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Quartino - My impressions

Quartino - My impressions
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  • Quartino - My impressions

    Post #1 - January 14th, 2006, 9:36 am
    Post #1 - January 14th, 2006, 9:36 am Post #1 - January 14th, 2006, 9:36 am
    My friend Brenda and I decided to try Quartino earlier this week. I had read that the owners were trying for a more affordable take on the wine bar/small plate craze, which seemed intriguing. We recently had celebrated Brenda's birthday at Francesca's Forno, which has the same sort of theme.

    All told, I had a pleasant night at Quartino. It's true that the menu is all over the place. They have pizzas, pastas, hot & cold "small plates" (most of which are little salads), fonduta (Italian fondue), and a selection of salumi and cheese. They also emphasize wine, which they sell by the Quartino(or quarter liter). I love this business about quartinos of wine.

    We started with a quartino of wine each and a few selections from the salumeria. I had a Soave, which cost $5 (what?). In spite of having consumed mass quantities of it in my lifetime, I am no wine expert. It seemed decent - didn't have that cheap wine tang.

    The selections from the salumeria were so-so. We tried the salamette (billed as a 'mild' salami), the taleggio, and the fontina. I ordered the salamette as a sop to Brenda. I like my salami spicy, thank you. They gave us a huge amount in a little basket. The pieces were very thin and seemed a little flavorless to me. It seemed to me like I might have gotten some flavor if I had taken a big handful & chomped on it like popcorn, but I hadn't had enough wine to do that yet. I enjoyed the taleggio. All selections came with a little relish tray and a pile of bread.

    Next, I ordered the "spicy" broccoli rabe and the ravioli. The menu said that the ravioli was stuffed with "pork" and it also mentioned speck (which I love). Both the rabe & ravioli were excellent. The broccoli rabe was extremely spicy. I don't know how authentically Italian this preparation is, but I enjoyed it. The ravioli was very tasty. The "pork" filling was moist and well-seasoned. The sauce consisted of fava beans, speck, and some tomatoes. A very nice dish for $7.

    Brenda ordered the fonduta. I did not realize that Fondue had an Italian counterpart. The fonduta was, well, what can I say about it? It was melted cheese. I ate way too much of it, and was ashamed. But for five bucks, what the hell? Let's have some more wine.

    I would say that Quartino is a nice addition to the River North theme park. The prices are extremely reasonable, and the quality of the food is good. Except for the ravioli, none of the dishes knocked my socks off, but between Brenda & I we polished off a good bit of the menu & paid about $32 each. It's a nice place to get your drink on and have some well-prepared food. To my mind, the quality of food is close to that of Osteria Via Stato (across the street) for half the price.
  • Post #2 - January 14th, 2006, 10:26 am
    Post #2 - January 14th, 2006, 10:26 am Post #2 - January 14th, 2006, 10:26 am
    They also emphasize wine, which they sell by the Quartino(or quarter liter). I love this business about quartinos of wine.


    I'm trying to do the math, but if there are four quartinos to a liter, aren't they approximately the size of a slightly large glass of wine? How much are the quartinos that strive for something beyond a lack of "cheap wine tang?"
  • Post #3 - January 14th, 2006, 5:42 pm
    Post #3 - January 14th, 2006, 5:42 pm Post #3 - January 14th, 2006, 5:42 pm
    A 5oz glass of wine is about 145mL. A quartino is 250mL, so you're gonna get nearly two full pours out of a quartino. Remember that a normal bottle of wine is 750mL.
    Ed Fisher
    my chicago food photos

    RIP LTH.
  • Post #4 - January 15th, 2006, 10:34 am
    Post #4 - January 15th, 2006, 10:34 am Post #4 - January 15th, 2006, 10:34 am
    Indeed! My cynicism (conceiving of a restaurant attempting to pass off a novel container shape/size as a bargain) got the better of my never-too-impeccable arithmetic skills.
  • Post #5 - January 15th, 2006, 5:01 pm
    Post #5 - January 15th, 2006, 5:01 pm Post #5 - January 15th, 2006, 5:01 pm
    i worked with quartino's chef/owner John Colletta a couple years ago and he was forumlating this project even back then. he is committed to bringing affordable, drinkable good quality italian table wine to american diners.

