fuzzy510 Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Going for the first (and last, I suppose) time on Wednesday night. What's the dress code? I'm reading conflicting things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Going for the first (and last, I suppose) time on Wednesday night. What's the dress code? I'm reading conflicting things. Anywhere from a sweater and khakis, to a tuxedo. The majority of men will be in a jacket and tie, and I think that's the appropriate level of dress (maybe not a tie, but certainly a jacket). You "can" wear nice jeans to the bar area, but I would advise against it. In the dining room, I would feel somewhat underdressed in a sweater and khakis. CityZen is not stuffy, but it is a high-end restaurant, and diners dress appropriately. If you want to save yourself some money, park on the street and walk the one block up to the restaurant (although I believe the meters on the street there now require payment up until 10 PM). I've valet parked at CityZen, but not often because there's just no need for me to unless it's raining - plus, I enjoy the brief stroll after dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waitman Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I often wore jeans (and a jacket) in the bar and have seen some borderline grunge there.Of course, they wouldn't let me order the good Burgundies because I didn't appear "worthy." Also, they'd trot the Parker House rolls by every now and again just to underscore the fact that I wasn't getting any. Actually ate in the dining room in jeans once, when the bar was full and the resto had seats and Jared was in an alarmingly good mood (having earlier led my friend and I through an impromptu horizontal of the various Domaine Weinbach Gewurtztraminer cuvees). Normally, though, I think looking pretty sharp is the order of the day in the dining room. A friend who once inquired formally was told that a jacket would be appropriate for a gentleman, though a tie was not required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Choirgirl21 Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 I would err on the side of slightly dressier. I just went on Friday and I would so most diners were on the dressed up side, jacket and tie for men, dresses for women. A little update on the status of both Ziebold's new place and the hotel restaurant - we were told by our server that as of now the plan is to close the restaurant in the hotel. She stated that they hadn't found a chef of the caliber they wanted yet to replace Ziebold. Also, she said the timeline on his new place is 1 year out. I have no idea how reliable any of this info is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmd Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Said farewell to CityZen with a stop by the bar last night for the three-course menu with beverage pairing. The eight seats filled up immediately so we waited until 7:00. First course shoat belly was served with a 1996 Auslese Riesling from JJ Prum, an astonishing wine in pristine form at this age. The exceptional duck course was served with a current vintage Priorat from the regular BTG list, followed by a cheese course with a sweet Vouvray. Comic relief was provided when guests came in from a wedding in the lobby and started ordering mimosas, screwdrivers, and vodka-ginger ales, to the befuddlement of the CityZen staff. We finished at 8:30 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Tsui Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 I have dinner reservations for 2 on Saturday the 6th at 8:30PM. My wife has backed out due to a conflict and none of the friends whom I've asked can join me. I'm planning to call tomorrow to see if the restaurant could accommodate a solo diner (I don't want the bar menu); otherwise I may just have to cancel it. I first wanted to see if a DR member would be interested in joining me. The idea of fine dining with a stranger seems a bit odd and I don't feel totally comfortable throwing this invitation out there. But, I jumped on the reservation when I learned of the closing date and I'm pretty determined to enjoy one last dinner there on Saturday. Don, I wanted to ask you personally as I haven't had the chance to meet you, but I figured eating there twice in a week would be a bit much! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonRocks Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 I have dinner reservations for 2 on Saturday the 6th at 8:30PM. My wife has backed out due to a conflict and none of the friends whom I've asked can join me. I'm planning to call tomorrow to see if the restaurant could accommodate a solo diner (I don't want the bar menu); otherwise I may just have to cancel it. I first wanted to see if a DR member would be interested in joining me. The idea of fine dining with a stranger seems a bit odd and I don't feel totally comfortable throwing this invitation out there. But, I jumped on the reservation when I learned of the closing date and I'm pretty determined to enjoy one last dinner there on Saturday. Don, I wanted to ask you personally as I haven't had the chance to meet you, but I figured eating there twice in a week would be a bit much! Charles, I'd love to, but I can't. I think it would be a wonderful way to make a new friend. The first night Charley Geer (rest his soul) and I *ever* met each other, it was to cross-taste a 1989 Haut-Brion and a 1989 La Mission Haut-Brion (we were active in an online wine discussion board, and found out we lived only a few miles from each other). We were good friends until the day he passed away. So by all means, someone chime in - if you haven't ever tried CityZen, you'll never have a better (or, for that matter, another) chance. (And they will absolutely take solo diners and make you feel quite welcome - it's not awkward in the least.