AMTHoya

We had another delicious meal at Citronelle - thanks to Mark (again) for his help with the wine! I was with the girlfriend's dad, so it was important that I make a good impression, and the excellent food and service at Citronelle was a real help in that regard. Started with a bottle of Champagne - a really delicious dry rose. For apps, I had the soft-shell crab, she had the virtual fettuccini (which I wish I had tried MORE of!) and he had the foie gras carpaccio (same). My softshell crab was great - nice and crunchy, and with a nice dipping sauce. After finishing the Champagne, we ordered a bottle of Sancerre (which I didn't get to look at - by this time I was getting a little tipsy, as I had already had a glass of scotch). For our entrees, I had the lamb (delicious - even better than the squab I ordered last time), she had the beef, and he had the black bass (which, unfortunately, I didn't get to try). She had a glass of the Margaux which was previously mentioned in the thread, and I had a glass of Burgundy, which was quite good, though I (and her dad) preferred the Bordeaux. And for dessert, they had the chocolate three ways (which they hoarded) and I had the breakfast for dessert - which had its highs (the delicious cappuccino) and lows (the apples and bacon, which were just ok). It looked really cool, though, and I especially liked the fact that a real eggshell was used for the eggs. All in all, a great night - and a perfect place to have a fancy dinner, especially where we were seated in front of the impressive wine cellar.

Thanks! And great post...I'm pretty sure that you guys got the same Gigondas we had when we were there in July - wasn't it great?

I'm a lucky, lucky boy - after my blockbuster birthday dinner, my girlfriend's dad is coming to town, and guess where she's conspired to have him take us... Anybody been recently? (And by recently, I guess I mean more recently than July 6th...)

On October 22nd, I'm going to be going to Palladio, the restaurant at Barboursville Vineyards, where Cesare Lafranconi, the chef from Tosca, is going to be guest chef for the night. Has anyone been to these wine dinners at Barboursville before, and would you recommend them?

Well, I definitely took that advice - Mark was incredibly accommodating and very engaging. But let's start from the top. The meal started with us trying to figure out what we were going to drink - we had sparkling water, but wanted to start with a glass of wine. The waitress presented us with the wine list, but as it is quite extensive (that being an understatement) I was a little intimidated. So we ordered our dinner and asked to see Mark. Mark couldn't have been more helpful. He started off by asking if he knew me from here (which I appreciated, though I had to explain to my girlfriend what he was talking about). I think he could tell I was a little intimidated by the whole question of how much wine we were going to get (especially since I was choosing but not paying, so he asked a basic question - if we drink a little wine or a lot of wine. We looked at him and told him we like a lot! So he recommended a glass of white for our first courses and a bottle of red for our second. I told him I liked Rhone wines, so he steered me in the direction of an excellent Gigondas that was only $60. We started with the asparagus vichyssoise (for her) and the begula pasta (for me). The vichyssoise was excellent, though very asparagus-y. Mark was telling us how hard it is to pair wine with asparagus, so he paired it with a dry Riesling. This was my favorite wine of the night (probably because I really love Rieslings). Because Mark wasn't pouring, I didn't see which appellation/country it was from, though - Mark, do you remember (if you're around)? I got the begula pasta, which was delicious and very fun. I liked the hint of lemon and the fact that when I got to the end, my spoon was full of egg yolk even though I couldn't see the poached egg at the beginning. With that, I got a premier cru Chablis - it was delicious, with mineral flavors. I told Rebecca it smelled like a stony creek, and she agreed. We followed that up with the cote de veau (for her), which was great - it was a good-sized chop, well-Frenched, and very tender and flavorful. That came with pearl pasta risotto, which was very good, with a great texture. I ordered the squab - it had some Asian flavors in it, with pea shoots, and came 3 ways - in boudin (which Mark told me had some foie gras in it...which I immediately noticed after he mentioned it), confit legs (these were Rebecca's favorite), and breast (which was wonderfully tender). The Gigondas went PERFECTLY with the squab - the richness of the squab definitely balanced out the tannins in the wine, which had a beautiful nose and was definitely an excellent example of the muscular Rhone style. We finished off the Gigondas and the entrees and decided to get the cheese course. At this point, I was getting pretty full, but I knew I wanted to try everything I could, and the cheese did not disappoint - I can't remember all of them, but there was a Roquefort, a Camembert, and a Muenster. And they were all tiny. We then decided to order dessert and dessert wine (we weren't kidding when we said we liked to drink a lot of wine!). Dessert was great - I got the napoleon, which was probably the most "normal French restaurant" dish I got all night and was excellent and she got the chocolate flakes, which Mark recommended. These were pretty good, though Rebecca said they tasted a little too much like actual cocoa puffs. But the bergamot and the mint made it a really interesting dish. Our dessert wines were a 20 year old Taylor Fladgate port and the Vin de Glaciere ice wine from Bonny Doon. They went perfectly with our dishes. In the end, thanks so much to Mark and the entire staff at Citronelle for a wonderful birthday - we had a spectacular time, and I hope to bring my parents (who are also serious foodies/wine people) when they come to town next.

