Having dined at Giorgio Baldi several times over the past few years, I always look forward to the next time I get to sit down in this wonderfully authentic Italian gem in Santa Monica.

With an overall score of 68.96, this revvizion may seem harsh to some.  This analysis is rooted in actionable input for the restaurant.  The input given is meant to serve as a genuine attempt to help this great restaurant rectify some simple yet important quality control issues that are sure to have been experienced by other diners along the way.  Given that Giorgio Baldi is a high-end dining establishment in Santa Monica, expectations for quality of service are commensurate with the prices we pay.  As diners who are willing to pay a premium for a premium experience, we expect the establishment to execute flawlessly and pay attention to all aspects of the customer experience.

About the revvize score model: every star in the revvize model is associated with a unique score, and can be traced back to a set of analytics that, in the aggregate, roll up into the overall score.  In order to be fair and objective, the score is computed according to a proprietary algorithm that combines dozens of granular, qualitative and quantitative elements covering four general areas: wine program, food, service and ambience/cleanliness.

First, let’s give credit where credit is due: the ambience and cleanliness at Giorgio Baldi are near flawless.  Although the lighting could be slightly brighter (some of our older guests needed the help of their iPhone’s flashlight to read the menu and see the contents of their plates), the environment is well suited for an intimate dining experience.  This accounts for the score of 98.57 assigned to the ambience/cleanliness category.

The heart of the experience, which is food, was excellent.  The food category score of 80.00 is not revealing of past experiences I’ve had at Giorgio Baldi; based on prior expectations, food should have scored in the high 90s.  This relatively low score is revealing of several elements that could have been executed better.

May 2018 experience:

The bread was decent but not memorable.  However, the dipping olive oil was first rate.

We ordered two appetizers: burrata and truffled carpaccio di manzo.  Both appetizers were flawless.

The burrata was perfectly creamy, yet delivering that pleasing elastic firmness that’s irresistible on the tongue and palate, especially coupled with the tomato, basil and olive oil combination in which no flavor was overwhelmingly dominant, showcasing the delicacy of the burrata’s flavor.

The beef carpaccio literally melts in your mouth, and leaves a lingering truffled creamy flavor along with a discrete amount of melted fontina, olive oil and lemon juice.

We ordered lamb chops that were decently flavorful, but not prepared to the correct temperature.  The serving was a little bit stingy for the price, and the mint paste that accompanied the lamb was dry.  The potatoes served with the lamb were scrumptious, roasted perfectly.

One of our guests ordered ravioli with ricotta and asparagus as an entrée.  Flavors were well executed, but the serving size was disappointing (our guest qualified it as a kid’s portion).  If it had been ordered as an appetizer, the size would have been acceptable, but definitely not as an entrée.

For dessert, the Nutella crespelle were a satisfying choice, and were actually a bigger serving than the ravioli!

Conversely, $14 for two small scoops of average flavor pistachio gelato was surprisingly overpriced, even if it had been the best gelato available.

Let’s talk about the wine program.  GB’s wine list definitely doesn’t lack in variety, but the price points seem arbitrarily high.  Having our own Napa Valley family label, we often bring some rare bottles and older vintages to share with friends and family.

We never mind the corkage fee, and we typically find that a restaurant will waive the corkage if we buy at least one bottle from their wine list.  That is typical, but not at Giorgio Baldi, where you either buy from their wine list or drink water.  Along with a handful of other equally presumptuous restaurants, GB’s policy is: no outside wine allowed.  As a winemaker, it isn’t difficult to comprehend how I would take that personally.

Pairing our wines with a great Italian meal would have been a perfect experience. Instead, we overpaid for an average Amarone.

Last but not least, let’s talk about the service quality score which, in the final analysis, was the most disappointing element, and cost the most number of points in this revvizion.

Our party was assigned one of the “terrace” tables, which is a super-narrow area directly behind the restaurant entrance.  We can’t really fault the restaurant for how narrow that area is, but the constant flux of incoming and outgoing patrons parking themselves next to our table was a bit distracting.

