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CityZen, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel - 2008 James Beard Award Winner Eric Ziebold - Closed Dec 7, 2014


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I lost my money and I can't find it. Oh, that's right. I gave it all to CityZen. Now I knew that I was in for a pricey meal at Cityzen, but pricey is not quite the word for it. My situation is that I can't eat sugar (poor me), so a desert course is really not my thing. When I asked if I could order just two courses, instead of the prix fixe menu, I was told, no. When I asked about the desert, I was told they could make me a bowl of fruit. I'm thinking for what is effectively a $25 desert ($75 for a 3-course prix fixe), I want your pastry chef out back with the creme brule torch, making that fruit special. They did modify a desert and what I ended up with was 4 tiny pieces of pineapple in coconut juice. Yeah.
Sorry you had such a dissapointing meal. Looking through some of your past posts, however, it seems that this is not the first time you have problems with pricing expectations. You might be dissappointed less often if you look up the menus beforehand, and if you think you might want a substitution, you might want to call in advance to ask if it would be possible. That would also help with the dietary restrictions as it would give the chef an opportunity to think of a passable substitution when not in the middle of service.
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And then there's the food. To be honest, I've had about the same or better at Oya, Vidalia, and Charlie Palmers. The food is good at CityZen, but nothing to die for. So if the Soup Nazi attitude of CityZen is based on the sheer excellence of its menu, perhaps this attitude needs to be re-thought.

Could you be a little bit more specific about this part? For instance what food did you have. Why was it not that good? I've been debating going to CityZen, so I am interested in more details than what you give.

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My situation is that I can't eat sugar (poor me), so a desert course is really not my thing. When I asked if I could order just two courses, instead of the prix fixe menu, I was told, no. When I asked about the desert, I was told they could make me a bowl of fruit.
A friend and occasional dining companion had a similar experience when they would not make any changes to the tasting menu to accommodate her Coeliac Disease (a severe adverse reaction to gluten). They only made the changes when the party started to leave. I have a feeling that the issues are not with the kitchen but with the front of the house since in this situation they did not bother to go back to the kitchen to find out if changes could be made before saying no.
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I'm thinking for what is effectively a $25 desert ($75 for a 3-course prix fixe), I want your pastry chef out back with the creme brule torch, making that fruit special.

It's unfortunate you were disappointed in your experience, but if anyone applies that sort of mathematical logic to a prix-fixe meal, one is probably doomed to disappointment. How many people really think that a $75 meal equals a $25 appetizer, $25 entree, and $25 dessert, as if all three courses are somehow equal in size, value, etc.? If I bought a three-piece suit for, say, $450, why would I assume that the coat, vest, and pants are each worth $150? If you went someplace else and ordered a $12 appetizer, $25 entree, and $8 dessert, would you then logically think after you paid $45 that you actually had a $15 appetizer, $15 entree, and $15 dessert?

While one might reasonably think that $75 is steep for three courses in any event, the sort of calculation you make here suggests that you should steer clear of prix-fixe meals altogether unless you really WANT to drive yourself crazy or be let down.

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The "bread in a box" are the famous Parker House rolls. They are served with the main course. They are baked off for each table. They are not meant to gorge on. They treat them like gold there for a reason.

For clarification: these rolls are not the "regular" bread service at CityZen. Throughout the meal they will bring you as much bread as you like (we've tested this extensively) from an assortment of various breads (usually sourdough, bacon and one other... I think it was rye the last time I was there).

Since I am a bread-fanatic, I really like the fact that Chef Ziebold has taken something that most people see as mundane and put it at-or-above the level of the amuse-gueule or the mignardises. And has done so in style... I've been known to trade 1/3 of my Wagyu steak for a couple of those Parker House rolls.

Okay, I'll step down off my bread-box now. :blink:

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Bad, bad Rocks.

