Category Archives: restaurant

does this look like a $32 meal?

Posted on by
Reply

Fiorello’s Cafe at 730 E. Gay Street in West Chester is normally a special place for us.

I will preface what I’m about to say with the fact that I am writing this because of the way I was treated by the young (?) woman who answered the phone who was some kind of a hostess or something and when I asked her if there was anyone else I could speak to she said no and if you’ve ever been in Fiorillo’s, you know that’s not true.

Talking about things like this actually helps a restaurant because they might not be aware how this person treats customers. And again, if you have ever been there, you know that they normally are wonderful to their guests.

We thought we would order takeout tonight and my husband wanted pizza and I didn’t, so we settled on Fiorello’s because it’s literally one of our favorite places to go to. And once in a while, we order them from Uber Eats for delivery. (You can also order on Slice, but I have found that delivery service problematic and prefer not to use them and actually if you order Fiorillo’s through them it’s more expensive than Uber Eats.)

Here is what I ordered. It was $32 from Uber Eats. $34 on Slice:

I ordered the “Calamari Mediterranean”, which says it comes with linguine. That is what it’s like when you order it in the restaurant. I asked for it to have capers added to it. I have ordered this for delivery before and again, like when you eat it in the restaurant, it comes with a small side house salad, and a little bit of bread and sometimes even that wonderful thin small slice of a garlicky pizza they serve with their meals.

It was delivered without linguine there wasn’t the side salad that used to come with it or even a crust of bread.

I called Fiorello’s twice and whoever the young woman is answering the phone was just freaking rude. I will admit that because I do not respond well to rude I was sharp due to her response along the lines of “What do you want me to do about it?” Now that’s paraphrasing, but that was the clear message.

“We don’t deliver” she says. I responded that I know they don’t deliver. The problem wasn’t the delivery. The problem was the order.

And no, I’m not driving to come pick up a replacement order when I wanted to treat myself to delivery from Fiorello’s. I never actually asked for a replacement incidentally.

And the phone/hostess woman with the whole attitude of what do I expect her to do about? It is simply not acceptable. That’s what I can’t get past. She could’ve actually just apologized. A simple “We’re so sorry” goes a long way.

Does she want me to explain a restaurant and what front of house does when there’s a problem? I wasn’t even looking for a partial refund at that point although after I got off the phone with her, I was so ticked off I did contact Uber Eats and they did give me a partial refund….which I deserved as a customer.

Again, we have been customers for years.

And I don’t understand how their own kitchen doesn’t know that this comes with linguine that’s plain that you put the calamari over? (When you are in the restaurant, of course, the calamari comes out on top of the linguine.)

Again, I ask because you see the photo of what I received and that was all that I received in the photo that opened this post. Does this look like a $32 dinner or even complete?

And I will also note that this woman who answered the phone argued with me that all I was getting was calamari when I ordered that for Uber Eats and I said no she had better go back and read the menu.

But above all else, I don’t do rude as a customer. And again she would not have gotten an edge in my voice if she had just been polite to me instead of me getting the whole attitude of she doesn’t really want to be there on a Sunday night and talk to anybody on the phone or help people.

When employees have attitudes like that it makes it less likely that people actually want to come into a restaurant.

Mostly this makes me sad because we’ve had many wonderful occasions in this normally local gem of a restaurant. We even celebrated our engagement there as a newly engaged couple.

I’m not writing this post to say no I will never patronize Fiorello’s again, I am writing this because they obviously have a couple things to work on with staff. Normally things there are impeccable and the staff is really friendly and helpful.

This was not such an experience.

I’m not looking for a free meal and I won’t accept one, but it would be nice if somebody just said they were sorry that this happened. And also to teach whomever that was on the phone who also never identified herself, basic customer service skills.

I love Fiorello’s normally, I didn’t love this. And that’s all I’m saying.

another easy way to support farm boy bbq while penndot holds small businesses hostage in east whiteland.

Posted on by

I make no secret of the fact that FarmBoy BBQ is one of my favorite local businesses or that I know the owner. I think they have the best barbecue around and their brisket is like a religious experience.

However, I wrote a post here in August about how difficult it is getting in there because of PennDot and their endless sink hole remediation project. The project has been forever and seems to be way behind schedule.

yo penndot, stop messing with our bbq and other businesses’ access.

Farm Boy is located at 625 N. Morehall Road (AKA Route 29) in Malvern.

But guess what I discovered completely by accident today? Farm Boy is on Instacart under the restaurant tab for our area!

