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| - I don't give a Yelp event a two-star review lightly because I know how much work Rachel puts into them and it seems impolite to complain about something free; but in the spirit of Yelp, I gotta tell it how it is. Fl.2 missed the mark on this one.
First, the good. Fl.2 is a beautiful space. Top notch design with a thoughtful concern for comfort, style, space. The décor is clean and warm, with an open feel that really caught my eye. There is a mix of materials and interesting styles that really worked. I appreciated the effort to include local designs and bring a bit of the 'burgh to it all. The chairs vary from area to area and at the bar, but the several styles I sat in were wide, plush, and comfy. A good part of the dining room looks into the clean and bright open kitchen, which I always love. Overall, the space delighted and I could definitely see myself hanging out there.
Except for...well...the rest of it. From what I could hear, the manager and chef who spoke were friendly and very proud of their creations. But beyond that, I was definitely left wanting in the service department. For starters, this is a place that is very clearly unaccustomed to serving a crowd of people invited in for free. The bar was open to Yelp event attendees and regular patrons; and the bartenders were noticeably uninterested in serving those of us with Yelp drink tickets. They were not staffed for the crowd and it was hard to even be acknowledged over the regular customers. While I came prepared to tip generously (perhaps more generously than the regular customers, as I was drinking and sampling for free); tips are earned with gracious service and that was just not something I received. It wasn't even a matter of just being overly busy (something I can overlook) - it was the attitude that we were an annoyance from the start. I felt very unwelcome at the bar and could actually taste the disdain with which my drink was made and served.
Next was the food. The bites of food came out on little trays over time - cocktail party style. Except we were all sitting at tables, so we had to get up to get each bite as they came around. I didn't mind that the bites were small as it was a sampling event, but I really only loved only one of the samples. All of the others were well-presented, but didn't wow me in the flavor department. If you are going to serve single bites, they need to be amazing single bites. The bigger challenge was that I'm not sure I got a true sense of the menu with the samples offered. The pork belly was by far the standout of the sample bunch and I'd order that again...except it's not on the menu. In fact, most of the samples were in the style of the food served, but not actually the food served. I think this was a "miss" in the planning of the event. I do love a special bite, but I just didn't feel like I had something to come back for.
As for the rest of the evening, we were torn. We originally planned to stay for dinner and were definitely hungry after just having samples by 7:30. However, no one wanted to face that bartender again, and we hadn't seen a server at the table in the hour or more we'd been there; so we ended up just leaving and eating elsewhere. I self parked in the garage, which was quick and convenient, albeit a little tight. It was $10 (parked around 5 and left a little after 9) and I appreciated that a pay station was in the clean and bright hotel lobby.
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