Lavinia's

blacksheep · 12-04-2013, 10:32 PM

It's nice to see the greater community of restaurants rallying around the Woodshed crew. Lavinia's is a beautiful spot for a holiday function. It will be interesting to see the evolution of the new owners, and their spin. We wish them the best of luck.

jetskier · 12-05-2013, 05:17 PM

Hi all,

It is nice to see everyone rallying around the Woodshed.

My advice to the new owner of Lavinia's is to focus on being more consistent. We found that Lavinia's varied wildly over several visits. We had some terrific dining experiences and some really poor dining experiences.

Specifically:

Focus on the serving staff especially during the turn over periods. We went to Lavinia's during a turnover period and the service was awful...parts of the order were completely forgotten and the waiter left us sitting for extended periods.
Focus on consistent food quality. Again, this was often good and sometimes a big disaster. We tried the lobster pie once and it was essentially gruel.
There are lots of restaurants in the area, focus on your differentiation. Personally, I think that there is a dearth of good high end restaurants.

I hope that Lavinia's has great success under the new ownership and we will certainly give them a try after the transition period.

Jetskier

Rattler · 12-06-2013, 12:20 PM

Agree wholeheartedly with Jetskier. Went to Lavinia's early last summer, had a great meal, and declared Lavinia's as my go-to "high end" dining spot in the area. (BTW, there aren't many to choose from...)

Took some friends there later in the summer, bragging about food quality, service, etc., and was disappointed to the extent that I apologized to them about giving the place such a build up.

Tried one more time this fall (without friends) and was again disappointed. Lots of potential there but needs much more consistency.

12-05-2013, 05:17 PM	#2
jetskier Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Reading, MA and South Down Shores Posts: 851 Thanks: 57 Thanked 183 Times in 114 Posts	Lavinia's Hi all, It is nice to see everyone rallying around the Woodshed. My advice to the new owner of Lavinia's is to focus on being more consistent. We found that Lavinia's varied wildly over several visits. We had some terrific dining experiences and some really poor dining experiences. Specifically: Focus on the serving staff especially during the turn over periods. We went to Lavinia's during a turnover period and the service was awful...parts of the order were completely forgotten and the waiter left us sitting for extended periods. Focus on consistent food quality. Again, this was often good and sometimes a big disaster. We tried the lobster pie once and it was essentially gruel. There are lots of restaurants in the area, focus on your differentiation. Personally, I think that there is a dearth of good high end restaurants. I hope that Lavinia's has great success under the new ownership and we will certainly give them a try after the transition period. Jetskier

12-04-2013, 10:32 PM	#1
blacksheep Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Plymouth, NH Posts: 63 Thanks: 98 Thanked 47 Times in 25 Posts	It's nice to see the greater community of restaurants rallying around the Woodshed crew. Lavinia's is a beautiful spot for a holiday function. It will be interesting to see the evolution of the new owners, and their spin. We wish them the best of luck.

12-06-2013, 12:20 PM	#3
Rattler Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 35 Thanks: 0 Thanked 5 Times in 3 Posts	Agree wholeheartedly with Jetskier. Went to Lavinia's early last summer, had a great meal, and declared Lavinia's as my go-to "high end" dining spot in the area. (BTW, there aren't many to choose from...) Took some friends there later in the summer, bragging about food quality, service, etc., and was disappointed to the extent that I apologized to them about giving the place such a build up. Tried one more time this fall (without friends) and was again disappointed. Lots of potential there but needs much more consistency.