Ambiance == Darkness

I went to dinner last night with friends to a restaurant I've been to before and LOVED. It had great seafood, the dining room had a warm and cozy feel - just wonderful. However, sometime between the last time I went there and last night something drastic happened.

They lost their collective minds.

The restaurant Six Seven in the Edgewater Hotel used to be a seriously good restaurant. In a city that has more than its share of EXCELLENT restaurants, that's something about which a restaurant (and a hotel restaurant, no less) could be seriously proud. I should have known, though, as soon as we sat down that something was seriously amiss. The restaurant was so dark that we had to tilt a candle to even read the menu, and the layout of the menu was confusing as well (with no help from the waiter to ease our way into ordering).

Having made it through the menu by bailing out and opting for the 2 people for $67 4-course dinner, we still had hopes that the food would dazzle. It's not bad, but it is no longer in the top rankings of Seattle restaurants. My DH had the steak option (we had options for salad, entree, and dessert) and I had the fish. My sea bass was wonderful, but his steak arrived cold. Not only that, the DISH was hot, but the food was cold... Huh? The same thing happened with the soup - mine was fine, but his was cold. Maybe they had it out for him (not).

The desserts were wonderful - a gingerbread crust on a vanilla cheesecake and a molten-lava chocolate cake - so they must have kept their pastry chef. However, they seem to have lost their previous chef - or maybe they have the same chef, but he's gone as loony as the bozo who decided to up the ambiance by turning the lights off. What a disappointment - and expense. So disappointing to see a once stellar restaurant slide down hill like this...such a shame.

I'm just bleeding money these days, and it has to stop. We all received a notice that there will be a reduction-in-force, probably after the holidays, and we need to be tightening our belts. I guess I'm finished with my holiday shopping...