OK - this is a tough one.  Although I personally have never met the man, I have had the definite pleasure of dining on food prepared by Dimitri Lolis on numerous occasions: years ago at the hotel Baker when he worked with the now-disappeared chef Shawn Brady, later at Tribella Bar and Grill in Batavia, and at Dimitri's Mediterranean Grill on the east side of St. Charles.  I have always respected him as a man who knew what he was doing in the kitchen; watching him move through the dining room of several venues, I always got the impression that he was genuinely concerned about his patrons' dining experience.  It's easy to tell when a man takes pride in his work.

However, after a recent breakfast at his latest perturbation -- the Copper Fox Cafe -- I am saddened to report that our breakfast there was perhaps the biggest disappointment yet and possibly one of the poorest breakfasts in memory... and it is not an easy thing for me to say.  I can only assume that Dimitri was not present on the day of our meal, as I can simply not imagine that he could possibly have ever prepared what we were served, or knowingly allow someone else to do such a poor job.  If I were the waiter, I would never have taken the plates out of the kitchen.

Without fanfare or embellishment, here are the details of our experience (unfortunately -- or fortunately as the case may have been -- I was not paying the bill; if I were, all plates would have been unceremoniously returned to the kitchen):

• Tables from an earlier breakfast meeting that remained full of dirty dishes for more than an hour.
• Service that, on a scale of one to ten, was easily a three or less
  • offered ketchup but never brought it to the table
  • forgot to bring English muffins that were part of 2 breakfasts - we had to ask for them
  • forgot to bring butter - we had to ask for it
  • coffee served without saucers ("we're out of them")
• A wait time in excess of 35 minutes from order to service of breakfast
• Salmon (from the "Norwegian Benedict" menu item) that was salty, tough and tasteless
• English muffins in the Benedict that were burned so badly -- black actually -- they were inedible; the server never apologized for the atrocity, nor did anything about them when we displayed the evidence
• Cold plates and barely warm food
• Hollandaise sauce that was incredibly spicy-hot and nothing like any Hollandaise I have ever tasted; awful
• Over-cooked eggs
• Over-priced coffee and over-priced, small portions of milk and juice

The pièce de résistance  -- the ultimate and most incredibly laughable excuse I have yet heard: your breakfasts are slow in coming because "we were out of plates; we had a party earlier and the chef is also washing dishes!" 

The website for the Copper Fox shares an article about the restaurant that boasts "Attention to detail and the quality of those details" as the attribute that makes Copper Fox "top-shelf".  Interestingly, another posted article shows a picture of an Eggs Benedict plate... one that bears absolutely no resemblance to what we were served.  All I can say is that the intended patina on the Copper has turned to pure tarnish and the Fox has his tail between his legs.  Please come back Dimitri, and do some serious re-training of your staff.

Your Table is Waiting...

Ralph Pancetta
reviews@ralphpancetta.com