Friday, October 22, 2010

Dinner c/o Cafe Nonna

My father is a bit of a guidebook connoisseur. Or something. That's not really what I mean. He's thorough in tracking down source materials in order to determine where to go and what to see in any location in which he might find himself spending time. In the case of Nashville this included a guidebook and vigilant attention to the local paper's recent 'best' issue. One of the places he wanted to try was Cafe Nonna, as it was declared the best Italian by Nashvillians. So, after a bit of driving confusion on a rather rainy night - unless I'm making up the rain - that's where we went for dinner. I ordered the Riviera salad (feta, sun dried tomatoes, pasta, olives, artichokes) and their penne with Amatriciana sauce. The salad was good, though I forgot that sun dried tomatoes aren't really my thing and I didn't think the pasta really added anything to the dish.
My pasta was nicely cooked but, to be honest, the sauce was a bit of a let down. Described as "pancetta, onion, white wine and marinara with a pinch of chili flakes and butter," the sauce really just seemed like a slightly fancy marinara. I didn't pick up any chili nor white wine or pancetta elements. Meanwhile my father ordered the smoked gouda ravioli with the same sauce. After taking one bite he raised both of his arms in the air and started waving his hands around in a way that immediately embarrassed me, but the reason behind his rather odd approach to getting attention was fair enough: the pasta was cold, like almost frozen cold, in the center, and he wanted it fixed. Someone came over, the dish was taken away, slight apologies were made and an explanation was given that didn't realllllly make all that much sense. Our server told us that the sauce and pasta are cooked separately, so that was why the ravioli wasn't cooked. I figure what she meant might have been that they half cook the ravioli in advance and then trust that the hot sauce will do the rest of the job, but that in this case it didn't. My father and I share certain curmudgeonly characteristics, and his came to bear in this situation more than mine in the moment....though I do think that in a situation where you put cold food in front of a paying customer, you need to straight up apologize, offer to comp something and hope for the best. Making excuses, especially ones that aren't all that convincing, just makes the customer more grumpy.
That said, I actually liked the piece of ravioli I tried off of my father's reheated plate. And that said, I wouldn't really bother going back and trying it again. Sad face.

1 comment:

nc catherine said...

Ok that is just pathetic...the pasta and the sauce are cooked separately. Well duh but really? Cold in the middle? I think being curmudgeonly is a great skill if used judiciously. Me, I would have demanded a comp for the whole meal and then snarked that the Best of series was bogus. Our best of here is a flat damned joke. Starbucks is the best coffee??? Really? With 6-7 good locally owned coffee spots? Oh well. I am recovering from the Blue Screen of Death on my laptop, while I am out of town, and while I am supposed to be doing work in my final class. Lucky me a computer tech friend pulled me off the ledge and 'splained how to fix it.......