This past weekend some friends of ours were in town from Louisville. As we e-mailed back and forth Jess and I decided that Lavomatic would be the perfect place to meet up for brunch. The restaurant is light and airy. The atmosphere is chill. What really sealed our fate is that a group of nine needs reservation and not all brunch places take them. As the 9 of us piled around our long table we settled into what we hoped would be a fantastic brunch.
Jess order us a bottle of cremant as the rest of the group poured as much cream and sugar into what I heard was very strong coffee . As the waitress brought the bottle to our table I noticed that the cage had already been removed and the cork was starting to come out. She was fiddling with something when all of a sudden it blew. The cork hit the wall behind Jess’s head. Ricocheted off the wall in to the head of one of our guests. Then bounced into the back of another guest. Finally finding its resting place on the floor. As the bottle is overflowing the waitress for a moment decides to set the bottle on the table in front of Jess. Realizing how bad of an idea that was she starts pouring it into a glass, but not before at least a glass of the bubbly ended up on the floor.
You would think that there was no where to go but up, unfortunately that was not the case. Both the omelet of the day and the soup of the day were the same as our previous visit (2 weeks before). Since the cream of mushroom soup was good on that trip I decided that I would start there. The soup is smooth, creamy and earthy. This picture is from our first visit. On the most recent visit there was no parmesean, shaved truffle or minced chives. It would have been nice to have that bright freshness that the chives would have added. 
Jess decided to have the steak and eggs for the second time. He loved it the first time. The steak was cooked the way he liked. The eggs were over easy. The second go round was not nearly as good. One egg was sunny side up and the other one had a brokencooked yolk. On top of that the steak was cold.
Picture on the left is from trip 1, Picture on the right is from trip 2
I decided to go with the special, shrimp and grits. When the plate was set in front of me, it looked delectable. After taking a bite of the grits I was hugely disappointed with how cold they were. I can stand some things, but cold grits is not one of them. I politely explained the situation to our waitress and sent the dish back. As I waited for my dish to come back, our guest (that was hit in the head with the cork) also waited. Apparently they forgot her dish all together.
When my shrimp and grits finally returned to the table I was shocked. They had reheated the entire dish. The shrimp were rubbery. There was burnt bits scattered around the plate. All the pretty green oil was now grey and sizzling so much I was a afraid I was going to burn myself. The worst part is that the dish could have been perfection. The seasoning on the shrimp was so good, spicy and smokey.
hitting my head on the table for not taking a picture after the reheat!
When our guest finally got her boursin, scallion and goetta omelet it once again was subpar. The omelet should have been hot with goey bits of melted cheese inside. Instead she has a warm mass of egg with some cheese and goetta thrown inside. The cheese wasn’t even melted. To top it all off when I had this omelet it was cold. I thought it was a fluke, but I don’t think so. There is just an issue getting hot plates to the table. As for the flavor, I feel like a broken record, but it could have been good. The herby boursin mixed with the salty goetta was lovely, the thought even makes my mouth water.
You can probably imagine how I was feeling at this point in time. I was frustrated, annoyed, embarrassed. I actually felt bad for the chef when he came to the table. We listen to him explain why things went bad, how 9 dishes are hard to serve at one time. I think it is admirable for him to show up to the table, but it didn’t make us feel any better. The two desserts that he sent over were good, the toasted oatmeal creme brulee was probably the best thing on the table all morning. Unfortunately nothing could have made the meal worth what we paid.
A couple more things to note about the meal. A manager never once came to our table. When our waitress was asking what she could do to make it better, Jess had to ask her to replace the glass of wine she spilled on the floor. I have also been wondering why the chef’s jacket was labeled Savor. Is it possible that he is just being shuffled around the restaurant group?
You know, the entire time I was reading your post I was thinking, “Sounds like a new/inexperienced chef.” What it appears is that they had to bring a chef from a different restaurant (probably one that doesn’t cook brunch that often) to fill in! Especially since the steak was cooked well, but the eggs were a mess! And tell Jess that I am also picky about my eggs!
a very accurate account of that brunch last sunday… ugh! but at least we are all in good company!
I love brunch but will not go there.
I’ve been there a couple times for both lunch and dinner. I think the fact that you had an excellent meal there was the fluke. I’ve had meals there that sounded excellent in theory – just as you stated – but tasted mediocre to me. I kinda dismissed it as me just preferring very flavorful food, but it jives with your experience.
lavomatic has been, for me, consistently disappointed since it first opened and i have not been there in over a year after feeling like i kept throwing my money down the toilet every time i went there. i am excited that senate is about to open and will hopefully give it some much needed competition.
p.s. love the blog!
This sums up my three visits their well. I *want* to love the place…but I’m accepting that it’s not even worth liking, really. Don’t think I’ll be back.
“there” not “their” — sorry about that! Long day!
yeah i too would like to like lavomatic but i just don’t. i’ve been there twice and both times didn’t really wow me for the price. the second time the food was very poor. too expensive for not so much great food.