Elm — Restaurant in New Canaan

I would give it 0 stars if google would let me.

Service was terrible and I didn't even sit down to eat!

I had organized and planned a birthday dinner this past Sunday for my fiancé at the chef's table with one of Elm's Guests Services, Private Events, and Reservations manager Melissa Groves. Our reservation was for Sunday January 11th 2015 at 7:00pm at the chef's table. We exchanged emails regarding the occasion, menu, and any allergy's we may have. I mentioned numerous times how special this birthday dinner was to us given it was the first birthday as an engaged couple. During these exchanges Melissa was great, even following up with me around 4:30pm the day of to wish us a lovely evening.

We arrive at 7pm to an empty restaurant and are told by the hostess that our reservation at the chef's table has been given away to a group that came in earlier in the night. I mentioned that this was unacceptable and explained that I had made a reservation in advance with Melissa, in fact two and a half hours prior we had emailed! I was expecting them to apologize and make it right. A temp manager came in and again we where told our reservation was given away by a walk in earlier in the night. Their solution was we could have any seat in an empty restaurant!!! In fact the actual wording was "you can have any seat you'd like even by the window we don't normally open those up." - WHAT? Failing to see how this was remotely close to a reasonable solution we left.

Sitting in the car outside the restaurant I sent an email explaining what had happened. It is now 3 business days from the night of our reservation and I have yet to hear a response.

Bottom line: Do not even consider this restaurant. If they cannot get a reservation right I wouldn't trust anything they serve you on a plate. Worst customer service I have ever...

Prices at Elm are JUST OBSCENE NOW. For context, I have been an extremely loyal Elm customer since day 1, literally since the first month that it opened. I choose my restaurants carefully and Elm has always been my favorite in New Canaan and basically all of CT, the quality of food outstanding, no other restaurant in town is close and that's NOT a knock on the others as much as it's praise for Elm. To be clear, Elm has never been cheap but I always felt the higher prices were were worth it and justified. But now, post-renovation, which is lovely by the way, I recently stopped in for a drink. A single drink was $18, after tip, $22. That's crazy, that's offensive. From a glance at the food menu, the food prices have increased obscenely too: many appies are now well into the mid $20s, many mains well into the $50s, even $60s. The burger is $30. To Luke and the owners - and this is coming from a longstanding extremely loyal friend - you are being WAY TOO GREEDY NOW. Take the prices BACK DOWN. Yes, there's money in town but you are going to start losing people. You are going to lose me...

I really want to like this place, I really do. Their modern space with all the right lighting and touches set the stage for a great dining experience.

Their pricing is high with $30 appetizers and $40/$50 entrees. The food itself is pretty magical on many levels.

The delivery and service of their product does not merit the pricing and there is no value to the dining experience here. When I spend this amount for dinner, I expect to have excellent service.

The service does not match the excellent food and ambiance. I always feel like I am dining at an I-Hop or Panera Bread here on a service level. The service staff are pleasant but indifferent and mediocre at servicing at best. They should be better trained at getting things aligned with the elevated pricing points. This is not their fault but the fault of management who time and time again accept this as "normal' for New Canaan. Well, it is not, and I will not be returning. I will miss your excellent food but would rather visit adjacent options who understand excellent...