The Soul Grows Weary

[Daniel Rogov]

Last night (Monday, 18 August), I went to a relatively new restaurant in the Tel Aviv area. All went well until I requested the wine list.

a. A good selection of local and imported wines but none showing the vintage date.
b. I selected several candidates and asked the waitress to let me know what vintage years were available
c. She looked at me, rather amazed and said...."it really doesn't matter....they're all the same wine no matter the year"
d. I begged to disagree and she, looking at me as if I were a candidate for the nuisance of the year award, finally agreed and wheeled out the three wines I had chosen
e. Things looked up and we ordered two bottles, a white and a red of the appropriate vintage years
f. When the wines came to the table, already opened in the kitchen (!!), they turned out to be the wrong vintage years
g. In a gentle a way as possible, I commented on that. She repeated, "but they're the same wines!!"
h. I asked to speak with the manager
i. Shift manager came to the table with a chip on her shoulder the size of an oak tree. Opening words were "I hear you're giving the waitress a hard time"
j. I tried to explain the problem.
k. She didn't want to hear about my problem
l. My companion and I stood up and started to leave
m.The manager threatened to call the police
n. I gave her my card and told her to have the police contact me at the phone number printed there
o. She tore up my card, mumbled the two best known Arabic words known to most Israelis
p. I left
q. My companion and I had excellent pizza and Chianti Classico Riserva at one of our favorite hangouts

I would normally return to such a place in order to write a review (who knows, it might be even worse on the next occasion) but I have the feeling that this place won't survive a two or three week lag.

Life is sometimes amusing.

Best
Rogov

[Avi Hein]

Oy vavoy. Things like that frustrate me so much in trying to build the customer-service friendly Israel (no, that's not an oxymoron). On the other hand, today this is an aberration whereas in the past that would be the regular.

But, besides that being unacceptable in any case, and even more unacceptable now that the Internet allows anyone to complain about a company's products or service (the US cable company Comcast now has someone full time surfing the social networking sites looking for people with problems w/ the Comcast cable company and getting them special treatment/fixed sooner), an Israeli restaurant in Tel Aviv should always treat every customer like it could come from Daniel Rogov or another critic and really (but deserving) destroy their reputation.

Of course it would be worth writing a review -- just to send the message that this kind of behavior is unacceptable and won't be tolerated anymore.

[Eli R]

Daneil, Hi,

Next time a waiter/ess will tell you they have Red and White wine, don't bother, just order a beer.

This is unless you are willing to go through the full conversation I had some time ago:
Guest: Do you have a wine list?
Waiter: No, We have Red and White
Guest: Which Red wine?
Waiter: I think it is from GHW
Guest: Which label?
Waiter: I will go and check
and so on....

and you complain about knowing the vintage year


Eli

[Daniel Rogov]

Hah......and you think that's bad? I was at a tasting recently held for journalists, chefs, restaurants and sommeliers. A glass of Viognier was poured for the restaurant owner-chef standing next to me. She took a sniff, a sip and said "Mmmm...Merlot".

Best
Rogov

[Menach N]

Hah......and you think that's bad? I was at a tasting recently held for journalists, chefs, restaurants and sommeliers. A glass of Viognier was poured for the restaurant owner-chef standing next to me. She took a sniff, a sip and said "Mmmm...Merlot".

Best
Rogov

that was funny !

Next time

i dont think there will be a next time unless the food is good


-M

[Doug Z]

c'mon, at least tell US which restaurant...

this way, as a consumer of tel aviv eateries, i know who to avoid...

( and yes, maybe a little revenge, like me emailing them a link to this thread... )

ok, i know u r too much a mensch to do that,

but how about telling us where u eat pizza?

[Daniel Rogov]

Doug, Hi....

Mensch, shmensch........I've got to revisit this place and have no desire to be shot or stabbed on entering. After my re-visit, however, I'll post gladly.

As to pizza - my two Tel Aviv favorites right now are Mena Shtrum's Radio Rosco (Allenby Street) and Leon Alkelay's Tony Vespa (Dizengoff Street), the first for serious sit-down pizza feasting and the second for standing at the counter or even in the street to feast.

Best
Rogov

[Doug Z]

agree on rosco.

u can even imagine u r in italy in that little courtyard.

[Tall David R]

A personal, shocked gripe -

I went for drinks and dessert on the terrace patio of one of Jerusalem's most upscale hotels. While the tuxedo-clad waitstaff and leather-bound wine list would support the high-end image already crafted, we were met with unattentive and incredibly slow service. The real moment came when we asked about the wine. Since we weren't up for an entire bottle, I asked if they had any wine by the glass (an option not listed on the wine list). He said they did, "a red and a white."

"Oh, which wines are they?"

"They are from Carmel, an Israeli winery."

"Yes, I know that winery. But what specific wines are they?"

"One is a red from Carmel, and the white is also from Carmel."

"Yes, I understand all that. What specific grapes and vintages are they?"

... <puzzled look> ...

"I'm not sure."

I know it's asking a lot for a waiter at probably the most expensive hotel in Jerusalem to memorize all of TWO wines. TWO. Astounding.

And truth be told, the dessert wasn't very good, either.