My situation is that I can't eat sugar (poor me), so a desert course is really not my thing.
Did you call before you arrived to let them know? Or ask if you could substitute a cheese course? I agree with Lackadaisi, there isn't much they can do while in the middle of service, especially if the pastry chef works primarily in the morning.
And then there's the food. To be honest, I've had about the same or better at Oya, Vidalia, and Charlie Palmers. The food is good at CityZen, but nothing to die for. So if the Soup Nazi attitude of CityZen is based on the sheer excellence of its menu, perhaps this attitude needs to be re-thought.
Could you describe what you ate? I don't think of Charlie Palmer Steak as being in the same league as CityZen, and would like to hear some descriptions. (We have a res at the end of December and it would give me something to look forward to. :blink:)
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:blink:

My guest and I substituted for the Japanese "Kobe" beef on a recent 6-course dinner. This was THE highlight of our dinner. Rich, nutty, essence -- something to savor and remember. My thanks to the staff (David, Mark and Carlton) for making it a pleasant night.

Must not forget my guest for making it an interesting night :P

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Celebrity night at CityZen. Spotted local foodie celeb Don Rockwell at the bar. Spotted internationally known foodie celeb Thomas Keller at the next table. Possibly even more than at the deli in When Harry Met Sally, it was a night to say "I'll have what they're having."

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OK, I'm going to be completely honest here. I don't get the hype over CityZen. We ate there last night, and a number of the courses were very good to excellent, though the baby lamb fell very short. Dinner was extremely expensive, moreso than our bills for the full tasting menus at Restaurant Eve and Komi and the quality of the wine, service or interaction with staff was nowhere near as high. What really got me was the wine pairings, which I will note were reduced in price for us based on the really bad lamb dish. Even so, 5 courses of wine pairings from bottles that retail for no more than 15-20 bucks, with 2-3 oz pours, where one of the wines isn't even a wine (it's Rogue Shakespeare Stout retailing at a whopping 6 bucks a bottle or so) makes me feel like I was taken for a ride.
I believe the extremely poor quality of the wine pairings that I had at my meal a couple years ago is probably the main reason that I have never returned. It just left me with a very bad taste about the whole experience. Not a conscious decision to avoid the place for this, but it always comes to mind first when I think of my experience.

And, the pairings were not cheap at all; the pricing made it seem like getting the pairings was getting the upgrade. And, there was no further option to upgrade.

I wanted to step in here and defend Andy's honor after our experience last Saturday night (I hope Mrs. B will weigh in on the food). I can't speak to the value of the pairings, but the flavors were spot on, including beer with the "chili" consumee, a White Chateau Beaucastel with the lobster, a Red Rhone with the shoat and and several excellent Italians, both red and white. Not sure if we got our money's worth, but we certainly got our tastebud's worth.

Which I guess means we got our money's worth after all.

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Celebrity night at CityZen. Spotted local foodie celeb Don Rockwell at the bar.

Did you get your picture taken and/or an autograph with this titan of the DC food scene?? I'm sure it was hard to even catch a glimpse of him through the swarm of young ladies surrounding him....

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We've a res at the end of this month and are considering bringing a special wine. What's the protocol? Is it proper to bring it in ahead of the date? Or would the Rockweiler community just recommend buying from the list? (I don't do pairings)

I called ahead to confirm they allow it and asked to see if what I was planning on bringing was on their list or not. $50 in corkage is pretty steep, so it makes sense to dig deep and bring a spectacular wine. We usually bring two wines with us whenever we BYOW, just in case one of the ones we bring is corked.

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Finally made it to CityZen for the tasting menu on Saturday...

Two Amuses of Mushroom Fritters and Lobster Knuckles in Ginger-Butter Broth

Both excellent

Carpaccio Of Atlantic Fluke

Fuyu Persimmon, Puffed Japanese Sweet Rice, Micro Peppercress and Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Very high quality fish, but nothing too exciting.

Grilled Atlantic Day Boat Scallops

Belgian Endive Marmelade, Citrus Velouté and Lobster Oil

Incredibly good scallops. The veloute was seriously acidic, but when eaten with the scallops had a nice, almost seviche like effect.

Poly-Face Farms Poussin

Dried Currant and Italian Pistachio Mousse, Parsnip Purée, Sugar Pie Pumpkin and Swiss Chard Rouelle

The poussin breast was tender, flavorful, and went nicely with everything else on the plate, especially the delicious pumpkin and swiss chard rouelle.

Braised Kagoshima Kuroge Beef Shortribs with Marinated Beets, Cipollini Onions, and Caramelized Salsify

Meltingly tender beef that brought to mind the Kobe tasting the other week. The parker house rolls that showed up at this point were buttery excellence.

