i'm lost in translation

Revamp not too hot

About two weeks ago - I watched Restaurant Revamp - a reality type show on Food Network about Bobby Flay helping to revamp a restaurant in order to save it. The restaurant in question was the Luca Lounge in the East Village. Did anyone else see the show? Because it seemed like the whole revamp gave the place a new breath of life. Maybe not - the boyfriend and I were hanging out in the East Village the other night - going to get a bite to eat at Dumpling Man (and I don't even want to hear any dumpling hating on my Dumpling Man) and we peeped into a totally deserted restaurant. It was the Luca Lounge - The chef that was featured on the "Restaurant Revamp" was drinking a glass of wine at the bar and there didn't seem to be another soul in the place. I thought that it just may be a little early but other places were busy.

It seems like the main problem with this place - only by it's citysearch reviews - is it's waitstaff and service. Quite honestly, if the staff is as bad as the reviews - maybe it deserves to close down. Some of may favorite places to eat are mainly because of the fantastic service, like Kitchen Club - where the waitstaff has always been attentive and wonderful. The worst service I've ever had was at Red Bamboo - where a faux-hawked-im-too-cool-to-work-here host forgot to seat us and then forgot to get a waiter to serve us.

posted by Jin @ 4:24 PM