    he's a class act. he's got a good network of italian connections and talked about how he was planning on importing table wines (these are wines that are not typically exported) in barrels so as to be able to sell them at affordable prices.

    this is the stuff italians drink on a daily basis. it's what i drank every day when i worked in bologna. it's high quality, utterly drinkable wine that maybe doesn't meet DOC criteria or drinks better young, so it's sold as table wine at greatly reduced prices.

    italians are onto this phenomenon and know how to source really good-tasting wines from reputable producers that don't break the bank.

    this is the foundation on which this concept was built. i haven't been over there yet, but i wanted to offer this up as an explanation if $5 for almost 2 glasses of wine makes anyone raise an eyebrow.
  • Post #6 - January 16th, 2006, 5:43 pm
    Post #6 - January 16th, 2006, 5:43 pm Post #6 - January 16th, 2006, 5:43 pm
    The Italian "small plates" concept definitely is intriguing, as are the (relatively) inexpensive Italian wines. Regardless of what you think of Gibson's and/or Hugo's, the folks behind these operations really seem to know what they're doing, and I hope that they (and Chef Colletta) succeed with this concept.

    I happened to be flipping through the channels last night, and caught a Phil Vettel review of Extra Virgin on the WGN news. This also looks to be an interesting, similar concept in the same vein. However, I believe that there is less of an emphasis on Italian wines.
  • Post #7 - January 16th, 2006, 6:13 pm
    Post #7 - January 16th, 2006, 6:13 pm Post #7 - January 16th, 2006, 6:13 pm
    Ron A. wrote:I happened to be flipping through the channels last night, and caught a Phil Vettel review of Extra Virgin on the WGN news. This also looks to be an interesting, similar concept in the same vein. However, I believe that there is less of an emphasis on Italian wines.


    Well, Extra Virgin does bill itself as an "enoteca," so my sense is they would like to emphasize wine, though my experience there has been that the servers are not that knowledgeable about what's being offered. Win Bine Cafe, on the other hand, does offer smaller or larger portions of many dishes, an incredible cheese selection AND the server we had was very familiar with the wines offered.

    Hammond
    "Don't you ever underestimate the power of a female." Bootsy Collins
  • Post #8 - February 21st, 2006, 12:45 pm
    Post #8 - February 21st, 2006, 12:45 pm Post #8 - February 21st, 2006, 12:45 pm
    I tried Quartino last night for the first time. While I didn't love it, I didn't dislike it either and will definitely try it again.
    I think it's definitely a good value -- from the cheap wine to the relatively generous portions. I thought their caprese salad was excellent (especially at this time of year when good tomatoes are so hard to come by) and I liked their Angus beef carpaccio and their arugula and ricotta salata bruschetta. We tried the baby octopus, which was very flavorful, but slightly overcooked, and the marinated artichokes, which were a little under salted. Overall, everything was pretty good except for the Risotto Milanese. Oh, it was bad risotto. It was gooey and tasted like a cross between Rice-A-Roni and Mac 'n Cheese, if it had been made with a canister of Kraft Parmesan.
    I think the next time I go back I'll try the pasta.
  • Post #9 - February 21st, 2006, 6:50 pm
    Post #9 - February 21st, 2006, 6:50 pm Post #9 - February 21st, 2006, 6:50 pm
    The house-cured meats and the late hours have sold me big time. I would not recommend going at peak meal times, though -- it's deafening.
  • Post #10 - February 21st, 2006, 7:34 pm
    Post #10 - February 21st, 2006, 7:34 pm Post #10 - February 21st, 2006, 7:34 pm
    my wife and i are going on friday night. i'll post my impressions. looking forward to trying as many things as possible!
  • Post #11 - February 21st, 2006, 8:18 pm
    Post #11 - February 21st, 2006, 8:18 pm Post #11 - February 21st, 2006, 8:18 pm
    I went on Sunday night. First thing when I sat down, I wanted to see the selection of salume (sp.?) and cheeses, both things I had a taste for. Not listed on the menu except for a blurb, "check out our selection of salume and cheeses!" Then I remembered from a prior visit that you ordered those from a separate menu - they give you a pencil, and you check off what you want from a checklist. The host did not give that to us when we sat down. And after sitting down, we waited, and waited, for 15 minutes until I caught a server's eye - who was very apologetic. But still. He then talked up the salume and cheese. Finally, I asked: "Don't you have a special menu for that stuff?" (Or something to that effect.) Then, the server, looked left, then right, as he furtively reached into his breast pocket and pulled out the special salumi menu. Just kidding, but it was a bit like pulling teeth just to get that menu, and that, I didn't understand.

