Roommate John and I went to Mitchell's over in the Summit this past Friday. I am going to open this post by saying that it is VERY unusual for me to go to anything that has any semblance of a chain attached to it. Went for dinner there when I found that one of my favorite servers was on the floor. Made my reservation several days in advance.
Arrived a few minutes early and was told that my table was not ready. Strike #1...when I make a reservation, I expect to be seated when I arrive. All my local haunts have spoiled me to this point, not that that's a bad thing
When finally seated, we were warmly greeted by Tommy (the afore mentioned server) and after requisite pleasantries, placed our drink order (kudos to the bartender for getting my Woodford Old Fashioned perfectly made) and then our food order of apps/salad and main course for each of us.
My dining companion and I were well involved in our conversation when the food runner showed up with our main courses, no app/salad had been served (strike #2). Since were both rather hungry, we had them nix the app/salad course. The manager came out and explained that there was a disconnect in the kitchen (well, DUH). As a positive to this little OOPS, the food that was served was well prepared and presented...we both cleaned our plates!
Time for dessert....which we order, plus I ordered a dessert coffee (The Luxury) which came with whipped cream on top....well, when I went to stir the whipped cream into the coffee, it curdled (strike #3)! I wound up just having a lovely Port with my Key Lime pie.
I have always been one to give someplace a couple of tries to get it right. And this will not be an exception to that practice. Tommy did a fantastic job of keeping the evening flowing and light!
Mitchell's is a chain. And the events of this particular evening reaffirm my disdain of chain restaurants...with a couple of exceptions.
I will give Mitchell's one more (cautious) try. I've also shared this experience with several other of Tommy's followers as a heads-up if there should venture over that way!