Finishing My Thoughts on Rosetta Stone Cafe

I left off my last post, having been bummed about the food choices and presentations from the Rosetta Stone Cafe's dinner menu. I will repeat one caveat and lead with another; I have been in the restaurant business for about 15 years before I became the Sales and Marketing Director for Accent Media. I have managed various types of restaurants and owned my own for 2 years. Unfortunately I didnt make the wisest choice in location myself, which is a little why I know of what I speak. My second caveat is to say that I really am very Pro Yo and want the Rosetta Stone Cafe to succeed here. So having already talked about my very good lunch and so-so dinner the first week they were open, let's get into my last visit for dinner last Monday night, and my thoughts and recommendations for the cafe.


Last Monday evening I left work around 6pm and decided to stop by the Rosetta Stone Cafe for dinner before heading home. I was dining alone and brought my Sunday paper from a day earlier that I had not had a chance to read yet. At a little after 6pm there was one other table there of 6, and a table of 2, with about 6 patrons at the bar. The hostess seated me at the row of 1/2 booth and 1/2 tables, directly across from the bar. I sat on the booth side, facing the bar, kitchen area and host station. After I was sat I began to read my paper. And read, and read, and read, until 3 pages later I have still not had a server drop by. It seemed as there were 3 servers on with one of the 3 in the process of being sent home since it wasnt busy. I looked up from my paper and began to search for eye contact to get my meal started. As I sat looking around, the bartender was in conversation with her guests, the other 2 servers that were still on were putting in orders, and chatting and the hostess was polishing the silverware of the tables in my row, but at the opposite end. I kept looking and trying to make contact and nothing. Finally, after the Hostess made her way from the far table of my rown to the table next to mine, I asked if she would mind getting me a server and maybe some water to drink. The Hostess walked over to a server that was doing something at a register and pointed my way and said something to her. The Hostess then went and filled a paper cup with water and walked right by me back to her Host stand with her own water to drink. It took another 3 minutes for my server to finish what she was doing at the register and then go into the kitchen and bring the table of 2 something out.


Once the server made it over to me, she was very nice and pretty much attentive throughout the rest of the meal. About half-way through my meal, a table of 8, including children came in to eat. To add to the insult of my inattentive Hostess who never seemed to notice I was not being served, I saw her walk this family to their table while thoroughly enjoying her chewing gum. This brought a total of 4 tables in the restaurant my entire dining experience, (almost 2 hours, it was a big sunday paper folks.) My meal this time was much better, although I still wish the dinner menu had more options. I ended up with the Bruschetta, which was fantastic, and the Baby Spinach and Fruit Salad, that was perfectly fine. The sweet taste of the balsamic glaze over the tomatoes and roasted vegetables on the artisan bread was a perfect mix. Although it wasn't the best Hot Bacon Dressing I have ever had, my salad spinach was crisp and the strawberry's and mandarin oranges a good compliment. For dessert, I had the homemade Tiramisu that was very flavorful and rich, with an excellent cup of coffee. Overall, once the meal got started, it was a very enjoyable experience.


Overall after 3 visits, I have to say that the service, with the exception of my last visit until I was greeted, is pretty much on par for where a new restaurant should be. I believe the food is primarily excellent in taste, but there are definite presentation problems and the variety of the menu is not one that I think will succeed in Downtown Youngstown. One of my best arguments to back that up is the family that came in to eat this past Monday. I really have no idea what the children at that table could have ordered. This I believe is the hidden jewel of what is needed downtown. Not a 4 or 5 star dining experience, but a place where families can come, have a great tasting meal, and be able to enjoy downtown life. If I had to guess, I would say that the DeYor's core audience is 35- 65, but they offer many great children's fare throughout the year as well. The Chevrolet Centre on the other hand, has it's most successful events with families, IE: Disney On Ice, Hockey and Football Games, Ringling Brothers Circus, etc. Of all those events, where can families really eat Downtown Youngstown that is not catered to more upscale diners. I can think of BW3's and I guess Tomasino's if you dont want atmosphere. You can go a little outside Youngsown to MVR and Charlie Staples and thats it. I believe another harbinger of bad news for upscale and innovative dining is definitely Oscar's on 224 in Boardman and GQ's in Canfield. Oscar's parking lot was always half-full compared to the more family friendly and sports bar oriented Blue Wolf Tavern next door. Now Oscars has closed their fine dining concept and changed itself into a sports bar called Jeremiah Bullfrog. GQ's has already cut it's menu prices which was Oscar's first step. If you cant find fine dining diners in Boardman or Canfield, you are going to be very hard pressed to have them come to Downtown Youngstown. I definitely applaud their efforts, but if the Rosetta Stone Cafe wants to be in business over the long run, they better think about changing their menu concept quickly. The atmosphere they have created in the design of the place is fantastic for a Bistro type place with their Lunch menu intact and then some great midrange meals that cater to families more than the more refined taste's. I would love to be listening to some great jazz, blues or fusion on their stage while having a great tasting sandwich or entree in the $8-$12 dollar range that has taste appeal across a wide spectrum. Of course this is just one man's humble opinion. More power to them if they prove me wrong and are the next big thing in Downtown, but I also hope they are around for the long run, we need some stability back in Ytown and then we will all be a happier community....Scott

