“When two friends and I visited Boston's Via Matta, we ordered ‘Seasonal Roast Vegetables’ ($10) with our entrees. The main courses arrived along with one sliced tomato, one sliced cucumber, which we assumed was a salad. We inquired about our roast vegetables and the waiter indicated the tomato and cucumber. This was in September at the peak of harvest season, so vegetables were not in short supply. The waiter disappeared.” Wait, it gets worse.
“When the waiter returned, he said the chef had a message for us, ‘Tell them if they want a carrot, I’ll try to find one.’” Excuse me? What warranted this abrasive, unprofessional reply from someone in the hospitality business? The menus are printed daily; if an item doesn’t exist, then don’t list it…and be civil to your high-paying guests. (Entrees alone at Via Matta average $26-39.)
We hate Via Matta and will never return there…or to any of the other “chic” restaurants that Via Matta chef Mike Pagliarini (above) and then-owner/partners Michael Schlow (left) and Chris Myers (below) have a hand in. (We’re giving former general manager Esti Benson Parsons the benefit of the doubt.) The list includes greater Boston's Radius, Alta Strada, 606 Congress, Great Bay and Myers & Chang. We encourage you to boycott them, too.
Let these abusive morons know that this type of reprehensible behavior is just not acceptable. There are plenty of kinder places to eat. With better food. And, from time to time, seasonal roast vegetables.Via Matta:
Officially registered at Hate for Hire,
June 13, 2010.
3 comments:
Really? That story just doesn't even sound credible. I've had nothing but great service there and I've been going for a good 5 years now. PS Great Bay hasn't been open for months.
It's right there on the dinner antipasti menu -- "Antipasto Di Magro: Seasonal vegetables, prepared daily $11.00"
http://www.allmenus.com/ma/boston/1490-via-matta/menu/
If all you got is a friggin' tomato, a cucumber and a bad attitude, I'd go back there, discreetly place a dead rat under the table, and then start screaming like Yoko Ono getting a root canal. Ignorant bastards.
First of all, who's that Chris Myers who looks like he lives at the Goodwill? Yuk - he's a better appetite deterrent than a dead rat ON the table.
Antipasto di Magro, huh? Sounds like someone has been writing menus with the Italian dictionary open and just translating word for word. "Magro" when applied to food means "meatless" and used to be applied to Lenten and fast/abstinence day versions of normally meaty dishes. Sure sounds like an expensive Boston restaurant to me - heavy on the pretense and light (magro) on the food...
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