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 To modify the saying slightly...Say hi this time. My wife and I have 9:30 reservations. I wear black glasses and a beard. Stop by if you're still around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Tsui Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Thank you, everyone! I didn't have any takers to join me, but I was able to switch the reservation to one. JoshNE, hope to run into you guys; have a great dinner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheezepowder Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 (And they will absolutely take solo diners and make you feel quite welcome - it's not awkward in the least.) Thank you, everyone! I didn't have any takers to join me, but I was able to switch the reservation to one. JoshNE, hope to run into you guys; have a great dinner! I'm already going to the DonRockwell dinner tonight; otherwise I'd have joined you. But I wanted to let you know that bookluvingbabe's post about dining solo here inspired and reassured me so I treated myself to a solo meal in the main dining room last month. I had a wonderful time. And I agree with Don - it wasn't awkward. I appreciated that they led me to a table where the second chair had thoughtfully already been removed so I wasn't looking at an empty chair the whole time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Tsui Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Looking forward to hearing about what I'm sure will be an incredible dinner tonight. Also excited for my solo dining experience--I have no doubt that they'll take good care of me. So pleased that I will be able to enjoy one last meal at a restaurant that's hosted quite a few of my special celebrations over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielK Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I'll defer to someone else to write up the meal, but it only reinforces what I wrote last month - the best restaurant in DC is closing in 2 days. :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheezepowder Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Yes, the DonRockwell dinner was amazing. Half the table had one tasting menu; the other half had a different tasting menu. And we traded tastes of both menus. Quite an impressive span of dishes. My solo dinner last month and the group dinner this month were very different social experiences, but one of the things they had in common was that I came away from both of them loving the food. I will be eagerly awaiting the Chef's new restaurant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbogrrl Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 Went last night, we both had the chef's tasting menu-- small deviations were that I went for the risotto with truffle, and Nick went for the wine pairing. We had a great view of the kitchen. The risotto was the standout course for me. The truffle was exquisitely pungent, so that one would have another cloud of truffle envelope one each time someone nearby ordered it. The salmon sashimi with curry was delicious; the lamb carbonara was all savory and sweet and warm heady flavour that popped on the tongue. And, of course, the rolls. Most wine is pretty bad for me-- I'll get itchy and flushed and my mouth will get all puckery; more often with reds, but still a lot of whites too. I generally take a very very small sip of whatever Nick is drinking, to see if we come across a wine I can drink. It's amusing for him, because the faces I make are generally hilarious. This time we found two wines that didn't prompt an immediate flinch-- a 2011 Schloss Johannisberg Reisling Spätlese, and a 2006 Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe "La Crau" Cháteauneuf-du-Pape. I ended up stealing the latter from him, just because I haven't been able to have a glass of red wine in forever. All of the staff did an amazing job, it was a lovely night. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Tsui Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 What an absolutely wonderful last dinner to remember CityZen by. I don't think it's just sentimentality that made this, by quite a margin, my favorite of the 6 or 7 meals that I've had here over the years. To be honest, all of those previous experiences had been missing something for me. The cooking has always been flawlessly precise--I've never had a single course that was not perfectly cooked or seasoned. But there haven't been as many truly memorable dishes as I'd expected. I was mostly left thinking, "great technique", "subtle balance", but not necessarily, "really delicious". My great fondness for the restaurant had been formed more by an appreciation of the impeccable service and a respect for the focus of the cooks than lust for the food. But last night, for their last dinner service, EZ and his team were cooking with heart and soul. Not to say that they didn't before, but it was the first time that everything came together for me and I had course after course that put a smile on my face. The precision that I'd come to expect was still there, but also a generosity and boldness that made many of the dishes unforgettable. My only regret is that I was so outrageously full shortly after the halfway point that I couldn't finish a lot of what was put in front of me. In all fairness, in addition to the 6 courses on the printed menu, I received 3 canapés, a pre-dessert, an extra fish course