Sale e Pepe

On our last visit we thoroughly enjoyed our meals but the service was a comedy of errors, we overlooked this because they had just moved to a larger location
Unfortunately the service has not risen to the level of the food and we were there on a slow night
while service was friendly we found them to be inattentive
it seems the servers gather near the entrance of the restaurant while the beautiful dining room overlooks the lagoon
if you needed anything it was hard to get their attention and we had to ask three times for grated cheese
we had made note on our reservation of our anniversary and we arrived to a decorated table and finished with finished with a flaming candle with our dessert, this part was not overlooked
Chef Davide roams the dining room and is happy to prepare whatever you would like if not on the menu, he is there to make sure you enjoy your meal
First courses included one of my wife's favorite burrata which benefitted with a drizzle of additional oil for the bread and an simple but excellent beef tar tar one of my favorite dishes over two weeks)
My grilled fish medley included tuna, scallops, shrimp, what I believe was squid and a perfectly cooked medium rare salmon which really surprised me as it is not a local fish I would ever order
Although simply prepared it really did need any sauce but I did add a little of the garlic oil it came with.
my wife pasta had a thicker hearty tomato sauce with a lobster red prawns and scallop
we shared miniature baba rhum over vanilla ice cream

while service can be improved the food warrants a return visit

good you enjoyed the evening. We wrote it off after 2 less than stellar experiences at their old location. Might try it again at new location but it'll have to be a weak moment.

Hi mahokid

I am enjoying your restaurant reviews. It appears that we have very similar tastes.

I don't normally dis restaurants - anyone can have a bad night. However, in the case of Sale e Pepe, bad isn't a strong enough word to describe our experience.

It started upon our arrival, for a 7:30 reservation.There were 20+ people milling around in the bar area and out front. We were all similarly being completely ignored, and through conversation with these folks, I learned that we all had reservations. All the tables at the front of the restaurant were vacant, but none had been cleared and re-set. I have spent lots of time (and money!) in fine restaurants, and so has my family. I turned to one of my daughters, who has worked in fine dining establishments for years, and said to her "this restaurant is completely out of control".
She responded with a simple "Yep".

We were seated after 45 minutes, which vastly exceded my usual patience threshold, and only after I walked around the entire restaurant searching for someone/anyone who might be able to assist us. We then waited for another 15 minutes before anyone arrived at our table to greet us, another 15 - 20 minutes before someone brought the bottle of wine we had ordered, then another 1/2 hour until an obviously inexperienced server took our order. Meanwhile, we had all known for well over an hour what we WANTED to order.

We skipped apps, which we never do,mainly because I pointed out to my family that I was concerned about living long enough to order and receive apps and mains. When our dinners arrived, 2 of the 4 dinners were not what was ordered at all, and my wife didn't receive her dinner at all. The server's answer to being questioned about where her dinner was, said "Oh, we don't have that tonight". You are telling her that NOW????

All 4 of us eventually received "something" to eat, with the only reason we stayed being that it was now too late to go anywhere else.

So, my review? This is not a restaurant. It is an expensive lesson in exactly how to run a terrible dining establishment. Fine menu, great venue, but no earthly idea how to run a dining room.

We will try this place again some day, only because a lot of experienced fellow travellers seem to think it's great, and I can't imagine that it could be this awful again. We shall see!

Greenfields,

I have been in the business for over 40 years and understand "island service' and have no problem with a leisurely meal but to not be able to see a guest's need is completely different
I also understand when the waitstaff or kitchen is in the "weeds" and can overlook the slow service
See my review of Altro where I mentioned the waiter was actually hustling
My next job could be a food critic my wife is an author and also very observant to restaurant ambiance while I focus on the food and service
I truly want all of my dining experiences to be positive and never want to have negatives about a restaurant to the point that I try to not make it sound bad by accentuating the positives
I forgo to mention that Sale e Pepe is still "auctioning" off the food when served to the table
With entrees in the 30's I expect more professional service and of course service is included

Hi Mahokid:

Yes, I understand when a place is "in the weeds". Can happen anywhere, from time-to-time. My problem with this experience for me was that no-one there seemed to realize this,or attempt to do anything about it. If your ship is taking on water, the least you can do as a manager or owner is to explain the circumstances to your customers, apologize, and launch into overdrive to attempt to fix things as best you can. No such attempts here. Most people will overlook shortcomings if you show that you recognize the issues, and are attempting to do your best to resolve them.

