Heathcote

I have had the salmon sandwich twice and loved it both times. I wish they carried French saucisson and ham from Bayonne (jambon de Bayonne), my two favorite French sandwiches though the salmon is much healthier. They will make a sandwich to order if you prefer a different bread than what they pre-prepared. My downfall though will be the flan pastry. I was never able to find the French version of flan in the states and always able to walk off the calories in France on vacation!

Do you have the soft shell clams from Ipswich? I used to be able to buy them at the wharf in SW for about a decade beginning in the mid-1960's; they are sweeter than the clams from this region and not at all chewy.

I dined at Adour twice and wrote it up elsewhere. For me, with my predilection for French nouvelle cuisine, there is no other restaurant during Restaurant Week/Restaurant Week extended that measures up to Adour. I highly recommend it. And if you can snag a souffle, do so; the desserts are wonderful but the souffles are heavenly -- as are a number of other items on the menu.

Sorry, I did not realize it would be in keeping with the spirit of the site to post this before or after my first posting. I have been overworked and overextended for that past few years as the organization I work for has grown like topsy, so my posts have been fewer than I had imagined. Would that I could compose them on a computer rather than in my head as I walk from the restaurant to my home or a meeting, they would be tenfold. I am very excited that I was accepted to this site and hope as I catch up I will have time to communicate my thoughts and read more of yours. Heathcote.

Once again my sole selection for Restaurant Week dining -- with its extensions -- is Adour. No other restaurant compares to Adour these two weeks -- no menu, no service, no ambience, and probably few wine lists. And I must add that though many like myself come here only twice a year during the two weeks Adour offers a Restaurant Week menu, the entire staff treats their guests as if they were staying in the Presidential suite at the hotel. The GM notes the likes and dislikes of each returning guest, souffle not on the menu, no problem, they served all three of us a heavenly hazelnut souffle on the last night I dined there. Need I add what others have noticed: Fabrice Bendano and his assistant turn out if not the best, among the best desserts offered at any restaurant in the DC area. In addition to the souffle the first night I shared a milk chocolate dome that I could have easily horded and an orange tian (unfortunately for my sweet tooth, the clementines were a bit too tart unlike those I have at home). Among the memorable preparations were the amuse bouche -- a demi-tasse of mushroom soup with a thin layer of creme fraiche resting on its top,easily equal to a mushroom soup that Yanick Cam prepared at Le Paradou, a light and flavorful lobster bisque with a handful of croutons amazingly flavored like none other I have had, a stuffed squid Basquaise, and what Jouhannaud called a tomato marmalade that accompanied the moistest chicken breast I have ever been served. Having tried every item save the salad appetizer offered on the Restaurant Week menu -- three appetizers, three entrees, and two desserts -- I marvel at Julien Johhannaud's talent -- he turns burlap into silk. The main ingredients: chicken breast, braised beef cheek, and monk fish certainly are, well, pedestrian ingredients. In his hands they emerge as sumptuous bites one savors. I and my friends left knowing we had eaten and been treated like royalty -- discretely, without fawning, but definitely royally. We are all looking forward to August! Heathcote.

I had not been to Sei (on 7th Street, NW next to the Lansburgh Theatre and Jaleo) in some time and was delighted to see a new -- for me anyway -- menu of fish that tells patrons that the Chef receives each week from Japan a traditional "Omakase box" of exotic and regional fish that the Chef serves either as nigiri sushi or sashimi. In addition to an order of Drunken Sweetshrimp, which I can't resist, I selected the nigiri sampler -- five different pieces for $15, a great opportunity to try five of the seven fish I had never had! (I will have to return quickly to try the two that I missed.) My favorite and the most flavorful was Daruma, Blue Nose Jack, a "smooth, firm and slightly buttery" fish. Delicious. I could easily order it a day or two from now. The other four were milder with less distinct flavors; though all were quite tasty, they were not individually memorable. They were Kosho Dai (Sweet Lip Snapper), Kintoki (Jellynose Fish), Okiaji (White tongued Trevally), and Akaisaki (Three-line Grouper). Each of the five were $7 for either two Nigiri pieces or three sashimi pieces. The two that were not part of the sampler and that I did not try were each $7.50: Yagara (Trumpet Fish) and Katsuo (Skipjack bonito). My friend, who will not eat raw fish, had the baby lamb chop. She reported that the lamb chop was a bit too spicy, unlike the lamb chops she ordered at Sei several months ago. The side order of asparagus was a hit (I had a taste and will order it next time). One disappointment was that the server did not mention that the vegetables accompanying the lamb chop would include fingerling potatoes when she ordered the very same potatoes as a side dish. In contrast, when I could not hear my friend speak because of the loud voices coming from a party of young women celebrating at the next table, I asked management if they could move us to another table; they did so immediately though the restaurant was near capacity. Having tickets to the Shakespeare Theatre's "All's Well That Ends Well" next door, we did not order dessert.

Two recent dinners were mildly disappointing, though perhaps comparing them to the dinners at Le Paradou is a bit unfair. I think Yannick Cam is at his best when creating appetizers and my dinners at Le Paradou usually consisted of multiple appetizers in the bar area until he allowed a la carte ordering in the dining room. Though good, the several appetizers I tried were not up to my expectations. Let me explain by example. The crab cakes, which I shared, were very good but there was nothing that made me swoon as did his lobster purses at Le Paradou. The first night, I had to return the salmon, ordered rare, because it was fully cooked. They were gracious and the service was lovely. I look forward to when they open upstairs, which I was told would have a price point somewhere between Bistro Provence and Le Paradou. My hope is that the appetizers will be as stunning as they were at Le Paradou. In the nearer future, I am looking forward to the three reservations I have at Adour during Restaurant Week and RW Extended; I have always had remarkable dinners there!

I am so glad you wrote that the website was a template. With the photo of someone not at all resembling Yannick, with a dot org website address instead of a dot com or dot net, and with a menu not worthy of Yannick Cam, not to mention the misspellings all around, I was wondering what had happened! Thank you. BTW, Bistro Provence's address is 4933 Fairmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20815, and the phone number and email address that I have had for some time are 301-656-7373 and Suzana9113@gmail.com