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ALargeFarva

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  1. ALargeFarva
    Received a somewhat cryptic email that Bartlett Pear Inn won't be serving after September 24th, and that Jordan will pop up somewhere in the area. I imagine he is moving to a space with a bigger kitchen and I am very much looking forward to it.
  2. ALargeFarva
    Since I have nothing better to do than speculate wildly, I will take a stab at where I think it ends up: 3 stars: none, Michelin will make any deserving restaurant wait and IMO Metier is the only DC restaurant that fits the profile of a 3 star restaurant 2 stars: Metier 1 or 2 star toss up: Fiola Mare, Minibar, P&P (haven't been), Kinship, Komi 1 star: Plume, Rasika, Rose's, Little Serow, Convivial, Marcel's, Jaleo, Rasika, Bombay Club, Fiola, Iron Gate, Masseria, The Source, Bourboun Steak, plus another 1/2 dozen that could go either way (maybe Taro, Ogawa, Seki, Corduroy and 1 or 2 good not great IMO French restaurants). I think it will be a relatively short list to start, and that you will see more tasting menus and more restaurants prioritize food as something to eat. The food scene is quite strong, but nowhere close to NY and there are sushi places in NY and SF with 0 stars that are IMO better than DC's best offerings. Once they move outside DC proper, I suspect Inn at Little Washington will get 3 and that Restaurant Eve, Patowmack Farm, Bartlett Pear will get 1-2 stars. Can't think of any others I've been to outside DC that are deserving. Thoughts?
  3. ALargeFarva
    I had a similarly bad experience with service when I dined with them a few months ago, only at dinner. Probably the worst service I've had in the past year or two. Our server disappeared for 15 minutes at a time most of the evening. We didn't get to place our order until we'd already been sitting for 30 minutes. Our server spent most of her time in the back expoing food and/or doing god knows what, while the food runner brought us out incorrect food, left us without silverware, etc. I politely highlighted for her how that service model is suboptimal, and that an expo was more important than a food runner in this case, but she got defensive. I attempted to track down a manager but there wasn't one in sight. So, I gave up. Lastly, this was the night of the ice storm and their sidewalk was a veritable ice rink. I almost fell myself and cringed as older patrons attempted to traverse the sidewalk, only to give up and turn back. I alerted the hostess and she looked at me cluelessly, as if to say what am I supposed to do. The food was edible but not worth coming back for - run of the mill 1.5 to 2 stars. There are too many good restaurants in DC for me to bother giving them another shot.
  4. ALargeFarva
    This is pretty spot on. I would even say the service, the experience, the ingredients, the execution is 3 Michelin star quality without question. In fact, better some 3 star restaurants I've been to (I'm looking at you, Saison and Benu). For me, the taste of the food at Metier wasn't transcendentally exceptional like The French Laundry, but nowhere is in my opinion. It is a really intimate space with truly exceptional service and they focus on making it an experience and really focusing on the guests (which I can't say for some 3 star places, like Jean Georges or Le Bernardin, which don't look and feel all that different from a 1 star caliber restaurant like Marcel's or Fiola Mare).
  5. ALargeFarva
    To answer your question, I believe service is included in all stated prices. Our check doesn't have the word gratuity anywhere and no gratuity or service was added for the drinks we ordered. There isn't even a place on the receipt to add gratuity if you wanted to. Hope that helps.
  6. ALargeFarva
    This will not be a long or overly detailed writeup, as I don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone. The space is lovely and it's obvious that they focused on every little detail and spared no expense. I would say they put more thought and effort into their ceramicware than any restaurant I can recall. Dinner took about 3 hours and, even on opening night, the service was impeccable. My wife and I enjoyed the food, though we admittedly had higher expectations given how much we love Kinship. Metier is not Kinship 2.0 -- there are obviously some similarities, but Metier is more innovative, more imaginative, is done with more precision, and is a very different experience. Everything is executed flawlessly, but I think the Kinship menu may just be more to my taste (at least compared to last night's Metier menu). Which isn't intended as a knock on Metier, because everyone has their own tastes and I happen to think Kinship is the best restaurant in the DC area. I suspect most will prefer the food at Metier. Regardless, it's a 4 star experience with 4 star execution.
