Two odd experiences...

Ok, almost time to head home, gotta type fast: Last Friday I talked my better half into trying Atemesia for the first time. We had a $50 Louisville Originals GC to use. We were seated promtly and the hostess brought water and napkins, etc. Shortly our server showed up and we decided to get a bottle of inexpensive (relatively) chardonnay. I am by far not a wine geek, but I really do rather enjoy my chardonnay chilled rather than warm (room temp?) but I wasn't going to start off the night complaining! Ha! We ordered our food when we got our wine which was about 15 minutes after ordering the wine. When we were almost finished with the bottle, we had not seen any food of any kind, (honest, we weren't chugging!) the server comes to the table and tells me that the kitchen JUST informed him that they were out of the duck. (Almost 40 minutes at this point). I said that I found it disappointing that it took this long to let me know. He blamed the kitchen. Having been on the kitchen side of things before, I am sure they were blaming him! Doesn't matter, I took the server's suggestion and went with the sea bass, but asked to substitute the green beans that would have come with the duck. No problem he said! Less than ten minutes later the entire meal arrived. Gordy had ordered calamari and crabcake apps and the endive salad all as his dinner. The server told us that "management" was only going to charge us half because of the wait time. Fine, thank you! As to the food...The calamari was rubbery and cold (I can venture a guess why) and the crab cakes tasted like the frozen variety. The endive was teeny for $9, ok, not great. Mine, on the other hand was so undercooked that I actually had difficulty cutting the fish with a knife and fork! I love sushi, but this was plain nasty! I was so grossed out that I simply munched on green beans. The server never stopped by the table to see if we were ok until we were done (or, should I say Gordy was done) I had just given up. I told the server that I wasn't trying to be mean, but I felt that in light of the timing, the kitchen simply rushed the cooking and it just wasn't good. He took the plates, came back and told us that they weren't going to charge me for the sea bass (gee..thanks!) We asked for the bill. NOW, I have a problem because we didn't get much and I planned on using the $50 GC. They were nice enough to apply it toward the entire total including the wine. The bill was for $.88 - we put a twenty in the book and left. Not once did management come to the table to say anything, it was all left up to the server. It wasn't good enough for me to ever want to try again. Odd, just odd....
Now for a completely different story...Check out The Road Morocco that just opened Monday in The Henry Clay. Wine bar, coffe, tea, pastries and moroccan gifts including tangines. The owner is Eddie Maamry from Sullivan. It is really a neat place and they are super nice. The green tea with mint and orange water is awesome! I bought two of each pastry and loved them all!!! Godd luck to them!

Sorry - it's Road To Morocco- Sorry!

I would have never guessed Artimesia. I hear too many mixed reviews of that place rather than rave reviews. My review would be "Dont waste your time go down to Mayan" but thats me

First of all,I am upset that I didn't hear about this when it happened.I take Mondays off,but I should have been told about the situation.I am truly sorry for your odd experience.It was an odd experience,because as Madi said,we feel that we strive to be one of the best places,not just in Louisville ,but in the country for that matter.I think of the song by Depeche Mode, people are people,when I read posts on this forum.It's ok if one person loves Seviche and another doesn't.Everyone has different taste.We have people come in,sit down, and then leave once they see the menu.I used to get all worked up about it,but now I understand.As far as the mojito being a dollar cheaper and better at the places you mentioned,that's fine too.We hear all the time that we have the best mojitos from Cubans to Americans.Once again, people are all different.I know what server this was,because we have addressed this before with her.I would ask you not to judge us on this horrible experience.I would like you to come in and try us again on me.What I would ask, is that you don't tell us your here untill your meal is finished.I want you to experinence Seviche without feeling as were taking extra care of you,because of your first experience.I tell my staff all the time that the hardest thing is being consistant day in and day out.We have alot of people say how much they love Seviche,and we also have peolpe like Jonn R. who might not agree.We have introduced some very different flavors to Louisville.Most of the bigger cities have "nuevo Latino" restaurants like us,but it wasn't untill about ten years ago that people started hearing about "nuevo Latino" So I was excited to introduce it to Louisville ten years ago at Picasso.The one thing I have noticed though,is that it's not for everyone.I have Mexicans,South Americans,Peruvians and Americans who love what we do and also who don't understand what we do.Again people are all different.I am truly sorry for this very odd experience,because that is what it is,an odd experience.We are better than that.Also we are kid friendly.We don't have a special menu,but we do special things for the little ones.I have a four year old,so I'm very sensitve to the little ones.I thought about a special menu called the "Ethan Diego "menu after my son.Please come in and try us on me.I promise you that this will be taken care of.This is the positive thing about Robin Garrs' forum.We can all learn how to improve our great restaurants Louisville has to offer.