I tried the Big House Pink (from Sherry's in Woodley Park) and loved it - I thought it was a great value. They also told me to pick up some 1+1=3, and that was tasty as well - though it wasn't quite as fruity as the Bonny Doon (probably because it was Cab instead of the Barbera/Carignane/Sangiovese/Zin mix that the other one was). Interestingly, I liked both of these better than the Domaine Tempier I had when I was in California - that was a little dry and austere for my tastes.

Thanks - the begula pasta seems to be a resounding "yes"! Any suggestions on how I do the wine pairings? I've heard so much about how accommodating Mark is, but I've never really been to a restaurant with a sommelier before (well, besides the French Laundry, and there the sommelier basically told us what we were getting...of course his recommendations were excellent). So I'm a little apprehensive about that, even though I know a lot about wine...

Ok, so my wonderful girlfriend is taking me to Citronelle for my birthday tonight. I already think I know what I'm going to order (I was thinking about the begula pasta and the squab) - but who knows? Any strong recommendations from anybody who's been there really recently?

How were the prices?

Did anyone go last night? I was thinking of going with my girlfriend, but we ended up making tacos instead...

My girlfriend and I tried out Merkado last night, and, well, weren't exactly blown away. Started off with the pineapple margarita, which was decent, but not exactly exceptional, and the soju mojito. (Yes, this place is crazy about the Asian-Latin mix...though I was intrigued by this, and I had never had soju before, so I figured what the hell.) This was unimpressive - while watching the bartender make it, I noticed that she put the mint in at the end, almost as an afterthought. It definitely showed. Considering that the last mojito I had was at Cafe Atlantico, where they have it down to a science, I was not impressed. For dinner, we had the chicken nachos - this was a HUGE plate of nachos, though it seems like they use a whole bag of chips in each one. I would have preferred a much smaller plate in a much more reasonable size and more topping...we had to pick through it to get to the chicken, and there wasn't a whole lot of salsa on there. There were a few lashings of crema (which was good) but other than that not much to brighten up the large piles of tortilla strips. Finally, we had the trio of ceviches - salmon, diver scallop, and shrimp. These were served with (Asian-Latin fusion alert!) chopsticks. This actually worked for me, and I think the key at this place is to focus on the Asian aspects of the menu. Despite being ceviche, they had it in sort of an Asian sauce, and honestly, I would describe it more as sashimi. But it was flavorful, and I liked the salmon especially. Finished with two glasses of Sauvignon Blanc - they actually serve a glass and a half, if you'd like (they put the half in a small carafe). I actually like this policy. Other than that, though, it was kind of a letdown, especially after hearing so much about Soigne in Baltimore. I guess it's a little early to judge, though - it's been open for like two weeks, so I think we'll try it again in a couple of months. But I was at least hoping for good mixed drinks, and they didn't exactly meet my expectations.

I had the tuna w/ Moroccan spices for lunch today, and, unfortunately, it was really soggy - like so soggy I needed a fork to finish it because it was just falling all over the place. I think they sliced the olive bread too thin, but from the second I picked it up it was just sagging and dripping all over the place. Disappointing.

I was going to post this a week ago, but for some reason couldn't...but here it goes anyway. How good is Cafe Atlantico's pre-theater prix fixe deal? I'll give you a hint. Really really good. And a steal, at that - $25 per person including entrees that run to slightly less than that on the regular menu. We started off the meal with the "Magic Mojito" which was pretty amazing - cotton candy in a martini glass, with mojito poured over it. Besides being, well, kinda cool - it was probably the best mojito I've ever had. I had already had Cafe Atlantico's mojitos, but I think I preferred this one because it didn't have ice in it, which kept it from inevitably getting watered down, as the other ones do (though I suck mine down so fast it doesn't get watered down for long). After we finished that, we followed up with a glass of Riesling each. Followed up with foie gras and melon balls - this was a great combo, and also very fun to eat together over toast. The entree was a really excellent duck confit, with perfect sugary crispy yummy skin. And as a finale, their molten chocolate cake, which was good, though pretty typical for that dessert. All in all, a good dinner with considerable savings. I'm definitely itching to go back and try the other options on the menu...especially the guac!!

Interesting that we've had mentions of Thomas Sweet and other ice cream places in Upper Georgetown/Glover Park...but no mention of I-Cee-Icy (or however you spell it) for my favorite Argentine/gelato-esque ice cream. I definitely drove across town one warm evening a few weeks ago for some dulce de leche swirl, and, boy, was it worth it.

In terms of bar burgers, I've always been a fan of the New Yorker at the Penn Ave. Pour House on the Hill - grilled mushrooms, onions, and cheese with a 1/2 lb patty that I always get medium rare. It's the best thing they have there (which, honestly, isn't saying much) but it's one helluva burger.