Centro vs. Centro
13 February 2008, mid-morning
Sometimes I wonder who actually benefits from Winterlicious and Summerlicious. I’ve been to several restaurants during the events and am usually pretty disappointed with either the meal or service. ByMark is probably a superlative restaurant, but I can’t imagine going back after the lackluster time I had during Winterlicious. Similarly I have mixed feelings about Monsoon. I can’t even recall the name of the fusion place on Wellington my friends and I went to, it was that lame. There are a few places I’ve been that actually did a wonderful job during these events: Canoe, Jump, and Tundra come to mind. Those are places I’d go to again.
I went to Centro again on Monday for Winterlicious. Shima’s friend got reservations. You may recall that the first time I was there, I thought the place was amazing. This time — during Winterlicious — it was OK: the service was alright, but you could tell the waiter was frazzled; food didn’t come out all in one go; steaks were over cooked; etc. I can’t imagine anyone else at the table would go back if there only experience of the restaurant was that night. I still think that first time I went to Centro was one of the better dining experiences I’ve had in the city. The difference between my evening on Monday and my evening a year or two ago is so stark.
What’s the point of Winterlicious? Who wins? Patrons are offered up sub-par food in over crowded restaurants by on edge waiters and waitresses, while being told they are participating in a fine dining experience. Restaurants are going to get two sets of patrons: for people like myself who are inclined to eat out at places they probably shouldn’t, this event rarely ever sells a place; people who are out because it’s a deal also won’t come back again. As a restaurant I suspect it is very rare this event earns any new business. (Presumably they make money on volume or something like that.)
I’ve had mixed results too.
Though, the last place I went was Nectar (on wellington) and the food & service was top notch but the fact that they gave us a 6pm reservation and the place was still empty when we left is kinda ghetto. Oddly enough, seems the place closed.
by tyler on February 13 2008, 2:04 pm #
That’s the lame place on Wellington I couldn’t remember. Hah. It was very so-so the day we went.
by Ramanan on February 13 2008, 2:11 pm #
I know it’s silly to judge places based on my Winterlicious experience, but when I think about restaurants I’d like to go to again, i’m probably going to give preference to ones I know are good rather than ones that might be good if I just gave them another chance.
by Ramanan on February 13 2008, 4:26 pm #
I am a ‘licious hater. I had a mediocre experience at Trevor. Food was so average. Met up with some friends at The Rosebud for a birthday celebration and the first thing out of the waitress’s mouth was that we had one hour. She wondered why we didn’t even bother ordering drinks. Who wants to guzzle a couple of bottles of wine.
I have found that there is a small cluster of decent restos that are opting out of the ‘licious events such as the Niagara Street cafe, Cowbell & Amuse Bouche.
by Christine on February 8 2010, 4:39 pm #