Sunday, January 25, 2009

Commerce Club, Greenville, SC



Location: Top floor of Tower One business building

Transportation/Parking: 5 miles via scooter, parking garage next door. Rather than validate parking, club gave us "Monopoly money" to completely pay for parking.

Room: Main dining room.

Meals: I ordered Caesar salad, Sausage and peppers pasta, berry/white chocolate bread pudding. All excellent. Sean ordered Caesar salad, NY strip with crab topping, cheesecake. We shared crab cake appetizer. Sean's steak was rare rather than medium rare, and had quite a bit of gristle. We had a bottle of Blackstone merlot and coffee.

Decor: Dark woods, subdued fabrics. Gorgeous city views; attractive room with oblique angles.

Atmosphere: Pleasant and formal. The pianist was pretty bad, though. He played Broadway and jazz standards with lots of mistakes and too many frills/glissandoes. Played "Music Box Dancer" poorly, twice. Ugh. We commented that he seemed drunk, but at least it wasn't overwhelmingly loud.

Service: Waiter knew the dishes well. At least three different people brought our food, all with impeccable technique. Minor glitch: waiter tried to tell Sean that asparagus with steak was "chef's preferred pairing" rather than simply accepting that Sean didn't want that vegetable. Waiter talked a bit too much about himself for our taste, but was very pleasant.

Club website

Thursday, January 15, 2009

University Club, Jacksonville, FL



Location: 25th floor of bank building in downtown Jacksonville.

Transportation/Parking: Jacksonville Transit Agency 9L bus. We told both the Signature Gold reservation line and the waitress that we had a hard time deadline to meet the last bus.

Room: Lounge/Bar (per Club Line, main dining room was booked with insurance company event)

Meals: Louise had Blackstone merlot, Caesar salad, baked seafood dish with risotto and asparagus. Rich and delicious. Sean had Blackstone merlot, Caesar salad, "Surf and turf" filet and shrimp with broccoli and mashed potatoes. Unfortunately, Sean's meal arrived with mushrooms on the steak. The waitress, Kristin, had described quite a few dishes in detail, including this one, but failed to mention the mushrooms. Mushrooms not listed on menu, either.

Sean sent the dish back and another member of the staff (the bartender?) told us the filet would be butterflied and replaced ASAP to meet our time deadline. Sean's replacement meal arrived as Louise finished hers, and it had asparagus instead of broccoli. Kristin brought broccoli soon afterwards without prompting. Sean found the butterflied filet disappointing. Kristin comped our wine (three glasses total). We skipped dessert to make our bus. Kristin offered to send dessert with us in a box, since it is included in Signature Gold dining. We declined.

Decor: ClubCorp standard, dark woods, subdued fabrics, low lighting.

Atmosphere: Television was audible in the bar nearby, but tables were nicely set. Tables separated from TV by folding screens and potted plants. Gorgeous western view over the river, city lights.

Service: Greeted courteously and promptly. Waitress checked in with us often. Minor glitches included being asked to keep a dirty knife after the amuse bouche (I declined and asked for a clean one) and twice being served from the right awkwardly by assisting staff member. Neither chef nor manager spoke to us directly about Sean's dinner mistake, although wine was comped.

Club website