So if you would like to help out this restaurant so that they survive PennDot hell part two (they already had to live through this sink hole remediation once with PennDot ), place an order on Instacart and Uber Eats if you don’t want to deal with the aggravation and delays created by PennDot!

Trust me, you’ll be glad you did. And if you’ve never tried Farm Boy, this is as good an excuse as any.

And if you have an extra few minutes, please contact our state Senator Katie Muth, and tell her that PennDot is strangling small businesses with their delays on Route 29.

matine’s café was merveilleux!

Posted on by

My friend and I had been trying to get into Matine’s Café in Devon for months. There were either lines out the door to get in, or you simply could not get a space in the parking lot.

The parking lot is an odd configuration, which is not the fault of the café, but I imagine the owner is making a tidy rent off of these people, and they could do better with the parking lot.

This place was so worth the wait to get in . We both couldn’t remember the last time we had so enjoyed lunch out. We were there for quite a while and just took our time and because it was the last week in August it was a steady but not impossible flow of people in and out.

We ate inside, which was less crowded than outside. They have a lovely outside dining area and that was completely full.

Among other things, we had an actual French woman wait on us. And that made the experience even more fun.

When you walk in the building is deceptively small compared to when you go inside. I think it would be a marvelous place to reserve seating for a luncheon if they did that. This café is spotlessly clean, including the ladies room.

When you are inside, it reminds you of an actual French or European Café. It is light and airy and old style marble top café tables. The tables are so authentic, that I have to wonder if they were purchased in France and shipped over.

They have a wonderful café menu that I imagine might have seasonal adjustments. One of the things I love best is the coffee and tea and the tea, when you are ordering an iced tea, is a pour over so the tea is super fresh and that makes all the difference in iced tea in my opinion. They use loose tea, which is also my preference at home. My friend had I think it was a mango peach iced tea, and I had the Ceylon gold. Ceylon gold is a loose tea I enjoy at home. It is flavorful, but not too acidic nor does it get too dark.

My friend had an artichoke quiche that was beautiful looking. I had the smoked salmon tartine. she loved her quiche and one thing I loved about my cartoon other than how fresh it was and how good quality of smoked salmon it was that they used, was the Tzaziki sauce they used on it. And it also had baby fresh arugula on top. I adore arugula.

Tzaziki is something you think of in Greek cuisine which is Greek yogurt, cucumber, dill, mint, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. On the Tartine that I had, it was perfect.

Both of us opted for gazpacho on the side. I am picky about gazpacho, and quite frankly, I rarely order it out because I make my late mother-in-law’s Andalusian version of gazpacho and it’s just pretty much my favorite. Their gazpacho is the best I’ve had outside of my own kitchen, ever. To me there’s also is reminiscent of an Andalusian gazpacho, and interestingly like me, they serve it with crumpled feta on top. I never knew this was a thing. I literally tried it one time with my own gazpacho because I just happened to have some in the refrigerator and I thought the tastes would go well together. Also, a lot of restaurants think they can get away with gazpacho made from canned tomatoes, and the taste is just not the same. Matine’s is fresh and there is a slight citrus accent as well.

We also sampled their cheese plate, which they described as being enough for two people, it could have fed more. It was a great selection of cheeses, including a magnificent brie, and we took leftovers home. What I liked about the cheese plate as it was simple and pretty to look at. It wasn’t fussy.

The plates they use for our lunch were a pretty matte blue ceramic disc.

Because it was a belated birthday lunch, we split a dessert crêpe made with Nutella. And although Nutella is an Italian product, ironically the first time I ever had it was in France when I was a teenager.

While we were there, I ran into a friend who was also enjoying a belated birthday lunch with one of her friends!

After we finished eating, we shopped in their little market inside the store. I brought home croissants and a little bread boule, along with some French pantry items like Marie-Antoinette Tea and a fabulous Dijon mustard, as well as Roger & Gallet Fleur de Figuer Eau Parfumée.

Oh, and they have a Little Free French library outside!

We are very excited to have been able to get in and have the time to appreciate this place properly. We look forward to going back again, and I have a feeling it will become a new spot for us. They list the address is Wayne, but it’s really Devon to me because it is just before the Whole Foods if you are headed west and just after the Whole Foods if you are headed east on Lancaster Avenue.

https://www.matinescafe.com/

Matine’s is located at 757 Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, PA and they are open seven days a week 8 AM to 5 PM.

You can now book a table via a reservation at resy (Click here.)

I will note because it’s important, I was not compensated for this post in any way, shape, or form. I did not seek compensation for this post in any way shape or form. I was simply a normal customer, and I loved the experience and the food and will be back again.

