restaurant 17

not ready for prime time. we used to enjoy the old la bastide restaurant that previously existed and held very high hopes for the new restaurant as we missed the quality of the food and atmosphere of the old. our first visit to restaurant 17 was a pre-opening wine tasting. the wine was amazing, the service was good, but the food was fair at best. some of the tastings had meat that had gristle in it and was very hard to chew, some just really didn't taste very good at all. we decided that they really hadn't opened yet and that we were sure things would improve once they got traction and fully opened. months passed and i took my wife there for our anniversary. again, the food seemed to be that of a chef who just hasn't come into his own yet. odd tasting mismatched flavors and food that just plain wasn't cooked. as the evening went on, many cyclist types who were dressed inappropriately for a restaurant of this caliber, got louder and more obnoxious and more intoxicated as time passed. restaurant staff never said a word to them. i'm sure this is the caliber of individual the hincapie brothers are trying to attract, but it's surely going to drive awaypeoplefrom greenville looking for elegant dining venues. a month later we went up to visit their new coffee shop. the girl served us cold coffee and stale pastries. when i asked if she could nuke my overpriced cup of cold coffee, she said she had no microwave or any other way of heating coffee. great. thanks for $20 worth of cold coffee and stale pastry. we went to the lobby to enjoy the atmosphere. the entire time we were there the hotel patron was on his cell phone on a personal call. it got to the point where another woman from what i thought was an empty hotel sat on the couch next to us to wait for the hotel staff to finish his personal call. this lasted 15 minutes or so. after she talked with him, i figured i better catch him before his next personal call kicked off. i asked him if the bar was open to purchase a bottle of wine. he said the hotel bar was closed every weekend. i'm sorry, what?peoplepay exorbitant amounts of money to stay at your hotel and they can't get a drink for three days of a weekend? this place is beautiful inside, however from what i can see, it's a dismal disappointment in every other way i can see. i will save myself the ride up there and take my family to high cotton, soby's or rick irwin's/nantucket. i be given them the benefit of the doubt and was disappointed over and over. i hope the wealthy cyclists from all over the world keep that place open, because greenville socialites certainly will not. i will tell all my friends that this place is a thumbs down.

dined early on 7/26 and enjoyed ourselves. we requested a table with a view, for my dad's birthday (hoping for the 2nd floor) but sat next to the window by the pool and was able to watch mr george enjoy the water with friends. we were told by the waitress rebecca who was superbly awesome that we were lucky to get a table as they expected some 500peoplein the restaurant that evening.

the wagyu hangar steak was awesome. the cocktails well crafted and at a higher level than our first visit last fall. and dessert was just over the top awesome. the small plates are good enough for one individual with a small side, the large plates however are the perfect portion and a welcome surprise to leave just enough room for dessert. it was hot out and the buttermilk panna cotta was a nice light ending to the day.

my husband and i went for a birthday celebration. i honestly expected a lot more for the cost of the evening.
i appreciate the use of local ingredients, but there's a fine line of quality and quantity. my main course was supposed to be a veal dish with homemade pasta and vegetables. there wasn't enough meat to fill a teaspoon and there were 5 pieces of pasta. no zucchini or squash as listed on the menu. and for $26 bucks! i even woke up hungry this morning.
now, i live a good wine list, but not a single bottle for less than $80! and then i saw mostpeoplebrown bagging it.
wish i knew that was an option.
beautiful grounds, very weak, non-professional staff, and so-so food for the money.
i will not be going back.

horrible! my husband and i made a reservation here for our wedding anniversary and it was an awful experience! when we first walked in there were severalpeoplestanding in the foyer waiting to be seated, the hostess' assistant didn't even acknowledge us, and when the hostess came back and said you can follow me the assistant yells "uh wrongpeopleit's them".the romantic view i requested turned out to be a table looking out onto the pool with kids playing and the mountains in the background :( when i asked to be moved to the front patio the manager treated us like we did not belong there. i was dressed nice and so was my husband, i guess since we didn't book a $400 a night room we weren't worth appeasing. the food was over priced for the portion sizes. the "veal" i had was shredded and almost non existent and my husband's $32 steak was mostly fat. while waiting on our check my husband was finishing his peice of bread dipping it in the smoked olive oil and while he was dipping it the servers assistant took the dishes with the oil in it off the table. all i can say is it was not a good experience at all. i will say that our actual server was very sweet and hospitable, although we will not be returning. the manager was more than happy to meet the "high rollers" at the door and immediately seat them with wine even though he acted as though he treated us like we did not need to be there. i honestly have never been treated this way by any other restaurant in my life, no matter where we were dining. some anniversary!