The Chef/Owner at the French Bistro is a "little" sensitive..
We were in Bonaire over the Christmas holiday; ate at the Bistro three times. So you might infer we enjoyed the place. The last night, my Chocolate mousse was not quite right.
The waitress was gracious.NOT the Chef/Owner.. He came STORMING out of the restuarant (we were sitting outside) and proceeded to berate me . NOTHING was wrong with the mousse.How dare I criticize his food?On and On..We were dumbfounded at his behaviour..
No wonder Patrice is in Bonaire and not cooking in Paris..his behavior borders on the insane..

Welcome to Bonaire Talk . This comment is totally out of character regarding the bistro . Patrice has always been a perfect gentleman on my many visits there .
You have to consider most of the restaurants on bon are owner operated , we are all entitled to off days and Im sure you must of hit one of Patrices such days .
Sorry your first experience on BT was of the negative variety .

Must have been a bad day as Lloyd says, we have had some good meals there.

Sorry you had a bad experience there, Cici. I have eaten there many times and Patrice has always been most gracious and friendly. He must have been having a very bad day; that still doesn't excuse it. It is out of character for him, from what I have seen.

Cici.. Really I can't even imagine that.
But of course people do have off days (myself included).

i agree with all of the above...good and bad. because most of the restaurants are owner operated you have the opportunity to see the owners on good and bad days. i can't imagine going to a restaurant and seeing a sign saying "closed...owner in a bad mood". they have to stay open. it's too bad that cici had a bad experience but i can understand it...law of averages.

however, cici, you did say you had eaten there three times before so you must have enjoyed it then. all i can ask is that you give him another chance or two to prove that you're experience on your third visit was a rare exception.

The nite Joe and I arrived on Bonaire we could not locate the house we were going to be staying at. After searching for quite a while I decided to stop by Bistro de Paris to speak to Patrice as I knew he was friends with the person we were looking for.

The restaurant was pretty busy even at 9:00 but Patrice came outside and gave me verbal and "hand" directions to the house.

We thought (well, "I" thought) we understood the directions but, alas, we still did not find the house.

Drove back to the restaurant. Patrice spotted me, again, and came back outside. THIS time he said "follow me" as he hopped onto his scooter waving me on. He drove us right to the house we were looking for beeping for the person to come outside to meet us. It was so funny.

Again, he left his busy restaurant (Saturday nite 12-20) to help us out.

I asked our friend "what time does the restaurant close?" as we were hungry and I thought it would be nice to eat at Bistro in return for Patrice's favor to us.

Joe and I had appies (bouliabaise( sp?) and he had the carpaccio salad. We both had the rack of lamb for our entree and it was all fabulous!!! Extremely well presented and prepared and absolutely delicious.

Just another story of how folks on Bonaire always go out of their way to help others and a note to state that we have NEVER had a poor meal or poor service or "attitude" at Patrice's place. Ayo. Carole

Hi Carole and Joe! Good to hear about your trip, in various threads! I'm not surprised Patrice was so helpful to you, as he's been to us.

And Cici, we all know that kind of blow-up can happen to anyone. We're only human. So sorry it happened to you while eating a good meal.

I hope you give the Bistro another chance Cici. The food there is exceptional and Patrice is a really great guy. I am sure he is mortified to read about something like this on BT and probably did not even realize he offended you.

Great food at the French Bistro, I've always have my mouth so full that an argument is impossible--lol

cici, welcome to Bonaire Talk. I hope you will post your positive experiences about your trip on BT, and that you did not let this one ruin your trip.

I have to agree with others, I love Bistro de Paris, and my experiences with Patrice have been wonderful. If he's not too busy, he will chat a bit. He also has great recommendations for wine.

Now I'm hungry for some French Onion Soup dangit!


(Message edited by cyndelee on January 3, 2009)

Cici, welcome to BT. In Bonaire, as in other places in the world (most notably my home country Greece), owners-operators some times forget the cardinal rule of their business: if you are having a bad day, stay off the face of your customers.

The fact that the gentleman at Bistro had a bad day, did not mean that you had to have an unpleasant experience.

And so what if he was having a bad day. I bet the prices he was charging that day were the same as on his good days. Little difference it makes to the customer the "bad day" excuse.

And, when it comes to restaurants, a bad day should mean sub-standard food or slow service, not berating by the owner!

Patrice's behavior, as described by cici, amounts to bullying.

I find the OP's comment "No wonder Patrice is in Bonaire and not cooking in Paris..his behavior borders on the insane.." a non sequitur. It is exactly that kind of behavior that I expect in Paris...perhaps Patrice was just exhibiting the best of Paris? Actually, like others, I am surprised that Patrice actually behaved as described without more provocation than was described.

