KCRag Forum

any place with fresh lobster is awesome.  i'll have to go to the savoy sometime. 

dumb question:  do you have to (or feel like you have to) dress up when you go there?  you can show up at bluestem or le fou frog in jeans, but the savoy seems like the kind of place where you might feel like a hayseed if you don't at least wear a jacket.

I had someone tell me that the reports of crappy service at the Savoy are from people who the waitstaff felt were insufficiently respectful of the room.  So wear a jacket and tie.

AJoD wrote: kcdcchef--

Thanks for your posts in this thread, incredibly interesting.  A friend of mine is good friends with the Savoy chef, and he's regaled me with tales of its quality and style.  Of course, he gets a little inside treatment.  I've always wanted to believe it's the old school, high class sort of joint you described, despite the fact that, for whatever reason, I'd previously thought it was a dump on the decline, actually, already declined.

Well, actually for the reasons that PumpkinStalker displayed upthread.

The reputed high pricetag has put me off, but this thread has got me stoked to give this place a try as circumstances allow, and I sure as heck hope the redevelopers maintain this character.

when i worked for the savoy, allbeit 20 years ago, ( almost ) the chef was an incredible austrian chef, edmunde silmane. he was one of the longest tenured savoy grill chefs ever, working there for 25 years. made him very famous, as, he was on tv all the time. a big deal back then. he tired of it and decided to leave finally, going to open the gourmet grocer on the plaza. bad move at the time. last i heard from chef edmunde he was at the elms in excelsior, and i am pretty sure he balied from there too. since edmunde left, they have had a pretty steady stream of chefs in and out of there. i ran across don lee in 2004, he offered me the job on the spot, as we were talking about old times. i had to decline. but we had a fun time talking about a 16 year old kid fileting his finger in the kitchen trying to seperate two butter rosettes frozen together. hehe.

chrizow wrote: any place with fresh lobster is awesome.  i'll have to go to the savoy sometime. 

dumb question:  do you have to (or feel like you have to) dress up when you go there?  you can show up at bluestem or le fou frog in jeans, but the savoy seems like the kind of place where you might feel like a hayseed if you don't at least wear a jacket.

you would feel under dressed. you dont need a jacket persay, but i havent ever seen anyone in the place in jeans. in the summer months, i have spotted some people in khaki pants and nice polos, but never saw any jeans in there. my last visit to the savoy, last summer actually, we had dessert there. and everyone still nicely dressed.

heatherkay wrote: I had someone tell me that the reports of crappy service at the Savoy are from people who the waitstaff felt were insufficiently respectful of the room.  So wear a jacket and tie.

there's a reason formal dining is dying.

DaveKCMO wrote: there's a reason formal dining is dying.

yet it still thrives at this place.

heatherkay wrote: I had someone tell me that the reports of crappy service at the Savoy are from people who the waitstaff felt were insufficiently respectful of the room.  So wear a jacket and tie.

thanks for the tip!  

i'm sure the waitstaff will understand when i leave a $5 tip b/c they were insufficiently respectful of my status as patron and gatekeeper of the wallet...

chrizow wrote: any place with fresh lobster is awesome.  i'll have to go to the savoy sometime. 

dumb question:  do you have to (or feel like you have to) dress up when you go there?  you can show up at bluestem or le fou frog in jeans, but the savoy seems like the kind of place where you might feel like a hayseed if you don't at least wear a jacket.

I would bet you have to dress up for dinner, but I went for brunch in fairly casual wear.

kcdcchef wrote: yet it still thrives at this place.

it was certainly not thriving the last time i was in there. maybe i scared people off with my exposed neck and forearms.

DaveKCMO wrote: it was certainly not thriving the last time i was in there. maybe i scared people off with my exposed neck and forearms.

perhaps. but if they are serving 200 on fridays and saturdays in the fall/holidays, and packed with parties still, they are THRIVING. weeknights, not so much.

If you want a good laugh, watch the attached Savoy online commercial.

http://www.savoyhotel.net/SavoyBed.wmv

KC-wildcat wrote: If you want a good laugh, watch the attached Savoy online commercial.

http://www.savoyhotel.net/SavoyBed.wmv

seen it. i have it stored on my computer. there is a nice one for the grill too.

for those of you thinking you are gonna do them wrong by showing up in jeans and tipping like shit, trust me, they will ignore you the whole nite and give you brash nyc style service. i kind of like dining abroad, and in nyc, boston, and san fran, places like that more. the diners tend to respect the room more. you should. if it is not your scene, move on.

i'm a good tipper to a fault.  the server could fart in my soup and i'd probably still give her 18%.

chrizow wrote: i'm a good tipper to a fault.  the server could fart in my soup and i'd probably still give her 18%.

as a chef, i am the same. no matter how shitty the service, i always tip at MINIMUM 15%, even for shitty for service. for decent service, i am usually 18-20%, and great above average service i tend to do 25%. it has to be real bad for me to go down to 15%.

I have only been to the Savoy 3 times - once in college to receive a local scholarship, and twice to sit at the bar. The last two times I have been I was very casually dressed in a gray hooded sweatshirt and jeans and managed to receive excellent service from the staff.  The dining room was full with awkward looking blue hairs and NASCAR dates.

voltopt wrote: The dining room was full with awkward looking blue hairs and NASCAR dates.

Exactly.  That's all it's become: those who have gone forever and can't bare to think of going somewhere else and those who don't know any better.  This place, in it's current form, will die the death of 3-piece suits at work, polaroid pictures, tophats and telegraph machines.  The good news is the space is very nice, the food is good and it still has a decent reputation.  The bad news: it's stuffy and overpriced. 

I'd like to go back and enjoy a meal... maybe soon...

beautyfromashes wrote:This place, in it's current form, will die the death of 3-piece suits at work, polaroid pictures, tophats and telegraph machines.

i knew there was a reason i still liked you. 

polaroids are still pretty sweet though.

chrizow wrote: polaroids are still pretty sweet though.

Kodak quit making the film last year - it now ebays for amounts approaching a moderate car payment. 

I think there will always be at least a small market for more formal dining - could KC support dozens of restaurants like this, no - but a couple - always.  I know quite a few people, myself included, still well under 40, that detest being rushed out of a restaurant and putting up with people acting like they were born in a barn around you and it is nice to occassionally be reminded that it doesn't always have to be that way. 

surprise!  Funky doesn't veto!  good overall, I think.  building owner has been vilified a bit too much, considering he has maintained a somewhat successful business all this time.