  7. ALargeFarva
    There's a part of me that wants to try P&P, but there are 3 reasons I probably won't. 1) I don't drink alcohol and I'm not going to spend $75 on a mocktail pairing. I find it offensive. I know I can avoid that by sitting at the bar, but why require people who don't drink to sit at the bar?? 2) They aren't open on Saturdays. I believe it's a terrible business decision and they will eventually realize it. My work schedule isn't predictable enough to make a weeknight reservation with 100% certainty, and I'm not going to risk $250 on it. 3) I ate their spicy fried chicken sandwich for lunch and, maybe I'm just clueless about acceptable ways of frying chicken, but it was burnt to a crisp on the outside (to the point where it was black in color and the outer 1/2 centimeter of the chicken had zero moisture and was stringy. Maybe I'm just ignorant and this is a perfectly acceptable way to fry chicken, and I'd be curious if that is in fact the case. Even if I am wrong, if the chef can't cook a fried chicken sandwich to my taste, I'm not going to trust them enough to drop $250 on dinner. I won't wish failure on a restaurant, but I do worry that if Aaron Silverman succeeds with P&P in its current form, he will push the envelope even more on his next restaurant and require guests to eat blindfolded standing up, cook their own food and clean their own table, charge $25 for special filtered water, or something similarly absurd.
  8. ALargeFarva
    I was able to get a reservation for Tuesday, so I can confirm they're open (can't say for sure if it's the first night, though). I'm beyond excited.
  9. ALargeFarva
    Proposed additions: Best Service Best Value Best Ramen Best Sushi Best Decor Best Fine Dining
  10. ALargeFarva
    Went to The Partisan tonight, before I realized they had a new chef. I personally think the Partisan did meat better than almost anyone in the city -- whether it's the charcuterie, the burger, the foie, the pork tomahawk chop or the beef tartare. Tonight, the charcuterie and cheese were great as usual. But most of the rest of what we ordered seemed 'off.' The things we tried for the first time seemed to be fine but underseasoned. A couple things I've ordered many times before tasted different this time, to the point where I told my wife I bet they had a new chef -- the beef tartare (for the worse, in my opinion), along with the burger (which also had one of the chef's long hairs in it). The server and GM were both very apologetic about the hair and comped the entire dinner without my asking (and even though I offered to pay). I told the GM that, while off-putting, it happens; but, that I was more disappointed that the beef tartare and burger had changed for the worse in my opinion. She said that the new chef had in fact changed the tartare recipe but that the burger recipe remained the same. I've had their burger half a dozen times and I know it was different, which is even more concerning if the chef and others there can't tell the difference). It's not that the food was bad; it was just underseasoned at times and not to my taste otherwise. The pacing was awful, as well. Never had an issue before tonight. Our apps came out 1/2 way through charcuterie and our entrees came out before we were 1/2 done with the appetizers (and we're both fast eaters). The server recognized the issue without prompting, and offered to take the entrees back to the kitchen but we declined. Anyway, if you weren't a big fan of The Partisan before, you may want to give it another shot with the new chef. As for me, I was quite fond of it before and will probably wait for the current chef to move on. I'm a firm believer that you don't fix what isn't broken, and that if you decide to do it anyway, you better be damn sure it's an improvement. PS - The previous executive chef is now at a Kimpton hotel restaurant in Winston-Salem NC.
  11. ALargeFarva
    I can't help but think the impending opening of Métier may have pushed the rating down a 1/2 star. I genuinely can't fathom how it only got 3 stars. Everyone's taste is different, but it's hard to dispute that the food, service and decor are among the very, very best in DC.
  12. ALargeFarva
    100% agreed on the skillet. I never cover the lid on mine, but I'll have to try and would probably help to melt the cheese more on thicker slices, like a Sicilian.
  13. ALargeFarva
    Couldn't agree more. Our server indicated that they made a big menu change over this past weekend, which I inferred to be the only big change they've made so far, and that she expects more frequent changes once Métier is up and running "soon." If you want it, order it before it's gone. I also noticed that I wrote it was tagliatelle when it is actually agnolotti. They're obviously nothing alike, aside from some common letters.
  14. ALargeFarva
    I've been twice and can confidently say it's the best restaurant I've been to in the DC area. He took the Parmesan reggiano agnolotti off the menu recently, which is unfortunate because it was my favorite dish at CityZen and so far my favorite at Kinship. Must orders for me are the mushroom torchon, beets and stroganoff (and Parmesan reggiano agnolotti). The service was fantastic both times. The interior, including the main dining room, waiting area, and especially the bar area, is in my opinion the most well-done interior of any restaurant in DC. It is luxurious without being pretentious, which is so hard to pull off. I went in jeans, sneakers and a polo the second time after wearing a suit the first time and felt equally at ease
  15. ALargeFarva
    1789?
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