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From: [an eater]
Date: Friday, May 28, 2010
To: eater complaints dept.
Subject: Roaches Falling From the Ceiling at Blossom
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We had some vegan friends visiting this past weekend and made a reservation for Saturday night at Blossom in Chelsea. We arrived about 15 minutes early and were warmly greeted and promptly seated at a table near the center of the small ground floor room. A server quickly brought menus, poured water, and gave a rundown of the night's specials, many of which sounded good even to us omnivores. The place is dimly lit and pretty classy in general; starters are around $15 and mains in the low $20's.
Things quickly unraveled, though, when a huge, 2-inch long cockroach emerged from behind the banquettes and slowly ascended the wall above us.
We notified our server who simply acknowledged that renovations next door had brought about a recent increase in "waterbugs" and walked away.
The roach precariously roamed high on the wall, back and forth, for several minutes and eventually made its way up the ceiling. It was a major distraction for us and several other tables soon took notice. The staff stood around and chatted about it but took no action.
By then the thing was directly above our table and threatened to fall at any moment. Half our party of six walked outside so as not to cause a scene inside the restaurant. An annoyed manager came to the table and said, "This is obviously a problem for you. We can re-seat you at a table upstairs or you can leave.". No apology, no remorse. The choice was a no-brainer As the remaining three of us got up to leave, the beast could hang on no longer and he fell right onto two unfortunate young ladies beside us. Shrieks and squeals followed us out the door.
I realize this could happen anywhere, but the staff's initial indifference and ultimate rudeness was unacceptable. The restaurant's website states "Blossom is first and foremost animal caring." Yes, it is. Even when the "animal" is a roach, and even at the expense of would-be patrons.
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