We immediately started feeling rushed.  Our waiter introduced himself hastily; most of the actual service was provided by the busser.  He answered our question distractedly, rushing to provide monosyllabic answers so he could switch his attention to other matters.  He never once stopped looking elsewhere as we asked questions, and getting his attention during dinner was an exercise in futility.  I understand it was a busy weekend, but when a server can’t handle many tables, it’s a manager’s job to make sure he or she is assigned a manageable number of tables in order to provide first rate attention and service to diners.

We requested a group picture, but our server dismissively delegated the task to another server, who obliged us (thankfully!).  We weren’t sure how taking a picture on an iPhone was somehow beneath him, but we moved on to other conversation.

One of our guests ordered a delicious linguine con langostine in a lightly spicy tomato sauce – the size of which met expectations for an entrée.  Flavors were wonderful, with well balanced acidity and sweetness in the tomato sauce.  Our guest decided she wished to add some freshly grated parmesan to this symphony of flavors.  When she requested parmesan from our server, he recommended against it in a disapproving tone, making our guest feel needlessly rejected.  She was ultimately given parmesan, but only after we insisted.

We realize that Italians, like many other cultures in Europe, are food purists.  As a Frenchman I can relate to this – the French have their well-deserved reputation for being very particular and, sometimes, outright rude about their food preferences; if Italians frown upon adding cheese to a pasta dish, they probably have a decent rationale for it.  I’ve heard diners order diet coke with their well-done steak, a revolting thought for my own palate.  However, it is that diner’s right, no matter how misguided, to drink and eat whatever they wish.  After all, they are on the hook for paying their bill, whether or not they are satisfied with their meal.

So why even argue with a guest about a simple request for parmesan on a pasta dish?  Why not simply make sure the guest comes away from their dining experience wanting to come back, versus feeling rejection for such a benign request?

Another broken rule, which also contributed to our feeling rushed, was plates being removed from the table prior to all guests having finished their dinners.

Finally, the finishing touch that motivated this review, was being presented with the bill before we requested it.  Oddly enough, the check was presented by the hostess, not the waiter, making it very clear she needed our table for the next party.  This final detail, cumulative with all the other elements that made us feel rushed, made this experience far less enjoyable than it should have been.  I would tolerate this on Mother’s Day brunch, when quickly turning tables over is a must, but definitely not for a leisurely dinner.

Adding insult to injury, because we were a party of six, the restaurant pre-computed a 20% gratuity into our bill.  It was our intention to leave a maximum of 15% gratuity considering how frustrating the service experience was; however, because the gratuity was presumptuously pre-computed, we were denied the basic ability to express our disappointment with the quality of service.

In summary:

• Great food, awesome flavors
• Great environment, flawless cleanliness
• Inconsistent price/quality of experience
• Unable to bring our own wine bottle to enjoy with dinner
• Flippant, dismissive and argumentative server
• Rushed experience throughout dinner
• presented check before asking for it
• presumptuous pre-computed gratuity

This brings us to the most basic thing on every diner’s mind when leaving an establishment, a simple binary choice: do I want to go back to this restaurant?  I choose to call this a binary choice because psychologically, it is that simple in our mind: a 1 or a 0.  The experience was either an irreversible “never again,” or a yes.

In the case of Giorgio Baldi, we will undoubtedly overlook all the service shortcomings in order to recognize the true soul of the restaurant: glorious, authentic Italian flavors.  One rude server should not have the power to damage the reputation of a restaurant, especially one that serves great food.  Had the food element been inferior in any way, the score would have been lower yet, and the answer to that binary question would have been an unequivocal “no.”

The point is, a dining experience, no matter if the establishment is high-end or a food truck, comes with expectations.  Our expectations are often governed by how much of our hard-earned cash we have to part with.  Clearly our expectations of a food truck are simplified in comparison to the likes of a Giorgio Baldi – we only care that the food truck be clean, and that the food be tasty.

High-end dining establishments don’t become successful overnight; for some, their reputations are built over decades.  Complacency is a dangerous trait for any of them.  Some of the best restaurants shut down for unrelated reasons like losing their lease, or a star-chef being accused of inappropriate behavior.  Some others gradually lose their touch by taking their eyes off the important details.  Reputation is made one diner at a time.

So we encourage our readers to definitely give Giorgio Baldi a try, because their team in the kitchen is first rate.  If it’s a busy night, be patient with your waiter.

Ludovic Le Fort, May 29, 2018

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