Vast

[cagoklahoma]

My wife and I went to Vast on the second night it was open to celebrate our one year anniversary. The views are amazing, the service was good, and the food met my expectations. Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our time, but I don’t know when we will go back. We are not quite in the tax bracket that would allow us to spend $200 on dinner very often. Going into it I knew it would be expensive, and that there would be some things about it I hadn’t experienced. So instead of requiring them to meet me at my level, I wanted to experience what the service is like at their level. I don’t want to go somewhere like Vast, spend a lot of money and be treated like I am at Chili’s.

Vast is not Chili’s, and should not be the standard by which we base our service principals. However, if you feel that should be, then you should know that Chili’s customers are also offered dish water in the ramekins that are their many sides of ranch come in, cups that are quazi-clean, and the many other reasons that make this former employee not eat there. Even though I took great care of my guest’s by making sure their cups, utensils, plates, bowls, and ramekins were clean and free of debris, most of my coworkers did not.

Happy eating!

For those who want it their way, go to Burger King.

[Pete]

Henry Ford's famous quote applies here:

"If I would have asked people what they wanted, they would have said 'Faster horses'. "


We don't have much fine dining in Oklahoma City and it's up to the operators at Vast and the like to raise the bar, not lower it to the level people have become accustomed.

I can assure you here in L.A. -- quite possibly the most competitive restaurant market in the U.S. -- that it's the norm to order your appetizers with your mains.

[jedicurt]

We don't have much fine dining in Oklahoma City and it's up to the operators at Vast and the like to raise the bar, not lower it to the level people have become accustomed.

I think this is where my problem with Vast and it's food is. I have been to many fine restaurants in places like San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Boston, and Miami (haven't been to LA very much)... and while i thought the food was good (and by good i mean it tasted fine), it was not good for the price. Having been to restaurants of a similar price range (and some much greater), i expected a lot more from the food, and not in quantity, but in quality. I came away feeling as though i could have gone elsewhere in OKC and gotten food just as good for much less in price, and i didn't have that feeling going to those other restaurants in other cities. I felt that it wasn't up to par with what is out there around the country, and i wanted Vast to raise the bar, but sadly, i think they just raised their prices rather than the bar.

[OKCisOK4me]

I would think that it would be appropriate to not want to space the orders out. What if you place just your appetizer order and between then and the time you place your entree order that a massive crowd comes in. Wouldn't you want to receive your order in a timely manner? I'd think that the customer would be complaining if their order was taking longer. Common sense...

[Teo9969]

I would think that it would be appropriate to not want to space the orders out. What if you place just your appetizer order and between then and the time you place your entree order that a massive crowd comes in. Wouldn't you want to receive your order in a timely manner? I'd think that the customer would be complaining if their order was taking longer. Common sense...

That largely depends on the appetizer ordered, the amount of people at the table, the amount of people in the restaurant, the table the guests are sitting at, the occasion on which the guests are dining, the time the group wants to spend at the restaurant.

It is a fluid situation. The server's responsibility is to read and direct the guests, whether overtly or covertly, to the best experience the guest is willing to have.

[Larry OKC]

While it is common practice to order the apps & main dishes at the same time, I have never found it to be a requirement. Have often ordeed apps first while we were deciding on the main meal. I don't see any difference in splitting up the placement of the order any more than adding on dessert at the end. It shouldn't be a big deal. If the restaurant isn't able to handle a reasonable request, the diner is free to take their business elsewhere. Have any of you seen those mystery diner shows where they set up cameras showing the staff being indifferent or not accommodating to the customer? When confronted by the owner, the staff gets defensive and beligerent, saying the customer is not always right, they got what they deserved?

[positano]

While it is common practice to order the apps & main dishes at the same time, I have never found it to be a requirement. Have often ordeed apps first while we were deciding on the main meal. I don't see any difference in splitting up the placement of the order any more than adding on dessert at the end. It shouldn't be a big deal. If the restaurant isn't able to handle a reasonable request, the diner is free to take their business elsewhere.