Rum Sorbet with Egg Nog Ice Cream

The sorbet packed quite a punch. A great, seasonal palate cleanser.

A Selection Of Artisinal Cheeses From Our Trolley

What a selection! There must have been 25 cheeses on the trolley (you each get a choice of four). Great job by our server on knowing the details of every one of them.

Cheesecake Chiboust with Soft Graham Cracker and Passionfruit Sauce

Apparently a chiboust is a pastry cream and meringue mixure baked freeform, as it's stabilized with gelatin (so the server told us). I dug up Eric Ziebold's recipe here. The chiboust had an almost marshmallow like texture. The cookie and passionfruit were good accompaniments

Service was outstanding and it was a very good meal-- pristine ingredients prepared flawlessly. For me there wasn't quite any of the 'how did they make this dish so incredible?' astonishment I've experienced at Palena, Komi and Citronelle, but that bar menu is looking like one hell of a deal right now.

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Interesting note re the poussin. It is sourced from our friends at Eco-Friendly, they are the best I have had in a good while. I pick them up whenever they are at the market.

Yeah, I've got four of them in the fridge. Now I know how to cook them. :( And to think I was just going to toss them on the grill!

Service was outstanding and it was a very good meal-- pristine ingredients prepared flawlessly. For me there wasn't quite any of the 'how did they make this dish so incredible?' astonishment I've experienced at Palena, Komi and Citronelle...
I call those "holy shit" moments, and I'm surprised you didn't have any. Very different style that the other joints, though, so it may just be different strokes for different folks. I've found a similar dearth of "holy shit" moments while dinind at some of the other restaurants praised highly on these pages.
...but that bar menu is looking like one hell of a deal right now.
Fuckin'-a.
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While I am not really a vegetarian (I don't think I could ever give up bacon), I'm not a big fan of meat and rarely order it when dining out. So for my birthday dinner this year, I opted for the vegetarian tasting menu at CityZen.

Mushroom Amuse

People have raved about this enough, all I have to add is that it is an incredible amount mushroom-goodness packed into just one small bite!

Globe Artichoke Salad and Sweet Onion Salad with Satsuma Tangerine and Nicoise Olive

Salad. In the middle of winter. Not two ideas that really seem to go together, but this was a wonderfully refreshing combination. The onions were very mild and very crisp with the olives providing a nicely salty base-note. Spring in December.

Braised Tuscorara Farm Beets – Yukon Gold Potato Pierogi, Baby Beets, Frisée Lettuce and Crispy Beet Salad

This was an addition from the Prix Fixe menu and was my favorite course of the night. Although one would probably normally envision otherwise, these pierogi where incredibly light and fresh-tasting. And that perfectly complemented the earthiness of the beets.

Buckwheat Crêpe Stuffed with Grilled Enoki Mushrooms, Baby Leek, and Swiss Chard Confit

Toasted Hazelnut Broth

Meat? Who needs it. The smokiness of the grilled mushrooms combined with the textural bite of the leek and the hint of buckwheat from the crepe, made for dish that could rival more protein-laden fare. My only complaint – a sharper knife would have helped one eat this dish a little more gracefully.

Sugar Pie Pumpkin Tortellini – Caramelized Salsify, Brussels Sprouts, and Pumpkin Seed Consommé

Once again, there was a lot of savoriness to this course. Often pumpkin tortellini (and their kin) can be a smidge too sweet, but the addition of the brussels sprouts prevented that.

Path Valley Farms Sunchoke and Braised Kale Tart with Brown Butter Emulsion

This tart reminded me of the a gratin of sunchokes I had when CityZen first opened. And I have been craving something similar ever since. No surprise this was the crescendo of the meal. Perfect filling. Perfect crust. All warmth and mellowness.

Cheese Course

An excellent selection of cheeses in prime condition. Not a hint of ammoniation to any of them – no cheese abuse here!

Meyer Lemon Margarita – Frozen Meyer Lemon Soup with Poached Meringue, Grand Marnier Gelée and Salted Lemon Madeleines

This dessert was fun. Plain and simple. Maybe because it was getting late (or maybe it was lingering giddiness from having more than my share of the parker house rolls – rwtye let me eat the majority of them since it was my birthday :( ), but I was quite amused to be fishing around in the "soup" for little quenelles of juniper(?!?)-laced meringue (sublimely soft), squares of grand marnier gelee (jiggly!) and perfect little hump-backed madeleines (the ultimate cookies dipped in milk).

