A couple days ago, Curbed put out the call for readers to submit non-foodie-centric reviews of new restaurants. First up, a report of a hairy situation at Pace, the new Tribeca Italian run by the guys behind The Red Cat in Chelsea and the Mermaid Inn in the East Village.
i had a truly surreal experience at pace. we ordered the contorini, a plate of 3 small dishes, as an appetizer. one of the items was beets.as we were finishing them, i saw what i thought was a hair on the beet. it didn't really bug me that much, but i certainly wasn't going to finish it. i mean, to me, that kind of stuff happens once in a while, no biggie. which is what i said when i told the waitress, who proceeded to make a HUGE fuss over it. she was like "i am going to take this down to the chef RIGHT AWAY and see what he says."
and i just kept saying, no it's ok, really no biggie. she comes BACK to the table and says that she discussed it with the chef and the chef said that it was a thread from the beet root, not a hair. and i was like OK! FINE! like i said, no big deal.Good thing she didn't tell them about the dirty fork.but no, there is more. the manager comes over to my table, sits down next to me on the banquet, goes into to excruciating detail about "how root vegetables grow" and says, "well, i was down there in the kitchen thinking to myself 'how can i prove to her that it's not a hair? i don't want her to be grossed out.'"
so, HE PRODUCES THE HAIR and says, "this is what was in your salad. if it was a hair, it wouldn't break when you pull it but see" (he pulls the hair/root thread/whatever). "this breaks! so it is not hair!"
can you fucking imagine?
· Setting the Pace [DailyCandy]
· Pace [Citysearch]