Yelp Elite Hosted Event: The Livingroom Wesley Chapel; My Disaster Experience + Nice Winter Jeans Combo LOTN (Look of the Night)

 

I actually have dined at the original Dunedin restaurant for brunch and I found it to be loveable and enjoyable. I was always curious about this location  and dinner service which is what led me to attend this Yelp event.

This evening I put on my jeans again, these are my favorite jeans and it was cold tonight which is why I wore them. There were some Christmas festivities going on at Wire Grass and that actually was the first time I had ever been out there besides one time I went to JCP and never exited that store. It was pretty nice, but I just do not like malls. 

Tonight was my first time trying out this new makeup I bought from MAC this month so I will be talking about that more in my City Life post this month. I really liked how the makeup looked though. Most of these photos I never use the glass for because of flashback so some are darker than the others. Some my husband did use the flash for so you can guage the flashback also.

Crop top: Free People

Jeans: Express

Jacket: Vintage

Necklace: Kendra Scott Rayne

Earrings: Kendra Scott Elle

Heels: Jimmy Choo, not recent 

Lipstick: MAC (Winter collection 2023) Fuchsia Frenzy

Ok, so as I said I came in because I was there for a Yelp Elite event. These events are usually hosted which means my meal is free and this time that included my appetizer. While I did pay for my cocktails, my husband's food and tip it all falls under the belt of this is a event review so I kind of have to make sure I am not saying exactly the same thing as I did on Yelp if you understand.

So, I did dine in at this restaurant and despite all of my efforts it was a disaster. My dietary restrictions were not taken seriously by staff and as a result I got glutened. Within 15 hours of eating here I was experiencing a full blown autoimmune reaction to traces of gluten that were in my food.

This restaurant has items marked as gluten-free on the menu and they say items that do not have the GF may be able to be modified. To be clear, everything I ordered I was told was gluten-free. Everything I ordered should have been naturally gluten-free also. The only way I could have been glutened was due to cross contamination or just not caring. 

I am almost positive I was glutened due to cross contamination and a lack of caring about my food being handled with the necessary care. For example, my tomato bisque was served to me on a saucer which contained my spoon and bread. The bread slid off that saucer and touched my deviled eggs. I expressed concern for rhe lack of care. I explained that I could get very sick. Our waiter literally just went to the kitchen with the soup cup, saucer, and spoon and just took the bread off the saucer and gave it right back to me with bread crumbs and all still on the plate.

SANTA'S LITTLE HELPER

Three Olives Rose Vodka, cranberry juice,

white creme de cacao, Giffard menthe pastille,

house citrus, cranberry bitters, fee foam.

So, it's been six days and I am still sick. In general if I go to a restaurant and these things happen it's a wrap, I don't recommend that restaurant or return and this case is no different. My meal was free,  but I had a few spoons of the soup, 2 bites of the fish. Like, I literally lost confidence in being able to trust that the food was safe after witnessing the disregard that was being shown after explaining again and again that I had Celiac Disease. If I had eaten more if the food I would have been even more sick so I am glad I just "listened to my gut" and stopped eating.

It is also like, I got a free meal, but at what cost to my body? My immune system is currently attacking the lining of my stomach because I ingested gluten. When you have these sort of reactions it isn't just like, ok you may throw up or have stomach issues for a few days and it is over. I could develop other underlying autoimmune diseases and symptoms.  I have had my hair fall out in the past, I have had my skin itching for weeks, brain fog, unexplained weight gain and weight loss.

So, this is one of the reasons why I used to always have my portable gluten tester with me, but as of right now those gluten tester capsules are always out of stock and they are also now more expensive ( 8$ a capsule), so I don't always have them.

TOMATO BISQUE (VEG)

grana padano, toasted garlic crostini, basil

soup dujour.

