We had made reservations a more than a week in advance, for a party of 10, for dinner at 10pm on a Saturday, and were assured that there would be no problem with the late hour, and that the kitchen would be open and the full menu available. This was to be the cap to a special evening beginning with a champagne hors d'oeuvres party, theatre tickets for Patrick Stewart's A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and we even rented a passenger van to go to the theatre and dinner. Most of the party was wearing evening clothes (tuxedos and evening gowns). On the way from the theatre to the restaurant we called to let them know that we would be a few minutes late because the performance was late in starting. The reply was that the kitchen was closing and that --- despite our reservation -- we could only be accomodated "in the bistro" (presumably a more limited menu). The manager didn't seem to care that we had booked the table a well in advance and seemed completely uninterested in accomodating even a slight delay, and whined about people having to stay late. @#$%^&! Look -- if you're willing to seat a party of 10 for a sit-down dinner at a first-class restaurant (i.e., a 2+ hour seating with appetizers, several courses, wine, dessert, coffee, etc.) at 10pm, it is difficult to imagine that their arrival at 10:15 is going to change anything. I would not fault them for refusing the reservation in the first place -- many places do not stay open late here -- but having accepted it, I expect them to honor it without incident. With that sort of attitude, they won't get a second chance. The cuisine and atmosphere are said to be good at The Plumed Horse, but I would not recommend that people risk ruining a special evening there. I'll be contacting the owner and general manager (I wasn't the one who talked to the manager on the phone) and will relay their comments, if any, to ba.food. (So where did we eat? Luckily, Il Fornaio in the Hyatt in downtown San Jose was able to accommodate us on short notice -- it was by then about 10:20), and even set up a special room for us, and we had a very nice, though delayed, dinner. Bravo Il Fornaio!!)
San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Bad (non)-experience at The Plumed Hourse, Saratoga
Michael B. wrote: > >The cuisine and atmosphere are said to be good at The Plumed Horse, I don't know who says so; I certainly don't, based on my one experience eating there (more precisely, I do not believe the cuisine and atmosphere to be at a level appropriate for the money the charge). The one truly excellent aspect of the dinner was the creme brulee, but Cafe Bistro in Mountain View (El Cam near Shoreline) serves just as good and is a much better value.