Imperfecto — Restaurant in Washington

Last week I wanted to give 0/1 star because the experience was so fresh, but I'll be fairer and give: 1 star for the great menu/food (maybe I'll change it to 2 later, but I'm still annoyed) and 1 star for the excellent communication from Johanna and Maureen. For the 000s (I more than met the minimum for their private event package and I'm kicking myself for not just wrapping things up with Johanna) I spent at this establishment, this was by far the WORST high-scale dining experience I've ever had. I love traveling and going to some very expensive restaurants, Chef's tables experiences, and private tastings - I love unique experiences and invest in the best. This fell short.

The drinks, when they did arrive, were great. The food was fantastic. But, a big part of the price is the experience, service, and ambiance - and this was just terrible. DC puts mandatory fees and gratuity for large party sizes, and this is one of the very rare occasions when I wish DC didn't (as someone who has family who work in hospitality). There are plenty places in DC that deliver on service and experience. I literally wasted too much money here - but lesson learned.

Details: I went to Imperfecto DC to celebrate a hard-earned corporate promotion with close friends. I'd started my conversation with Imperfecto on March 6/7th and after I decided that the scale of my event was alright for a non-private path, Johanna kindly passed me over to Rosa Claros to finish my general reservation for my confirmed party of 12. From March 13th AM to March 16th late-PM I didn't get any responses from Rosa to finalize my March 19th reservation. I'd called and emailed Rosa anxiously during this time because I thought I'd be hard to reach due to work travel, but I wasn't even the issue. It was on March 17th LATE-PM EST that Rosa emailed me that the dining room was fully booked and she didn't realize that the private room had also been booked online by another party shortly after I was last emailed by her (although I never received said email). I literally had no options at this point - I'd already passed on other restaurants/chefs (they were fully booked at this point and couldn't accommodate late reservations for more than 4 people) and all my guests were traveling/made plans for the 19th. I had no choice but to go with a patio dining option and was optimistic about moving forward after finalizing my custom menu with Maureen.

Unfortunately, things got worse.

1. All of my guests complained at least twice during the night that drink orders were taking longer than 25mins to come out and required multiple reminders (same thing with most all requests: drinks, straws, napkins, heater, etc.).
2. It was explained to me that heaters could be brought out so I requested them when the temperature dropped and the night got windy, soon after arrival. It took over 2.5hrs to arrive and the only reason we got them is because -
3. IT RAINED and our table was the ONLY one with guests not set up under the building's roof extension. All 10 of my guests had to hurriedly run from the table while the staff rushed to move everything. Mind you, 15mins before the down-pour I'd called one of the manager-looking team members to share that we were feeling drizzles. That I was concerned about rain and that we should please move. I was told it was probably a passing cloud and basically dismissed.
4. I had to ask my guests to stand up prior to the rain too. I guess there weren't enough tables so some seats were arranged such that people/plates were expected to sit in the cracks of 2 tables that weren't even and couldn't be evened because we were outside. I literally had to advise the team about the poor presentation and told them my friend, who is quite pregnant, had 2 tables hitting her stomach. I asked for them to correct the presentation and for an arrangement of 2 chairs (1 on each side) per table. Embarrassing for me as a host to...

I'll begin with the positive: the food. The foie and moussaka cigar appetizers were lovely. All of the entrees our table ordered tasted great and were presented nicely. The onion carbonara with the steak was a creative twist full of flavor. The chicken was cooked perfectly, and the sunchokes under the dorade were flavorful and a nice addition to the dish.

Things went wrong, REALLY wrong, with service which ruined our entire experience. I'll preface all of this with stating that my party is more than aware of the challenges currently facing the restaurant industry and were more than willing and prepared to be patient. We had a reservation and were promptly seated with drink menus. We weren't presented with dinner menus for another 15 minutes or so. Our cocktails took about 15 minutes to arrive (again, not a big deal, we were prepared to be patient), but upon their arrival two of the four cocktails were promptly spilled down my back by the person bringing them to us. Fortunately for me, the two that spilled were the clear vodka cocktails. Unfortunately for me, the staff was only concerned with cleaning the floor and the minor splashes on the table behind me. They didn't acknowledge what happened nor did they attempt to help clean me up. We used the four napkins already at the table to help dry me off but were provided none from staff. We had to ask for more napkins when our food stated arriving.

The wine service was, I'll say, unusual. We ordered a bottle of wine. The bottle arrived to our table already open. I've never experienced this in ANY establishment, let alone a higher-end restaurant. The bottle always gets opened at the table. When we asked the sommelier why the bottle arrived already opened, he stated "that's how it's done at fine dining establishments in case the cork is breaks so it doesn't get in the wine." He then brought over a very brittle cork that he easily in half in front of us then proceeded to pour the $175 bottle of wine. If the cork does that, the wine should not be served.

The real kicker here was at the end of the meal when we received our $900 bill (which included four starters, four entrees, four cocktails, and two bottles of wine, and a COVID service charge), and not a single thing was comp'd. Nothing. Not the drinks spilled on me. Not the bottle of wine. Nothing. After the service and experience we had for the money we were paying, even a small gesture would have been appropriate, but the restaurant chose not to provide any form of customer service. After someone in our party went to talk to the executive chef after the general manager wasn't much help, our cocktails were comp'd and we were told we'd be taken care of "next time." There won't be a next time.

This was hands down one of the worst higher-end dining experiences I've had. I most certainly won't be going back, nor will I be dining at the sister...

We went for dinner. I really wanted to like them more, but had a few hiccups. We had the white truffle tasting menu (it’s not truffle season for much longer, and there’s none where I live). Tasting menu was $150, truffles $35/oz.

We started off strong. First was a nice mushroom soup (amuse bouche). A little salty for me, but otherwise nice. Next was a lamb and eggplant cigar with goat manchego cream. Good flavors, slightly messy, solid. Truffles didn’t add much to this, though.

Second was a burrata with tamarind hummus, fried lentils, apple compote. This was the highlight of the evening. Great textures, flavors. Burrata was slightly cold; had it warmed just a bit, could have been perfect, but we’re at Imperfecto, so…. Truffles matched quite well.

Third was the aged tenderloin tartare with cured egg yolk, bottarga, and bone marrow. Tartare was excellent. Good combination of flavors. As I’m being picky, my marrow was all melted, and as I have no shame, I stole from my dining partner.

Fourth: truffle tagliolini. I really wanted to like this, but have to say, I really didn’t. Noodles were too soft. Even mushy. The sauce was fine, but mine showed up with multiple spots of red spicy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I like some spice, but this was overwhelming. Couldn’t taste the truffles at all. Might have lost my sense of taste (see below).

Fifth: dry aged tenderloin and carbonara. Maybe my taste buds deserted me thanks to being on fire. Dining partner (who didn’t finish the tagliolini) insisted this was nearly too salty to eat. It seemed somewhat salty, but wasn’t overwhelming for me. Who knows? Meat was nicely aged and cooked. The onion carbonara strangely reminded me of instant mac and cheese. Like I said, my tastebuds were gone.

The chef did send out a wild mushroom risotto and scallop. It was rather nice. Scallop was beautifully cooked and matched well with the risotto.

Last was dessert. White chocolate ice cream, milk chocolate custard, ganache, lemon gel. Covered with truffles. I ate the truffles, picked at the rest. Don’t get truffles on this if you go. It’s just not worth it.

Service was very nice. Attentive, friendly. Just note that they will weigh your truffles with every dish. It takes a bit.

Would I do the tasting menu again? Maybe. Not for a while though. Would I eat off the a la carte? Sure. That burrata was incredible. Would I get...