Capones Restaurant & Live Jazz Club

[McTee]

After a few months of focussing on the wine list as Bar Manager, I have now stepped in as the new General Manager of Capones Restaurant & Live Jazz Club in Yaletown.

I think that it is fair to say that Capones is known to many different people as many different things, some more familiar with us for music and drinks, and others know us more as a restaurant with good food and 'hit and miss' service.

My vision for Capones is to continue to be one of downtown's premiere live music venues while providing a quality dining experience, resulting in a combination of dinner and entertainment that is unmatched in Vancouver.

To be realistic, we will not be trying to steal regulars from Cioppino's and Blue Water, but the quality of our food offering is vastly underrated in my opinion.

Having spent almost 7 years in the hotel industry, my mission for the service at Capones is to individualize every experience as much as possible, recognizing and anticipating guests' needs to have every guest feel truly cared for. I do realize that Capones has a service reputation that is in need of repair, and my intention is to address this as quickly as I can.

My reason for posting here is that I value the honest feedback that you have all given on many restaurants here in Vancouver, and I truly respect your passion and love for food, wine, cocktails and the restaurant experience in general. I personally invite you to try Capones again for the first time and see some of the changes that have recently taken place, like the decor and the new menu layouts.

As I don't know many of you by face, please feel free to ask for me personally so that I may have the pleasure of putting the face to the name, and please don't forget to bring your 'decoder rings'. I encourage any and all feedback regarding your experiences, either by PM here on egullet or any other avenue that you choose. I also encourage the use of this thread (hopefully with Daddy-A's blessing) for any of you to let me know what you have experienced in the past, to help me understand the true impression that guests have had.

Please be my guest and enjoy a full dinner, a pizza, or just tapas and a cocktail at one of Vancouver's great venues for live entertainment on a nightly basis. I am certain that you will be pleasantly surprised.

Sincerely,

Ian McTavish

General Manager

Capones Restaurant & Live Jazz Club

[fud]

(hopefully with Daddy-A's blessing)

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Poor Arne, you will never escape being regarded as the forum admin even after you decided to step out of the limelight

Thanks for the gracious invite McTee. My SO has been talking about trying this place for a while now. Perhaps we'll drop in and say hi.

[Vancitygirl]

I'd definitely recommend trying CapoWwild mushroom bruchetta, B.C. snapper finished with tiger prawns, and grilled striploin were particularly memorable. Don't forget about their private back room for parties. Fun times!

[McTee]

(hopefully with Daddy-A's blessing)

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Poor Arne, you will never escape being regarded as the forum admin even after you decided to step out of the limelight

Thanks for the gracious invite McTee. My SO has been talking about trying this place for a while now. Perhaps we'll drop in and say hi.

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Sorry Arne, I haven't been around egullet much in the past few months, so I was unaware that you are no longer the admin.

My fault.

Ian

[Daddy-A]

Sorry Arne, I haven't been around egullet much in the past few months, so I was unaware that you are no longer the admin.

Does this mean I don't ket a key to the VIP room?

Sounds like you've got a big project ahead. You sticking to jazz fr the music?

A.

Edited August 26, 2006 by Daddy-A (log)

[McTee]

Sorry Arne, I haven't been around egullet much in the past few months, so I was unaware that you are no longer the admin.

Does this mean I don't ket a key to the VIP room?

Sounds like you've got a big project ahead. You sticking to jazz fr the music?

A.

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Yes, the music lineup isn't going to change much, if at all. That part of the equation seems to be relatively solid.

As I see it, the largest task is in giving the place a little polish. There have already been some significant esthetic improvements, so my job is a lot easier with that stuff in place.

Ian

[Dumpling Girl]

some more familiar with us for music and drinks, and others know us more as a restaurant with good food and 'hit and miss' service.

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Wow, it's nice to see that Capones is looking to improve themselves. I'm of the latter group - I was relatively pleased with the food, (as well as the drinks and music) on my one visit during the Jazz fest in 2005, but I felt like I got the "look you up and down to decide if you're worthy of sucking up or not" type of snobby service, from both the man who showed me to the table, and somewhat from the server, and never returned. My dining companion, who arrived separately concurred. We're both self-proclaimed foodies who spend a lot of money on dining out, and clean ourselves up to dine in a restaurant, but neither of us are terribly interested in flashing any sort of bling. The attitude ruining the experience was very unfortunate, because I love jazz, love the experience of being able to enjoy live music and food and drinks at the same time, and I live fairly close by too (downtown). The actual logistics of the service - timing, knowledge, etc. were fine. But at the price point of Capones, there should really be no service issues.

If the changes result in a snobbery-free evening, I'd be willing to give it another try. Thanks for the invitation to give feedback.

Edited August 27, 2006 by Dumpling Girl (log)

[McTee]

some more familiar with us for music and drinks, and others know us more as a restaurant with good food and 'hit and miss' service.

←

Wow, it's nice to see that Capones is looking to improve themselves. I'm of the latter group - I was relatively pleased with the food, (as well as the drinks and music) on my one visit during the Jazz fest in 2005, but I felt like I got the "look you up and down to decide if you're worthy of sucking up or not" type of snobby service, from both the man who showed me to the table, and somewhat from the server, and never returned. My dining companion, who arrived separately concurred. We're both self-proclaimed foodies who spend a lot of money on dining out, and clean ourselves up to dine in a restaurant, but neither of us are terribly interested in flashing any sort of bling. The attitude ruining the experience was very unfortunate, because I love jazz, love the experience of being able to enjoy live music and food and drinks at the same time, and I live fairly close by too (downtown). The actual logistics of the service - timing, knowledge, etc. were fine. But at the price point of Capones, there should really be no service issues.

If the changes result in a snobbery-free evening, I'd be willing to give it another try. Thanks for the invitation to give feedback.

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Hi DumplingGirl,

First of all, thank you for sharing this experience, I think that it helps me to understand the past. Without knowing who exactly showed you to your table and served you, I feel confident in saying that neither of them is likely here anymore. Most of the staff have been with us for less than a year now.

Should anything like this happen again, I would love to learn about it in order to properly address these issues. My new Bar Manager, Angie has just come aboard and we are definitely on the same page with regards to raising the bar when it comes to the performance. I definitely agree that given the price point of the entrees, the service should not be an issue.

Ian