^This. Absolutely this. If a restaurant declined and told me my starter order would have to wait until I was ready to place my order for my main course I would leave. But I've ordered this way on many occasions in a wide variety of restaurants and never had an adverse experience. Seems to me this may be an isolated incident.

[Bellaboo]

Sorry Soonerguru, I think you exposed yourself as being the 'amateur', not Vast. lol

[Teo9969]

Yeah, the Customer is not even always rational, let alone right.

I bet if you went into Wal-Mart when Sam Walton happened to be there and you said "This shirt ought to cost half this much" He'd call his own bluff...So much for the axiom

[OKCisOK4me]

Yeah, exactly. Businesses don't stay in business because they bend over for the customer...

[Dubya61]

If I were the server and were reliant upon a happy customer for a good tip, I'd say the customer can order his appetizer separate from his main course, if he so desires, but advise him that ordering the main with it would allow for a speedier meal. If the customer insists on the wait, it should be his prerogative. If you're selling underwear and get paid no matter if the customer is happy about the thread count or not, the customer can be wrong. If you're selling entertainment (that's really what eating out is) and a disgruntled customer reduces your pay, you ought to satify the customer and ask the kitchen to work with you on this one.

[OKCisOK4me]

Do you think there may be a possibility that if they ask you to order the dessert at the same time as all of it, that maybe, just MAYBE, they don't have it pre-ordered from some factory that makes desserts. Maybe they apply the frosting and all the freshness of that order right then and there? Maybe they need prep time on their desserts. IDK, that's just a thought.

[catch22]

Do you think there may be a possibility that if they ask you to order the dessert at the same time as all of it, that maybe, just MAYBE, they don't have it pre-ordered from some factory that makes desserts. Maybe they apply the frosting and all the freshness of that order right then and there? Maybe they need prep time on their desserts. IDK, that's just a thought.

Yes. Some desserts (not sure about vast) require 7-10 minute lead times for prep. As a server it's a disaster having the table sit 7-10 mins after dinner with no food in front of them waiting for dessert. It's all about timing, if a server asks you a question about the next course he is trying to time it so you don't have a bad experience. The server knows the prep times for the menu better than you do and if he offers dessert at a specific time, it's because he knows how long it will take to execute it.

[Teo9969]

Yes. Some desserts (not sure about vast) require 7-10 minute lead times for prep. As a server it's a disaster having the table sit 7-10 mins after dinner with no food in front of them waiting for dessert. It's all about timing, if a server asks you a question about the next course he is trying to time it so you don't have a bad experience. The server knows the prep times for the menu better than you do and if he offers dessert at a specific time, it's because he knows how long it will take to execute it.

Maybe at Macaroni Grill...

Many guests are more likely to have a bad experience if they feel unnecessarily rushed than if things take longer than expected. Some tables are the same way. The only disastrous thing for a good server is misreading a guest.

[catch22]

Maybe at Macaroni Grill...

Many guests are more likely to have a bad experience if they feel unnecessarily rushed than if things take longer than expected. Some tables are the same way. The only disastrous thing for a good server is misreading a guest.

Nope, at many restaurants. You do not want your guests sitting there twiddling their thumbs any longer than necessary. The longer they are bored, the more nervous and antsy they get. The more antsy they get, the more likely they are to find something to complain about.

If a table is ordering drinks, it's not a bad idea to slow things down, one because they will continue to run up their drink tab the longer they are sitting, and two the drinks keep them occupied. If a table is not drinking or is done drinking, their dinner is over, and they are waiting up to 10 minutes for dessert....they will become antsy.

[kelroy55]

Not sure this applies to this topic but last weekend I ate at a nice steak house in Richardson and when ordering an ap the waitress asked me if I would like it before my meal or with my main meal.

[OKCTalker]

Salads are typically served before the entree in the U.S., after the entree in Europe.

Two couples dining together - one American the other European - have ordered dinner in a restaurant. What's it gonna be?

[edcrunk]

I hate being rushed and I hate sitting there for 10 mins waiting for a server to realize I wanna leave.