    We ordered prosciutto di parma and a spicy salami, shaved into about 1" round, razor-thin rounds. We also had parmaggiano reggiano and asiago cheeses. All good. They came with some excellent accompaniments - one for cheese, one for meat, along with raisin bread. I didn't think they were necessary, but nice anyway. Although other tables had a bread basket, we were not offered any, and I quite frankly forgot to ask.

    We then ordered two pizzas -- quattro fromaggi and pepperoni. Both wood fired and very, very tasty - a crust that gives a little after the initial crunch.

    As you might expect, wines came by the quartino, half-liter and liter, for the most part, although there were bottles. We all ordered wines by the quartino. They were very reasonably priced for the general quality of the wine.

    The restaurant has a large size to it that is generally associated with suburban restaurants. They also employed the method of calling out the names of parties to be seated over a loud speaker, like many large, suburban restaurants.

    By about 6:00 p.m., the place was slammed, no doubt due to the write-up in the Trib. But, all in all, a good place that I will look forward to visiting when I'm in the area. Hopefully, the crowds will die down because I think that the bar area is very cozy, but the dining room, when crowded, can be a tad overwhelming.
  • Post #12 - February 22nd, 2006, 6:28 am
    Post #12 - February 22nd, 2006, 6:28 am Post #12 - February 22nd, 2006, 6:28 am
    elakin wrote:he's a class act. he's got a good network of italian connections and talked about how he was planning on importing table wines (these are wines that are not typically exported) in barrels so as to be able to sell them at affordable prices.

    this is the stuff italians drink on a daily basis. it's what i drank every day when i worked in bologna. it's high quality, utterly drinkable wine that maybe doesn't meet DOC criteria or drinks better young, so it's sold as table wine at greatly reduced prices.


    In Italy this wine is often served by pumping it from the barrel in such a way that it comes to the table with a touch of effervescence, as well as slightly below room temperature, which I found a lovely and refreshing combination. For red wines - I assume white was served similarly, but I do not remember having any. Quartino would not happen to be doing this, would they? If so, I am there.
    d
    Feeling (south) loopy
  • Post #13 - February 24th, 2006, 4:09 pm
    Post #13 - February 24th, 2006, 4:09 pm Post #13 - February 24th, 2006, 4:09 pm
    aschie30 wrote:By about 6:00 p.m., the place was slammed, no doubt due to the write-up in the Trib. But, all in all, a good place that I will look forward to visiting when I'm in the area. Hopefully, the crowds will die down because I think that the bar area is very cozy, but the dining room, when crowded, can be a tad overwhelming.

    It's been like that since they opened. I think the buzz will take awhile to die.

    I can't say that I found anything in this restaurant that said "suburban" to me. I could only wish there were restaurants like this in my part of the suburbs! :)
  • Post #14 - March 2nd, 2006, 3:59 pm
    Post #14 - March 2nd, 2006, 3:59 pm Post #14 - March 2nd, 2006, 3:59 pm
    I ate at Quartino's last night as part of a large (about 50 people) group. Turns out they have a private room upstairs which was set with small tables for six served a set menu that had been pre-booked. Generally very enjoyable experience. Service was excellent. The main complaints were that it was very noisy - they need something damp down the volume upstairs plus the noise carries from below; the other thing that carries is smoke - we were with a non-smoking group & my clothes stank with smoke carrying from downstairs somwhere. At 6 pm downstairs was busy but by no means crowded (no lines), but was very busy by 9:30 pm when our event finished.

