Atmosphere

Warmth in a restaurant is a delicate thing. There’s a fine line between being friendly with customers and being so overbearing you chase them off. For instance, for my last few months at TCNJ I refused to eat at the Parkside Diner because one of the waitresses there would frequently sit at our table and talk to us with absolutely no indication on our part that we would like such a thing. And I’m sure you’ve all been to that restaurant where the waiter is too chatty, and annoyingly comments on everything you order (Ah, good choice, this is my favorite. Oh, I don’t care for that, but it’s because I don’t like cilantro.). It’s just something about that type of friendliness- where the individual wants you to like them, as a person, rather than their establishment- that makes me, as a diner, uncomfortable.

But in other instances the place can be too cold- like stuffy steakhouses that make you feel like you don’t deserve to be there. The night before my graduation my parents and I went to Acacia in Lawrenceville, and my goodness was it wonderful! The fish was the most tender thing I’ve ever tasted, my mom’s duck tasted like steak, and the mocha cake my dad got for dessert was a little piece of heaven. However, the gorgeous young woman who served us couldn’t seem to give a damn what we thought of our meal- she spoke to us without any inflection whatsoever. And I can’t blame her; I’m sure she gets hit on plenty at work, and since she didn’t personally prepare the food it probably didn’t matter to her what we thought about it. But it just takes away from the experience to be waited on by someone who seems to feel that you have no business interacting with them. (And I’ll admit, I was guilty of this at my job at GameStop- I had a hostile attitude towards all of my customers, and I regret this. My job was to serve them, and I did it begrudgingly.)

If, however, you can find that magical place where the owners really understand what a restaurant is all about, it’s just wonderful. There were several places in Ewing that understood that concept- Villa Rosa, of course, and this wonderful Mexican restaurant called Mariachi on Parkway (which, I will admit, is run by my old landlords). When you go to Mariachi, which you totally should, Viridiana, Eugenia, and Ricardo are happy to serve you- they want you to enjoy yourself. I’ve seen this in their interactions with other customers as well, so I know it’s not just because they know me personally- they are proud of the food that they make, and they are happy to have people enjoying it. The same is the case with a bar and restaurant near campus called Erini. I’ve never been there for food, but when I went there for a couple of informal senior nights, it was great. The owner was out there with everyone and he genuinely wanted people to have a good time. That is what an eating out experience should be like- if you run an establishment meant for pleasing people, then you should take pleasure in having your customers enjoy themselves. I feel like this is lost on a lot of places, and it’s really a shame, because there is no greater joy than being around people who are happy to have you in their establishment.

Clusters and Hops, Tallahassee

So, I guess I should start updating this thing again- I can’t believe the chef at Villa Rosa liked it! I mean, I did gush about the food there, but that is only because it’s wonderful- I’m so honored that someone of importance actually looked at my silly project.

Tonight, then, I’ll write about another truffle mac ‘n cheese I had- at Clusters and Hops here in Tallahassee. (Side note: I’ve moved to Tallahassee, FL. It’s really sad, I desperately miss NJ, but I’m trying to make do.)

First of all, I’ll admit I wasn’t impressed with the place. (I should also point out it's very hard to find- it's a small little place attached to a sleep center on Monroe, with no visible sign. Keep an eye out!) The establishment itself was pretty cute- there’s a nice little gourmet shop at the entrance with fine cheeses and truffle oil and imported chocolate, and I thought that was pretty awesome. And it was a nice dining location- beautiful bar, nice lighting, all that good stuff. But I just felt a little out of place there- the wait staff didn’t seem to take as much pleasure in making their customers happy as in other restaurants; they seemed to take more pleasure in their own prestige. I'll admit I'm pretty sensitive, so maybe it was in my head, but I went to this place wanting to like it. Our waiter was very nice, but when I ordered their 9-cheese macaroni and cheese with truffle oil, he asked, “are you sure? This dish has a very strong truffle flavor, sometimes people who haven’t had truffles before don’t like it.” I don’t know, it just rubbed me the wrong way that he assumed I wasn’t familiar with gourmet food. I suppose given my youth it is a fair assumption, but I don't think anyone ever likes it when a waiter indicates that they have made any sort of judgement about them.

He was right though, it did have a very strong truffle flavor. That's not to say it wasn't delicious- the cheese sauce was wonderful and the pasta just the right texture, and there was some sort of herb mixed in but I’m not sure what it was. But the truffle almost overpowered the cheese sauce, which is a shame with something as complex as a sauce made of nine cheeses. I’m not saying the dish was bad- it was lovely- but I would personally prefer the truffle be toned down a bit. I also got a root beer float with my meal, and my gosh if it wasn’t the best root beer float I’ve ever had in my life. The vanilla ice cream was noticeably of a very high quality, and the root beer was just divine.

Moral of the story: I plan to go back to sample some of the other things on their menu- and to get that wonderful float again- but I don’t know if it’s friendly enough for me to become a regular. It’s worth going at least once, the food is lovely and I found the prices to be reasonable.