The Corner Pantry

Rare places like the Corner Pantry are bad for my business. I review restaurants.  

Writing restaurant reviews showcase the writer’s knowledge of food and service.  And good criticism, if heeded, makes the restaurant better.

When things don’t go well for a diner, it is the good reviewer’s chance to write how those missteps can be corrected.  It is also a chance to be magnanimous and kind while setting things right. Always a good idea.

The Corner Pantry does so many things right, there is usually very little to write about. Their pastries would not be out of place in any of the extraordinary patisseries in Paris. Service here is flawless thanks to a seamless system whereby servers, baristas, managers and even owners deliver food the moment it appears in the “window”.  Many restaurants boast about “co-operative” service but few make it work like The Corner Pantry.

No one on staff passing your table and seeing your coffee cup empty will pass without offering you a refill. One rarity among the staff is the sense of bonhomie among all those who work there. They want to be there and there is no turnover.  You will never see a “Help Wanted” sign in their window.

Have I mentioned that it is a rare place? The food is creatively imagined, carefully and quickly prepared and beautifully presented.  And you will see the Chef/Owner working the early shift and when he has an idle moment, he is wiping everything in sight with Windex as all on staff do.  It is a rare place