Is The Writing On The Wall For The Rosetta Stone Cafe

I hope readers know that Accent Media and especially myself, are very Pro-Youngstown, and most definitely pro Downtown Youngstown. That being said, I have promised a review of the new Rosetta Stone Cafe that opened just half a block from our wonderful 20 Federal Plaza West building, and I have to say that is decidedly mixed. When I heard of the plan 3 years ago at a YAEDA meeting, it was originally to turn the location into a working media and computer company with an Internet Cafe added for downtown techies. I thought it was a wonderful idea, and was looking forward to the opening. I understand there was unfortunate and unforseen circumstances that caused the owner to enlist a new partner and start over again. The new vision was to still have the Internet Cafe concept, but gear it more towards a full fledged restaurant, rather than the original concept. I was actually even more happy because I obviously love to eat, and as the Sales and Marketing Director, I never want more competition in the market.


At First Night Youngstown, I took the owner of Accent Media, Chip, and our lead editor Kevin, down to check out the preview that Rosetta Stone was giving that night. We were immediately amazed at the renovations and decor that had occurred in such a short time and gave great kudos to the chef/co-owner that gave us a fantastic tour of the facility including the immaculate kitchen. We marveled at the chocolate sculptures, loved the colors and set-up, took ouur preview menu they were passing out and left, excited to come back as soon as they opened. Looking over the menu when we got back to the office, I was both impressed by the boldness of their selections, and worried that such said boldness would be appreciated and accepted by the community that currently comes downtown. To be honest, I thought they were a bit ahead of their time, but I was excited to try a lot of the dishes myself.


My first experience dining there was their second day open, when I took a potential client there for lunch. There was a decent smattering of tables seated and 6 patrons sitting at the bar. There also looked as though they were getting some take-out business at the front display case. Unfortunately on day 2 they had a few servers call off that day, and the manager was going to be our server. Although stressed a bit. the manager was in definite control, and handled our order fine. I chose the reuben sandwhich which was very tasty and served on a fantastic ciabatta bread roll, and served with an interesting and delicious mix of granola and apples. My client enjoyed the turkey sandwich and also had the granola and apples. We had water to drink and no room for appetizers or desserts, but we were very satisfied and the cafe was off to a great start in my eyes.


I then went 2 days later on Thursday evening to bring a friend and try the dinner menu. I had a late lunch that day and was not overly hungry, but my friend had brought a healthy appetite and we were ready to enjoy a nice dinner. The wine list has a very nice variety of wines available, however I thought the choices for each wine was not as imaginative and daring as they could have been. We settled on a bottle of Cabernet and it was enjoyable. We then decided to share the Roasted Artichoke and Andouille Dip, that sounded fantastic on the menu with creamy artichokes, baked with a blend of 4 cheeses, flavorful creole sausage and garden vegetables, however turned out to be very hard to manage with what I believe was poor concept. The flavor was very good, however it was served in a nice cereal bowl for lack of a better word, but you get the general idea of the shape, with pita chips surrounding it on a plate. Whether it was intentional or not, however the server never noticed if it was a mistake, the cheese had been baked into a liquid form around the sausage and vegetables. As I said, great flavor, but impossible to eat. The pita chips were not baked crisp, so they were very limp, with no way to hold either the vegetables and sausage, or the cheese, that simply drizzled and dripped off the chip. We honestly ended up eating most of it with our spoons and without the pita chips, those we simply dipped in the cheese sauce and tried not to drip on our clothes as we brought them to our mouths.