(Message edited by tursiops on January 4, 2009)

Personally I look at this post with a bit of skepticism---before I'd cast a dispersion I'd like to know a little more than I know now!?

Has this behavior from Patrice been seen before, who is the poster, what is Patrice's side of the story?

PLEASE TELL ME MORE !!!!!!!!!!!

Only problem we ever had was my diner arrived as everyone else was having coffee and ready to go.

No TIP for you!

The only problem that I ever had at the Bistro was that the starter was so big, I had to leave some so that I would have room for my main course.

I've never had "bad" service at Bistro. I've had fabulous service, when I went with Michael and Becky. Good service for lunch when Wes and I went our first time together. Then, mediocre service when Wes and I went back again. I think it just happens. The only place where I have had consistently good service is Patagonia (and Casablanca when Pablito was there). Every other place, regardless of how much others have raved about it, has not lived up. I figure it is just the stress of being on an island. People have great nights and off nights and we just let it roll off our backs. Especially since, we always find a way to have a good time.

chefs, especially french chefs, can be a temperamental lot

I have doubts of the authenticity of the initial complaint. Sounds like a case of "sour grapes".

Mel and Pat, Your comments about the French are offensive. It is like saying that all Americans are loud-mouthed blowhards. Kind of a demeaning generalization.

Fid, I have no idea who you are or where you come from, so I am making no generalization whatsoever when I say that nearly everything you have said in response to any post I have made I find offensive.

Next time, don't read my posts.

Moderators, this is called "tit for tat." If you don't like it, tell Fid to back off.

fid, if i offended you, so be it. you do seem a tad touchy. i stand by my remarks. artists (and i include chefs in that category) can be touchy about their craft. it seems to be their nature. my best friend is a musician and can get offended if someone is critical of a performance. had you taken the time to read a previous post of mine on this thread you would have known that i had defended patrice, saying that maybe he was having a bad night.

and i didn't generalize about the french people, just french chefs...and it was meant somewhat tongue in cheek but apparently that was lost on you. lighten up.

We are going down that road again, off subject and starting to bash each other. "tit for tat."

You are more then welcome to bash each other by PM, but please don't do it here.

Thank you.

Jerry

Patrick, play nice

As Jerry said, let's get back to the topic at hand.

(Message edited by modcynde on January 5, 2009)

Mel it was not tit for tat and never will be. I read lots of your posts and do not comment because I either agree with you or have no comments to make. Disagreeing with people is just part of life. Holding a grudge is childish and I do not carry over any baggage from other discussions. Maybe my posts in response to yours and yours to mine are such because we have different perspectives of most things. It is not very interesting discussing issues with people who agree with everything you say. Your comments always make me think and trigger a reaction ........ which is a good thing.

Pat, I did read your earlier post in defense of Patrice. I am very sensitive about French bashing, American bashing ........ bashing in general. What is tongue in cheek to you can be offensive to me or others. I know you did not mean anything malicious. If I thought you or anyone else here was like that I would not be here.

I am not holier than thou and I do the same thing myself. I do not make excuses for myself but instead try to catch myself (not always successfully) and I also get defensive when someone points out that I am being a biggoted boob.

Sour grapes?? NOT... I have eaten all over the world , as have my friends...
We obviously enjoyed the restuarant because we returned..
NEVER EVER have I encountered this type of behavior..Leo thank you for your post which hits it on the head..
All we wanted was a polite response instead of a tirade..

It is strange that you are the only person whom encountered such rude behaviour at the bistro . I can assure you without hesitation , if behaviour even similar happened there we would of heard about it on this thread . I agree that such behaviour is intolerable.
This being your first and only thread ,it could appear as "sour grapes " .

If on the other hand any good things happened on your trip please post them so others can enjoy .

It is possible that people may not know of this board? I only found it by accident..and took the time to relate the incident..
There might be many more such postings if more people knew where to put them.

Oh they know , google bonaire on any subject and it brings you to this site , believe me , I appreciate your thread and there are a few places you could of mentioned that would not of raised an eyebrow , this just seemed so out of character . Please don't take offense as there have been some offbeat one time posts on BT.
As I said , please post more comments if you have them , we who live vicariously on Bonaire need them!

I am having lunch at Bistro tomorrow and may broach the subject to Patrice...

Nobody is nice and polite all of the time. I do not understand why some people find Cici's post so hard to believe. So Patrice threw a temper tantrum........ big deal. I would be upset also if I were Cici.