À bientôt!

a must visit: settantatré in berwyn

Posted on by

Settantatré is open! Now I know that they have been getting stuff ready this week because my friend has been raving about their coffees. So when I was at Surrey Consignment shop for their big April sale I decided to walk down the strip and check out Settantatré. (The address is 802 Lancaster Ave., Berwyn and it’s where Surrey and E MJ’s are.)

When I went in, they are still setting up, but they have their freezer and refrigerated cases full of goodies and homemade focaccia and I don’t know where the pastries come from. I don’t believe the chef makes them, but I could be wrong. I bought a couple of croissants for Sunday morning breakfast.

Now this business has been making a buzz ever since Matt Gentile and Genna Curcio opened in Milmont Park down in Delaware County. Matt Gentile was the chef at Panorama in Old City and other amazing places like LaCroix and Ela and Parc.

So Chef Matt was there when I went in today and couldn’t be nicer. And me in an Italian food store is probably irritating for some store owners because I have to look at everything. the store is not huge, but it has a great selection of pastas and sauces and soon they will be open for some kind of dinner things in the back. I didn’t get the details on those. That’s just what other people have told me and it says it on the website something about the 73 club.

https://www.settantatrepasta73.com/

I don’t need gluten-free pasta so I bought regular pasta which was a treat because I normally make my own. I don’t buy much pasta unless it’s dry. And even then, it’s if I can get certain brands like Garafalo. However, my sister and niece like gluten-free pasta so I’m very excited to have such an amazing place close by.

I will be having one of the raviolis I purchased for dinner with their spicy Rosé pasta sauce.

I also got this spicy tomato nest thing which is goat cheese with sun dried tomatoes and I guess pine nuts and stuff. That is from Shellbark Hollow, whose goat cheese is one of my favorites.

Anyway, I had a swell time visiting this little store. And I think Chef Matt was amused by me because I said look I’m just a regular kind of customer person, not an influencer looking for freebies, but I said I would put a little write up on my blog. My blog means nothing to him and I’m not a food writer. I’m just a home cook. But the real food writers like Craig Le Ban are fans of this Chef and business.

I look forward to my next visit and next time I will make time for coffee because it smelled espresso perfect.

I am including a little tiny video with the bottom for people that are stumped on how to pronounce the name of this business.

I was not compensated in any way shape or form for my visit. No overreaching wannabe influencers were involved either. Just plain old #shopsmall #shoplocal

Happy Saturday!

maybe it is time for the brickette to deal with overflow parking?

Posted on by

Every single time I bring up this topic I get abuse or just comments that are nasty. I think these people need to grow up and realize that the reason the signs went up is based on immediate neighbor complaints to West Whiteland regarding the people attending events at this bar creating dangerous situations on the roads.

It really is that simple. And when the problem was first discussed, people did ask the bar owners or managers (can’t say for sure whom because I wasn’t there) about helping them get an arrangement for a satellite parking lot so they could have a shuttle or a valet, and they said it wasn’t necessary in essence.

Well obviously it is necessary. And if they are indeed keeping to their actual capacity inside, they need more parking outside.

A comment I received recently:

That’s sad. They have an event that is so popular on Monday nights that the parking lot over flows out onto the street. Folks travel from out of town to participate. Now where will they park. I say residents should not call and let a business thrive….

You see that photo taken recently after the no parking signs went up? It was taken the evening of July 12. I would think it was safe to assume that this business is thriving enough that the owners of this bar who also own other bars in West Chester Borough, and are getting ready to open something else would have the resources for valet parking and a satellite parking lot, and or a satellite parking lot with a shuttle.

The Brickette to my knowledge has not had residents file complaints against them as a nuisance bar with the PA LCB. And all it takes is an anonymous phone call to their hotline:1-800-932-0602 or you can submit a complaint online: https://www.pa.gov/en/agencies/psp/contact-psp/bureau-and-office-directory/liquor-control-enforcement/report-a-violation.html

Instead, all the residents are asking is to be treated with respect. And it’s to be treated with respect predominantly by the bar patrons, and those same bar patrons should also treat the no parking signs with respect unless of course they’re viewing the parking tickets as paid parking costs?

I do think that the Brickette is trying in some areas to do the right thing based on a very recent (July 3rd) Instagram post:

What they say is:

Policy Update:

Hello everyone, we wanted to make you aware of an update to our policy regarding minors.

1. No one under 21 unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, per PA State Law – 40 Pa. Code ss 5.321

2. No one under 21 years of age after 5 PM – NO EXCEPTIONS.

This includes all live music and events, such as cornhole and line dancing.

