RVAGRUB- BRUNCH AT WATERGRILL

Not the best brunch experience:  Watergrill has nice fancy decor and (of course) a water feature by the host stand. We were immediately seated by the pleasant host. The wine list is concise and affordable and on par with other restaurants in town.  My wine was one i have had before and the pour was at least a generous 6 ounces. I did notice a lack of music in the space, or perhaps the volume was so low we could not detect it.  (I do feel music does add to the overall atmosphere, and can make or break a visit) Our server was pleasant, personable and efficient, however the silverware as not polished.  The Blue Point Oysters were good and fresh and served with the usual accompaniments (including the small oyster fork, a rarity in many restaurants).  The main courses however were lacking. I had the crab cake Benedict while my dining partner had the lobster omelet.
      I judge the execution of a brunch spot on how (if) they can properly poach an egg.  Occasionally they are poached correctly but overcook by sitting under a heat lamp waiting to be run to the table and would be a little runny in the middle. This was not the point here as both my eggs were completely cooked through to the point of basically being hard boiled. The crab cakes were obviously made with minced canned crab meat and were rather bread-y and burnt on the bottom.  The potatoes: just okay. The only redeeming part of the plate was the fresh fruit and the hollandaise which was nice with a hint of lemon.
     My dining partner's lobster omelet had a few flecks of lobster meat, obviously canned stewed tomatoes and some arugula that was not even cooked. All was wrapped in a layer of dry egg, like a burrito.  The accompanying dry biscuit must have been from a foodservice/sysco company and heated up from frozen.
     The server asked if everything was delicious and we were honest and said it was rather underwhelming. She offered to get us something else or to have our plates recooked when we pointed out the overdone eggs, etc. (This was serving 101 executed flawlessly, if a diner complains the first thing a server should do is offer to remove the offending item(s) from the table) We said no but we would eat what we could and pay for it, just to let the kitchen or management know that sub par food was coming out of the kitchen. We told her that she was great and had done nothing wrong. She genuinely apologized and walked away.  (At this point a manager should have walked over to speak to us, but this never occurred, even though we saw the manager at several points throughout the rest of our visit. You could feel the tension coming from her, as she avoided eye contact with us as she assisted the tables to both the left and the right of us.  The clincher occurred after we left: I accidentally left my cell phone on the table and the manager followed us outside to return it . This would have been the perfect time to inquire about our visit since no one was around and no other guests to hear, but again she refused, just handed me my phone, and gave a short "bye").
      Our server did comp our entrees which was nice but we still felt a little odd by not being spoken to at all about our complaint by the present manager.  I know a few places let the server handle any problems if they arise, but if a manager is present, shouldn't they fill their role?  The server did nothing wrong but had to shoulder the blunt of our complaints. Seems a little unfair since it was the kitchen's fault.
     If you are gonna have all the fancy decor and location in Carytown, you have to step up your game and serve some quality food and have the professionalism to be managed correctly when dealing with customer complaints. Average brunch fare is OK if done well, but when executed badly, it (literally) leaves a bad taste in your mouth.