Martini Modern Italian

I was able to get a same-day Friday reservation for 2 at 06:00 PM, which was great, and we were given a nice table with a view as I requested. The section we were seated in was not busy (there were at least two empty tables when we were seated). After service, I honestly don't know if this restaurant is supposed to be considered a fine dining concept. Maybe I've been spoiled by good service from enjoying Chicago's fine dining scene when I lived there. The food was excellent, but our server was atrocious. He made us feel very rushed and it became clear that he was just trying to flip our table. I'm not sure if the food warrants a return visit at risk of getting another subpar server.

The server was incredibly disengaged and not warm. He would not have told us about the entrée special if we had not asked if they had one. We started with cocktails as well as the calamari and arancini. We also ordered two pastas (mushroom ravioli, lamb pappardelle) and two mains (ossu buco, salmon). The server didn't even ask if we wanted them coursed out (which seems like common sense, given our party was two people), so as we feared, all of the food dropped at once.

The food runner was personable and cheerful, and he named each dish as he dropped them. The back server was also attentive to us, making sure dirty/empty plates were cleared and waters were refilled. Had I known the server was not going to be there to go over the dishes, I would have tried to memorize the descriptions of what we ordered because there was chili flake and crostini dropped off with the food that I had no idea what it was supposed to go with.

The server stopped by about 10 minutes after the pastas and mains dropped to check on us, by which point we were trying to figure out how two people were going to eat all of this food that was dropped at the same time before it got cold. My martini glass was empty for a while and the server didn't notice or ask if I wanted a refill. He didn't even try to sell us any desserts or dessert beverages and just asked if we needed anything else after we, the customers and not the server, boxed our own food up. It's pretty wild to me that two people racking up $200+ for food and beverages are expected to box their own food, which disqualifies any restaurant from being considered fine dining in my book.

I spoke to the manager and gave him some cash to give to our backserver and food runner, explaining that our server gave us a bad experience but I did not want to stiff the support staff. He said he was sorry to hear that and appreciated that we want to take care of their support staff. He asked what was wrong with the service, and I named off the server acting like he didn't care in general, as well as all the food being dropped at the same time and not being offered a refill on my cocktail glass that was sitting empty for a while.

This place is checked off my list of Cameron Mitchell restaurants to visit, and I think I'll return to Ocean Club if I want one of their fine dining experiences in the future. I guess my search continues for an Italian fine dining restaurant that has top-notch food AND service.