Thalasar Ventures

Restaurants are a tough business. Here’s an example of what not to do when running a restaurant.

The Railyard started it’s life as a steakhouse. Recently they have adjusted the menu to Italian and renamed the restaurant La Stazione and quite frankly it’s very poor. I have ordered dinner several times as the restaurant is on my way home and I like to grab dinner before I go home. I can only assume that the new executive chef isn't actually tasting the food. My latest dinner consisted of potato/crab ravioli with artichoke. When the dish arrived I noticed that every ravioli was simply flat. Eating two, it was apparently that stuffed ravioli meant anything but, as there was simply a hint of crab in the ravioli and as far as I could tell no potato. Additionally the dish was already cold. The Chef Michael Easton agreed with my assessment and I sent it back.
This is where things get a bit annoying. The chef took the dish and then less than 10 feet away from me made the point that he thought it was stuffed (after agreeing with me initially!) and then asked the opinion of the entire wait staff. I don't really mind if you disagree with my assessment of your food. However, don't loudly disagree with me loudly where I can hear you. I will never go back this restaurant which is really too bad as it once was one of my favorite haunts.
This is also the second dinner I had after the menu change. I tried the lasagna and incredibly it was burned to carbon at the bottom. I did chalk this up to a brand new menu and thought I would give them a second chance. Clearly Chef Michael Easton needs to focus on preparing quality dishes and less time preening in the front of the house. Clearly quality of food has been a consistent problem with this team as the review summary of Railyard indicates. Consistent quality food is clearly a problem which La Stazione needs to address immediately if they hope to have a chance in the competitive Santa Fe restaurant market. I have experienced occasional issues when the restaurant was the Railyard but on the whole I had a solid dining experience. Clearly the new chef Michael Easton isn’t up to the task of running a kitchen if the quality of the food is this poor.
This is made especially worse by the fact I just got back from vacation from New Orleans where I enjoyed restaurants like Commander’s Palace, Bourbon House, Court of the Two Sisters and Bacco Ristorante. I highly recommend Bacco’s Maine Lobster and Shrimp ravioli. It’s incredible and it’s a stark contrast with the poor ravioli at La Stazione in Santa Fe.
UPDATE
Steven Jarrett slated to take over chef Michael Easton’s position as chef at La Stazione. I applaud the change and once the dust settles I will revisit this review and the restaurant.