Crispy Indian Pudding With Poached Winter Fruits and Patterson Farms Honey Ice Cream

It was my birthday – why shouldn't I have two desserts? In reading the menu, I did not think I would like this dish (I even considered asking if I could substitute something else). The words "poached winter fruits" always scare me into imagining musty and/or tasteless. But was I ever wrong. I think it was the addition of the honey, added with restraint so it was not too sweet overall, that added the vibrant note to the fruit. All that said, the crispy Indian pudding that was the star element of this dish. Crispy being the important word. Crispy as in deep fried. Oh, yeah. Little crunchy fritters of goodness. Not the least bit heavy or oily.

Since rwtye had the regular tasting menu (pretty much the same one as reviewed by cjsadler), I got to taste both menus. And found the vegetarian menu to be the winner, course after course. Now I'm not sure this would be the case every night (I had a regular tasting menu in November that certainly would have given this vegetarian menu a run for its money), but Chef Ziebold's vegetarian tasting option should always be something to be considered. Even by you meat-lovers. :(

It was a fantastic dinner with the faultless service that I've always found to be the norm for CityZen. Thanks to Chef Ziebold and his staff for the memorable evening.

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Scott and I celebrated a special anniversary at CityZen last night. Went with the prix fixe, and the next time we might try the tasting, as the prix fixe portions are relatively enormous. I did not finish a course and yet was stuffed by the end of our meal.

Four amuses: mushroom "fritter" with truffle sauce, clam with pink salt, lobster broth, olive oil custard with piment d'Espelette. All were tasty little nibbles, but the custard was stupendous, easily the best thing I ate all night.

First course: mine was the "duck a l'orange hash," Scott's the beef short rib ravioli with horseradish cream. Ravioli was fantastic, duck less exciting. I should have ordered fish, as the duck was very rich.

Main: guinea hen for two, served in two parts. First was the breast, with Perigord sauce and brussels sprouts leaves, then the leg with frisee and potato salad with truffle vinaigrette. Very well-executed.

Cheeses: wow! Great assortment, all at their peak. We selected five from various quadrupeds and were not disappointed with any of them.

Dessert: "Meyer lemon margarita" frozen meyer lemon soup with poached meringue, Grand Marnier gelee, salted madeleines. mktye described this perfectly. It was brilliant.

Service was excellent, start to finish. The maitre d' (Mark?), our server Juliana, and the sommelier, Andy, were polished, welcoming and informative. We had a glass of the very good house champagne to start, and a '98 Bodegas Muga tempranillo with dinner. We enjoyed meeting Andy and he chose perfectly within our parameters (light-bodied, Spanish red, preferably '98). The coffee is some of the best I've ever had at a restaurant.

We'll be back. That bar menu is awfully tempting.

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What is the set up like for eating in the bar? That is, do they have tables in the bar, or ar you literally eating at the bar? I've been wanting to try CityZen, and am not sure whether to splurge for the dining room or go for the bar menu.

There is the bar of course, but there is also a bankette with tables along the opposite wall that is served by the bartenders. I don't recall if the tables are dining table height or lower coffee table height.

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What is the set up like for eating in the bar? That is, do they have tables in the bar, or ar you literally eating at the bar? I've been wanting to try CityZen, and am not sure whether to splurge for the dining room or go for the bar menu.
Dining at the bar is a great way to get a taste of Cityzen. Beau and I first tried the bar before venturing into the dining room and were very happy with it. The bar does have a limited menu but is a great deal with a prix fixe, 3-course tasting option. Consider ordering one of the rillettes as a starter. Doesn't matter which mammal you choose, they're all very good. Click here to see photos of the bar area. Scroll through the photos at the bottom to find the bar which is the 12th photo, I believe.

-Camille

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There is the bar of course, but there is also a bankette with tables along the opposite wall that is served by the bartenders. I don't recall if the tables are dining table height or lower coffee table height.

Despite the fact that they have other tables in the bar area, they only serve dinner at the bar itself.

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We had a great dinner at the bar last night. We originally were trying to go to Cork, but there was like a 1 1/2 hour wait at 9 PM, so we scooted over to Cityzen and snagged 2 seats at the bar. We had great service from the bartender and the food was excellent. We also got this awesome quote:

Me: "They don't serve the parker house rolls at the bar, do they?"