    Each table was provided with carafes of red & white wine (& water) - nothing fancy, but good basic table wine which went well with the succession of various small plates we were served (these had been preselected by our hosts). Everything was quite acceptable - each table was served various crostini, a couple of pizzas, various plates of risotto, gnocci & pasta & grilled fish & beef that showed up at regular intervals. Particular favorites at our table were the caprese & tricolore salad, margherita pizza (we thought the sausage pizza a little greasy, but good if you were a sausage lover); wonderful gnocci in pesto and a seared whitefish. Dessert was a communal chocoate & caramel fondue which was okay, but the best thing was the various fruit for dipping (all well ripened & I particularly noticed that the apples had been sprinkled with rose water); biscotti (apricot & almod) were tasty but a bit too soft for my taste (no real crunch).

    If you can deal with the noise, this is a nice upbeat location for a small group - we were a school alumni group, but I think this could work for a casual rehersal dinner or larger family gathering too. I'm curious to try the downstairs restaurant now, but I can definately recommend the private room experience.

    One last comment, & only because I haven't seen this in a restaurant of this type in ages & ages, is that the upstairs ladies room actually had an attendant.
  • Post #15 - March 3rd, 2006, 4:35 pm
    Post #15 - March 3rd, 2006, 4:35 pm Post #15 - March 3rd, 2006, 4:35 pm
    Athena wrote:I'm curious to try the downstairs restaurant now, but I can definately recommend the private room experience.

    Be sure to try the house-cured meats when you do. It doesn't sound like you got any this time around.

    Athena wrote:One last comment, & only because I haven't seen this in a restaurant of this type in ages & ages, is that the upstairs ladies room actually had an attendant.

    Yes, it does come as a surprise, doesn't it? And then you have to scramble for a tip. Himself reports that the men's room is attended, too.
  • Post #16 - March 3rd, 2006, 5:16 pm
    Post #16 - March 3rd, 2006, 5:16 pm Post #16 - March 3rd, 2006, 5:16 pm
    LAZ wrote:
    Athena wrote:One last comment, & only because I haven't seen this in a restaurant of this type in ages & ages, is that the upstairs ladies room actually had an attendant.

    Yes, it does come as a surprise, doesn't it?


    It would seem to be a standard practice for the group. [At least as far as the attendant in the men's room is concerned.]

    E.M.
  • Post #17 - March 18th, 2006, 11:30 am
    Post #17 - March 18th, 2006, 11:30 am Post #17 - March 18th, 2006, 11:30 am
    My two girlfriends and I had dinner at Quartino last night. We arrived 20 min early for our 7:30 reservation, but were not seated until 7:25 or so. They wanted to seat us at the least desirable table in the restaurant where all the incoming and outgoing traffic would be brushing up against us. After trying to request 4 other tables that were available, they hostess finally gave us one close to the kitchen. It's just frustrating to be given a bad table even after having reservations and arriving early!

    Now, onto the service and food.....our server was very nice, helpful, and down to earth. She welcomed us to the restaurant, explained the menu, and gave us the menu card for the antipasti. We chose the duck prosciutto, prosciutto di parma, asiago, and tellagio. The prosciutto di parma and tellagio were my personal favorite of the four. I really enjoyed all the accompanying condiments as they paired well w/the plate.

    For the warm small plates, we ordered the mussels - great flavor, fresh tasting, and delicious broth; fried smelt - light batter, fresh, delicious grapes to complement the fish; broccoli rabe - just the right amount of kick, delicious; octopus - I was too scared to try. :oops: After these 4 plates, we decided to add the veal meatballs - very tender w/sweet plump raisins, and the orachette pasta recommended by our server - awesome flavor, but unevenly cooked.

    We ended the meal w/the chocolate fondue and strawberries. The fondue was made w/dark chocolate, and it was the perfect way to end our meal. We even asked for spoons as to avoid wasting all that sinful goodness.

