Michelin_Man

I don’t know what it is about restaurants with names that begin with M like Mistura and Messis but, for me, the M means Misfortune.

I have been to Messis numerous times over many years, beginning with the first date with my wife so it is a place with good memories and I never had a bad meal (Dinner) there, until the last one which was a complete disaster causing me and my wife to never return.

We arrived at Messis in a very good mood to celebrate my wife’s birthday (the day before) and the 12th Anniversary of our marriage (the next day) which we mentioned to our waiter/server and also that we had dined there on our first date so the occasion and the place were special to us.

We ordered our meals and a bottle of wine. Although the restaurant wasn’t busy, our meal took a while to arrive. My wife’s meal was fine but, when I cut into my medium-rare ordered steak, I discovered it was substantially raw – a thin veneer of medium on the surface and the rest was totally raw – like it had just been thawed. My waiter/server was no where to be seen and neither was anyone else. When the waiter/server eventually reappeared, I signalled him over, explained the problem and showed him the steak. He took my plate away. While waiting, my wife ate her meal and I sat there drinking wine. After quite a wait, again, the waiter/server reappeared and set my meal down. It was burnt! And the vegetables were smushed together and obviously reheated. I complained immediately and had a set-to with the waiter/server about my ruined meal and special occassion. My wife was on the verge of tears. I told the waiter/server that I wanted a newly prepared main course even though, by now, my wife had finished her dinner and was ready for dessert. Regardless, I was quite hungry and wanted a meal. The waiter/server took my plate away, again, and returned with its replacement about 20 minutes later. By now, over an hour had passed since we arrived, and the bottle of wine was virtually empty. I looked at the meal and, horrors, the sides were not replaced but, in addition to being smushed together, they were burnt and were inedible. I wondered if the kitchen staff had taken revenge and done something awful to the sides. The steak was properly prepared, medium-rare, as I had asked for over an hour previous. I told the waiter/server that I had expected a completely remade main course, not the same sides and certainly not smushed together and burnt. He assured me they were newly made sides ( certainly a lie ). I told him that, considering the horrible experience, I expected that I wouldn’t have to pay for my part of the meal ( I should have demanded non-payment for everything, including my wife’s meal because of the ruined celebration of my wife’s birthday and our Anniversary.) He disappeared again then returned and stated that my main course had been removed from the bill. I paid, including a tip for the waiter/server in an amount which he would have received if nothing had been wrong, and left. As we were heading to the door, the chef (who is also the owner) ran out of the kitchen towards us and, intercepted us just outside the restaurant. He stated “Who do you think you are!”. I replied with, “A customer, you should supervise your kitchen better.” He replied “You aren’t to come back to my restaraunt, I don’t want to see you here again!” then walked back inside. My wife and I walked down Harbord Street silently, never to return to the misfortune of Messis.

Over priced, over cooked, over seasoned. See review of meal. Two stars for not charging for meal, otherwise zero.

My wife and I ate dinner at Mistura/Sopra during Winterlicious. We at upstairs at Sopra but it is served by the same kitchen as Mistura. My review is here because more people are familiar with Mistura than Sopra. There was a big snowstorm during the day/evening so there were very few patrons.

Live music – Piano player/vocalist was excellent but too loud – I had to put a piece of paper napkin in the ear facing the piano. The room is small enough that the audio amplification used is unnecessary.

Wait staff – Pleasant but scarce when needed.