as a gift from the kitchen, an extra dessert, and *a second extra fish course*, that I believe to have been a mistake (I had chosen the white truffle supplement instead). Two of those extra courses were some of my favorites from the evening (the seared cod and the first dessert), so I'm definitely not complaining! While I'd come to take the service at CityZen for granted, I can't fail to mention how well I was taken care of. I was a little conscious of being a solo diner while the couples on either side conversed, but I got to fully focus on the enjoyment of the experience. Everyone who served me was utterly professional, yet warm and personable. Several of the FOH staff whom I talked to still didn't have new jobs lined up. They're among the best in the city and I really hope that they all end at deserving restaurants (and, maybe, at Chef's new place next year). Photos below. For reference, I had the regular tasting and substituted the matsutake mushroom tart from the veg tasting for the lobster cassoulet. Thank you, Chef Ziebold and team! It's been a great 10 years and I'm very much looking forward to the next chapter. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBag57 Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I am so glad that you posted the menu from the closing night! We went, for the first and last time, about a month ago, in celebration of my wife's 55th birthday. The "we" included our two children in their early 20's. All together, it was an incredible experience. I am not as adventurous as my wife and children in eating (thankfully, the kids chose the better path), so they had the six course tasting menu, while I "dumbed down" with the four course meal. The reason for the thanks in posting the menu is that the first course listed was also the first course the rest of my family had on our visit. (or at least very close) The "sashimi of skuna bay salmon" (photo #2 above) was a dish that our two young adults (with the generally short attention spans of those their age) kept talking about then and for days later. The reaction to that dish caused me to promise them that we would take them to Chef Ziebold's next endeavor. I, on the other hand, had some sort of clam sashimi (I think the menu had it as a sashimi, but it was sort of pickled like a ceviche), which I had chosen as a "lesser among evils" of a seafood-heavy first course list. Wow, am I glad I did, it was revelatory, just as the salmon sashimi was to the rest of my family. So, what's up next for Chef Ziebold? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdt Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Great write up Charles. We were there on the early side and had a wonderful dinner as well. We both did the regular tasting menu and enjoyed each dish. The entire experience was great and you would never have known it was the last night of service. The take home gift of the thank you note put in the bar menu holder was a nice touch. They also had a guestbook for folks to sign on the way out. I was glad to have dined there over the years and look forward to Chef's new place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Poivrot Farci Posted December 8, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted December 8, 2014 Us JV prep-school peckerheads at Palena were always jealous of and, like, totally inspired by the Ivy League varsity jocks downtown which Frank always pointed to for a finer secondary luster in what resembled an embassy or something with a 1:6 teacher/student ratio that provided as supple and sturdy of an approach to most matters of food as the warm, freshly laundered cotton jackets. And Parker House rolls. There probably won't be another intimate kitchen of that grandeur in DC led by such a culinary luminary whose practicum of highly disciplined sensory techniques and premium product is the pulp of salacious fabrication details I've only heard second-hand over late-night liquor and shoptalk. That's the gilded gossip for sweet reverie. A cleverly thickened nettle soup, bamboo sprouts treated with grandmotherly folklore, tender pan-fried corned veal tongue which all others must answer to and adroit surf & turf manipulations from an otherwise bucolic butchering colleague (it's not always about speed though; ask your GF) are noteworthy, and memorable. It was the 1st and so far only time I've seen sauce Paloise on a contemporary menu. Indulgence of the cheese board's breadth and depth kept me happily constipated for a weekend and the unflappable service is what humanity should demand from fancier things: smart, functional, stylish comfort and seemingly effortless built-to-last support. Noble showmanship of the finest grade. Those in the know say cooking at CityZen often demanded soulful precision that can only be measured by the senses, where temperature threshold is figured out by putting capable hands on the side of a pot and methodology demands patience, deliberate questions, careful trial & error, and pragmatic shuffling of skilled cooking sequences. It was a smooooooth as iced-cream foodstudio whose characteristic products were fluid and consistently accurate without being contrived or mechanical, like a Kyudojin hitting bulleye, without a scope, to the analogue tunes of heavy vinyl. Beyond impeccable ingredients, recipes and techniques it was a confident study of how to harmoniously do what and why; completely independent of what is trending or tired and the juice was definitely worth the squeeze. The elegant menus probably drew heavily from overlooked classics, maybe where Meditations of First Philosophy, Le Repertoire, Shobogenzo and heirloom recipes from the