Quel Dommage, Can Can!

Can Can Brasserie has been one of my favorite Richmond restaurants since it opened about 7-8 years ago.  It has been almost a sacred place for me.  I've been there for many a birthday celebration, including several of my own.  I've been there with local friends and brought lots of out-of-town friends.  I've treated myself by going there alone to write; I've literally got the tote bag and given it as gifts.  I've been there for brunch, lunch, and dinner and even met friends there for coffee and a pastry. If I'm passing by, I at least pop in a get a baguette.  It was the first place where Daddy Mac and I went out by ourselves after having Sam.  When Sam was three, we went there for brunch so many times he started to call it Candy Can.  You got it, right?  We loved the place! Daddy Mac and I have both lived in France for a bit and are big Francophiles.  Heck, I was even a French major.  It was no wonder that my sister in Boston gave us a gift certificate there for Christmas.

So, on with the story.  Yesterday we went to the Mummy Exhibit at the VMFA which was neat.  Then we headed to Can Can for lunch.  Still thinking of the fresh new year, Daddy Mac and I both decided to order something on the healthy side.  He got the salmon salad, and I got one of the "plats to de la semaine" (plates of the week).  It was lobster with leeks, bok choy, and a side salad.  My salad arrived which consisted of only lettuce.  That's OK -- I knew that when ordering.  I absolutely love their traditional greens and house dressing!  Well, the problem was there was hardly any lettuce in my lettuce-only salad.   That was a bit odd.  Underneath that lettuce lay a small piece of toast, which was even more odd.  Was that supposed to be an enormous crouton?  Was it there to make it seem as if there was more lettuce than there actually was?  I have no idea.

The entrees came, and I quickly realized  the three or four tiny pieces of lobster could not have weighed more than an ounce.   There wasn't  a whole lot of the bok choy/leek combo either.  Daddy Mac took one look at it and said that I could have some of his greens.  I figured that it would probably be more filling than it looked.  Well, his entree looked just about as paltry.  Once again his salad had barely any lettuce and a tiny piece of salmon.  Is there a lettuce shortage in the kitchen?  For the first time since I've known Daddy Mac, he ate everything on his plate, including all the greens.  Well, that's because there really wasn't much on his plate at the start.  Our waiter was very good and very busy, so we left him a nice tip.  It wasn't his fault after all.

After leaving, the whole situation just didn't sit right with me.  Besides the fact that we were still pretty hungry was one thing, but there was the distinct feeling of having been ripped off.  After a $50 lunch, you should not be just as hungry as when you walked in, if not more so.  We literally went to the McDonald's drive-thru, and I devoured my hamburger in no time flat.  It was yummy.

When we got home, I wanted to say or do something.  I found Can Can's Facebook page and left a post on their wall.  It said, "We just had lunch there.  I know French portions are small; I lived there for a year.  This was ridiculous!  We literally went to the McDonald's drive-thru afterwards.  Boy, did that hamburger taste good!"  I figured I would get some sort of response like, "We are sorry you feel that way.  We certainly don't want our customers to be so dissatisfied.  Blah, blah, blah."

Well, I checked back two hours later to see if there was any response from the restaurant.  Not only was there no response whatsoever, but my post was GONE!  POOF!  There was rien, nada, nothing, no sign of it.  It had been deleted.  I couldn't believe it - I even tried to give them the benefit of the doubt.  Perhaps they would send a follow-up email back to me personally.  Nope.

C'est vrai?  That's how they treat customers with a complaint?  They just delete them?  Besides the fact that I'm on the hunt for a new favorite restaurant in Richmond, I'm very disappointed and sad.  It's like losing a good friend.  Ah, quel dommage, Can Can.  What a pity.


LibbY

Boys Will Be Boys

Before having Sam, I never really bought into gender stereotypes about girls and boys.  Now I get it.  Oh, do I ever!   Ah, the communication -- or the lack thereof.  He tells me NOTHING about school.  Really -- absolutely nothing.  I ask, "How was your day?"

He responds, "The usual."

"Well, what's the usual?" I ask.

"Just the usual," he maintains.  Nope, I'm not getting a dang thing out of him, at most an offbeat mention of  a kid who holding up the class line or interfering with his LEGO building during center time.  (The nerve!)

A friend's son is one of Sam's buddies in class.  While we were chatting one day, she mentioned something in passing about her son having thrown up at school the week before -- in the middle of lunch no less.

"WHAT?!  I never heard that?" I exclaimed. Heck, Sam and her son eat at the same table across from each other!  How could anyone miss that one?  So when Sam came home from school that day, I asked him, "Did your friend throw up at lunch?"

"Yeah," he answered, all nonchalant.  Then a few beats later, he continued, "I WATCHED him throw up at lunch."  And  off he sauntered to construct his twelfth LEGO creation of the day.  (It's a game.)

Then again this week I found out this same friend of his had been out sick all week long with pneumonia.  "Did you know that your friend has been sick all week?"  I asked.

"Yeah.  Sometimes he comes in during the mornings."

End of questioning.

It's a good thing he's a boy because he'd never make it as a girl.

LibbY

A Quick Trip to Korea

Today my lunch buddy Denise and I took a quick trip to Korea -- via a local restaurant, the Korean Garden.  Yes, just a quick spin down Midlothian Turnpike (with lots of stoplights) did the trick.  Man, it sure does beat being on a plane for 15+ hours, the jet lag, and the pollution.  Miraculously this restaurant looks, feels, smells, and tastes just like being in Korea.  (Well, thankfully they didn't have some of the smells on hand.  Some need to stay in Korea.)  The menu's in Korean, and the Korean waitresses even wear the traditional dress called the "hanbok."  This place would be perfect for Busch Gardens if they ever decide to add a "Korea" section.

Being there makes me sentimental because I lived in Seoul "back in the day" from 1994-95 when I was in the Army JAG Corps.  Oh my!  Just did the math --it's hard to believe that was 17 years ago, give or take a year, of course!!  Wow - that makes me dizzy, even without any OB mekju (beer) or soju (like vodka, but sweeter.)  It's amazing how a few details, like kimchi served in some little white bowls, can really take you back somewhere in time and somewhere in space with friends you haven't seen or talked to in years.  And, no, Facebook doesn't count.

There is also an adjoining Korean grocery store which is the real deal, although thankfully not as cramped as in Korea.   It's so wild to see the familiar packaging in Hangul, the Korean alphabet.  It's all there --   seaweed, dumplings, rice and noodles galore, dried fish, lots of kimchi-flavored noodles, and countless UFOs (unidentified food objects.)  It's not just groceries; it's an intercultural adventure!

Much to my delight, they had my all-time favorite on hand --  Korean popsicles that taste exactly like honeydew melon.   As I picked one out of the freezer, I thought better of it and reached in for a second.  That way I could give one to Sam -- and not have to share my own!  (The truth hurts!)  Plus now I can tell Sam that he is an adventurous eater -- trying Korean food!  OK, it's just ice cream, but it's a start for the boy who eats spaghetti with absolutely nothing on it every night of the week.

Now I've got a little piece of Korea at home -- leftovers!  Of course the mere smell of it will repulse Daddy Mac, which means I won't have to share.  The big bag of dumplings is fair game, though.  After all it's just a quick trip to Korea to restock!


LibbY


P.S.  Thanks for your birthday lunch, Denise!   Note:  That story is a another blog in itself.