Leisuremiles

I just wanted to share my disapointment with a restaurant that gets alot of press. I went to Fifth Floor restaurant at the Palomar Hotel after a social obligation Downtown, the room/atmosphere was great, but the service and food were dreadful. It took us a full hour to get our appetizers, 15 minutes to get a second bottle of wine and I quess I would only rate the food in the fair/good range...but the pricing was of course for great food...I ended up paying $400+ for 3 people and being very disappointed. Anyone else had any good/bad experiences at this restaurant.

raffy

I had the opportunity to dine at The Fifth Floor twice in the same week, 2 weeks ago. Unlike your experience, mine was quite different, on my first visit. The meal, ambiance and service were wonderful and the prices reflected such. Quite impressed with the quality of the establishment, I returned a day later for dinner, solo. I was seated in the bar area, which was fine, as I would have felt a little awkward having a meal by myself in the dining room. The service was nice, but I felt somewhat overlooked by the server since I was not in the dining room. My server failed to provide me with the chef’s starter, which I had had the night prior, and though I didn’t mention it, I was disappointed that they had forgotten me, not to mention that the starter was a wonderful concoction.

Overall, my meal was quite wonderful, although an evening engagement meant that I could not stay for dessert. Though I had a both a great and then a somewhat ok experience at the restaurant, I would recommend it to others for special occasions and would return to celebrate a birthday or other momentous occasion.

carlhaynes

According to today's Chronicle George Marrone is leaving Fifth Floor at the end of the month. He is going to head up a restaurant called Redwood Park which is due to open next month in the Transamerica building. Since he was synonymous with Fifth Floor it'll be interesting to see what happens to the restaurant.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...3/FD124940.DTL

Leisuremiles

I have also read the piece about Morrone leaving 5th Floor and feel I can attribute my experience to his likely indifference to the Fifth Floor now that he has a new gig coming up at another high profile restaurant.

The evening I was there he was out of the kitchen socializing much more than in the kitchen even though the kitchen seemed to be "in the weeds" for the better part of the night. I realize that this is a large part of the chef's job in a "name" restaurant but the food should definitely come first! I won't rush out to the new spot either.

raffy

More Fifth Floor staff leave in favor of Redwood Park:

A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that George Morrone was leaving Fifth Floor to head up the kitchen at Redwood Park, the lavish restaurant set to open next month in the Transamerica Pyramid. Now, two other key Fifth Floor people, general manager Robert Exelrod and sous chef Joseph Humphrey, will be joining him.

But that's not the least of it. Waiters, cooks, busboys and even dishwashers also are leaving -- nearly all of the restaurant's 60-member staff.

Those staying include sommelier Raj Parr and the bar staff. Morrone says new personnel are being trained and he doesn't feel Fifth Floor will suffer.

We also have confirmation that Laurent Gras of New York City's Peacock Alley has auditioned for Morrone's job at the Fifth Floor. Gras worked for 12 years under the multi-three-star chef Alain Ducasse in Paris and in Monte Carlo, and is known for his luscious dishes with complicated textures and flavors. Peacock Alley closed after the Sept. 11 tragedies.