I agree with Cynthia that Le Titi de Paris is not intimidating. I also agree with Cynthia that the food is great. But, even beyond the fact that it’s an hour drive for us each way, I don’t see us returning soon.
After a fair amount of careful research, I reserved a table for last Friday evening. The dinner was a multiple celebration: my parents’ 55th wedding anniversary, my dad’s 85th birthday, and my mom’s 80th. Dad used to do a lot of business in France and they both enjoy French food. A variety of factors including menu selections and reputation led us to Titi de Paris. I also brought a fairly expensive bottle of Charmes Chambertin for the celebration as it was a bottle with very special meaning for my dad.
When I called to make the reservation, I was pleased at the warm reception I got on the telephone, the more so when I was asked if we were celebrating any special events. I asked about the corkage policy and was told we were welcome to bring our own wine; corkage is $35. I thought this a fairly stiff price but under the circumstances I was willing to pay it.
We arrived for an early reservation—6:30—to find a few tables already in place. By the time we left two hours later, the house was about two-thirds to three-quarters full. Now, it was only just starting to warm up. Our server, Silviya, brought menus promptly, returning a few minutes later to see if we had any questions. That was the last we saw of her for quite some time. I was eventually able to flag her down and we placed our orders. Now, for the first time since we had been seated, she asked if we wished to have the wine opened. We so wished. She removed the cork but, somewhat to my surprise, did not decant the bottle (I use the term incorrectly in the sense of emptying it into another container, the better to breathe.)
The food was brought promptly and served perfectly—by others. And since this IS, after all, LTH, I owe everyone (including the restaurant) a comment or two about dinner. In a word, excellent. Interestingly, the Lovely Dining Companion and I ate at Oceanique the night before. Had we not done so, I would have probably been more impressed. But everything at Oceanique—the presentations, the service, and the quality of the food—was so superb that it overshadowed even the presentation and quality at Le Titi de Paris. I will try to put together something soon on our extraordinary dinner at Oceanique, but for now it is only fair to say that dinner at Le Titi de Paris—the food alone—was excellent. Appetizers included three salads: mesclun with candied walnuts, dried cranberries and Gorgonzola, a Caesar salad (why doesn’t anyone include anchovy any more?), and a salad comprised of pickled golden and red beets, green beans, goat cheese, and mache. With the exception of the AWOL anchovy, everyone was very happy with his/her salads. Always the odd one out, I ordered an oven roasted baby pumpkin filled with rock shrimp risotto and capped with a seared sea scallop, all accompanied by a lobster tarragon sauce. Stunning would be the word. The baby pumpkin was roasted to perfection (I ate the whole thing after I finished the filling). The risotto was rich without being overwhelming and the seared scallop a lovely touch. We were all primed for the entrees.
Dad, ever predictable, ordered a filet and, though tempted to follow suit, I opted for the lamb done two ways: a herb/honey mustard-crusted “rack” of two ribs and a braised shank on a three-cheese polenta. We’re both fussy about the quality of our meat and the ability of the kitchen to cook it as ordered. Suffice to say, we were both extremely pleased. Mom’s tastes run to simpler dishes, but she’s no pushover; she ordered a chicken breast with spinach, brie, and sun-dried tomatoes with a portobello reduction. The Lovely Dining Companion had a sake-marinated Alaskan halibut with shrimp dumplings in a scallion/ ginger broth. Both pronounced themselves very happy with their orders.
Very sadly, the burgundy was disappointing. A very nice wine indeed, but not what we had hoped. And its presentation was yet another occasion for Silviya to demonstrate her lack of attention to us and our table. After I tasted it (a practice I find increasingly silly, though I certainly know that it’s possible to get a bad bottle), she immediately began pouring for everyone, starting with LDC. Well, as it happens, LDC is allergic. Would asking have taken a few extra seconds? Yes. Was it a major service error? Of course not. But it was another in a series of errors, some minor, some major, some of commission, some of omission, that made painfully evident that we weren’t worthy of her complete attention.
Except for one perfunctory visit, we saw Silviya not at all during dinner. I would not ordinarily be particularly perturbed by her absence (although it would have been nice if someone had taken responsibility for our receiving more than one roll at the beginning of the meal), except that it was painfully evident that every spare moment was devoted to a jovial table of six not far away. She was constantly at the table, finding one reason after another to be present. Indeed, her attentions there were so obvious that each of my parents—both of whom are ordinarily relentlessly upbeat about celebrations planned by one of their children and wouldn’t be caught dead making a negative observation—made comments afterward.
Silviya visited briefly to take dessert orders and then disappeared again. Others served dessert—and the kitchen presented us with a dessert sampler, “engraving” the plate by noting (in chocolate) each of the events we were celebrating. Desserts, too, were up to the standard of everything that had preceded it, foodwise. Sadly, long after we had concluded the meal, Silviya was nowhere near us. Eventually we were able to flag her down for the check. Payment then sat ignored for a long time until another server took it, quite graciously. Speaking of payment, I feel it only fair to comment that the price, even with an extravagant corkage fee, was only $216 for four, including tax, a price I consider more than fair.
Dinner, the food, was excellent; dinner, the experience, not so much. Both the hostess and the co-owner stopped by the table in the course of the evening; the former to note the celebration and convey good wishes in a genuine and warm way, the latter to ask how dinner was. But he did so in an extraordinarily disconnected way, as if to say, “I have to ask but don’t answer because I now have to move on to the next table.” I left—we all left—disappointed. I have even spent some time feeling bad for Michael Maddox, the chef. He is clearly a top-notch chef putting out top-notch food, and he’s being sabotaged by at least one server and his co-owner. Are all the servers like this? I seriously doubt it. But one unprofessional server is enough; she managed to take some of the zest out of our celebration. And I don’t see us returning.
In fact, I was so exercised about the evening that I sat down to write a letter as soon as I got home. I addressed it to Maddox on purpose and I’ll be curious to see how it’s received. In the meantime, with Oceanique outpointing it in every category, I am disinclined to revisit Titi anytime soon. Sadly.
(P.S. I have spent a lot of time thinking about this experience--and my reaction to it--ever since Friday evening. I may be overreacting, but I do know that everyone at the table shared my disappointment with the service. If nothing else, it pointed up yet again the significant contribution of non-food elements to a successful dinner. Everyone agreed that the food was great and everyone agreed that the dinner nevertheless "failed" on some level. So much goes into making a happy time that it makes you appreciate them that much more.)
Gypsy Boy
"I am not a glutton--I am an explorer of food." (Erma Bombeck)