Pigalle - I'm sad
OK, I haven't been to Pigalle for a few years but I always considered it one of the best in Boston. Sadly, this perception came to an end tonight.
The service was bad, bad bad...at first, we thought it was just our waiter who was clearly not on the ball...but we found the rest of the wait staff to be equally oblivious. We sat for what seemed an enternity until our waiter finally came over and gave us menus...when we asked about the various wines by the glass, he kept mixing up which was dry, which was fruity...kept saying, "oh wait, I meant the bordeaux not the burgundy...oh wait...".
As if this wasn't annoying enough, he was constantly walking by our table, not making eye contact...so we sat forever to put in our drink order...then we sat forever ignored to put in our dinner order...then we had to ask for water...then we had to ask for bread...then he never brought our coffee with our dessert so we had to ask for that...then we asked him for cream, he forgot, then we reminded him and he brough us milk...not cream.
The lady with the water would fill one glass at a table, not the other diner and then rush by us...we finally flagged her down and she said "What?"...I said "Can I please have a refill of water?" to which she proceeded to fill my glass, not my companions and rush away.
The food was mediocre, not inspired like I remember...I know Marc's wife as she is always there but even she seemed disinterested and did not circulate the room like she used to to make sure customers were satisfied. I know they are cutting the prices in order to stay competitive (their website boasts of a "stimulus dinner" and we all really appreciate that ) but that doesn't mean that you can hire bad wait staff to make up for it. I won't go back again which is such a shame.
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I know that many people rave about Pigalle, but to be honest the few times we have eaten I have not been impressed. The room is ordinary in decor and the food has been average. At first I thought we were just there on an off night, but.......
It is interestingto mot that each time there, the room was crowded, but as you could sometimes overhear conversation at other tables, not all thought the food was that great.
We have been to Marco as well and the experiences have been similar.
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My most recent trip to Pigalle sucked. We went for the "economic stimulus" deal about a month ago. I had been a few times in the past and was always happy, but it seems they've really let things hit the shitter.
They did not have my correct reservation - I changed it a few days earlier on OpenTable. I received the OpenTable confirmation, but Pigalle had not, apparently. They handled it perfectly, however, which was good. That was about the last thing that went right.
As soon as we sat, the trouble began. After sitting there for a solid 10 minutes (no joke), we had not received a greeting from the waiter or menus. We started looking at each other with the "ummmm??" look. The waiter finally came and gave us our menus. Then he disappeared for a while.
The waiter messed up our appetizer orders - two of my DCs got the wrong thing and then had to wait 15 minutes for the problem to be rectified. The appetizers were fine - tuna spring rolls and steak tartare.
Myself and another DC ordered the cassoulet. I have had the Pigalle cassoulet in the past and loved it. This time, however, was disgusting. The beans were overcooked and largely flavorless, the pork belly was the toughest pork belly I have had in my life, the sausage was grainy, and the lamb had no seasoning. It wasn't just that the dish was not nearly as good as in the past or that it was pretty expensive, it was just a really bad dish. A third DC did not enjoy her coq au vin much. One other DC ordered the pumpkin tortelloni, which everyone considered the best dish of the night.
The desserts were also not great. The cookie plate was full of dry, flavorless cookies and the semifreddo had little flavor. If I had paid normal prices - the ridiculous $35-and-up entree prices - I would have been really pissed. The meal scratched Pigalle off my list for a long time.
What I saw on drinkboston this morning, however, scratched all his other places off my list, too. (I'm sure this comment will be removed.)
“Chef/owner/Mack Daddy Marc Orfaly and Restaurant L invites [sic] you to a night of industry debauchery you will never forget … Come dressed as a suave pimp or a slammin’ ho. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes go to the best dressed!”
F him.
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re: DoubleMan
Restaurant L... are they really doing a pasta in TOMATO SAUCE for $18.00? A Linguine alla Vongole for $28.00 and a Cauliflower Soup with MUSSELS for $18.00??? I wish I could line up consulting jobs like this. The over-under on this new/old spot is 6-8 months. {Pigalle could be 2-3 months}
Ortfaly all of a sudden does not have a clue!
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rlove
Dec 15, 2008 06:01 AM
Sad to read this, but I cannot disagree.
On its best nights, with Orflay in the kitchen cooking some of his more inspired menu items, Pigalle has served up some of the best meals I have had in Boston. Excellent French preparations, with interesting and unique pairings, and a dash of modernity and experimentation.
Other dishes, while never bad, are fair at best. The menu item reads well, but the execution is off.
And the service is always never amazing, usually good, but sometimes spotty. I've seen this, as you observe, even when Kerri is in the front of the house, which is disconcerting.
A good example of an impressive dish is the "Chicken Kiev" that was on the menu about a year ago. Interesting pairing with corn, a well-executed foam, perfectly prepared chicken. I never order chicken, but this was incredible.
But I was back a few months ago and had the cassoulet--one of my favorite dishes--and was totally underwhelmed. It wasn't an actual cassoulet, the serving size was odd, the meat just okay.
Inconsistency is almost worse than just being perennially okay.
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MC Slim JB
Dec 13, 2008 09:18 PM
Orfaly seems to have had other things on his mind beside his original Boston babies lately: this summer it was The Summer House and Beachside Bistro on Nantucket, more lately the revived Boston Public. Sounds like he hasn't been minding his own stores so well. I hold favorable opinions of both Pigalle and Marco, but the weak reports here, especially on Pigalle over the past nine months, have me less than excited to rush back.
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re: MC Slim JB
hotoynoodle
Dec 14, 2008 05:17 AM
we had a drink there on a recent tuesday at 6:30and there was one party in the dining room.
pigalle has long walked a financial knife's edge and unfortunately, cutting prices simply to put butts in seats is not good long-term strategy.
he's a talented chef. we shall see, i guess.
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