fayrehair

monday night out for two cooks. enjoyed a simple, honest, meal at the helmand. not being entirely satisfied due to lackluster sysco-esque desserts and chewy turkish coffee demanded a fresh palate cleansing drink. pazo for a change of pace and a bit of glamour? hardly. this being monday, the usual only day off, we both wore comfortable clothes suited to the cold rainy night. instead of being greeted amicably by a hostess we stood face to face with a lengthy sign detailing dress requirements for pazo's bar and lounge (underscore bar and lounge) A well spoken and well dressed hostess appeared offering a curt smile and a short appraisal of the two of us with her eyes. instead of a hospitable "good evening" or "welcome" she inquired about my boyfriend's shirt and was it collared? uh no, of course not. it's monday remember and who cares about his shirt collar when your bar/lounge is entirely empty save for one properly attired soul sitting at the bar. bottom line, two people in the hospitality industry with a day off looking to enjoy what our guests get to experience, don't need to take crap from some stuffy hostess with an empty restaurant. don't want our business because we don't look the part? look beyond the obvious and you'd see a chef of a well respected dc spot and an enthusiastic pastry assistant looking to relax and throw some hard earned money around back into the business. you're not so cool to afford to turn away guests during a recession, pazo.

So I just got back from dinner at chameleon cafe for the second time, this place is amazing. The first time I went they were doing the baltimore menu with dishes like maryland chicken and fried bluefish. This time though it was pretty much all classic french, very impressive, had an oxtail and onion soup that was really rich, i mean pure stock rich. Moved from there to an assortment of grilled lettuces including romaine and endives with walnuts and an herb vinaigrette. my boyfriend had a perfectly executed tart of leeks and olives alongside simply dressed arugula. his soup was home-style kale and bean, fortifying but lacking salt. the main dishes themselves were standard meat and two veg options however they were collectively mind blowing. when's the last time anyone had a braised shortrib that just sighed when you met it with a fork?! seriously. silken reduction sauces for my shortribs and his grilled steak. boiled red potatoes and potato gratin. brocolini. anywhere else these entrees wouldn't have been worth any notice. here, they were restored to their rightful standard. sexy, simply, honest. this place feeds its guests with heart. right in the middle of nowhere baltimore none the less. oh, and this rich experience cost 35 bucks a person. so we got fed and kept our pride after signing the check. we'll be going back soon.

alright so my boyfriend and I went to south street steaks in college park this afternoon and this has to be the most embarrassing experience I have ever had. Let's start off with the greeting we walked in and there was a guy at the counter he didn't say anything as we walked up to order, then turned his back and came out saying lemme see those hands! lemme see those hands! That was in order to grab the attention of the fry cook to throw him a bag of fries(which he dropped on the ground). Ok we let that slide, then he finally turns to us and says for here or to go no hey or hi or how are you not even "what can I do for ya". then we order, very simple 2 cheesesteaks original which is cheese whiz onions and thats it and an order of fries and 2 fountain drinks, easy enough right? Well it gets worse.... there was one guy ahead of us that had ordered but not received his food yet, then after us a few more people walked in not a big deal, we ended up waiting and i kid you not maybe 25 mins for our cheesesteaks and they forgot the fries, i was so livid by this point that there was no way i was going to enjoy my delicious treat. Well for good reason the bun was no way the authentic bun we were promised but more a sad sad sad H&S bun from the supermarket and i know the difference the cheesewhiz i watched them scoop from the number 10 can(does that give away that im a chef?) Thats a pretty big food crime if you ask me, i think that god would be very disappointed to know what was going on down here. All in all i would absolutely never go back here or maybe even never to college park again, thats how much this experience has damaged me.