Can anybody corroborate this account of Volunteer Park Cafe’s inaugural wine dinner?
: Unfortunately, the wine dinner was a bust. The menu was overly ambitious for the space, the owners were exhausted from the prior days events (and the unexpected “snow day” which brought it all the at home Mommies and their kids) plus I think the “service staff” were relatives because they showed all the training of, well, someone’s Aunt Mary. I hope the cafe delivers on the simpler day job of a breakfast and lunch joint. The neighborhood needs an alternative. We can’t eat at Vios every day.
Ouch. Bad start. Given the talent involved, we’ll assume this was typical early misstep and not indicative of future performance. We’re with Anonymous — Come on VPC&M! You can do it!
BTW, Seattlest swung by VPC&M but didn’t say whether he tried the chow or not.
–j
yeah – i stopped by there with my little son over the weekend. they were doing fine for lunch. i overheard one of the staff saying they were training up a bunch of new staff right now. I think they’re just working out kinks. eg. they forgot to have a new coffee urn online before the old one ran out, so a bunch of people had to wait a while for their coffees. typical new place/new staff goofs, i think. I liked their baked goods case and the place had a nice, cozy feel. table next to me got a grilled sandwich that looked fantastic.
i think it’s a winner if they tighten up their staff issues.
My husband and I went for lunch about 3 days after they opened and were disappointed. Although the food was tasty, it was painfully slow (30 minutes and a reminder to get our drinks, and 60 minutes plus for sandwiches). We saw lots of other patrons having the same experience. The space is cute but very drafty, so sit as far from the door as possible.
I’m willing to grant that the problems could be due to new place hiccups, but I still think it’ll be a while before we try again.
I ate there today and thought the food was a welcome addition to North Capitol Hill. Anyplace that we can walk to easily is a plus but frankly the food is fantastic. The food is kind of along the lines of what you get at Essential Bakery but so much tastier. We had a chocolate chip and toffee cookie, Nutella and strawberry panini, and an egg, gruyere and prosciutto breakfast panini and took a wonderful quiche to go. And the space has a ton of charm and character. There were lots of people filing in and out as well. The place has only been open what a week? I see give them a chance to straighten things out on the service end because the food is really awesome.
wow – three comments. rock on, CHS.
Speaking as “Seattlest,” no, I just popped in to take some pics, didn’t try the food/beverages…yet. But that matzo ball chicken soup will be mine…oh yes, it will be mine.
I’m the cranky person from the wine dinner. I stopped in today for lunch. The menu is so much superior to the former cafe that it makes you want to order everything on the menu (how many years did we have a choice of Chicken or Greek salad.) The atmosphere is so much cozier – I like the way they opened the food display. It used to be a fortress – the counter people against the customers. The food was terrific – try the chopped salad – pricey for the portion but very fresh and the quiche – handmade crust. Yummy. Welcome to the neighborhood.
We stopped through today for pecan square and coffee. Well, we wanted coffee and couldn’t resist the sweet. Everything went smoothly though we got lucky and arrived between waves of customers. The help was attentive and friendly. The “boss” looked a little tired. The air — as others have noted elsewhere — was a bit hazy from all the cooking. We thought that was cool. Especially in the gorgeous sunlight. They’ve really opened the building up nicely. We can’t wait to sit there for breakfast on a sunny summer Sunday.
My boyfriend and I went ate here yesterday and really, really liked it. True, the ordering system is problematic and confusing–is it counter service for beverages? or do they walk your orders out to you? Nevertheless, the food was kick-ass. We were blown away by the bananas foster french toast, and my brie and apple panini was different and really yummy. We plan on going back, and hope that VPC doesn’t become a victim of its own success, since I could easily envision a rush of customers overwhelming the pleasant-but-slightly-frenzied service staff.
Visited on Saturday and food, atmosphere, and service was great. Tiny mix up ordering, but great Chicken Panini and Maple Fig scone.
Miss the much better ambiance of Cafe Europa, but in spite of many service problems with this place the food is spectacular. Best panini I’ve ever had! The place is small, though so the whole “take the customers’ names and scream it when their food is ready” procedure is very annoying. Who wants to be enjoying their meal while someone is yelling “james….james….james for a ham and cheese.” C’mon, these people are self-proclaimed professionals, they can do better than this with the food delivery. Great food, though.
as for the comment in the last posting about the names being screamed, vios does the same thing. with places of this size and counter service i’m not sure what other options there are. vpcm is rockin’!
Things are getting “unkinked”: My wife and I stopped in for VPC’s Valentines dinner and it was great. The service was just fine and the food was very good. It is such a nice atmosphere – its great to be able to walk to a place like this right in the ‘hood.