Francie *
This is a hard one to write because, as you know, we usually swing positive. We love restaurants, understand how incredibly difficult this industry is, and never take lightly the fact that someone behind a keyboard can potentially damage a restaurant’s reputation.
We also don't consider ourselves restaurant critics. JFD has always been about sharing our experiences and celebrating the restaurants we love. But honesty has to go both ways. We would be doing a disservice to the one-star restaurants we believe deserve two, the restaurants without a star that deserve one, and most importantly, to all of you who trust our recommendations, if we weren't equally honest when an experience misses the mark.
Unfortunately, Francie was one of the most disappointing dining experiences we've had in a while. When you have to ask whether you actually have a server, you probably have a good indication of where the evening is going. Throughout dinner, empty and dirty dishes remained on our table for extended periods while staff repeatedly walked by. At one point, we were tempted to say, just throw an apron on us and
we'll happily clear the table ourselves.
As entrepreneurs who have experienced our own staffing challenges, we get it. But there is a difference between formal service and attentive service. We don't need elaborate choreography or someone hovering over our table, but the fundamentals of hospitality matter, particularly at a Michelin-starred restaurant.
We kept hoping the food would turn the evening around. Unfortunately, it didn't. Francie is particularly known for its pasta, making those dishes some of the ones we were most excited to try. Emma summed up our reaction rather perfectly: “Detroit pasta is better.” While Detroit may not necessarily be known for its pasta, we certainly know who has spoiled her.
When traveling to a Michelin-starred restaurant known for pasta, we expect something memorable. Nothing we tried reached that level. There is a difference between a dish simply not being to our personal taste and an entire meal failing to meet expectations. Course after course, we kept waiting for something to change our minds. It never came.
Perhaps the most telling moment of the evening was a first for us: we left without ordering dessert. If you know our family, you know how unusual that is. We simply didn't want to extend the evening any longer.
We recognize that every restaurant can have an off night, and this was simply our experience on one particular evening. We genuinely hope others have a completely different one.
But Michelin stars create expectations. They should. We frequently share restaurants we believe deserve another star, and those opinions only mean something if we're willing to acknowledge when we believe the opposite is true.
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