My History with Lee

I first took my mother to Lee one Friday evening when she was in Toronto visiting me about 2 years ago. I had always wanted to try out the food. So on our walk home along King Street West, we stopped in for a bite to eat. Lee is a tapas restaurant so we ordered a couple of dishes between the two of us, which if I recall correctly were the fingerling potatoes, the Singapore Slaw (their signature item, including no less than 17 ingredients), a soup and something else. We were blown away, the food was amazing. Our tastebuds tingled from flavours, aromas and mixtures we had never had before. We fell in LOVE with Mr. Lee's creations. I don't recall what the service was like, which means it was probably fine. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it's only the extremes one seems to remember.

Since then I have had nothing but conceited, rude and downright insulting service from Lee.

It started this past Spring when I wanted to book a bite to eat for a bachelorette party I was organizing. The bride in question really likes the food at Lee, so I wanted to make a stop in there with the group for a bevvy and a bite. When I tried to book the reservation, explaining that it would be late and we wouldn't require a full meal, I was condescendingly informed that a credit card number MUST be left and if all the guests did not order a MINIMUM of three plates each, that the credit card would be charged for the difference. "WHAT?!?!?" Yes, there would be 10 of us. Yes we would be taking up space. No we weren't Neanderthals. We were a group of late 20's/early 30's women who would spend an adequate amount of money on food and liquor and wouldn't trash the joint or embarrass anyone. As a side note I have gone in with 4 people and not ordered 12 dishes for the whole table...maybe we should have been charged extra...god-forbid we take up the space and not eat enough. Even my mother and I only had 4 plates between the two of us...CALL THE POLICE! Needless to say we did not bring the bachelorette party to Lee.

Then this past Summer, my boyfriend and I decided to take his brother and his brother's girlfriend there for dinner. I called on Monday of that week, and reached their voicemail, which asked me to leave a message for a reservation with all of my details including contact information. I gave them my name, that I required a 7:30pm reservation on Saturday night for four people, then I left both my cell phone number and my work number. No, I never heard back from them. In retrospect maybe I should have called to confirm. But I didn't, I figured they would have called if they couldn't take me. So Saturday night at 7:30 the 4 of us show up. I walk up to the hostess who looks at me questioningly, and in a snotty voice says "Yessss? Can I...help...you?"
"Yes, I have a 7:30 reservation for 4", I reply.
She looks at me again, like I'm a moron, "I...don't take reservations for 7:30."
Pause...she continues to look at me, like she hopes I'll go away.
"Well, I called and made a reservation for 7:30", I say again, feeling rather embarrassed in front of our out of town guests.
"Who did you speak with?", she asks.
I realize then that I had only left a message and never received any confirmation. "I left a voicemail", I said.
"Well, did anyone call you back?". Again, I understand that I SHOULD have called to confirm (apparently), but the tone of voice she was using, like she had been blessed by the Hostess-Gods to rule over her door post, was starting to grate on my nerves.
"No, I left both my work and cell numbers and no one called me to tell me that my reservation was NOT available, so I assumed you were too busy to confirm, and came at the time I left on the voicemail."
She is now looking more and more unimpressed with me, like I am not qualified in the art of reservation making. And because of that, I am not WORTHY to eat at the restaurant she is guarding. And then she just STANDS there, looking at me, like she is hoping I will just walk away.
I am no longer embarrased in front of my guests...I am pissed off. Especially since looking around the restaurant half the tables are empty.
I look back at her after obviously giving the half empty restaurant a once over and ask, "We were hoping to have dinner with our reservation. Can you seat us?".
She glances down at what I assume is her seating chart/reservation list which you would think by the way she is holding it, that it is written in gold.
"Yes...we have a spot available on the patio", as though she fought a battle to score us such a lucky opporutnity.
"Thanks", you can tell that I don't mean it.

After that fiasco with the hostess, the rest of the service proved to be mostly uneventful, and as usual the food was fabulous. Our guests loved every bite, but the lack of hospitality at the door was a conversation piece for the remainder of the evening and passed on to others in the days afterwards.

I admit my fault, I should have followed up. I should have figured since I hadn't heard anything that maybe something was awry. And I feel foolish for assuming that if they couldn't take my reservation that they would have called me to either find a better time or let me know that they were booked, so that I wouldn't expect to be able to show up that night.

This is just my history with Lee, the best is yet to come. Hurt me once, shame on you. Hurt me twice shame on me.