideal but much better than the usual Florida attempts to match Chesapeake Bay standards. The Seafood Gumbo of shrimp and cod with Andouille sausage ($7 cup) stretchg the range of gumbos in that it lacks okra, and the Lobster Bisque ($7 cup), light on the lobster meat, despite our quibbling prove tasty. The large Fried Shrimp and the Lobster Roll ($29 but with the ominous MARKET PRICE note) have a devoted following. A longtime-member of the staff recalled that the Lockwood Ridge location where she worked was the original Lazy Lobster location before it opened on Long Boat Key. Owner Michael Garey, well regarded for his role in the Kiwanis Lawn Party on City Island, and his partners renamed the Lockwood Ridge location Kacey’s Seafood and More.
—It was under Kacey’s Classic Entrees on the menu of the Fruitville Road location that we found the perfect foil to the overcooked Snapper Francaise. The Kacey’s Snapper Francaise ($29) presents a thick filet of meaty snapper dipped in egg batter and lightly seared in a sauce of white wine and lemon butter. The interior of the fish remains moist and succulent and redolent of salt air. The glaze of the sauce enlivens the flavor of this classic dish. Case closed.
Don’t settle for ill-prepared food and drink. Diners deserve better. They can and should reject anything that fails to live up to the highest standards.
—S. W. Hermansen has used his expertise in econometrics, data science and epidemiology to help develop research databases for the Pentagon, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Agriculture, and Health Resources and Services. He has visited premier vineyards and taste wines from major appellations in California, Oregon, New York State, and internationally from Tuscany and the Piedmont in Italy, the Ribera del Duero in Spain, the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale in Australia, and the Otego Valley in New Zealand. Currently he splits time between residences in Chevy Chase, Maryland and St. Armand’s Circle in Florida.
—Rich Hermansen selected has first wine list for a restaurant shortly after graduating from college with a degree in Mathematics. He has extensive service and management experience in the food and wine industry. Family and friends rate him as their favorite chef, bartender, and wine steward. He lives in Severna Park, Maryland.
