A Chowhound poster who tried to diss the pastries at the new Roscoe Village Bleeding Heart Bakery (1955 W. Belmont Ave., 773-327-6931) got shut down by its owner on Sunday.
The poster wrote, in part:
"The loaf of bread seemed stale - so dry, heavy, and hard that we abandoned trying to chew it and decided to use it as a weapon instead. The two muffins were the best items of the lot, by far, but they were just adequate (and the 'tea cake' muffin had a strange chemical-ish aftertaste). The two croissants were practically inedible - so dry that we worried they'd burst into flames if we rubbed them together."
And, in response, the owner struck back:
"I try very hard to stay off these sites as I see them biased and without responsibilty, however, I have always liked chowhound and was very surprised to see this post today. We are delighted to be in Roscoe Village and have been welcomed by most with open arms. All of our products are the same we have always offered but with many new choices, which is what boggles me about this post. All of our products are within Europen style (not bought at costco..as many places do..you'd be suprised how many costco croissants you've consumed thinking they were homemade) With that being said, most of our flaky pastries..such as croissants are as such...flaky. They are not meant to be doughy or chewy and we are not trying to go for that. Everyone has there own taste and there are bakeries all around Chicago that cater to all of these tastes. Our bread is levain based bread, it is made with a fermented dough and is meant to be very hearty and have a thick, dense crust. It is not meant to be fluffy or squishy or soft for that matter. I cannot understand a 'chemical taste' as we are certified orgainc and cannot use any type of chemical even in our cleaning methods, everything here has to be environmentally friendly and biodegradeable.
In the end I am sorry that you had a bad experience, I would invite you back in hopes you would have a better time the next time around, however it seems as though the problems you had are not really problems at all, but a matter of taste, which I both understand and respect, though there are many who would disagree (keep in mind that we moved to roscoe village because our business grew so big and we became so busy that we needed a bigger space, our chicago ave location was outgrown in two years..not very long at all)
One last ting, although it may be 'cute' to use extreem sarcasm when reviewing a place it really is not. Reviews in that manner are hard to take seriously and seem very personal, very attacking, which is the only reason I have become so defensive. We have recieved bad reviews, everyone does, we can take it (learn from it) but little is learned from the sarcasm."
Wow, just wow. Finally, an owner who's turned the tables on those anonymous types who get off on posting vicious comments on these dining/nightlife message boards. Personally, if it was me and I had such an experience, I'd just tell the manager while I was actually in the store. But that's just me.
On a related note, Bleeding Heart's original location at 2018 W. Chicago Ave. reopened last Friday as the Painted Lady Organic Eatery.
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2 comments:
Thank you, I always wonder what is the best way to respond to these nameless faceless people who are so mean to small businesses. It's not just me, I see it happen to so many other places. I know that when I have a bad experience I talk to the managers or the owners directly, what sense does it make to berate a place based off of your individual taste. Of course we will not bake what everyone else bakes..then I would just go work for them! Anyhow, thank you.
Really? You'd go straight up to an owner and say: your croissant is so dry if we rubbed them together they'd combust? May I call BS.
Last week, I, dining with folks with whom I'm very comfortable, dined at a restaurant manned by the PR staff that particular night, mentioned to the inquiring server that one dish was very mediocre, 2 others were extremely bland. Mind you, this was just to the server, not to the chef, nor the restauranteur (also present), and yet I got uncomfortable glances from the table.
I'm not faceless, I'm not nameless, and this isn't about being MEAN to anyone. The $ we give to small eatery, in abosulte monetary terms, no different from $ we give to Monsanto. Crappy product is crappy product, cute Roscoe Village (which I mostly adore) shop or otherwise.
It's amazing how some small business owners/chefs/restauranteurs think they are beyond reapproach. In LA, Ludobites come to mind. No one's being mean; it's just as difficult for us to spend hard earned dollars on craptastic bites as it is to make money from kneading dough.
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