Mark Brezinski of Velvet Taco Has Class

After reading my review of his restaurant, Velvet Taco co-owner Mark Brezinski sent me the classiest response to bad press any restaurateur could. If only all restaurants and chefs comported themselves as Brezinski did. Read it for yourself. It’s reprinted below.

Jose:
I read your blog on Velvet Taco and it’s never easy to read something that essentially spells ‘disappointment’.  I’ve been in the restaurant industry for 35 years – 20 of it in Dallas – and have read the good, the bad, and the ugly before.  That’s the risk a restaurateur accepts, as with anyone willing to risk their creativity and expose their ‘vision’ to the consumer.  My partners in Velvet Taco and I made the decisions we made with the same fastidious research, tastings, and considerations as we have with any restaurants we’ve ever done.  This included the gang at Plan B design, Royce Ring and Alex Urranaga – also partners – who all have deep experience in this business.  No business tries to appeal to everyone nor does it set out to do the opposite – alienate anyone.  Our effort is honest, determined, and as with any new venture – constantly being tweaked.  I’d invite you in to see the process, to view the depth of our prep work, the cleanliness of our kitchen and the effort of our team. You may not choose to recommend us nor to become a regular but we are confident that we’re doing the best we can and are coming close to our targets.  I know John Franke joins me in this invitation and this is your call – the invitation is open.  We don’t think 20 items is too many and believe our variety is broad enough to satisfy a cross section of those who choose to eat with us.  If we need to shore up our execution then that’s what we will focus on – just like about 6,000 other restaurants in this city do daily.  I respect that you may not agree with the entirety of what we came up with and we’ll learn from your comments – and those of our regulars, other bloggers, reviewers, and anyone else who takes the time to share their experience with others.  If you want to take me up on that invitation, my direct email is mark.b@velvettaco.com and my cell is REDACTED.  Thanks for taking the time to read this.  Mark H. Brezinski