    Overall, we enjoyed our meal. The service was very attentive, helpful and nice; although the hostesses could be better. The restaurant was a little loud, but it was not as crowded as I anticipated. There is plenty of space to wait for your table, and I didn't hear them announcing names over a mic as mentioned by a previous poster. Valet parking is a steal for this area!
  • Post #18 - March 18th, 2006, 1:47 pm
    Post #18 - March 18th, 2006, 1:47 pm Post #18 - March 18th, 2006, 1:47 pm
    Most hostesses are not qualified for the job, but given the pay, who would be. However, I don't really get the problem here: why did you expect to be seated any earlier than 5 min. early when you showed up a half hour before your reservation at a very popular restaurant?

    My plane shows up early to O'Hare very often, which usually results in a continuous circumnavigation of Chicago through light to modearte chop. If I'm lucky, we land at the scheduled time.
  • Post #19 - March 18th, 2006, 3:45 pm
    Post #19 - March 18th, 2006, 3:45 pm Post #19 - March 18th, 2006, 3:45 pm
    Pucca wrote:My two girlfriends and I had dinner at Quartino last night. We arrived 20 min early for our 7:30 reservation, but were not seated until 7:25 or so. They wanted to seat us at the least desirable table in the restaurant where all the incoming and outgoing traffic would be brushing up against us. After trying to request 4 other tables that were available, they hostess finally gave us one close to the kitchen. It's just frustrating to be given a bad table even after having reservations and arriving early!

    Like JeffB, I don't know why you expected to be seated before your reservation, but I share your frustration at the "deliberately being shown to a bad table" syndrome. There are some on this list who profess not to know what the difference between a bad table and a good one is; they maintain that any table that has a surface for food and some chairs to sit down in is fully as desirable as any other. Then there are the people like us, who do perceive that there's a difference between a table next-to-the-men's-room-in-the-middle-of-a-bussing-station-in-the-path-of-a-buffalo-stampede-of-foot-traffic, and one that isn't.

    The perplexing thing is, why do some hosts/hostesses insist on trying to seat a party at one of these undesirable tables when better ones are available? We all understand that if the restaurant is crowded, and only one table is vacant and it happens to be a bad one, this will be the table that's offered, and we can either accept it or be OK with having to wait for another. But when plenty of fine tables are available, being shown to one that blows sure sends an unfriendly signal--one not conducive to a return visit.
  • Post #20 - March 18th, 2006, 10:09 pm
    Post #20 - March 18th, 2006, 10:09 pm Post #20 - March 18th, 2006, 10:09 pm
    I definitely do not expect to be seated 20 min prior to our reservation at a popular new restaurant, especially not on a weekend night. I was stating that as a matter of fact. My problem is that we almost felt "punished" for arriving early by their attempt to seat us at an undesirable table when there were a handful of other tables available. When we initially expressed our disappointment w/the first table, the hostess tried telling us that we would have to wait another 20 min for another table to open up. My friends started pointing out 4 other tables that were available, and there were another 2 that were soon to be cleared. This is why we were turned off by the hostesses.
  • Post #21 - March 18th, 2006, 10:45 pm
    Post #21 - March 18th, 2006, 10:45 pm Post #21 - March 18th, 2006, 10:45 pm
    The perplexing thing is, why do some hosts/hostesses insist on trying to seat a party at one of these undesirable tables when better ones are available?


    Nothing terribly perplexing. They are trying to offload an undesirable table to *passive people who will not complain. Who knows which party in the line are sheep waiting to be sheparded to the table. They keep offering it until finally some group settles.

    bah bah bah :wink:

    *or where the 'make nice' factor comes in when nobody wants to be the squeaky wheel for fear of ridicule from peer group.