Food – This was during Winterlicious which means that menu was limited but adequate. My main course was salmon. At the second bite, I realized that it was substantially raw inside. I didn’t order or expect sushi-style baked salmon. Unless the fish is specifically Sushi qualified, it may have parasites which are only killed when the fish is properly cooked which my fish was not. I looked for my wait staff person but she wasn’t in the room. After a few minutes waiting for her to appear, I went to the bar where I spoke to the “runner” who had brought my main course and told him about the problem. He came to my table and offered to re-cook the un/undercooked salmon. I replied that wasn’t acceptable and I wanted another freshly and properly cooked salmon main course. While waiting, my wife finished her main course and I finished my glass of wine which I had wanted to drink while eating mine. While I waited, the wait staff came by and asked me if I wanted another glass of wine. It appeared that it was offered as “compensation” for the screw-up with my salmon (my wife later told me she got the same impression). When the replacement salmon came, I cut it apart and found that it was properly cooked. We finished eating our meal after which the wait staff gave us the bill. My wife looked it over (she was paying) and looked surprised. I looked at it and found that everything was on the bill, including the second glass of wine I received. This was annoying to me because of the ruined the experience of going out for a nice meal. I asked the wait staff about the lack of any acknowledgement of the screw-up with my meal and lack of any compensation, even a token gratis glass of wine. She stated that she had discussed the matter with her manager and the chef, Massimo, who denied any fault and compensation. She asked if I wanted to speak to either of them. I asked to speak to the chef, Massimo. At this point my wife went to the ladies room. Massimo arrived and I recognized him from meeting and speaking with him a few months earlier while he was sitting in front of his other restaurant, a pizza parlour, on College street. During our discussion he denied any problem with my meal, stating that my salmon was not un/undercooked but was the way he always made it and that it was perfectly acceptable and that I had received another (properly cooked) salmon main course as compensation which, in his mind, was unnecessary. I told him that un/undercooked fish is potentially a health risk because, unless it is sushi-certified, it my (and usually does) contain parasites. He stated that none of the fish he serves is a health risk. He said that the way he cooked salmon was his standard to which I replied that anyone can arbitrarily set a standard of their own but that standard may not comply with acceptable standards, particularly those of the health department. I suggested that the health department may be interested to know of his viewpoint to which he replied that I should immediately (at 8:00 PM) call them. I said I would the next day. He accused me of insulting his staff, which I didn’t do, and being unreasonable. I told him that my wife is a lawyer (litigator) and would make a very credible witness as to the un/undercooked state of the salmon I had first received. He replied with some insults about lawyers. I told him that not offering any compensation for a ruined meal was unacceptable and that he must be hard up for money if he wouldn’t even give token compensation in the form of a glass of wine to go with my delayed and replaced main course (I had already drunk the glass of wine I had expected to drink with my main course if it had been acceptable.). He stood up from his chair and loudly announced that he would pay for the bill himself and that I must immediately leave his restaurant. As he walked away, I yelled quite loudly – Next time don’t serve uncooked fish to your customers. After that, he walked towards me and I warned him that if he or any of his staff touched me, I would have him or them charged with assault. I left the room, went downstairs with him following, and retrieved my coat and told the coat-check person that I had to wait for my wife to arrive from upstairs (she had been in the ladies room the whole time the battle raged) before I would leave. Massimo went back upstairs and followed my wife as she came downstairs. He announced that when I was civilized I could come back. I replied that I I would never be back. My wife and I left. That experience resulted in an argument between my wife and I. She was very angry about my objecting to the problems and confronting Massimo about them which totally ruined our evening out. I told her that she and I were the victims and that I resented being held responsible for ruining our evening out because I wouldn’t accept what happened – grin and bear it. I wish that more people would, when they receive inferior/bad service and/or food, complain and insist that the offending party(s) admit their mistake and compensate for it. If more people did, quality of service would, hopefully, improve. BTW, the bill was approximately $135. including taxes for two Winterlicious 3 course meals and three glasses of wine.

On another note, I have been in Massimo’s pizza parlour a few times. That restaurant is a pig stye. If you are ever there, look past the doors to the storage area – it is filthy. Even filthier is the washroom. I wanted to wash my hands but, when I viewed the washroom through the open door, I saw it was truly a pig stye – feces in, on, and around the toilet. I almost barfed and turned around and walked out. I haven’t been back since then and don’t know what condition the place is now in since Massimo spent a bit of money doing a superficial renovation. Maybe he had to because the health department required it or Massimo’s pizza parlour would be closed down. UPDATE: Massimo’s pizza is no more, it burned up. Maybe it will be like a Phoenix and rise from its ashes – hopefully not.