Sunday, April 11, 2010

Restaurant Experience: The Ahwahnee Restaurant, Yosemite National Park!

After getting all settled in at our Curry Village tent, we pulled the suitcases out of the bear-proof locker and put on some clothes that were presentable. With a spritz of a little cologne and perfume, we were all set for dinner up at the Ahwahnee Lodge. I was quite excited as the Executive Chef of Ahwahnee, Percy Whatley, had recently competed in the 2010 Bocuse d'Or USA competition up at Hyde Park campus of CIA.
Off to the lodge we go. The Mrs. loves her some fireplaces.
Next stop, the restaurant. Bread was really tasty, cardboard wafer cracker, not so much. AOS 6 just finished Intro to Table Service, so little things like this mean more to me now that I know the importance of service to a guest.
The Mrs. had the Cavatelli Pasta & Fresh Linguica with Trotters, Mushrooms, Broccoli Raabe (incorrect spelling on the menu), Ricotta Salata & Fire-roasted Tomato Sauce. This was a really cool dish and who doesn't like trotters (shaved meat from cooked pigs feet).
Back to that service thing. C'mon! Is this how you should present a $42 Roasted Liberty Duck Breast with Pommes Roesti, Spinach, Braised Red Cabbage & Cherry Port Wine Sauce to a guest?
Don't worry chef, I fixed it myself but I can't do anything about the half burnt and half unrendered skin on my duck breast.  We recently watched a video from famous New York restauranteur, Danny Meyer. Mr. Meyer talks about how the level of service to a guest should always surpas the level of expectation of the guest.  In his opinion, just meeting the guests expectation is not enough. With that said, I had a great meal at the Ahwahnee, but it just didn't exceed my expectation.  Luckily, we came to Yosemite for more than just a restaurant experience. Back to the Curry Village to get some rest before our big morning hike!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, I have aquired an old menu list in excellent cond. from the ahwahnee restraunt. eight different menues. very low menu prices inc. wine list. #1. summer activities #2. the big trees #3.autum in yosemite. #4. winter in yosemite #5. sprigin yosemite falls #6 the high sierra , cathedral peak # 7. blossoms -pacific dogwoods #8. el capitan sunrise. on the back explains the photo on the front. aquired from a friend who worked at yosemite @the restraunt many years ago (still alive )if interested in aquiring them for history . e-mail me or call me . 573-365-4571 in lake ozark, mo. thank you john wheat

Anonymous said...

Hello, I have aquired an old menu list in excellent cond. from the ahwahnee restraunt. eight different menues. very low menu prices inc. wine list. #1. summer activities #2. the big trees #3.autum in yosemite. #4. winter in yosemite #5. sprigin yosemite falls #6 the high sierra , cathedral peak # 7. blossoms -pacific dogwoods #8. el capitan sunrise. on the back explains the photo on the front. aquired from a friend who worked at yosemite @the restraunt many years ago (still alive )if interested in aquiring them for history . e-mail me or call me . 573-365-4571 in lake ozark, mo. thank you john wheat all photos are done by ansel adams