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The Worst Dinner Outing of Our Lives
To the Editor:
On May 12, our party of six had the worst dinner outing of our lives due to the rude, insulting, and combative behavior of the owner of one of our town's most popular restaurants, a place where we had dined numerous times before to our satisfaction. Having a pre-Mother's Day dinner at Catherine's Tuscan Grill at 91 Main Street, the evening turned into a disaster due to the way we were treated by Cathryn, the proprietor.
For the sake of brevity, the service that night was poor, with dishes showing up several minutes apart, difficulty in getting drinks refilled and needs attended to, and then four of the six hot entrees being served lukewarm to cool.
However, we could have lived with this had it not been for the appalling response of the owner herself. When our son requested that his and his date's barely-eaten, very cool entrees not be billed, this was misunderstood by Cathryn, who began to have the entrees redone. When my son said that that's not what he had requested, Cathryn lost her temper and became very combative and rude with him at our table, upsetting our entire party. In the course of the argument she stepped far over the line of propriety and civility when she said, "You've been high maintenance since you came in……..You're an [explitive deleted]."
We were all shocked, appalled, and angry. I don't care how upset you get with a customer, it is never justifiable to speak to patron this way, insulting him and his entire party, certainly not when the table is paying more than $250 for dinner.
To add to this, Cathryn then "cut off" our table and wouldn't speak to us regarding the bill, as the two entrees had not been removed. Positioning herself at the other end of the restaurant, she only spoke to us by waitress emissaries and refused to remove the charge for nearly 20 minutes. Finally, the two entrees were removed and the bill was paid.
As our party left, we saw a police officer coming up the path. We learned that he had been called to remove us. Let me say that we have lived peaceably in Cold Spring for 30 years. No one in our party was inebriated or even slightly tipsy, nor were we loud and disruptive to other patrons.
Cathryn needs to take classes in anger management and public relations. To insult paying guests is appalling and unforgivable. We will certainly never eat there again.
Joe Gallello Linda Gallello
Cold Spring
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