So, anyhow, not a click bait title, I had a very bad experience and in all honesty, this is the first time I have had such a bad experience at a Yelp Elite Event. I have never been glutened at an event either. If I know the food isn't safe I don't eat period. This situation was definitely just weird because I was literally told everything was safe after checking over and over again.

So anyway, that's what happened.

TWO DEVILED EGGS & CRISPY PORK BELLY_6

four halves, dijon mustard, crispy pork belly, pickled chili

So, then there is like, the rest of my review. My husband also ate there. His experience as usual is vastly different because he has no allergies, however a lot of things we agreed on.

*The 55.00$ steak was nothing more than a Choice Usda steak, which is the lowest grade that is served in grocery stores. The. price of 55$ is not justified. It had way too many inedible parts, meaning gristle and fat. The overall cook was good or correct, which was medium rare. Flavor-wise, it was good, and the incorporation of rosemary and dry spices was a good addition. 

The Hasselbeck potatoes were hard and undercooked in the throughout, not just the center; basically, inedible. When this was pointed out, all our waiter said was, "Oh, ok."

The fried onion ball was not a good garnish. The side was the Hasselbeck potato, which was not edible. It didn't seem like the steak was worth the hearty price of 55$ for the quality of the meal that was served. You can get a good Prime steak a la cart for the same price in an upscale restaurant.

***I think one thing that needs to be addressed is the automatic 20% tip that is added to every tab in the restaurant. They do disclose this as soon as you walk in as well as leave cards on the table. Full stop, I 100% believe service would have been better had the people at the establishment actually had to work for their tip instead of knowing they get it no matter what. I am actually not against automatic tips, but the service and the food needs to match up with that! Furthermore, 20% is a bit crazy. One of my favorite restaurants in my area of South Tampa is an upscale steakhouse and they have an automatic tip of 11% and they say you can tip more after that or no more- its all good. The food and service is impeccable and so as a result we always tip more.

But here, they know they are serving food that is not on par with the pricing (55$ steak that is USDA Choice) vrs. an actual Prime steak or at least a premium cut of steak; lackluster sides. The reviews for this restaurant in particular are mostly 3 stars and below for a lot of the same experiences that I listed from my visit. So, yea, even without the dietary issues that I had, m husband did not have a great experience as well.

My food was free because I was there for the event, but we still ended up paying out about 150$ for food which we both know we could have made at home much better. So, I would also say steer clear of a lot of the "events" they host for this restaurant because it is padding their reviews also in my opinion.

Dragon Water Mojito

This was the one thing I loved. It was absolutely refreshing and pretty.

So, this fish dish was supposed to be gluten free after modifying it. It was served to me without the Andouille sausage.

SAUTEED RED GROUPER.......

andouilie sausage, succotash, creamy potato "polent

blackened buerre błanc, topped with crispy onion.

My husband attempted to order the Osso Buco as well as another dish and was told they were both sold out for the night. Our waiter recommended this steak dish at 55$

The side was the Hasselback potato which as you can see was not even cooked all the way through- not even a little bit.

Despite my horrific experience at the Livingroom Wesley Chapel and being of Yelp Elite status, no manager ever reached out to me to even ask about the review I wrote or try too remedy it. Like I said, where would the motivation be to reach out when they got paid, they had 2 new customers (which is how they are getting a lot of their business at the mall) and they got a guaranteed 20% tip and they upsold a more expensive steak to my husband claiming the Oso Bucco was sold out for the night at 7pm. You tell me, would you eat her?

*UPDATE* it's also now been 1 month since I got glutened there and I am still sick so for those of you who may not understand Celiac Disease, it doesn't just give you a stomach ache or stomach upset for a day or two and go away like some people may think.

It depends on the amount of gluten you ingested, your tolerance level, and lots of other GENETIC factors. This is something that can put you in the hospital with other ailments as well. If a restaurant can't ensure their food is in fact safe to be consumed under 20 parts per million gluten detected, they really have no business offering food under the guise that it is gluten free.