The guy can't help note a general malaise pervading the CCN restaurant scene, even with Ondos and Earl's about to open. North is not much fun anymore. The staff present forced smiles, and it is easy to tell many are not happy. My intel tells me that a few months ago corporate headquarters sent in an enforcer who fired a few of the veteran, and best, in my opinion, staff, especially behind the bar. The new guys behind the bar often don't even bother to check if the wine glass is clean, and the "workers" in the corporate kitchen sometimes cheat, like dicing unripe avocado so small in hopes the patron will not notice. I noticed.
Indeed, glasses or the avocado often can be the bell weather for the quality of a kitchen, as recently, the otherwise reliable Cherry Creek Grill served up a sashimi tuna salad with avocado so far gone my senses revolted, and my appetite evaporated. Second Home in the Marriott presented the other day a knife so crusty that I wondered how the staff who wrap the hardware could be so indifferent. Perhaps the pay sucks.
A few months ago, the barkeep at Kona Grill in the mall poured water in a glass so filthy that it suggested "he" must have been an improperly programmed automaton. I recall the bartenders who were fired from North - they would always raise the wine and water glasses to the light to check them, a professional courtesy which apparently is not valued by corporate culture seeking maximum profits.
Back in October, my brother and I dropped into Elway's, ostensibly a sports bar (?), looking for a beer and enough screens to enjoy both the Broncos and the Rockies games even if we had to rubberneck between the two. We asked the waitress if the establishment would tune both games, but she snapped: "I don't know.", without so much as assuring us that she would find out. We tried politeness to change her "mood," but she remained stolid (and unwelcoming), perhaps another "worker" who preferred to be elsewhere. We soon decided to be elsewhere and have not returned.
CCN is not much fun any more....
Comments