P.S Sorry for all the typos! I learned English from a Spanish speaking mother.I'm not the smartest,so good thing I had some creative talents to use. Muchas gracias y buen provecho!

Classy response Anthony. I love Seviche. When are you going to open one in Northern Kentucky?

HeyRon! I was wondering why I haven't seen you.I have been thinking about Cinci for awhile.I met some guys about six months ago and noticed they were in alot.About a week ago they introduced themselves.It turns out they are opening a "Nuevo Latino" style restaurant called Anada. My investors and I are a little bummed.I'm not trying to compete with another Latino restaurant.It's hard enough trying to make it in this biz.Hope all is well.I always enjoy reading your post. Like I told you when I first met you in Seviche,you have amazing knowledge in food. Take care. Muchas gracias y buen provecho!

we'll be in for dinner soon, I promise. maybe this weekend. I haven't heard anything about Anada up here yet. There's no nuevo latino that I know of. We have one Argentine restaurant, but it ain't no Palermo Viejo!

Ahhh that explains the last time I was there Anthony....which was a monday. I used to make a habit of knowing when head chefs were working, it made the meal better. Might be psychosymatic though. Something wasn't quite right but it wasn't bad, just not like my 5 previous visits. I didnt disagree with the flavors that day as much as they took over everything. But it was only that day, a Monday. The other times I visited, the flavor wasn't so strong that it took over every dish. Also to be fair, I may have ordered things that all have that specific addition to it. So I didnt get the diversity of flavors because of how I selected my items. I did dig the mojitos though.

Hey John! Say hello next time your in and I'll make sure you don't get any of those marinated tomatoes.Also there are a lot of things on the menu with no lime,tomato,cilantro,etc. including some seviches. Take care and muchas gracias y buen provecho!

I love Seviche but I have to admit I was surprised by the $10 Mojitos--especially since I ordered two!

Anthony,
Thanks for your very nice response. I was trying to make sure everyone reading understands that I don't wish any ill will on any establishment. Especially an independently owned restaurant. Believe me, I know first hand how hard it is, even with positive responses! All I was trying to get across is that given the very weird server and good food, just not what we thought was great food and expensive drinks that were aslo, to us, ok, not great, I began wondering what the hype was all about. It's like you said, people are people and hooray for the differences and variety! How boring this world would be with out differences of opinion and tastes! i will always wish you the best in your endeavors and we thank you for your invitation to come back.
Carolyne

Hey John! Say hello next time your in and I'll make sure you don't get any of those marinated tomatoes.Also there are a lot of things on the menu with no lime,tomato,cilantro,etc. including some seviches. Take care and muchas gracias y buen provecho!

ha! I don't want you to take them away! I liked them, though I may have sounded to the contrary. I think you just gave me the recipe though. Diced tomato, cilantro in lime? Maybe a touch garlic....maybe but not necessary? I love lime. I don't think I could come to your restaurant and NOT have something with lime. That would be a travesty and a loss on my part. I just need to regulate my use of your salsa fresh. I did like that coconut-ginger broth with the tuna app we had last time. I pretty much like the pina, coconut, ginger, and lime. Actually, if you could focus on pinapple and do variation on a tacos al pastor, that would be something. Anyway, I am rambling. Keep up the good work!