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
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  • Post #22 - March 19th, 2006, 12:11 am
    Post #22 - March 19th, 2006, 12:11 am Post #22 - March 19th, 2006, 12:11 am
    Sorry, I misunderstood. The way you laid out your story it seemed to me that your main complaint was that you showed up early and were seated later than you thought was reasonable given your arrival time. I agree that it would be frustrating not to be rewarded for promptness when better tables were available. As Cathy said, they need to fill every table; if they think they can saddle you with the bad one, they'll try.
  • Post #23 - March 19th, 2006, 10:49 am
    Post #23 - March 19th, 2006, 10:49 am Post #23 - March 19th, 2006, 10:49 am
    The perplexing thing is, why do some hosts/hostesses insist on trying to seat a party at one of these undesirable tables when better ones are available?
    Nothing terribly perplexing. They are trying to offload an undesirable table to *passive people who will not complain. Who knows which party in the line are sheep waiting to be sheparded to the table. They keep offering it until finally some group settles.

    *or where the 'make nice' factor comes in when nobody wants to be the squeaky wheel for fear of ridicule from peer group.

    I agree with these speculations, Cathy (they're the only logical ones, and they occured to me as well), but the question remains: could the short-term problem-solving of "we've got to preemptively unload these turkey tables on someone" possibly be worth the long-term bad will that the restaurant engenders by doing so? No feelings are hurt when a restaurant shows a party to a bad table when it's the only table left; plenty of bad will is produced when a restaurant does this despite there being many good tables still to be had. Now, some patrons really don't know or don't care about the difference, and maybe the restaurant is banking on this. But many more customers do know and care, and while some of these people will remain silent for the reasons you say, their silence doesn't mean they're blind to having been dissed; and they'll be reluctant to return for a second visit. But hosts/hostesses (the bad ones) don't really care about the ultimate health of the restaurant. They only care about "getting through the night" with a minimum of complication. It's up to restaurant ownership to communicate to staff whether it wants customers treated well or poorly. Quartino may be failing in that regard, based on Pucca's experience.
  • Post #24 - March 19th, 2006, 11:57 am
    Post #24 - March 19th, 2006, 11:57 am Post #24 - March 19th, 2006, 11:57 am
    JeffB wrote:Sorry, I misunderstood. The way you laid out your story it seemed to me that your main complaint was that you showed up early and were seated later than you thought was reasonable given your arrival time. I agree that it would be frustrating not to be rewarded for promptness when better tables were available. As Cathy said, they need to fill every table; if they think they can saddle you with the bad one, they'll try.

    JeffB - No apology needed. When I reread my post last night, I could see how that seemed like a complaint. That's what happens sometimes when an engineer tries to tell a story!

    riddlemay wrote: No feelings are hurt when a restaurant shows a party to a bad table when it's the only table left; plenty of bad will is produced when a restaurant does this despite there being many good tables still to be had.

    riddlemay - I completely agree w/you! It's a game of risk if the host/hostess keeps trying to pass off an undesirable table until someone is too passive or doesn't care. It's not a great way to start the evening to be offered an undesirable table when better ones are available. If I were a hostess, I would only offer a bad table to someone if that was the only one available for awhile.
  • Post #25 - March 19th, 2006, 2:51 pm
    Post #25 - March 19th, 2006, 2:51 pm Post #25 - March 19th, 2006, 2:51 pm
    ould the short-term problem-solving of "we've got to preemptively unload these turkey tables on someone" possibly be worth the long-term bad will that the restaurant engenders by doing so? No feelings are hurt when a restaurant shows a party to a bad table when it's the only table left; plenty of bad will is produced when a restaurant does this despite there being many good tables still to be had.



    i think it's worth pointing out that not everybody has the exact same idea of what's a good or bad table.

    fr'instance--i love being seated near the kitchen, where i can watch the plates come out, watch the cooks work, watch the expeditor, etc. i'm a chef and totally enjoy this aspect of dining out.

    when i dined at quartino, the host walked us through a crowded bustling restaurant and we eventually arrived at a little two-top kind of nestled in a corner near the kitchen. i was thrilled, as we were somewhat away from the crowd noise, outside of the flow of traffic, and close enough to the kitchen that i could watch the action.

    since i know the chef there, and made my reservation through him, i doubt this was done by chance. he knew what kind of table i'd prefer.