As of yesterday, West Whiteland also put up No Parking signs on the part of Sorber Drive that is in their municipality. That is 200 feet. The rest of Sorber is the responsibility of West Goshen Township, and they only seemed concerned lately about threatening residents with police removal at meetings. (Yes that happened, check their meeting recordings right?)

West Whiteland also has NO PARKING signs on BOTH sides of 100. Residents are urged to call the police if they see people parking in defiance of the signs because West Whiteland is a big township, and the police cannot be everywhere at once although they do drive-bys here.

Now back to the people who don’t like when I write about this. One person is an engineer in who does a lot of work for developers, and while not naming names, you see them on the bottom of plans submitted at public meetings in many townships.

This person is very big on having their opinion heard, which I don’t have a problem with, but this person instead seems to be making a hobby out of social media platform hopping to essentially harass me for my opinion on anything else I might write about as in not just this.

That is not just exercising “opinion”. Behavior like that is distinctly uncomfortable because you have to scratch your head with the attention on me as just one woman, don’t you? Why not just scroll by anything he sees that I might write since he knows he doesn’t like my opinion?

And then there all the other opinions on this topic. And a lot of it is derogatory attention directed at me personally when I didn’t originate the problem.

I am writing about the problem because I have lived in small neighborhoods which have faced issues from neighboring commercial communities that were not resolved until there was a crisis point.

All West Whiteland is trying to do (and the state for that matter) is protect the neighbors and the patrons of the Brickette Lounge. People might think it’s benign to just park all over the place like this, but it actually isn’t. What is being attempted here by the signage is to avoid accidents, harm or loss of human life and that’s not a bad thing. it’s actually a really good thing.

And I can see by that post from July 3 that this bar posted that they are trying to follow the law, and that is also a very good thing. But now what we ask of them is to truly get a satellite parking lot that they can do valet parking or shuttle parking with. That will handle the overflow and keep people from parking where they should not park and keep everyone hopefully safe. I see this all the time where they don’t have much room for parking.

Thanks for stopping by. If you don’t like my opinions, that’s fine you can read someone else with whom you are more comfortable.

truly wonderful experience….at joey chops in malvern.

Posted on by

We had a great time at Joey Chops this evening from start to finish. Food, ambiance, service.

I will start with the starters/appetizers. Seafood and it was great seafood. The scallops and shrimp were just off the boat fresh.

The steaks were amazing and the sides perfection. I had the Delmonico with grilled asparagus on the side and they remember the extra nice touch of shaving the bottoms of the stalks. No one remembers to do that anymore. My husband had a strip with mushrooms that were to die for. Our son had the Westholme Wagyu Teres Major with broccolini. And the quick pickled red onions served with each steak were perfect.

Joey Chops has a good wine list. They even have a blanc de blanc sparkling from a favorite vineyard of mine, Gruet in New Mexico. I also noted French (Provence) and Italian (Puglia) rosés I would like to try in the future.

Tonight I had a glass of Prosecco from the Veneto region of Italy. It was lovely and light and dry and not sweet. My husband had a glass of a Cabernet I think from Paso Robles, California- I forget the name but Sean our waiter said it was new to the menu.

The cheesecake cart was a big hit with my husband and son because they love New York style cheesecake.

A special mention is necessary about Sean who was our waiter and he was hands down the best waiter especially in a steak house since Old Homestead and Delmonico’s in NYC. And the kids who were bussing and helping run food were also wonderful and friendly and very poised. All of the employees were terrific, truthfully.

The silverware has good weight to it and the steak knives are a well weighted knife and not some hulking exaggerated size, they are more like a Laguiole style knife.

Suggestions are they need larger water glasses, however. They are cute and I know little water glasses are a trend, but I am a big water drinker and these were the size of little juice glasses. And they need bigger candles on the tables or more than one.

We sat in the banquette seating underneath the windows . Very comfortable and pretty chairs. The big velvety curtains make you forget you are in a strip mall parking lot. And that is not the fault of the restaurant. It just happens to be in Lincoln Court Shopping Center in Frazer/Malvern. It took over and reinvented the space that was once Carrabba’s Italian Grill.

We had started in a booth (and no didn’t request a booth, it just happened), but like most modern restaurants, they are a bit uncomfortable, so they were super accommodating and moved us. The banquette seating was just perfect.