Midwest mother's cookbook overlapped. There was a reverence for the mastery of centuries past and for me the allure of CityZen's table was the mature, thoughtful revival of past elements and dishes rather than the desperate rush to invent something for the sake of being new. This is perhaps the penultimate of the bestest chef-in-residence restaurants to have been snuffed out in DC (J-L Palladin*, Le Paradou, Citronelle, Palena, Cityzen"¦) and leaves few reasons for anyone to eye DC in the immediate for such a rare, top-shelf standard of hospitality employment. The bar keeps falling and that's an unfortunate change in tide for a city already allegedly set on a swamp and weighed down with too many wasteful steakhouses. Until Mr. Ziebold's new space opens the unemployment line will be crowded this holiday season with quite a few restaurant folks who have good ideas for government cheese and how to serve it, and that's a shame. *Jean-Louis Palladin is overdue for a Wikipedia page. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Best thread ever. Don - package it up and send it to the Smithsonian immediately. (sort of joking, but not really) PF (above) - you write better than you cook"¦"¦"¦that sounds bad"¦"¦"¦.how about, you're writing is on par with your cooking which is tres magnifique Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Waitman Posted December 8, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted December 8, 2014 I admit we had the inside track from the get-go. But there was always something more. Stephanie and I met Eric at a boozy Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Jarad Slipp and his charming and exceptionally tolerant wife Anna "“ a dinner highlighted (for me, if not for the impressionable teenagers I had in tow) by a loud and often obscene discussion of the personal and professional proclivities of a number of industry leaders "“ a discussion led by a certain food website host and joined by a couple of industry vets and regular high-end diners. Eric largely abstained from this free and frank exchange of views, but was charming and polite "“ no hint of the hot-shot chef showed through. We had coincidentally made a reservation to celebrate Stephanie's birthday at CityZen two days later and we always appreciated the chance to meet and suck up to someone whose restaurant we had on the agenda. But Stephanie's major takeaway seemed to be: "that Eric Ziebold, he's such a cutie-pie." The subsequent meal ("Spain gave us Dali, Surrealism and Jose Andres, who took clam chowder apart and spun cotton candy around foie gras. France gave us Monet, Impressionism and Michelle Richard, who puts tradition in the sous-vide and brings it back with brighter colors and softer edges"¦. And Iowa gave us Grant Wood, Prairie Style and Eric Ziebold, who serves pizza and boiled beef on his $120 tasting menu") goddam near killed us with the extra stuff Eric sent out but we were awed and charmed by the chef and the food "“ maybe more charmed than awed, much to Eric's credit -- and CityZen became the go-to for major life events for many years. It wasn't just the food, though the food always impressed and occasionally astounded -- even the lowly bar menu. Especially when she was working at home, I was working in jeans, the kids were still around, and money was tighter, we enjoyed the fuss and circumstance "“ the last minute pressing of critical garments for the Big Night Out, fighting for mirror space, bumping into each other as I tried to hop into my trousers and she wrestled with her hose"¦. It seemed that all the frantic preparations followed by the anxious dash for the cab actually heightened the endorphin-stroking elegant calm we encountered as crossed the threshold (late) handing off coats, bags, cares en route to a chilled martini or crisp Champagne. There were celebrity sightings, too: Thomas Keller at the next table (and Don Rockwell at the bar); sitting with HillValley when Harvey Keitel and family picked up something for their room and his buddy Bobby D. looking in to see when he'd be back upstairs; a certain famous ice cream socialist (and friend of a friend) who arrive stoned and tieless and flirted shamelessly with Stephanie all night, which she hated not at all. And always the food "“ dishes you never forget, especially the odd ones: the chili consumee or the truffle pizza or those weird, deli-inspired treats that kept showing up on the bar menu, pickled lamb flank or some such thing. Of course, we got schmoozed. We knew Eric, kind of. And when Jarad came on as Majordomo, it wasn't just the Rolling Stones bringing in Mick Taylor for the best albums ever by the best rock and roll band ever, was CityZen bringing on a guy who'd had had dinner at my house and had fed me at his. And I'll take that. A couple of middle class kids who loved dining walking into the best restaurant in town and being coddled by people who enjoyed seeing you "“ it felt like million bucks. And sometimes if there wasn't a place at the bar they'd stick the flowers somewhere else and make room. And we got the Parker House Rolls even if we sat in the cheap seats. It felt like a million bucks, and it didn't cost nearly that much. We mostly ate at the bar "“ though our bar tabs were pretty impressive. And I could never understand why Andy so damn nice to us. We spent a tiny fraction of what we could have spent on that carefully-curated wine card. And then, every time, I'd get too drunk to remember what the hell he was pouring anyway. His genius was lost on (or washed out of) me. And yet bottles and glasses were always appearing at the table and occasionally disappearing from the