I have dined at several different Italian restaurants where I have been disappointed. These were not chains but each was a fairly expensive well regarded Italian restaurant.
Websleuths has been running very slowly the past couple of days, and I was reluctant to start writing a review of our dinner date and have the site freeze up on me. We enjoyed our much-needed evening out but were unimpressed with the food at Andiamo in Bloomfield Township. The restaurant is classy and elegant, service was friendly and capable, and there were some very nice touches like decanting our wine, grating fresh parmesan on salads/entrees, and offering freshly ground black pepper. When DH made the reservation (by phone), he was asked if we were celebrating a special occasion. He received a complimentary dessert (raspberry sorbet with chocolate sauce), but we also got a slice of New York Style Cheesecake to go and enjoyed it later in the evening.
We asked our waiter for recommendation on a shared appetizer, and he suggested the colossal shrimp, but DH was planning to order the seafood pasta dish, so we opted for the Jerusalem artichokes that were awesome. There were three large artichokes sauteed in olive oil and served with a lemony aioli and black sea salt. DH had two, and I had just one because I was going to order a chicken entree that included artichokes. Bread basket had several slices of crusty baguette and breadsticks that went well with our salads. I had a mini-Caesar salad - sans anchovies - with my dressing on the side. DH had the house salad that was drenched in vinaigrette: He wished that he had requested dressing on the side.
DH was disappointed with his seafood pasta that had two shrimps, two sea scallops, two mussels, and too much rubbery calamari, including tentacles that looked disgusting. The pasta sauce was nice but the dish in no way compares to a similar dish at Picano's. I ordered Chicken Olivia that is similar to Mamma Assunta that I enjoy at Picano's and have replicated at home. I didn't care for the presentation with two chicken breast halves on one said of an oval plate with penne pasta w/sauce and a medley of vegetables all glopped together on the other side of the plate. I would have preferred the vegetables on a separate plate, and I could have done without the pasta altogether. The chicken breasts in their lemon butter sauce were very good, but the veggie medley wasn't hot and was basically flavorless. The pasta sauce on the penne was awful. We both had leftovers for lunch yesterday as portions were more than ample.
Our waiter, Anthony, was a very nice looking young man with good energy and a pleasant personality. When I ordered my entree, Chicken Olivia, I was trying to be clever and funny by saying that I wanted the chicken dish that was named for one of the stars of Gone With the Wind (Olivia de Havilland) and one of the characters on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Olivia Benson). Anthony didn't know about either one of the Olivias but knew what I wanted because it's the only menu item with a person's name. We wondered what rock he lives underWe decided not to ask Anthony if he knew the history of the restaurant site where he works. Andiamo occupies the building that used to be Machus Red Fox from which Jimmy Hoffa disappeared after having lunch on July 31, 1975. The rest, as they say, is history: Jimmy Hoffa was never seen or heard from again.
Heck, a majority of the large plant employers have thermal scans set up as you come in the gate.
The review is from June, 2020.
He’s not too bright if he equates a temperature scanner with body scanner. I guess his plan is to self limit his life experiences. Not that anyone would care since he’s such a pompous ignoramus.Here's the review from the guy who refused to do the temperature scan. Sounds like a total jerk
My mother made reservations there today for Father's Day dinner. When my wife and I arrived, the host said we needed to step up to a "scanner" which they had mounted to the wall and would allegedly scan our temperature, before we would be allowed to be seated with our family, who was already there. I refused to be scanned, and was told I could not dine there. My wife chose to be scanned, I did not, and was told I could not join my family for dinner.
Last I checked, Andiamo is not my doctor, and therefore has no business scanning my body for anything. I understand this is a private business and they have every right to put in place any policy they like. But I have every right not to have my body scanned, before I can sit down and fork over 100's of dollars to their establishment, and join my family for dinner.
Over the years I have spent thousands of dollars at Andiamo; but no more. I will never dine in that Orwellian restaurant again.
Guessing he’s never had a safe deposit box at a bank either. They’ve been using biometrics since 2002.
Here's the review from the guy who refused to do the temperature scan. Sounds like a total jerk
My mother made reservations there today for Father's Day dinner. When my wife and I arrived, the host said we needed to step up to a "scanner" which they had mounted to the wall and would allegedly scan our temperature, before we would be allowed to be seated with our family, who was already there. I refused to be scanned, and was told I could not dine there. My wife chose to be scanned, I did not, and was told I could not join my family for dinner.
Last I checked, Andiamo is not my doctor, and therefore has no business scanning my body for anything. I understand this is a private business and they have every right to put in place any policy they like. But I have every right not to have my body scanned, before I can sit down and fork over 100's of dollars to their establishment, and join my family for dinner.
Over the years I have spent thousands of dollars at Andiamo; but no more. I will never dine in that Orwellian restaurant again.
Here's the review from the guy who refused to do the temperature scan. Sounds like a total jerk
My mother made reservations there today for Father's Day dinner. When my wife and I arrived, the host said we needed to step up to a "scanner" which they had mounted to the wall and would allegedly scan our temperature, before we would be allowed to be seated with our family, who was already there. I refused to be scanned, and was told I could not dine there. My wife chose to be scanned, I did not, and was told I could not join my family for dinner.
Last I checked, Andiamo is not my doctor, and therefore has no business scanning my body for anything. I understand this is a private business and they have every right to put in place any policy they like. But I have every right not to have my body scanned, before I can sit down and fork over 100's of dollars to their establishment, and join my family for dinner.
Over the years I have spent thousands of dollars at Andiamo; but no more. I will never dine in that Orwellian restaurant again.
I hope the restaurant bans the family, spoilt brat and all
So she just announced, in writing, to the world, what a lousy parent she is. If you don’t teach your children how to deal with disappointment at home, how do you expect them to deal with it in public? So yes, her piss poor parenting ruined everyone’s evening.
Exactly! And if the child is so picky maybe mom should have checked the menu before they decided to go that particular restaurant.
