He ran from the airport straight to the restaurant. So he’s heard something about it. Look for the items that were recommended and won’t find any of them. 2nd clue!!

I have great difficultly believing any of this post.

And yeah, it’s true the menus at these two places are vastly different. Poor guy probably had jet lag (haha!)

It’s patently obvious that the staff have been instructed to roll with the walk-ins. As soon as someone arrives mentioning they called from the airport etc it’s pretty obvious they were in the wrong place. So you do the classy, honorable and *ethically correct thing* and say, “Oh, I don’t remember taking that call. We don’t take reservations — are you sure you’re at the right place?”

When the person asks for the chefs *by name* [see above]

Not a scam, per se, but definitely duplicitous.

Shame on BLD!

I’ve eaten there once on a slow weekday morning - party of four - and the service and food was less than stellar.

I really want to try Hatfield’s one day soon.

Also, BLD and Hatfield’s are two very different restaurants. I also would be very disappointed if I had missed out on the experience I was expecting because of a mistake like that. But I wonder how much those feelings of disappointment affected his perceptions of the evening.

Regardless of whether this is the literal truth or not, I don’t believe that the Frasers are the kind of people that would desire that kind of behavior on the part of their staff. By all accounts, they handled the salmonella incident in an exemplary manner, and so perhaps if they were made aware of the concerns they would instruct their staff as necessary to avoid this kind of incident in the future.

As I said in the post, I was guilty of being a bit confused when we left our car with the valet. I would hope that I would have figured out where I was when I sat down though.

Also, to give the Finicky Lawyer a small amount of leeway, he is from out of town, arrived on a late flight and drove straight from LAX to eat. He was familiar with the Hatfiled’s cooking, though, I’m a bit surprised he didn’t realize that he was in the wrong spot.

And honestly, I have to say that iI have a hard time understandig how one gets through an entire meal without realizing what restaurant they’re in. Even if someone accidentally walked into BLD and was seated, they should figure out they’re not in the right place when they get the menu and politely excuse themselves.

However, if it really is such a problem for Hatfield’s, I would say the remedy is to make their existence a little more prominent. I had no problem finding the correct place, and distinguishing between the two restaurants, but it’s true that the entrance to Hatfield’s is pretty understated. Rather than complaining about another restaurant seating and serving people who accidentally wander in, they should address the problem by making sure that people don’t accidentally wander next door. Do something about the situation rather than whining that others aren’t playing fair.

Honestly, I love both restaurants and I don’t want to think ill of either of them, so I am hoping that this is just an exaggeration for the sake of drama and not an accurate account of the situation.