I'd love to know the name of the restaurant, too. Since I will be moving to NYC, most likely, this summer, I'd love to know where to avoid.

The situation was handled incredibly poorly.

But I had a similar experience (sort of). I went with my parents, brother, cousin, and (then future) in-laws to a restuarant in Philadelphia where I had been once before. That time was wonderful.

When we went in this group, the service was horrendous. The waitress seemed annoyed that we were not ordering drinks (we don't drink). SHe was not helpful with the menu and commented that we were not ordering much food. She would not first take our appetizer orders while we decided on main entrees.

My brother asked to speak to the chef, as he had studied in South America and was interested in meeting the chef, but we were told he was too busy.

When the appetizers came out, a live bug crawled out of the watercress garnish. Needless to say, my wife's sister was shocked. We called for the aitress, but she motioned for us to wait. No one raised their voice, but we called the manager. The manager was surprised. The waitress came in a few minutes and apologized for the delay. The manager offered to bring my sister-in-law another appetizer and said they would be taking that one off the bill. They explained that the produce was fresh, and sometimes even with washing, bugs can hide in there, just like with raspberries (in his words).

There was no offer of a free drink, dessert, etc. In fact, we waited so long to even see the dessert menu that we chose to leave.

I wrote a letter to the owner describing what happened and received no response. Once I called him back a week later or so, he told me that he had not received my letter. I spoke to him on the phone and faxed the letter. He apologized and they did send me a gift certificate to return to the restaurant. He asked me to call in advance and make sure he knew I was coming. This was over a year ago and I have not had the chance to return, but my brother went back recently and enjoyed himself. I am waiting to return with my wife and enjoy dinner there.

I think both situations could have been handled much better. If you feel like it, PM me the name of the restaurant to avoid!

fuzz

P.S. Sorry for the rambling!