Osteria Al Mare — Restaurant in Monterey

Attn: #kitchennightmares Gordon Ramsey would tear this place apart. Sadly, it really could be great as is, if was managed properly. Cool location with a nice view of the Monterey Bay, right off Cannery Row. Nicely appointed, fun art, good energy. Food was pretty solid. Seafood seemed fresh and was the better of what we had. Ragu Ravioli was ok, I was starving so I ate it, but the kids didn't feel great after sharing the chicken (said it was chewy) fettuccine (and Clam Chowders - bland). I'd avoid those, but the salmon and calamari was pretty good. The staff generally seemed hard working and were busy and attentive, especially for the area, but poor leadership is the obvious downfall of this establishment. The gentleman who sat us was obviously an owner or manager and was trying to be nice and was busy, but his poor communication with his staff was the problem. Even though we made a reservation in advance for 6pm, we were sat at an obvious makeshift overflow table in what I assume is normally the usual path out of the kitchen, given we were ran into multiple times and our location in the middle of the room and our direct view into the kitchen of several dishes dying in the window. After 20-30 minutes he returned and opened our bottle of wine and was so frantic he almost poured wine for our middle school children. We then gave our easy appetizer order, including an order for two Shirley Temples for the girls. Another 30 minutes and no kids drinks or anything. We had to ask for them and everything else twice, from that point on. He must have forgot to relay anything to a server and no one else ever came to be our dedicated person. An hour in, we finally ordered entrees by flagging down the same man, which took another 45 minutes to arrive. After asking for them, again. Each time he came he had a lame excuse, about broken refrigerators and down computers. Why do people do this? I'm a longtime service industry veteran and you never say these details, you just apologize for the wait and then do whatever it takes to smooth things over. After asking for our bill (twice) and being offered free dessert, that never came, we finally got our bill ($170!) with no comps or anything and we had to finally pay online via Apple Pay because they never came back. Meanwhile the manager guy was literally drinking wine and toasting a large party near us (multiple times) while he kept us waiting... horrible service and it's the manager guy's fault. If you can't manage your table flow properly, you need to take less tables and spread it out. Don't be greedy and ruin our vacation dinner and waste our hard earned money. Our experience was shared (visibly) by several other patrons and I even witnessed an older lady customer having to go into the kitchen to complain and get assistance and was basically in tears. I hope you see this review and take it to heart or this...

After driving up the coast in our vacation we decided to relax and have drinks and food by the pier, so we went to Osteria. Our terrible experience started since the moment we walked in. Right in front of us was a couple who got acknowledged right away by the host who took them to their table and spent a good 7-10 minutes chatting with them, ignoring our presence. He had obliviously seen us but he didn't seem to care we were waiting. Servers passed by in front of us not acknowledging us for a while. Finally someone did but the host, still talking to the other guests didn't seem to care we were waiting.

When we were finally greeted by the host, we asked him if we should sit outdoors so we could see the pier. He didn't even let me finish my request, pushing us to a corner table where the view was obstructed by shipping containers. NOBODY sat in the table that was available outside the whole night. In fact, there were less and less guests throughout the night, plenty of available tables.

When we sat down, it took quite a bit of time for our server to acknowledge us. He got our drink order and our food order when he came back with the drinks. We didn't see him the whole entire night untill after we got the food. I had to flag workers all the time to get any attention from them and to be able to order more wine. Waiters seemed to be taking care of all the tables except ours.

I do have to say that the food was ok but, with the treatment we got we felt so terrible dining there. We were treated like scum.

The server didn't even wait for my partner to finish his drink. He had the check in hand when he took our plates off the table. We decided to pay right away and get out as soon as we could to avoid the continued feeling we were getting from that place. We gave them 2 cards to split the bill. When the charges to the cards came back, we noticed they had messed up and only charged half of the check to one card. We could have walked out without saying anything but us, being people of color who get stereotyped all the time and because we're good human beings, decided to alert the server about his mistake so he didn't get screwed over at the end of the night. Once again, it took a long time to acknowledge our presence, even as I was standing in front of their register obviously needing help. They didn't even say "thank you" for bringing this up.

After we had dinner, we discovered there were other places where we could've had dinner that seemed nice as well. My advice, if you don't want to be treated badly, find one of those other places and give them your hard earned...

Premise 1. This is my first ever positive restaurant review. I do not have time to write reviews and only write one when I had a bad experience and want to warn fellow travelers. I loved this place so much that took extensive notes on the various dishes. Premise 2. I have dined in many Michelin star(s) restaurants, in France, UK, Belgium, Italy, USA. I am Italian and lived in France and Belgium many years. I am not a food critic, but know good food and know fake. I still remember home made pasta and sauces my mother would make.

The above premised: this was one of the best ever dining experiences in many years. Food was perfectly cooked, the right combination of flavors and textures. Not too much salt and not overly thickened sauces. Just right. Perfect pasta, al dente - in the real sense of the word. The “LaPera” (Pear Salad) had just the right amount of sweet and fresh, with the candied pecans complementing the sweetness of the pears in an indulgence of fresh flavors. The Fettuccine al Pescatore (my choice), were perfect, the fresh fish not overly cooked - a difficult thing to do as cooks tend now to have the sauce with the fish prepared beforehand and when they “finish” it with the pasta it ends overcooking the fish. Hence you typically have more calamari which, because of its natural consistency, do not present this challenge. Not here, perfect mix of seafood and fresh fish. Delightful. The Tagliatelle alla Boscaiola (my son’s choice) were so good, fresh mushrooms and rich in flavor. What topped it all were the “Fiocchi al Gorgonzola” (my daughter’s choice) “out of this world” - the gorgonzola sauce (using I believe TOTL gorgonzola - otherwise it is typically overly salty) was en experience even just by itself. We later learned that the fiocchi were made by a local artisan in California. I did not know Maurizio, the owner, but got to know him through the evening, delightful and down to heart, and a real artist at heart. To my asking, he explained that he takes particular pride in choosing only first rate ingredients - I can only say that it shows in all of his creations. He was able to adapt for my wife, who has a gluten allergy, the dish she chose. Even her GF pasta (I know it is TOTL and the most expensive around - cannot say the brand to avoid advertising) was just perfect. In short: if I lived in Monterrey, this would be my go-to locanda - for a fancy dinner, to bring my friends, or just to remind me of perfectly made pasta! Bravissimo Maurizio and Team - come to open an Osteria on...