Bartender: "No, unfortunately they do not"

Me: " Yeah, I figured as much, no big deal..."

Bartender: "Yeah, the only people who get served parker house rolls at the bar are like Michel Richard and Don Rockwell."

My wife and I got a good chuckle out of that. Don, can we eat at the bar with you sometime? :mellow:

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Went to the bar at CityZen with the missus the other night and it was a fantastic first experience. The atmosphere, service and decor reminded us of a place you might find in NYC, but priced for DC. Anyway we had a watercress soup that had some kind of garlic flan in the middle, and was very good, understated, and incredibly green. It was about as green as I’d like my food to be. We also had ravioli stuffed with baby chicken (sorry, don’t remember the technical term), the scallops and Guinea Hen (alas, not baby Guinea hen, thus ending our infanticide), all of which were delicious with the hen being one of the best fowl dishes I’ve ever had – cooked to perfection with just the right amount of fatty skin. How many restaurants do you walk out of saying you’d go back for a chicken dish? Not many, I’m guessing. For dessert we had the cheese plate, including an excellent blue cheese (Crater Blue, iirc), and the grasshopper pie, which was good though neither of us are really fans of minty desserts.

For fear of sounding like a snob, as good as the food was, the highlight of the meal was actually listening to the guy next to us order cheese for his cheese plate. The bartender asks him what kinds of cheeses he prefers, and he responds that he would like “that wine cheese”. “Wine cheese?” “Yeah, you know, it’s yellow and orange and swirled together.” “I’m sorry but I don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t know what wine cheese is.” The guy was asking for port wine cheese as part of his dessert plate. PORT WINE CHEESE! AT CITYZEN! We’re still laughing at that.

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Anybody ever try to go vegetarian at CZ? I have a friend with that odd disorder, and there's an off chance we'll be headed to the bar there at some point. I seem to recall them covering the protein-free side of things pretty well, but reassurance would be groovy.

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Anybody ever try to go vegetarian at CZ? I have a friend with that odd disorder, and there's an off chance we'll be headed to the bar there at some point. I seem to recall them covering the protein-free side of things pretty well, but reassurance would be groovy.

Look a few posts up, click. Granted this is not a bar meal, but I am sure that they would accommodate.

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In last night's parade of critters, veggies, and things from the sea, the skate, lobster, and wagyu stood out.

The large quantity of wine consumed during the five hour meal has left me a little foggy about the particulars of some of the other dishes, but those above will be burned into my memory for quite some while. I move to Atlanta in two weeks, and despite meals planned at other fine places between now and then, those tastes just might be the standard by which I judge my new city.

My last comment is about how well CityZen has always dealt with my not eating offal. Last night, when my companions were eating pig's face and foie, I quite enjoyed my rouget and rabbit. In too many other restaurants my non-offal substitutions have seemed like an afterthought. Not here.

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In the form of a tater tot, as an amuse-bouche, with a sauce gribiche?

Oh no, no, no. In the form of a fat, crispy round - two of them, actually - served over some braised endive and olives with a bit of piperade sauce on the side. There's a deadly but delicious poached quail egg on top of one of the rounds, too. Yu'uuu'u'u'm.

Quite a heady dish. ;)

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Oh no, no, no. In the form of a fat, crispy round - two of them, actually - served over some braised endive and olives with a bit of piperade sauce on the side. There's a deadly but delicious poached quail egg on top of one of the rounds, too. Yu'uuu'u'u'm.

Quite a heady dish. ;)

I recommend that you follow the sauteed tete de cochon with the braised shoat. Trust me.
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I recommend that you follow the sauteed tete de cochon with the braised shoat. Trust me.

Oh man! Can either of these be had on the bar menu? It's been a while since I've been, do I remember correctly that the bar menu doesn't offer choices or are there a couple options for each course?

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Going to CityZen for the first time next week and I'm curious how long should I expect to be there if we order a tasting menu? I think we'll be getting the vegetarian tasting, which I can't wait to try out and see how creative their chefs are without meat!

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Going to CityZen for the first time next week and I'm curious how long should I expect to be there if we order a tasting menu? I think we'll be getting the vegetarian tasting, which I can't wait to try out and see how creative their chefs are without meat!