    others might take being seated near the kitchen, or tucked in a corner, as a slight. plenty of other examples of this to go 'round....

    different strokes for different folks. the hostesses or staff can't read your minds, folks.
  • Post #26 - March 20th, 2006, 8:57 am
    Post #26 - March 20th, 2006, 8:57 am Post #26 - March 20th, 2006, 8:57 am
    elakin wrote:i think it's worth pointing out that not everybody has the exact same idea of what's a good or bad table...
    when i dined at quartino, the host walked us through a crowded bustling restaurant and we eventually arrived at a little two-top kind of nestled in a corner near the kitchen. i was thrilled, as we were somewhat away from the crowd noise, outside of the flow of traffic, and close enough to the kitchen that i could watch the action...

    others might take being seated near the kitchen, or tucked in a corner, as a slight. plenty of other examples of this to go 'round....

    different strokes for different folks. the hostesses or staff can't read your minds, folks.

    Excellent point, elakin, to which I would only reply that there's a right and a wrong way for a host-person to respond when a table isn't satisfactory to the patron in question. The right way (not in so many words exactly): "Oh, certainly, we have many tables over here that sound like exactly what you'd prefer. Here, let me show you to one of them." The wrong way (not in so many words exactly): "Christ Almighty, what is it going to take to satisfy you people?!" (Accompanied by a rolling of the eyes, and a "whatever" in the inflection of the voice that says "Excuse me, Mr./Ms. Customer, but you have a personality disorder, don't you?")

    Unfortunately, the latter way is all too often encountered. And it sounds (unless I read too much into Pucca's post) like a variation of it was encountered by Pucca at Quartino. To which the appropriate action, for future occasions, is "Avoid Like Plague."
  • Post #27 - March 20th, 2006, 10:37 am
    Post #27 - March 20th, 2006, 10:37 am Post #27 - March 20th, 2006, 10:37 am
    Just to add to the data points: On every occasion I've dined at Quartino, I've been offered a choice of tables. However, I've only been there in the late evening, when there were several choices, and they could be fairly confident it wasn't going to fill up later.

    Elakin is correct in pointing out that preferences vary, and Quartino is a restaurant in which there are many different situations that may be more or less desireable depending on personal preference: Close to the kitchen; within sight of one of the TVs soundlessly playing old Fellini movies; out in the action; back in a corner....

    That said, I'll point out that, except for the chef-partner, the ownership of Quartino is the same as Gibsons', which is definitely a place where it pays to be a regular. Unlike Gibsons, however, the food here is worth putting up with the treatment nonregulars sometimes get.
  • Post #28 - March 20th, 2006, 10:56 am
    Post #28 - March 20th, 2006, 10:56 am Post #28 - March 20th, 2006, 10:56 am
    LAZ wrote:Unlike Gibsons, however, the food here is worth putting up with the treatment nonregulars sometimes get.

    That, of course, comes down to what matters to you. Just as there is variation (as has been correctly pointed out by elakin) in table preference from patron to patron, there are some patrons who care only about food, and other patrons for whom the treatment they receive from a restaurant is also important. For those patrons, being treated poorly cannot be outweighed by the food, no matter the food be the best ever tasted by man or god. I understand that point of view.
  • Post #29 - March 22nd, 2006, 3:18 pm
    Post #29 - March 22nd, 2006, 3:18 pm Post #29 - March 22nd, 2006, 3:18 pm
    Knowing that if the food were to suck, at least we could get sauced on the cheap, a ladyfriend and I decided to brave the crowds at Quartino last night.

    The food lived up to the mixed reviews above: so-so salumi (dry, brittle sopresatta (probably sliced many, many hours before; and waaaaay too thin), double-plus pepper crusted duck proscuitto (at first we thought they'd given us speck by mistake; still, the fat was melty and dreamy)); phoned-in broccoli rabe (w/ tomatoes tossed in to add color to compensate for the lack of flavor); hearty, addictive fava bean and speck ravioli (this dish put the whole 'sharing' vibe on hold). We also had the veal meatballs with rasins and some other stuff. I let my dining companion eat all of these since a) she really liked them, and b) I ate more than my share of the ravioli and, after licking the last drop of sauce off the plate (while swatting off aggressive busboys), felt profoundly guilty for doing so. I think the pastas and warm small plates are the winners here. The olives and pickled veggies were good, as well.

