Vic Stewart's, Walnut Creek

12/18/13

Our office holiday lunch was celebrated at Vic Stewart's. We made plans and submitted our menu choices in advance.  Unfortunately for Vic's I'd had lunched at Forbes Mill Steakhouse the day before, which raised the bar for fine lunch experiences and Vic's just couldn't reach my standards. Over and over I was disappointed with our office lunch.

Perhaps more intimate settings receive better service but I would never suggest a group lunch here to any of my peers. As we arrived and were shown to our private room, we took our seats and then had to get back up and grab our name tags, which were color-coordinated to match our menu choice. While that was a convenient way to maintain professionalism with food service, it could've been made more convenient for the patrons by having the server (who was standing in the room) greet us with a welcome and suggest we take our tag before sitting down.

Appetizers including pot stickers, hummus, veggies and ranch, and bruschetta were set on a table in the corner after we had all arrived. Our server did not make any mention what to do next. Which was unfortunately to have all twenty of us get up from the table and serve ourselves. Never have I seen this at an elegant, sit-down lunch. It was disorganized and somewhat chaotic. Plus, having to get up for seconds, rather than just reach to a plate in front of you, is not cool.  How hard would several small serving plates across our long table have been? The bruschetta was awful but the veggies were fresh and crisp and it was a huge serving and good variety. The pot stickers were good too, but only served with sweet and sour, nothing for us salty fans like a soy or teriyaki sauce. Bleh. Too bad there was no bread for the people who were receiving their appetizers last. The bread came after we'd eaten the apps. Knowing there was a vegan in the group, we shouldn't have had to ask for oil and vinegar. Hey Vic's! Vegans don't eat butter on their bread. The four frozen pre-packaged butters squares that came in the large basket of bread (11 slices in our basket) were laughed at by all, after I related that at my lunch the day before, each person had received a personal size tiny cup of their own fresh butter. Much classier: no sharing, no squares. When will fine establishments get a clue about serving hard squares of butter?! I don't know one person who enjoys trying to spread HARD butter on soft bread.

Our salad arrived in a fun, tilted bowl shortly after the bread. Mine was over-dressed Caesar and I LOVE salad but did not finish it; it was too much dressing. And I'm not a skimpy dresser (hehe, still talking about salad here) so this was disappointing.

Now entrees: My salmon was amazing. I had to ask for lemon (because I love lemon) and it was nice to get a few slices because then I put one in my water. Infused water is pretty popular now, but at least a slice of lemon is a nice touch. I even bring in lemons from home and serve them to our clients at work. Yes, at a law firm; it's just a nice touch. (And my Meyer lemons are amazing.) Salmon was perfectly flaky and the butter sauce on top was nice, though I did scrape some off. Broccoli was slightly over-cooked. (Broccoli is my favorite food though so I love it no matter how over or under cooked it is). Rice was dark and yummy. Not sure what the mix was but I mashed the broccoli in with it and some of the frozen butter and it was great! So overall at least my entrée was good. Perhaps 4-star? (Which is why I'd maybe give the place another try perhaps on a date nice.)

Dessert was a light cheesecake which I also enjoyed, served in the same cool bowl as the salads. I ate every bite. Delicious coffee and cream washed it down and my stomach was content.

Service was sad. While we had everything we needed, never once was I asked if I was enjoying my food or if I needed anything else. Robotic filling of water and clearing of plates. Even with group settings, servers can make an effort to be fun and personable. Guess that guaranteed tip really gives them no motivation to make this small effort. That was the feeling I got here. Not friendly, not welcoming, and not something I'd want to return for. Service is half the reason people go out - something that should be noted and improved on at Vic's.