Missteps mar visit to an old favorite
When Thomas Schnetz and Dona Savitsky opened Dona Tomas in 1999, they were pioneers in the culinary awakening of the Temescal district in Oakland. With their brand of locally sourced Mexican food, they lured people from far outside the neighborhood.
Last year the business partners split and Savitsky, who once was the chef at the now defunct Cafe Marimba in San Francisco, took sole ownership of the restaurant, which has a nicely worn patina and an expansive patio that makes it a prime destination on many days.
I’ve been there a halfdozen times over the years and was impressed with the food. On my most recent visit, however, the service was lacking and the kitchen seemed in disarray.
I looked longingly at the tomato salad ($6) on the next table because a half hour after ordering we were still waiting for our drinks (let alone any of the food we had ordered) — and sitting in front of a plate of tortilla chip crumbs.
Finally the Bohemia ($5.50) and the Margarita de la Reyna ($12) with Tapatio Blanco Tequila Cointreau and lime arrived — it was worth the wait — and the waiter apologized by saying the bar was really backed up. She assured us she was following up on our food order. Five minutes later, the pickled vegetables ($5) arrived, but then we waited 15 more minutes before we saw the Little Gem salad with pumpkin seeds and lemon vinaigrette ($10) and the chicken soup ($9), which I remembered having been a strength of the kitchen. The salad was good, but the soup came across as one-dimensional, needing a little salt to balance the acid.
After 15 minutes more with empty plates before us, the waiter stopped by again to say that she was continuing to monitor the food but that the kitchen was backed up. She said she talked to the manager and they would remove a few things from the ticket (we got a $14 credit). It was a nice gesture, but looking around the room it seemed the food was slow in coming to everyone.
Finally the main courses arrived. The chicken enchiladas con mole rojo ($20) had a complex sauce with notes of chocolate and chile, but they were tepid as were the accompanying beans. The carnitas ($21) looked as if they were scraped from the bottom of the pan. They were dry and had a leftover taste. However, by placing them in the thin, light tortillas with salsa fresca and black beans, they made a fine taco.
By that time, it became obvious the tomatoes we’d ordered and coveted from the other table were never going to appear — and I didn’t want to ask. In another dereliction of duty, I decided that after two hours I couldn’t wait for dessert, no matter how good the slice of tres leches cake ($8) looked as it passed by.
I may have been there on a particularly bad night, but the place seemed fully staffed and the restaurant was never completely full.
What I observed seemed to point to a mostly disorganized staff, both the front and the back of the house.
Michael Bauer is The San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic and editor at large. Find his blog at http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com and his reviews on www.sfchronicle.com. E-mail: mbauer@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michaelbauer1 Instagram: @michaelbauer1