Herb Lyceum in Groton MA, no thanks

So, last month, Brian and I took his grandmother to the Herb Lyceum in Groton, MA for her birthday. Actually, Brian took his grandmother and me out for her birthday (nice Brian). Anyway, I had been hearing about this place for years and was excited to finally go. The basic idea is that it is a working herb farm where they serve herbally-inspired prix fixe dinners, with the menu rotating monthly. Sounds nice, right? Well, I will say that the meal was tasty, but man, the hostess was a complete snob! I mean, so much so that I never want to go back. Either does Brian, so there.

Seriously, first of all, the "gardens" are a collection of herb patches that look like a vacant lot. I can appreciate, and do like, the whole over-grown and romantically run-down look. But, there is a difference between shabby chic and looking like crap. So, ok, maybe it's not the prettiest looking garden. I'm fine with that. But then, add in a hostess who spends the entire night complaining about previous guests and saying over and over what a wonderful job they do and how they are better than anything else in the region. Not enjoyable.

The interior, where we ate, was absolutely beautiful--a restored homestead--which had a great atmosphere. During the meal, I think the idea was this woman was supposed to be a gracious hostess, flitting from table to table, joining in the conversation here and there and making sure everyone had a wonderful time. Kind of like when you stay at a bed and breakfast and the host, or hosts, will hang out with you. I love that--usually they are really interesting people. I met one woman whose pet llama was the model (well, his fur, anyway) for Sully in the Pixar film "Monsters, Inc." Unfortunately, the Herb Lyceum woman would come up to a table, sit, down, lounge all over it, and just start talking--not joining in, but just changing the subject to start complaining about how annoying guests can be and how much better her place is than the nearby Pickity Place in Mason, NH. I LOVE Pickity Place, have been there often, and would highly recommend it to anyone. I think the conversation about Pickity Place went something like this:

Snobby lady: Welcome to the Herb Lyceum. Have you ever dined with us before?
Me: No, this is my first time.
Brian: I've been here once before. It's sort of like a fancy dinner version of Pickity Place.
Snobby lady: (distainful look) We're *much* better than Pickity Place. People had mentioned this place to me before, and I finally went there, just to scout it out, and I wasn't impressed.

[The Pickity Place conversation actually went on for a while, but I'm already ranting on and on, so I thought I'd give you the Reader's Digest condensed version.]
So, if the Herb Lyceum is soooooooooo much better than Pickity Place, why do you need to make reservations in advance to eat there (so much so that they add in extra seatings during the busiest times of the year) and the Herb Lyceum often doesn't fill to capacity? Answer me that, Little Miss I'm-better-than-Pickity-Place! And why would you say something like that?! Oh, right, because you're a complete snob.

Another thing that totally pissed me off about this woman was her attitude about locally-grown produce. Once of the things they make a huge stink about is that they only use locally-grown seasonal produce and locally-made cheeses, etc. That is something I like to support, too. So, when we had some really fantastic mozzarella, I asked her where it was from. She said the name of the place (which I forgot, of course), and I asked her where it was. She shot me a dirty look (no idea why) and said "it's local" and dashed out of the room. Now, if you were supposedly promoting locally-grown and produced food, wouldn't this be your chance to talk about the place and people where this cheese was made? Then, your customer might become their customer and you've done your job. Apparently, she deosn't really promote local food, just uses it to show how great she is.

So, completely out of spite, I'm am going to book a lunch at Pickity Place with my mom. Besides the food being delicious, the gardens are absolutely beautiful, and they have a garden shop (with plants and random gifts) plus a giftshop with all sorts of fun things to look at. Good for holiday and birthday gifts. And, the people who work there are very, very nice.

So there :)