For entree's, my friend chose theRustic Alsacian Chicken, a Roasted Chicken Half with Peasant Roasted Vegetables and Angel Hair Pasta in a Rustic Buerre BlancSauce. The presentation was very well and the flavor was excellent according to him. I thought his portion was very generous, as was the entree's I saw going around the dining room that night. Since I had shared the appetizer and was still not overly hungry, I ordered the bowl of French Onion Soup and the Iceberg and Roquefort salad. Here in I believe is a major problem for this restaurant. Nothing that was on the lunch menu was available, and even though a sandwich would have been perfect for my appetite, none was available and I asked and was told they could not be served. If I bring anyone here with a small appetite at dinner, they are limited to appetizers soups and salads. While the flavor of the soup was okay, it was served in a large pasta bowl, with croutons and cheese layed on top. The bowl was too big for the cheese to cover, so the soup cooled quickly and unfortunately they did not have their soup spoons delivered yet, which I was not told. So I ate my soup with my teaspoon where the croutons would not fit and dripped everywhere from the bowl to your mouth. The salad was 3 large wedges of iceberg lettuce which was topped with the roquefort that had a nice enough taste, but only 4 slices of a roma tomato garnished the dish. It was overall very plain and not the best tasting salad ever.


We were both too full to order and enjoy dessert and left soon after finishing our meals. Definitely it was not a great experience, but as I said, my client and I had enjoyed our lunch thoroughly and it was only their fourth night, I would definitely give them another chance. I went back for my third time alone on Monday night. I have to say the food was fantastic this time, but the service was very poor indeed. I will leave that story and my recommendations for the Rosetta Stone Cafe in my next entry. I do wish this restaurant all the success, but it still has a way to go do survive in downtown Youngstown....Scott

Random Thoughts

So I left off Friday promising some of my thoughts on the Chevrolet Centre and random other Ytown happenings. I for one, am a huge supporter of the Chevy Centre. Do I think it should have been built? Well, that part is debateable, but I agree with the intentions for building it, and since it IS already built, there is no point hoping it will fail. I have attended events there, and it really is hard to find a bad seat in the house. The events I have seen were professional, and the crowds were there for a good time, and not for any trouble that I could see.


My concern has always been, that although this was a Youngstown arena, there was never any real Youngstown involvement in the operations. I understand the city is not in the Arena Operating Business, and should find someone qualified to do such, but can't the City see that it needs someone with local vision with a feel of what works here in Youngstown. Could an Arizona company really know what would fly here in the Mahoning Valley, just because they have run similar 'size' arenas in other cities?Could outside general managers who may understand how to book acts, really know what acts he should be booking here? Was there an investment in getting to know the Mahoning Valley community first? Could the salary spent to hire a company from outside, be better spent hiring a local promoter and giving them a budget the size of the management company's to staff his people? I think these are all valid questions that should have been answered or at least addressed. I am both very happy that the City has asked local promoter Eric Ryan to be the Executive Director, but at the same time, sad that the position will only be temporary. We need a local promoter, such as Ryan, who understands the area, and is willing to take on the task and get it done. I am hoping that Ryan's production company is putting their hat in the ring for the permanent position.





There was a press conference in our building today about one of the newest additions to Youngstown, "Art Youngstown, Inc.", that will be located right across the street at 25 Federal Plaza West, here in downtown Youngstown. The goal is to create gallery space for the local art scene, and the first exhibit, appropriately titled, "The Inaugural Exhibition, will have a first look on Friday, November 23rd, from 7:30 'til 10pm. Doors will open at 7pm. The Inaugarul Exhibit is being held with the help of Denise Powell of James and Weaver Co. I think it is very exciting to have this latest cultural venue downtown, and cant wait to attend.





I also want to point you to an open letter to the editor that was crafted by Defend Youngstown's founder and organizer, Phill Kidd. The letter talks about the real assets to a community, not the attractions that are there to be used, but the people that are there and need to use the attractions. If we want people to step up and get involved in the City of Youngstown, it will take cooperation with the City on following thru with promises, or at least keeping the public aware of events going on that affect city life, like the housing that Phil talks about on his blog. There are a lot of great, positive things happening in the City, now we need to promote them and more importantly, get the cities communities and the outlying areas to attend.





Accent Media is having another busy week, and I will update you all on that by Friday. Take care friends..........Scott