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durwoodx

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About durwoodx

  • Birthday 07/18/1969

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    Alexandria, VA

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  1. durwoodx
    I have been to Vernick's Food and Drink more times than I can count. I have never had anything less than an astonishing experience. We dined at Vernick Fish this evening for the first time. While the service was excellent, of the 4 courses we sampled, only one rose to the level we would expect for anything with the Vernick name attached to it. This coupled with the premium price associated with being in a Four Seasons hotel makes this simply not worth the cost. Frankly, while I will certainly head back to the Vernick flagship anytime we can, it is unlikely we will ever return to Vernick Fish.
  2. durwoodx
    Chuy's is actually significantly better than Chevy's (but I don't mean that in a good way.)
  3. durwoodx
    It's actually astonishingly easy to order $45 worth of food here. I agree with Don that it *IS* very good, but I'm just not convinced that it's that much better than Namaste (not that far away) to justify the price difference.....
  4. durwoodx
    They also serve as great garnish/seasoning for several of the small plates and pizze - we would just crumble them on certain dishes like salt.
  5. durwoodx
    Looks like this place is no more. Sign is down and brown paper is in all the windows with a notice that 'AL Saray Mediterranean Cuisine' is coming soon
  6. durwoodx
    Driving by today, I noticed this place was out of business and soon to be replaced by yep another pollo restaurant. Which is good, because we surely don't have enough of those yet.
  7. durwoodx
    Has anyone actually eaten at this fine establishment? I spied it across the street from Redrocks (which has slipped quite a bit and I cannot recommend for brunch, by the way) and was surprised to discover it had been open for at least six months. We had no idea the place was even a thing. (We should really get out more.)
  8. durwoodx
    I will agree with that assessment. Osteria Marzano is clearly the better of the two.
  9. durwoodx
    The few times I've been it has been fair to good, which is about as good as you can hope for down here....
  10. durwoodx
    The Navy Yard location is jam packed at lunch. On Wednesdays, when they do the crazy cheap specials it is lines out the door crowded.
  11. durwoodx
    If you were to peruse the menu online or upon stepping into this place for the first time, you would probably predict a mediocre experience at best. Any menu with Japanese, Korean, and Thai dishes included would usually get my eyes rolling. There is therefore no good reason the sashimi here should be so fantastic. And it is. Fantastic.
  12. durwoodx
    I have pretty much no other experience with Ted's other that the Hoffman location, but I can say without reservation that it is terrible and has been pretty much since it opened. The few dishes that we once enjoyed years ago have declined in quality continually.
  13. durwoodx
    I am not sure I would say that Bearnaise emerged from the same 'person' but rather from a food concept LLC. I am pretty sure SM has had very, VERY little to do with the concept, menu, or execution except in an executive producer sense....
  14. durwoodx
    I'm not sure a restaurant has ever had a quieter opening. When a friend suggested we try this recently opened steakhouse from the owner of A La Lucia I immediately starting searching for information about it. To my astonishment, the almighty Google barely even knew it existed. I sense this will not be so for long, as the experience was astonishingly good for a just opened restaurant. We opened with a variety of fried goodies - clams, oysters, and artichoke leaves. The clams and oysters were among the best I have ever had - big, meaty, juicy with a crisp breading that showed almost no trace of greasiness at all. The steaks were perfectly cooked to order and tender to a fault. My wife's filet was the winner at the table, but the NY Strip was a solid enough offering on its own. Sides were also quite good - fingerling potatoes just tender enough but with a crispy skin along with halved brussels sprouts with just a hint of brown carmelization. The creamed spinach was good, but alas not quite up to what you get at Ray's (which is some damned fine creamed spinach to be fair.) The most astonishing thing about the evening, however, was the consistency of everything. From food preparation to course pacing to overall service. The owner has clearly been training his team intensely. During a post dinner conversation with him he said they had been having a number of ramped up "friends and family" dinners to shock test the staff and it clearly showed. All in all, perhaps the best opening to a restaurant I can recall. There really isn't anything else like this anywhere around Alexandria - a great addition to the community.
  15. durwoodx
    I heard this yesterday as well. He wasn't by any means the only reason we went there, but it is likely we will be there half as often now. I'm sure it won't be long before he's scooped up by somebody.
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