We did it a few months back and I want to say 3 hours or so (my memory is a bit foggy after the cocktails and the pairings). I did the regular menu but as I don't eat pork, they subsituted one of the courses for a veg. course (olive oil flan) and it was one of the stand-outs of the night for me. Have a wonderful time!!!

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Shad roe porridge! Mmmmmmmmmm.

Todd Kliman wrote about it a few years ago:

The chef claims his French Laundry– derived interpretation—in which he slits open the egg sac, forces the eggs through a strainer, brines them overnight, and warms them gently over a low flame to create a porridge—emphasizes the nature of the dish. “We’re not hiding it with bacon. This is what it is. It’s roe. It’s caviar."

It's insanely good. Funny thing: It wasn't even the featured ingredient in the dish I had, but it's the only thing I keep thinking about. Sadly, I don't even remember what kind of fish it was served with. The server described it as Ziebold's take on fish-n-chips, only with the porridge instead of chips.

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Todd Kliman wrote about it a few years ago:

The chef claims his French Laundry– derived interpretation—in which he slits open the egg sac, forces the eggs through a strainer, brines them overnight, and warms them gently over a low flame to create a porridge—emphasizes the nature of the dish. “We’re not hiding it with bacon. This is what it is. It’s roe. It’s caviar."

It's insanely good. Funny thing: It wasn't even the featured ingredient in the dish I had, but it's the only thing I keep thinking about. Sadly, I don't even remember what kind of fish it was served with. The server described it as Ziebold's take on fish-n-chips, only with the porridge instead of chips.

Wow that sounds ridiculously good.

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We did it a few months back and I want to say 3 hours or so (my memory is a bit foggy after the cocktails and the pairings). I did the regular menu but as I don't eat pork, they subsituted one of the courses for a veg. course (olive oil flan) and it was one of the stand-outs of the night for me. Have a wonderful time!!!
I'm happy to report that the birthday dinner we had last night was wonderful and almost 4 hours, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Michael the waiter-captain who took care of us was great - gracious, friendly, and very knowledgable about the wine list and the cheese cart. 3 of us had the vegetarian tasting menu with one dessert substitution.

The meal started with 2 amuses from the chef. First a tiny mushroom fritter with a creamy, mushroom sauce - sauce was better than the fritter. Second, a small dish of cauliflower panna cotta with a bit of cooked or spiced (sugar, salt, hard to tell) golden raisins. This dish didn't work for us - very salty and very strong cauliflower flavor that isn't one of my favs. Luckily, this was one of the few complaints. Then we had the first course seared carrot cake which was awesome. Great flavors and probably most creative thing we ate. It is a flat disc of soft carrot cake that was seared topped with tiny carrots that were cooked in 2 ways, some pickled and some sweet. Also on top were cooked dates and croutons of spice bread that blended well. Also on the edges of the plate were some type of special pink/orange salt to dip the sweet cake in to get an even more complex flavor.

Next, we had 2 types of plantains coated in a crunchy crust on top of a bed of avocado slices and cilantro vinagrette and bit of radish salad. This dish was pretty good except one type of plantain did not work at all. The sweet plaintains were tasty, but the starchy ones when coated in the crust tasted like a stale knish and were so dry the rest of the dishes' creaminess and sauce couldn't save it.

Then, we had a wonderful soft-boiled egg dish with very fresh cooked spinach in a shallot sauce with roasted garlic crepes (more like thin triangles of garlic-flavored pita). All of the flavors worked really well together. The eggs were so big to with bright yolks - delicious.

Till now, the service was very good with frequent offers of 3 types of bread - country white, guiness rye, and bacon and cheese and 2 types of butter (one salted and one unsalted). I only tried the first two which were good crusty breads which were good, but nothing special and the butters both tasted pretty similar to me. But then, we were told with the next course, it was our main course so they brought out the tiny box of parker house rolls that I heard so many raves about. 2 weird things about this, the egg course really seemed to be the main course vs. the fennel bulb they brought out now and the rolls were nothing to rave about. The rolls were good and segmented into tiny bites and sprinkled with good seat salt. However, these are basically egg, dinner rolls that taste like challah. If anyone wants to easily replicate, get yourself some good challah on the sweet side and add some salt on the top - no need to pine for CityZen's tiny offering.