As many others have noted, there are far too many great restaurants in SXM as options for your dining dollars to put up with something like this. As a contrast, during one recent dinner at Bistro Caraibes,I had to request a soupspoon to enjoy my lobster bisque. The Brothers were horrified! I was worried that they both might have strokes. Therein lies the difference between great, and pathetic.

As noted, we will try Sale e Pepe again, but they don't deserve 3 strikes. 2 and out, if our next experience is anything like the first.

Thanks for the pictures and for taking time to post captions to the pictures!!! Thanks for all your hard work, posting impressions of your meals. Much appreciated!

Yeah I am a lot like Amaury and Thibult (sp?) when servers do not mis en place before the course is served. It drives me nuts.
Even worse is when they serve your entree and ask is there anything you would like and don't notice your silverware has been cleared with the previous course
Also hate in a pricey restaurant when they put the used silverware back on the table

Thanks for your response about your visit to Sale and Pepe and Chef Davide and his Wife , we have known them way back at Maho . He was a personal Chef for Saro Sparodo in his room and started from a very young age . His food is always excellent but will let him know about your service experience . Thanks for your posting but Chef Davide does go out and meet all of his diners all the time.

Most servers these days have never set a table in their lives let alone have dinner at a table growing up. The standards are history. I started in the 70’s when there was some semblance of service but I now work in a high end club and can’t find anyone who knows what side the fork goes on. Good luck in the islands.

Starting off with, we gave this place that EVERYONE raves about three! three visits!! Spending a boat load of money for what I would call a bust!! Yes, they say, oh we're sorry. But over priced food with really bad service. The only reason we went back for the third time, a very good friend insisted we go there that he wanted to treat us to dinner. In the back of my mind, I was hoping this would be better. Considering the first time was on the other side of the street and we were 12 people. OK, I get that. Same for the new location, 10 people. But NOTHING came out of the kitchen right! SLOW! I was thinking I could run down to Micky dee's and back!! But the best "in quotations" the last time, service was so slow, when asked if he put our order in, he was looking for a fight, what am I stupid, of course I did! That was it!! For me, there are so many fun places to eat, have drinks, have some laughter!! We're from the NYC area, we have fine dinning that blows "S&P" away!!

Hi Lesley:

You know ALL the restaurants on that little rock in the sea, and a lot of the people who own/operate them. I value your very informed opinion.

My guess is that perhaps Davide and his wife were not there the night of our visit. Perhaps, everyone needs a night off once in a while. That said, my opinion is that if the lights are on and the front door is open, you better be offering your customers what you have promised them, whether you are there or not. Maybe you should cover their off days for them? You understand what great customer service looks like!

Cheers!

Yes, yes and yes.

Also love the thumb in your wine glass when they bring the $100 bottle of wine you ordered; bringing your mains while the app plates are still on the table; bringing your food and asking "who had this, and who had that?" - duh, aren't you supposed to know?!; and about 100 other little things. No single shortcoming should ruin your evening, but multiple misses are irksome when you are paying fairly big bucks in a supposedly high-end restaurant.

Great service still exists, but you have to hunt for it a little these days.

Thanks Dear for your understanding .

I hate to admit this but we have only been to Sal e Pepe once and that was in the original location and at the suggestion of Lesley Bruce. We had a lovely dinner, well prepared and well served.

I’ve wanted to try the new location since the setting appears to be lovely but the mixed opinions have scared me off from doing so with all the other great island restaurants. We’ll have to give it another try next trip and form our opinion on our own first hand experience since in the end, everyone’s experience ergo opinions can differ.

Kenny, we use to go to S&P all the time, when they first opened and never once did he come to our table.
We had a few incidents, and decided "enough is enough".
Davide, sent me a message to come back and try them again, which I thought was very nice.
I'm hoping to honor that invitation, and see how things go.

Exactly. It shouldn't matter if the owners are there or not. If they are open for business then it should be the same both in food and service.

With due respect, Scuba, I think most of us will concede that when the cat’s away, or in this case the owner, the mice (rest of staff?) will play. But they shouldn’t be playing to the point that service slides to the degree people are pointing at. Just one persons opinion…….

Sounds like that is exactly what happens but the times we were there both David and his wife were too and food and service was sub par. Maybe they need to set a better example to the employees.

Allrighty then, I think this one has just degenerated into bashing, so will end it here..