Ravintola Lehtovaara Review

Recently over dinner at Lehtovaara I shared the historical fact, that the restaurant is timeless, but not on a good way. I entered the restaurant alone, was seated after very neutral greeting and ordered a glass of champagne, which seemed to be strange for the waitress. Finally my dining companion arrived, it was his first visit to the famed 100-year-old restaurant. He had dressed up for the occasion casually, my outfit was more business orientated. All the servers in the front were using the uniforms (not jacket), which was kind of elegant, but very formal. In the dining room we sat totally alone in the silence, in the private room or lounge somewhere there was a big party giving speeches and inspirational, joyful voices. We were admiring the dull street view and the old paintings on the white wall and listening to the waiting staff having personal conversations about summer and weekend in a earshot. We found out, that the dinner at Lehtovaara is rarely a bumpy ride. It is an archetype of continuity in an age of disruption, but unquestionably still NOT a four-star dining experience, because the food was not superb at all and not a good value. The Coeur de Provencale was average and the asparagus starters very basic and not presented for us properly. We were trying to discuss about the wine and wine pairings in the natural way and were asking for wine recommendations, but could only get shy answers, so kind of decided the wine pairings ourselves. The saddest part was, that after the dessert we were totally ignored. My companion had to stand up and go to ask for water, coffee, more coffee etc. We were trying to give signals for a check, but seemed like the waiters lost the control, which was strange, because the restaurant was not full at all. The waiting staff just disappeared! After the check was presented, we noticed, few articles were missing, but didn't mention that because felt disappointed. When we left, we didn't hear any goodbyes or whatsoever. At least, wit