    Does anyone else find their excessive use of the EVOO abbreviation throughout the menu a wee bit annoying? Besides the trixie-ness of the abbreviation, like, isn't this a fairly silly/obvious ingredient to disclose on a menu, sort of like telling us that the spaghetti was boiled in (Lake Michigan) water?

    As noted above, the vibe is suburban, and the tacky touches (what I'd give to read their employee manual -- it's gotta be a riot), from calling the ladies "bella," to the hilarious “recommendations” (after asking for the salumi menu, dude honestly told me, "Whenever prosciutto de Parma is available, I wouldn't pass that up") can be more than a little off-putting. I got a kick out of the Strip Club Style bathroom, complete with Wise Ol' Attendant (eerily attired in rubber gloves) and cologne assortment. I also enjoyed that they announce the availability of tables over a PA system. A clear tip of the hat to The O.G., and an invitation to the cheeky among us to take on obnoxious assumed names.

    I know it’s not coming off that way, but I did like most of the food, and the $4 a quartino from-the-barrel table wine is quite good. dicksond, I can testify to the presence of effervescence, and it was served slightly chilled. At $16 for a liter -- which is, I think, 1.25 bottles of wine -- it's a steal, though not recommended for a party of two when half of said party has already quaffed a quartino or two and second half weighs 100 pounds. By the time we made it through the liter, we were more than a little rambunctious.

    So we ordered a double espresso, which was served, oddly enough, without a saucer. Now, I do not proport to be an expert on Italy, but my lonely little cup looked wrong on the table. A more sober person would have let this go, I guess, but I wanted my freakin' saucer. Our server swooped by and stated: “Espresso is not served with saucers in Italy. There isn't a single saucer in this restaurant, so I can’t get you one.” When I countered that I’d been to Italy three times, and seemed to be served espresso with a saucer everywhere I went, he countered: "I've been to Italy, five times. I'm sorry, but you're wrong."

    Thankfully, I'm a civilized cat, but I coulda woulda shoulda decked him for that or at least brought the tip below 20%, but I took it in stride. More fun to write about it here, and, for all I know, I might be wrong. Still, what kind of server talks back to/argues with a customer like that? (Antonius and others: *do* they serve espresso drinks with saucers in Italy? Who’s right here? FWIW, I called Quartino today and they confirmed that they don’t use saucers at the restaurant.)

    What's funny is that I'll still probably go back.

    m_s
  • Post #30 - March 22nd, 2006, 4:29 pm
    Post #30 - March 22nd, 2006, 4:29 pm Post #30 - March 22nd, 2006, 4:29 pm
    Mauvais_sang,

    Very enjoyable write-up... I'd like to add a few more comments but time does not permit now, but too funny about the saucers... Where would you put the little spoon after you stir in your sugar? Now, are there places where you don't get saucers? Sure, but -- unless I've lost my mind -- Italy is not a saucer-free zone.

    A quick Google-Image on 'caffè' and 'Napoli' turns up some pictures from the venerable Gambrinus...

    Comme si dice, guarda guà!

    Gambrinus, Napoli

    Scroll down a little on this link (scusate per la musica stupida)

    Okay, anywhere else? How 'bout Siena...

    We have thus established that there are at least two caffès in Italy that use saucers... :roll:

    And this 'bella' business seems to be spreading like a cancer. The folks at Il Mulino, a.k.a. Il Malino are also doing this. I take an exceedingly dim view of such disneyesque touches.

    ciao,
    Antonius
    Alle Nerven exzitiert von dem gewürzten Wein -- Anwandlung von Todesahndungen -- Doppeltgänger --
    - aus dem Tagebuch E.T.A. Hoffmanns, 6. Januar 1804.
    ________
    Na sir is na seachain an cath.

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