We broke our promise. We did want to go to the Front Porch Restaurant on March 16, 2015 but, they were closed.
After spending half a day running errands all three of us were stark raving hungry. And the discussion ensued. Where to eat. I kept quiet and let the ladies hash it out. I knew better than to help. :)
Within a minute it was decided and off we drove to Inverness, FL to Chef's of Napoli II. Our previous visit was about two months prior and really only Candice enjoyed her meal during that time. I was really hoping that I could find something on the menu better than what I or even Heather had consumed on the previous visit.
Once we were seated and had ordered our drinks we engaged the waiter about the menu. I questioned him about my strictly butter and cheese only greasy fettuccine Alfredo that I had on the previous visit. Now, I have made homemade Fettuccine Alfredo maybe 40 times in my life. This waiter told me only Americans used cream in the sauce and real Italians didn't use cream in it. Hmmm? What?!! Only butter and cheese makes Alfredo sauce? Since When??????
http://www.pasta-recipes-by-italians.com/history-of-fettucini-alfredo.html
THAT hyperlink explains it all my readers. The complete history of the sauce and it's origins and even a list of ingredients.
I knew he was lying to me!!! Thanks, Google, I love this inter-web thingy sometimes! :)
OK, so on to the discussion with the waiter... After being told the lie and receiving instruction on how I had it all wrong I decided to order something safe. Ravioli. And both ladies ordered the Baked Ziti.
As always, the bread they brought us was warm and fresh out of the oven. It is homemade and Just Plain YUMMY AWESOME! WE LOVE IT! Even my Gluten Intolerant Wife that SHOULD BE AVOIDING the Bread and Pasta. BTW she disobeys her health and eats it anyways. The Gluten Force is Strong in that One :)
The salads we ordered were tasty. Love the mixed greens.
The plates arrived, The Ziti didn't look baked and it was lacking in cheese. It may have even been cooked in a large pan and dished out but, we really couldn't tell. The sauce tasted like it came straight from a can with no seasoning or garlic added to it. As for my Ravioli, there were only 3 in my bowl. I ate one and left the other two for the puppies. They tasted just like they came from the frozen section at Walmart.
And then the waiter produced a cheese grater and asked if anyone wanted cheese. Mom got some and then Heather started to but the grinder made a loud noise and the waiter said sorry that it was broken. He said he would be right back with another. After 5 minutes he approached with a bowl of pre-grated cheese and offered some to Heather. She declined and asked for some real cheese to be grated or shaved not something from a jar. The waiter made some rude noise and shuffled off never to return it seems.
Around this time an older customer left and the music playing changed as well. We went from 50's oldies to modern rock and it was turned up so loud we couldn't even hear ourselves talk. I asked a different waiter to turn it down please and he couldn't even hear me. Finally, he understood and turned it down.
Heather was about halfway done with her meal when the manager brought us more of the delicious warm bread. Heather lit into the man about the waiter and the attitude. We got a lesson from the manager about the grinders and cheese. Here we go again, I thought...
Then Heather mentioned that we are bloggers. Things changed immediately. He became friendly. Within seconds Heather got fresh grated cheese. The situation seemed to be better and the ladies felt that the manager had made amends. So I thought we were done. Then the waiter came over and apologized. WOW! It was obvious that this guy didn't want to but he understood his actions were wrong. I might not like the food here but the manager was earning big points in our book. However, the change wasn't because we were customers mistreated. We were Bloggers!!!
The ladies decided to order some Tiramisu. Wrong request. It wasn't set, yet. The manager came over and apologized. In addition, he gave the ladies a piece of Limoncello Cake and a Slice of Cheesecake on the house. Then as we were walking toward the door the manager chased after us and he gave me a few chucks of this huge Pecarano Cheese he had shown me. After I expressed to him just how much I love it.
We left on a positive note. The ladies thought the manager made a gallant effort to save the experience. I don't often not tip as I have worked in restaurants and I understand the work required. This waiter got nothing from me. I think he would do better to not correct customers with lies. And to drop the attitude. In fact, he might consider a different form of employment.
I would recommend that this restaurant needs to give the baker (the managers wife) a serious raise. The bread is some of the best we ever have had.
Improve your sauce. Add some seasonings. Even a marinara has seasonings. The current sauce has no flavor, it tastes like cheap canned tomatoes and that's it. Give a few more Ravioli, please. Seriously, three of them is a joke. Bake your Ziti! The definition of baked means to cook by dry heat in or as if in an oven and/or harden the cheese on top. Oh...and add heavy cream to that Alfredo sauce, please.
I would give two shamrocks. Heather gave them three. And Candice gave three, as well. So I guess I was outvoted on this one. :)
Do you think it was the manager trying to make it right, as he would any other customer? Or was it because Heather said we were Bloggers? Thoughts???
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