[Hawk405359]

The idea that a restaurant can't handle a customer ordering appetizers while they're still looking over the menu for a main is pretty ridiculous to me.

It'd be one thing if it was dessert and they bake it right then and there. There it'd make some sense, and you'd expect the wait staff to explain to the customer. But I've never been in a restaurant, fine or otherwise, that's demanded customers order appetizers with the main course.

But, admittedly, there does seem to be a trend in some of the snootier places for restaurants to refuse to make any reasonable accommodations for customers, especially if the chefs have made some sort of name for themselves. It's an idiotic trend of course, but it does seem to be a trend.

[Teo9969]

There's a major difference between demanding that a guest order any portion of the meal at a certain time and recommending them do so, though it would seem that some people feel that a suggestion to go another direction is pushy, when indeed it is not. It is appropriate for a server to inform the guest that they would be best served to order something at a certain time. It is also appropriate for a server to take an order and not turn it in until the timing is going to work exactly as the server sees as necessary and proper to give the guest the proper experience.

The real point is that too many people in this thread are making far too many generalizations about what should or shouldn't be, and not allowing for/understanding that it depends on far more factors than anybody in this discussion seems to realize. For example: Everyone in these posts is talking like servers have one table to focus on and time correctly at any given point in the night.

Try again.

[Hawk405359]

There's a major difference between demanding that a guest order any portion of the meal at a certain time and recommending them do so, though it would seem that some people feel that a suggestion to go another direction is pushy, when indeed it is not. It is appropriate for a server to inform the guest that they would be best served to order something at a certain time. It is also appropriate for a server to take an order and not turn it in until the timing is going to work exactly as the server sees as necessary and proper to give the guest the proper experience.

The real point is that too many people in this thread are making far too many generalizations about what should or shouldn't be, and not allowing for/understanding that it depends on far more factors than anybody in this discussion seems to realize. For example: Everyone in these posts is talking like servers have one table to focus on and time correctly at any given point in the night.

I think the point is that there seem to be a number of people want to play apologist and turn any complaint into a personal crusade with this place, without seeming to accept that no one is going to have an identical experience. At a high end restaurant, you don't expect servers to be unaccommodating. If someone feels they were, it benefits no one to have a half-dozen white knights to come out the woodwork and talk down to the person who had issues as though it were all their fault and they just don't understand how this new fangled dining thing works.

[soonerguru]

Well, perhaps this requirement to order appetizers with the main courses is a trend I've missed while dining at some of the finest rated restaurants in the United States, particularly NYC, Mexico, and throughout continental Europe. It was my first time to experience this charming development.

Within the last year, I dined at two of Jose Andres' most celebrated restaurants, and I certainly didn't experience anything close to this demand. In fact, the "small plates" phenomenon celebrates savoring a meal through multiple courses. Dining in such an establishment is costly, but worth it, because food is savored along with the varied wine selections.

On my prior visit, as stated, Vast had an outstanding sommelier, but he has since left them. The atmosphere had changed remarkably since that visit.

I must say, that were I dining at one of Andres', Keith McNally's, or Jean Georges' restaurants, I would be more willing to accept "rules," but the meal at Vast was nowhere near that kind of dining experience, so I don't understand why I should joyously accept this brusque style.

Also, I made my request for reservations three months in advance, and I was anticipating a special dining experience, not a rushed meal. And regarding the "rushing," I would be more understanding if there were in fact a lot of people waiting for tables, but there were numerous empty tables on the Friday night we dined there.

The atmosphere was certainly not brimming with excitement.

For those of you who enjoy being rushed to order everything at once after placing an initial drink order, Vast is definitely going to be your place! Enjoy!

[Rover]

Must be a schitzophrenic place...these descriptions don't match any of my experience at vast. Service has been fine. Food was good (not great). And they didn't make me order everything at once. It wasn't an "exciting" atmosphere, but it isn't really a club.

[Praedura]

Ahhh, the spring greenery!

[OkieHornet]

Has anyone had the lunch buffet at vast (daily table?) ? what's it like as far as price, food variety?