Sogno di Vino — Restaurant in Poulsbo

The following is an email I sent to the owner. Since they did not have the courtesy to reply I am posting it here.

Dear Rob and Angela,

Having made reservations last week at your restaurant for a romantic dinner with my fiancé for tonight, we were expecting a fabulous evening. Instead we were treated rudely and inequitably and we were turned away.

We arrived at our reservation time of 6pm. The table we were assigned was at the top of the stairs and in a high traffic area. In our opinion it was not conducive to a leisurely and romantic dinner that would probably cost somewhere between $150 and $200.

I asked the hostess if we could change tables and, after consulting the reservation book, She told me that if we could return at 6:45 we could be seated at a different table, which was fine with us. We returned 45 minutes later only to be told that we could be seated as long as we did not stay for more than 70 minutes. Our intention was to have a romantic dinner with drinks, wine food, and dessert. I understand the time constraint of 90 minutes is your policy. 70 minutes was not enough time to enjoy a leisurely and romantic meal. Meanwhile the rest of your customers are given the full90 minutes. This did not seem like a very equitable situation.

I commented that the posted sign said customers had a full 90 minutes. I was told that was not possible for us to have that long because they had another reservation at 8. So I asked to speak with the manager. She also told me we had to be finished in 70 minutes. When I explained, again that we were told we could have a table at 6:45 (nothing was said at that time that we would not be allowed the same courtesy as other table staying the full 90 minutes)

Mae, your manager, told me they had a table for us at 6. Implying that we should have stayed with that table. I explained again that we were promised, by the hostess, a different table at 6:45. If the hostess had told us to begin with that she could not accommodate us, we would’ve been fine and found another restaurant. Instead they changed the rules after we waited the 45 minutes.

I tried to explain to Mae that what she was insisting upon was not equitable, she became frustrated. I was put in the embarrassing situation of trying to explain my reasoning in front of my fiancé and other customers waiting to be seated. Mae said she was sorry but she could not accommodate us.

This was an extremely frustrating situation. We drove out from Port Ludlow expecting to have a nice dinner. Instead it turned to it into a humiliating experience. I have been to many nice restaurants and have never been treated so poorly.

I am not in the habit of writing emails like this and I am generally not one that complains. But this was a very frustrating experience and I found your manager to be downright rude. I’m sure it was a busy night and she was stressed but that’s still no excuse to treat a customer in that manner. I think your manager could’ve found a better solution. She did not seem to want to try.

I would appreciate a response and maybe you could tell me how your employees might’ve handled our situation leading to a more positive outcome for my fiancé and I. I feel really bad, personally, about how our evening turned out. I feel responsible for the lousy date night I had planned for and promised my fiancé. I don’t think it was really my fault at all.

By the way the food that we saw coming out looked delicious. My sister and a few others had recommended we try your restaurant. It was our first night out in quite a while. I wish it would’ve turned out better. Finally, let me just say that this evening was a very big deal for us. This experience tonight at your restaurant put a big damper on our evening. Needless to say my fiancé was not very happy and neither was I.

Thanks...

For Valentines Day, it was dinner at Sogno di Vino in Poulsbo, Washington. Sogno di Vino is an Italian restaurant that blends Italian dishes with Northwest ingredients. This is one time we would have like to of had dinner around 5 pm but ended up with a 4 pm time due to us making reservations late. This restaurant filled up fast. First, let me say this little restaurant is quaint and adorable and just enough Italian flair to give you that authentic feeling of rustic Italy. My husband ordered a gin martini, he didn't care for it much and said it tasted watered down. As we sat Barbara brought us menus and water, then we ordered and she brought us some seasoned pieces of bread to snack on.

We started with Bruschetta al Pomodoro and a Spinach and Frisse salad, which was just an item offered for Valentine's Day, I won't go into details about it. The bruschetta offered up an excellent Italian bread layered with tomatoes, garlic, and basil, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic reduction, so yummy and is considered a small plate/appetizer. Still, there was certainly enough food there to be considered an entree. Main entrees. I had the Linguine all Vangole, I choose this one because I didn't want a creamy pasta, but it was so flavorful I have no regrets ordering it at all. Local clams laid on a bed of linguine with fennel sausage, garlic, and crushed red pepper, but not enough to set your mouth on fire. Overall a great dish and a great size. My husband had Grilled pork tenderloin skewers that had this excellent smoked onion jam on it and roasted root vegetables, very tasty, and something I would consider ordering myself.

The restroom is a single shared bathroom, and for a restroom, it was charming, and it didn't appear messy or dirty. The overall restaurant was clean, and our server Barbara was friendly and attentive, quick to order, and quick to receive our food. I would love to return for lunch and try their pizza, which looked fabulous. For anyone who doesn't know where Sogno di Vino is located, they are on front street, historic downtown Poulsbo. There is public parking on the waterside and street parking throughout the downtown area, although both fill up quickly, especially during holidays and tourist...

We like Italian food and have eaten at SdV a few times here and there during the last decade, but noticed that the quality and consistency of food is hit or miss. And the reviews reflect that. But we chose to try again for our Anniversary on Sept 5, because we didn't want to drive over half an hour to find a white table cloth specialty restaurant, since North Kitsap is a bit of a culinary wasteland.

I had Crab+Bay Scallop linguine, my husband had the day's Special - Prawns linguine. His pasta was different tho - not as thick as mine, but the sauce was flavorful. The only negative was the Tail-on prawns.

Per world renowned chefs - there should never be tails on prawns/shrimps when served in sauces of any kind. The best part of those crustaceans is in the tail - and then very messy to remove.

But my Crab+Bay Scallop linguine with tomatoes, garlic, leeks, wine and cream was utterly devoid of any flavor whatsoever. Not sure there had even been salt in the cook water, but definitely no herbs or spices, and undetectable wine/cream sauce. And the amount of crab was maybe 1-2 tablespoons.

But the worst were the Bay Scallops. I know they are small compared to Sea scallops, but have never seen them as tiny as petit pois, even after cooking them and shrink. They were overcooked and hard. Again - maximum number in that large amount of bland linguine appeared to be 1-2 tablespoons. Seriously - we'd rather pay a little more for generous ingredients in our not cheap meal.

We do like that they allow dogs at their patio seating area!

We really wish the owners would take reviews to heart and make improvements to their food and quality control thereof. We would go back to being regulars, because we want to support local businesses in our beautiful little...