The next "main course" was a fennel bulb with too few orange slices and boiled peanuts. This was the other clunker of the night. Some of us thought it'd be better with more oranges, but I thought it was just a dud. Basically a big chunk of braised fennel without much flavor.

Next was the cheese plates from the trolley, which was fun. I had never had choices from a cheese cart before and so it was a treat. Michael explained the selections pretty well and we chose 12 different selections for a wide variety. The cheeses were very good - some similar to ones we'd had and some very new ones. One of standout was the "flower of the underbrush" (sorry don't remember the french name) which was semi-soft with a very woodsy, ashed rind that providing multi-layered flavor. The plates came with 2 very good "jams" of apricot and spiced fruit, good raisin nut bread, and small piles of chili-spicy almonds. Good, but not the best cheese plate, but one with some of the most options (probably 20-30).

Then another tiny amuse arrived that was stellar - extra creamy, white chocolate sorbet and pineapple granita. Great flavor and texture contrasts.

Then the dessert course. The set menu called for a meyer lemon souffle with juniper ice cream and bit of candied lemon peel, which was very lusicious. (note this is different from what is currently shown on the website) Although the ice cream tasted more like vanilla with a small hint of juniper. The one dessert sub was the "brownie sundae" which was excellent. Fudge striped plate with rich brownie roll with berry ice cream and draped in ganache and and peanut brittle disk. Really good.

Michael helped us pick a nice riesling and threw in a bottle of muscat d'asti dessert wine called "Leo Peorone" (or something similar) that was great with a beautiful bouquet. Also there was an extra plate of mini desserts to celebrate the birthday - a raspberry gelee (good) and 2 others that weren't very memorable.

Great meal, good service, but pricey. Probably won't go back for a long time, but it was fun to try at least once.

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Michael helped us pick a nice riesling and threw in a bottle of muscat d'asti dessert wine called "Leo Peorone" (or something similar) that was great with a beautiful bouquet.

I think this was probably Elio Perrone, who makes a dandy Barbera d'Asti as well..

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Till now, the service was very good with frequent offers of 3 types of bread - country white, guiness rye, and bacon and cheese and 2 types of butter (one salted and one unsalted). I only tried the first two which were good crusty breads which were good, but nothing special and the butters both tasted pretty similar to me.
The bread always seems like it wandered in from some other, inferior restaurant.
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I think this was probably Elio Perrone, who makes a dandy Barbera d'Asti as well..
I checked and you are probably right, but I can't confirm because the dessert wine we had is not on their wine list at least on the web.

We also enjoyed the slightly fruity and crisp 2006 Carl Loewen, Detzemer, Spätlese Feinherb "Dry(ish)" Riesling, which went well with the vegetarian tasting menu.

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Oh no, no, no. In the form of a fat, crispy round - two of them, actually - served over some braised endive and olives with a bit of piperade sauce on the side. There's a deadly but delicious poached quail egg on top of one of the rounds, too. Yu'uuu'u'u'm.

Quite a heady dish. ;)

Awesome...
The crispy tete is on the bar menu right now, but the shoat has been bumped for a spring lamb dish that, too, is really, really, really delicious.
Also really, truly awesome... falling apart tender, really fun sicillian cousous, sunhoke, tiny english cucumber balls, and preserved meyer lemon all around it.

And How has no one mentioned that the japanese wagyu with the fried rice that we had at the wagyu tasting is on the bar menu!?!?!? Well worth the $15 supplement. The rice was even better than I remembered. I didn't ask to determine the exact grade on the beef, so it may not have been identical to what we had at the tasting, but it was from Kagoshima (was that what we had at Vidalia?) and it was great.

Seriously, these were three of the best bites I've had this year. Awesome stuff on the bar menu right now. Go and enjoy. It was down right tragic to have the entire bar to ourselves tonight...

(ETA, oops, I mean to stick this in the Cityzen Lounge thread...)

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Thursday dinner, CityZen for GMiller's birthday. Great to catch up with Sal. The food was a transcendental experience; cream of horseradish soup with corned beef and blue sweet potato crutons, roasted shoulder and loin of shoat with gnocchi and spring peas, fava, baby fennel and asparagus in a fresh tarragon spiked jus and a chai panna cotta. Completely insane, and wildly delicious.

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