Most of the posts in defence of Patrice point out that it is out of character for him to act like that, not impossible. You would have to be an emotionless zombie not to get upset every once in a while and take it out on the people around you.

thanks michael, that might help either set the record straight or let patrice know that others have heard of his behavior. like i said, anyone can have a bad day and be in a bad mood. the trick is to throw your tantrum out of view of patrons (sometimes that means the help gets the brunt of it...i know, i've been on both sides of that coin). cici had said that she ate there three times with great experiences the first two and this one on the third. unfortunately, first and last impressions are the ones that stick with you.

I was playing nice!!!!! I had more to say but pulled it for that reason. BE NICE!, we all have bad daysPatrick if you continue to yell I will have to slap you!

(Message edited by modfreddie on January 5, 2009)

(Message edited by modfreddie on January 5, 2009)

(Message edited by modfreddie on January 5, 2009)

Hi, Michael...please tell Patrice thank you sooooo much for helping us out our first nite on Bonaire this past trip. Such a sweetheart to do what he did for us. Hugs to you both. Oooooh, I want to come and have lunch with you, too! Carole

Ok, please take a deep breath, read all the above posts. Step back and realize that we are moving off track.

So, you have never had a bad day?

Jerry, only as a Moderator for Bonaire Talk...

Dark side here I come.

Patrick, YGM.

Wow! I had a restaurant owner do this to me once at a different establishment and I will never go back there again due to that. But, to stay on topic, I will say "Thank you, Cici, for posting your experience, sorry that you got jumped on for it. Pity that has to happen here, but I can't believe I am going to say this, but I have to agree with Fid, Big Deal! Get over it, if anything, this will hopefully bring attention to Patrice that his actions/behavior to a guest do have reprecusions and may learn from this experience as well.

I have eaten there a couple of times, I find their french onion soup delish. Nothing like that has happened to me while I was there, glad to say. I know first hand how it feels to have it occur. Sorry you had to experience that, Cici.

Llyod, I have to say I was going to Bonaire for over 4-5 years before I discovered BT., and know quite a bit of folks who I met on island who had no idea of BT, so yes, it can be.

---

quote:

"You would have to be an emotionless zombie not to get upset every once in a while and take it out on the people around you."

---

Dear God, make the voices stop!

HE HAd A BAD DAY, MOVE ON!

Timmy, I need to take Zombie lessons from you

I thought EVERYONE that went to Bonaire had heard of BT...until I began asking...lol...they were like WTF do you have that flamingo hat on? You look stupid...lol!

Michael, can you get his ratatoulle recipe????






I can't spell ratatoulle....I'm just leaving it the way it is...

isn't that a movie?

Snort!

I don't know what some of you think I have to "gain" by recounting my experience.Nothing..It was just so surprising and unexpected..
IF we return to BonAire, we will think twice about eating at FB..
This is my last post..
Thank you for the positive posts.. and for those of you who berated/doubted me.. goodby..

cici, again, sorry you had such a bad experience.

A couple of things to consider.

1. This was your first post on Bonaire Talk, a board where the majority of folks love Bonaire, and are Bonaire addicts. And in your first post, you (and I have no doubt what you said is true) had a bad experience at a local, and loved restaurant.

2. You have made no other posts about your trip, how the diving was, how you enjoyed the island.

3. Most folks on this board are wary of first time posters who come out of the shoot firing up negative vibes.

4. Try the same post over on scubaboard.com, and you probably won't get any, if few, responses.

5. What were you trying to accomplish by your post? Venting?

cici, it's obviously your right to think twice about eating there. but don't totally write it off. michael said he would talk to patrice about the problem and i'm sure he will. after two good experiences and one bad one maybe michael will be able to clear the air for you and patrice and you can maybe see each other's points of view.

other than that meal i hope you had a good trip.

Did some one asked for a ratatouille recipe?

Leo, I tried your recipe and it was delicious! However; mine did not look quite as pretty as your picture. I am hooked on ratatouille!

Hmm, reverse advertising DOES work. Next time I'm on island, I'm heading for French Bistro.

Please, put an Indonesian restaurant back...

Hello all, on island and we visited French bistro on 2/14 per suggestion that it was an off night. Had the most unusually french onion soup with tomato and mushrooms? tasted like beef gravy over bread. I couldn't finish it. I am use to a more traditional recipe. Yhe Shrimp risotto was wonderful as was the creme brulee. Service was very very slow even for Bonaire time. Aprroximate 2 1/2 hours for half full restaurant. Friendly place. Go when time is of no importance.