The banquette seating and tables are the way to go for sure. The chairs for the round tables that run down the center of the dining room are like a modern Windsor style chair, and they looked quite comfortable. If this were my restaurant, I’d replace the booths with additional banquette seating, or smaller tables with regular chairs. Sorry not sorry, but modern booths in a lot of restaurants are like what airlines are doing to seating unless you pony up for first class: just not enough room, space, depth.

The place was very clean, but they do need to fix one of the doors in the ladies room. Three of the louvered slats in the bottom of the door are broken.

But we had a wonderful night. It has been quite a while since I had a higher end dining experience that flowed as well as this and had good ambiance.

I am a little obsessed with the simply gorgeous sofa with its brilliant pop of color across from the hostess stand in the little alcove area.

We will definitely be back.

Thanks Joey Chops for a great meal and experience!

⭐️Please note that this is my honest review. I was not compensated in any way for this. I’m not a compensated blogger or some weird influencer. It’s where we went to dinner for a big birthday.⭐️

magnificent.

Posted on by

She’s almost ready for prime time. The Jenny Lind in Historic Yellow Springs has been reborn. And she is magnificent.

The Jenny Lind is now the Life’s Patina Merchantile & Cafe located at 1657 Art School Road in Chester Springs, PA. Meg Veno has outdone herself.

The Jenny Lind is restored and transformed. It’s one of the most beautiful adaptive reuses I have seen in years. My other favorite as you all probably know is Loch Aerie mansion in Frazer. And I think it’s marvelous to have both of these lovely places in Chester County!

This was such an amazing experience yesterday that I am still super happy about it the next day!

The attention to detail is something you don’t see every day, and it makes this all the more special. This is quite literally everything you want to see in a restoration and an adaptive reuse, and I sure hope that Historic Yellow Springs Village and West Pikeland Township have deep appreciation of the fact that Meg Veno stuck with this, and is now bringing everyone this gem to enjoy.

This has been a very long and winding road because this was a very intense restoration. And Meg and her team are perfectionists. This is one of those places that you walk into and just stop and marvel. No corners have been cut. The materials and the skill of the craftsman who put the Jenny Lind back together are undeniable.

This is an amazing restoration, and I hope someone gives them an award like Chester County for example. Chester County should be counting their lucky stars that there are people out there that still want to do restorations instead of demolitions. I will go further and challenge every township official in the region and developers who want to tear down historic things and build plastic mushroom housing developments and apartment buildings to go visit this place once it’s open full-time and see the possibilities of just doing the right thing.

You walk in and you feel at home. The beauty of the place envelops you softly and then you get to the café. The chef of the café has an incredibly deft hand with pastry and everything she touches. I have not met her. I look forward to meeting her because the food is terrific. My husband said the mushroom soup was one of the top three best he’s ever had. Because we were there for brunch I had this little bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a biscuit which was so light and flaky, it melted in your mouth. there are also these salads that are off the hook good and don’t get me started on the actual pastries and sweets. Wonderful tea and coffee. The café is a place where you don’t want to rush. You want to savor your meal and linger.

And then you wander into the Mercantile. The Mercantile is full of all sorts of wonderful things, old and new. The best thing it’s not only the way it looks, but the fact that everything for sale has been chosen with care and it flows together. You don’t walk into this store and wonder why something is there, you walk into the Mercantile and wonder how you can use that in your own home.

One of the other best things about this restoration is it fits. When it was the Yellow Springs Inn, the food was great but the gorgeous interior of this building was hidden by too much Victorian everything. And I am saying that as someone who did really enjoy that restaurant at one time. But this metamorphosis is so remarkable and beautiful and just stunning. This restoration has made me love this building even more. And this restoration will show everyone the possibilities of what you can do with the gorgeous old buildings that are scattered throughout Chester County that need love.

It was a few years ago now that I was at one of Meg Veno’s barn sales at Life’s Patina in Malvern and she said she was looking for another project. I was standing there with my friend and I turned to her and I asked if she had ever thought of Yellow Springs Village because the Jenny Lind house was at that time in foreclosure. And now look at the Jenny Lind. I believe the Merchantile and Café will be open soon for visitors full time, but if you’re going near the village, I hope you at least drive past until she is open full-time to see what a beautiful restoration it is.

This whole project is not only a testament to historic preservation, it is a testament to loving what you do. And above all else, you know why this place will be a success? Because it has a heart.

Brava, Meg Veno, brava.

I also want to note because I think it’s important, that those of us who attended yesterday paid for our meals, we were not given anything in exchange for our thoughts on the soft opening. I would like to say we are the right kind of “influencers” as we are the kind who are actual customers and will return gladly with friends and family.

Happy Monday 😊