check. I can still see Andy coming through the crowd with a broad grin and a bottle of red held high, like a shark fin cutting through the waters off Martha's Vineyard and announcing "it's been a long night, your palates are tired so you need this Pinot. It's utterly lacking in subtlety and completely delicious." He could have poured us anything "“ it almost didn't seem like dinner if we weren't drinking something that was introduced with "you've probably never heard of this before, but"¦." CityZen was allegedly a formal dining room but Eric's food was never effete, our servers "“ though sometimes mystified "“ never distant and Andy and Jared brought a barely concealed and slightly deranged glee to the whole show. It wasn't just good, it was fuckin' rock and roll and we liked it. And I guess they liked us. Three days after Stephanie's funeral, just before dawn, I was alone in my house when someone woke me up by shoving a pistol in my face and yelling "where's the fucking money?" I poured Stephanie's jewelry into a pillow case and poured myself a pre-dawn vodka and thanked the Lord (with whom I don't much chat) that the kids weren't home and that they weren't orphans and reflected on a pretty tough week. By sunset I was surprisingly sober and feeling pretty kicked around and my son had come into town and we needed to go to ground "“ I needed a drink and a decent meal and somewhere very, very civilized where I could hide from life for a couple of calming hours. I called Jared and promised a great story if he'd break the rules and hold the last two seats that I knew were open at the bar "“ shamelessly playing both the regular cards and the death card in the same sentence "“ and he said he would. Dylan and I sat down and Jarad dropped both the dining room and the bar menu in front of us and said not to worry about anything. Andy dropped by to let us know that we were in her hands. And, of course, Eric came by when he had a chance. For a little while we ate and drank well, and talked about every damn thing in the world except what we didn't want to talk about any more --with friends. We left the restaurant that nigh warmed and nourished and grateful. I was back again the other night -- back to good friends, with good friends. The dinner was delicious "“ as a friend says, playing chords rather than notes on the palate. I was pleased and surprised to see Sharon back for the wind-down, she was part of many great meals and used to make Stephanie a little jealous (not that Stephanie didn't have a huge mom crush on EZ). It was great to see Michael, who was our waiter for that first birthday dinner, in charge. Dave (whose first week was, a faulty memory suggests, that tough week that I was talking about) was running the wine cellar and sold us some excellent Riesling and a stellar Spanish whose name I drank too much to remember. Plus í§a change... This new dynamic duo doesn't yet bring a deranged glee to their jobs "“ I told Dave that he could pick up a lot of credibility points if he'd just take a few cheap shots at Andy's wine list, and he wouldn't take the bait. But they have their own style and they'll have their own dining rooms and cellars and clippings soon enough and they'll see me strolling through the door and say, "I thought I ditched that guy." I'm pretty sure Eric doesn't tell me anything he doesn't tell everybody else, but I was reassured to hear that he hopes to keep doing what he does well, and there won't be any gourmet burgers or faux gras in his future. Nothing wrong with Michel Richard's Centrale. It was just never nearly as good as Citronelle. I suppose everybody knew that Eric would move on someday. I'm just glad he's not going to New York. And I guess I've moved on in some ways too. Not everybody loves the pomp and elegant excess of fine dining. Nothing is more tedious than retreating into the good old days, chasing a moment that won't and shouldn't ever be cast in amber. There are new things to discover that you can't find sitting around a table saying "remember when"¦?" But it was a moment. And am glad I was there. . When Stephanie was angry at the kids --who each rotated through a couple of years when their job was to set the places for dinner -- for flinging the silver and the napkins and the glasses into random sullen arrangements, she would scold: "LaLa [grandma] always said that you should set the table with love." Eric's team, the team he created, trained and led, loved what they did. And you felt it whenever you sat down to dine at their table. 24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithstg Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 As I am reading this in New York, I can't tell you how much I wish EZ had a place open in NY - like, right now. That said, thanks for a beautiful post which celebrates both all that was so special about Cityzen, and what we collectively love restaurants and this community in general. It's all about the people and the experience. [Don, feel free to delete, just thought that Waitman's words deserved more from me than the like button]. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bart Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I don't know where to find this magazine and I don't think you can read it online but Eric Ziebold wrote an article about the final service for Thomas Keller's "Finesse" magazine. Photo below from the Twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers2000 Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 It looks like you can purchase the issue via iTunes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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