thursday night was the american museum of natural history's annual museum dance, and 2009's theme was GREEN. it was a beautiful, well-attended event with well-groomed couples and throngs of singles (men & women) dressed in typical NYC-style: individually fashionable yet sometimes strange. i'm marking my calendar for 2010's AMNH event.i love benefits. i love the dresses (i wore green!), i love the energy, and i particularly love the silent auctions! but this year, benefits haven't been the same. and i'm sure it's because of the recession. but i dislike that word immensely... recession. so i'll be referring to the current times as a down-market.
in this down-market, no one bids on silent auction items! thursday's event had, in addition to amazing other prizes, an entire judith ripka jewelry bar, full of gorgeous baubles, and close to nothing had received bids. if you're unaware, starting bids at silent auctions are usually well under actual retail value. in this down-market, wouldn't people be vying for deals?! but the looming fear makes no one want to buy - even at 1/2 price (except me, i "won" a stunning, 18k-gold, diamond-crusted bracelet... i'm serious when i say i LOVE silent auctions).in juxtaposition, last night, we went to dinner at marfa, this new-ish inexpensive texas/mexican-themed restaurant. originally, i had a reservation at l'atelier de joel robuchon (talk about juxtaposition), but i was rebuked by my dining companions for not being "recession-friendly" (can you see why i dislike this word?).
marfa was not busy for a friday night. decor-wise, it's very bare: white adobe walls, wooden tables, votive candles in paper bags - no frills. we were seated promptly, and i immediately requested their signature "marfarita" to begin; for a cocktail spiked with serrano chile, i was very underwhelmed - it was overly sweet and had zero tequila punch. please go to bobo and try the "stealth margarita" - it blows this cocktail away.
i'm a piglet, and i can factually say that my dining companions last night are actual pigs. for 5 of us, we ordered the largest marfa APPETIZER platter: the big texan platter for 3 (dry-rub baby back ribs, chipotle chicken wings, red chile, veggie chile, corn dogs, guacamole, BBQ shrimp, and pulled pork tostadas). the menu also says it includes a shot of house-infused flavored tequila, but we never received this (strike 1). in addition, from the marfa BITES, we ordered the fish tacos and the nogales steak tacos, which covered the entire marfa BITES category besides the salads (and who really needs salad?). for our main course, we chose 2 orders of chicken-fried steak, fried catfish and fried chicken plus a double-order of mac & cheese and a basket of biscuits & cornbread.
here's how it went. we received the basket of cornbread (they were out of biscuits). the cornbread was terrible: dry, flavorless, crumbly and COLD. the accompanying honey chipotle butter couldn't resuscitate this bread. (i would HIGHLY advise they remove the cornbread from the menu, or improve the recipe).
but then the confusing part: we received EVERYTHING ELSE ALL AT ONCE (strike 2). our waitress must be the most daft, retarded server on the planet. we received platters upon platters of food on a relatively small table. you'd think someone would help consolidate the food or at least be vigilant about removing plates as i consolidated the food (which was so copious, it had to spill onto ANOTHER table). no... nothing.
i stacked empty plates under full plates; i left large empty platters at the edge of the table; i threw soiled and practically shredded paper napkins and rib/chicken bones onto plates that needed to be removed... not an iota of attention from the waitstaff.
i also ordered another bad "marfarita" - i was hoping for an improved version. i waited. and waited. and waited. i saw it already made sitting at the bar for 10 minutes or so; the ice was melting. i also saw the waitress chatting merrily with someone at the bar, with no intention of bringing my drink over. i marched over to the bar and grabbed it. it was already self-bussing; now it had become SELF-SERVE (strike 3).
finally, after we'd finished, requested the check, etc., i made it quite obvious our meal was complete (again, used napkins thrown atop dishes, completely licked-clean plates, etc.). our friend was telling a story of his recent spain adventures. the busboy finally appears, but instead of just taking the debris from our table, he interrupts for EVERY PLATE and asks, "are you finished with this, are you finished with this?" i couldn't take it anymore; i turned to him and said, "we are finished with EVERYTHING, and we've already asked for the check. in case this isn't clear enough, please take all of the plates."
sadly, the food was quite good (best chicken-fried steak i've had in NYC - but not nearly as good as the one i had in dallas, tx (see photo); good mac & cheese; really delicious fried catfish; yummy corn dogs); i'd consider take-out when my blood stops boiling at the thought of marfa. but i'll never return again. i was appalled that during this DOWN-MARKET, when restaurants are clamoring for paying customers, this restaurant could be so inattentive to its service. i abhor bad service.and we only ate here because of the recession. i hate that word.
marfa
101 east 2nd street near 1st ave
new york, ny 10009
212/673.8908
reservations available on opentable
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