Join us today at 11 AM to chat with Ann Limpert. Have questions about where to eat for Winter Restaurant Week?  Ways to cook and eat extra-cheaply during the shutdown? Or maybe you just need a dinner recommendation. Leave a question below, and Ann will get to as many as she can.
Ann: Good morning, chatters! Hope you’ve all had great weeks. I’m down to the wire over here, putting our latest 100 Best Restaurants issue to bed (!). Last week, a chatter wrote in about being denied the off-menu cacio e pepe at Centrolina. Soon after, I heard from chef Amy Brandwein, and I wanted to post her response:
Dear Ann,
I am reaching out because I read your online chat this week and am so disappointed to hear of our guest’s recent experience at Centrolina and their request for Cacio e Pepe. I really appreciate the Washingtonian‘s recognition for our cooking and our attention to authentic detail, such as in the classic Cacio e Pepe. Before and after the article came out, we have had many, many requests from customers for Cacio e Pepe and we have happily honored them time and time again. And we continue to welcome any future requests for this dish.
On the date in question, it was an extremely busy moment in the restaurant and our bartender felt it would be not be possible for the kitchen to pause and prepare this dish. This customer’s experience is an unfortunate exception to our longstanding policy to accommodate dietary restrictions and off-menu requests whenever possible and for our service team to relay any and all such requests to the Chef and dining room management team. In this instance, not only was this policy not followed, but we also fell short in communicating properly and warmly with our customer. We have reviewed the situation internally with the bartender in question and our entire dining room team to ensure this never happens again. Our goal is always to deliver beautifully executed food in a warm and welcoming environment.
Moments like these are learning experiences for us in our business and I would appreciate the opportunity to correct this for the guest. If you wouldn’t mind sharing their contact information, we would like to sincerely apologize and invite them back in as our guest.
Kind Regards,
Amy Brandwein
What’s on your minds? Lay it on me. You know the drill: Ask questions in the form below, and the chat transcript shows up underneath.
