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Showing results for tags 'City Vista'.
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Alta Strada opened three weeks ago and MichaelBDC and I have already stopped in twice for two very good dinners. After returning from a quick trip to New York, starting a new job, and facing an empty refrigerator, I convinced MichaelBDC to go to Alta Strada for opening night. We were surprised that the restaurant was only half full, but one of the GMs told us it was by design in order to allow the restaurant to ease into business. Michael Schlow was on hand to expedite and do some quality control. We started with the grilled octopus with chickpeas, calabrian chiles, and parsley. About 80 percent of the chickpeas were blended with the chiles to form a hummus like consistency and spread in a crescent shape on the plate. This was topped with the perfectly cooked octopus (which was poached and then grilled) a few whole chickpeas, and parsley. MichaelBDC and I both enjoyed this dish, especially the spice from the chiles. We also had the crunchy meatballs to start. MichaelBDC enjoyed this dish a bit more than I did, though I thought it was very good. I agreed with him that the outside of the meatballs were very crisp but did not result in a dry meatball. The restaurant also gave us an order of whipped ricotta to start. This was a luscious and great dish MichaelBDC and I both enjoyed. The only downer was the gratis bread and olive oil. The Italian sesame bread was average and the olive oil needed some salt. But since MichaelBDC and I enjoyed the starters so much, it was easy to overlook this part of the meal. We were already pretty full after the appetizers but had already ordered the Maltagliati with rabbit, fresh fava beans, and pecorino. This was my favorite dish of the evening. I really enjoyed the bits of rabbit and the fava beans. The pasta was lightly sauced, enabling the ingredients to shine through. We also ordered the broccoli rabe and spicy sausage pizza. It was good but not great pizza. There was nothing wrong with the dish, I just felt that the other items on the menu were much better. However, the pizza is perfectly good for an Italian place trying to offer a bit of variety. MichaelBDC and I each had a slice and asked for the rest to go. Last weekend, my brother and cousin were in town to run the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler with me and we decided to have our pre-race dinner here. We ordered everything that MichaelBDC and I had at our previous dinner minus the ricotta and added an order of tagliatelle bolognese and local striped bass with rosemary, white beans, escarole, and lemon. I only had the tagliatelle and thought it was very good. For dessert the table split the lemon sorbet, which was delightfully tart, and the nutella tarte, which was delightfully rich. MichaelBDC and I had two very successful visits to Alta Strada and are looking forward to more. It's so great to finally have a solid and decently priced Italian restaurant in the neighborhood.- 10 replies
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- Massachusetts Chain
- Mount Vernon Triangle
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After a brief stint as the Spanish tapas restaurant Calle Cinco, Conosci is now the neighborhood sushi restaurant Nama. The head chef, Handry Tjan, comes from Sushiko and Kobo. @MichaelBDC and I went and sat at the sushi counter on Thursday, their second day of service. Both Michael Schlow and Ed Scarpone (head of the Schlow Restaurant Group) were there to run quality control. We ordered the chef's selection of sushi & sashimi ($42 for 13 pieces), the tuna and jalapeno roll, octopus nigiri, and uni nigiri. There was a bit of a mixup as we assumed that the chef's selection was omakase (it was not) and that we had ordered one for each of us. We mentioned this to our sever and our comment was overheard by the chef and the two sous chefs in front of us so the chef sent out chu toro nigiri and a special nigiri of sweet shrimp topped with uni. After talking a bit with Michael Schlow, he sent out two orders of the beet nigiri for us as well. The fish we had was outstanding, and in my opinion, on par with O-Ku and Sushi Ogawa. We don't usually order shrimp due to @MichaelBDC's mild shellfish allergy, but the shrimp was sweet and some of the best I have had. Even the beet nigiri was great and is highly recommended. The only area where Nama falls short for now is the selection of fish, which is fairly limited and standard. There is not as much variety as Ogawa or even Sushi Capitol, but the fish they did have was very very good. Both Michael Schlow and Chef Tjan mentioned that Nama is intended to be a neighborhood sushi restaurant and that they were keeping things simple to start. Depending on the neighborhood and clientele, could add more variety fish and omakase to the menu. We'll certainly be back and crossing our fingers that this place is here to stay.
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- City Vista
- Japanese
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Sietsema raves. Anyone been? -
From The List: Mandu -- Danny Lee (previously a manger at Oceanaire Seafood Room) and his family will open a traditional Korean restaurant in the space formerly occupied by Mt. Everest in Dupont Circle in October 2006. (1805 18th Street, NW) Everyone in DC that was looking for a local Korean restaurant will soon have one. Grover and I will be there when it opens to give you our (decidedly opinionated) review. -
Beginning today, right now, every single person who posts a new topic in our Professionals and Businesses forum will receive a chance to win my Kushi Living Social Coupon for $50! As long as you redeem this by July 15th, it will be worth the full $50; after that, it will be worth $25 through October 1, 2017. The winner will also be getting their very own Email, sent personally by me, and announcing the gifting of the Groupon. There is no cost to enter this raffle! Offer ends Friday, June 8, at 12 noon. One entry per thread started, multiple threads per user permissible to a maximum of three, Winner will be announced by random draw by 1 PM on Friday, June 8. Offer subject to rules and restrictions, please read FAQ before posting. Remember, initial postings in Professionals and Businesses must be: 1) Positive reviews only (friends and family is fine - you just have to disclose the relationship) 2) 100 words or more - tell us, in detail, what's so great about this person or business 3) Signed by your real first and last name Remember also that this is our only fully-moderated forum, so when you click on "Add Post," it will go into my moderation queue, where I'll check to see if the minimum requirements have been met, and then update the indexes, before releasing it to the public eye. Good luck to the entrants!
