98 replies to this topic

[dcs]

ARLnow.com is reporting a new "gastropub" (I hate that term) named The Green Pig Bistro is coming to this space.

[DonRocks]

ARLnow.com is reporting a new "gastropub" (I hate that term) named The Green Pig Bistro is coming to this space.

I just read this article. Scot Harlan is a very talented pastry chef (formerly of Inox).

[MsDiPesto]

Better get there quick before the Angry Birds reduce it to rubble.

[Arcturus]

I just read this article. Scot Harlan is a very talented pastry chef (formerly of Inox).

His talent resides in more than just pastry, the dude can cook, too. He's been in NYC honing butchery skills off and on for the last little bit, in fact.

This place is right down the street from where I take jiu jitsu, I'm definitely excited for it.

[goldenticket]

This sounds like an interesting and welcome addition to the neighborhood.

The draft menu definitely doesn't shy away from offal and some of the less mainstream animal parts. Fingers crossed that their planned early 2012 opening becomes a reality!

[ktmoomau]

Very exciting!

[dcs]

ARLnow.com on the case, as usual. Here is the Craigslist ad for history's sake:

We are serious when we speak to those whom resonate to great food products produced at elevated levels. Green Pig Bistro, soon to open in Clarendon, is looking for the rest of its opening team, including line cooks, sous-chef, pastry-sous, dish, hosts, servers and bussers. Don't expect to find loins, micro greens and baby veg here. Think sous vide. Think obscure cuts of meat in their finest form--food that is hearty, not heavy; sustainable and with proper technique above all. Prior frustration with fine dining service is preferred. All Kitchen applicants please stop by the restaurant at 1025 N. Fillmore St in Arlington afternoons this week. All front of house applicants, please forward resume and references to greenpigjobs@gmail.com and/or come by the restaurant afternoons all this/next week. We will be employing an eSavvy staff and familiarity with iPhones, iPods, and iPads is a plus+++, as we will be using wireless iPads as our POS.

Think sous vide. Imagine.

[lizzie]

I miss American Flatbread.

[DonRocks]

I miss American Flatbread.

I know this ad reads like a parody, but give Scot Harlan a chance.

[jparrott]

And Andrew Shapiro, ex-mixmaster (and especially bittermaster) of Dino will be heading the bar program.

[Arcturus]

I know this ad reads like a parody, but give Scot Harlan a chance.

Thank you.

[FunnyJohn]

Small plates? I ask because I'm thinking as you stroll from that corner of the building down the street hitting all the spots in Zoso Flats, although not necessarily in order, you could do a four or five course meal with appropriate beverage pairings. [urp!]

[Arcturus]

Yup. There will be an entire section of the menu devoted to "snacks."

That street crawl sounds like an awesome idea. We've got some really talented neighbors that do some amazing stuff.

[FunnyJohn]

According to this item from Urban Daddy the Soft Opening is scheduled for this Friday and the official opening for April 4 [Although the version I have in the link above does not explicitly provide the dates, the version I have in my e-mail does -- so you'll just have to trust me on this.]

[r2feinma]

Hello! Has anyone heard more about the official opening of Green Pig Bistro? Seems like little to no marketing or at least through my Google searching I haven't found much besides old articles on ArlNow and Urban Daddy. I'm extremely curious since I live right across the street and am eager for a restaurant more interesting than the normal Clarendon restaurants to open.

[DonRocks]

Hello! Has anyone heard more about the official opening of Green Pig Bistro? Seems like little to no marketing or at least through my Google searching I haven't found much besides old articles on ArlNow and Urban Daddy. I'm extremely curious since I live right across the street and am eager for a restaurant more interesting than the normal Clarendon restaurants to open.

I've been receiving text messages this evening from someone who is at the Friends and Family opening.

[SeanMike]

I was there last night, along with a number of other folks. My understanding was that last night was Friends and Family, by reservation only. This weekend will be more open for folks who live in the same building, and they'll be moving to fully open over the next week.

I will say I heartily enjoyed everything I ate and drank last night. I posted 'em on twitter: corned ox heart reubens, chicken liver pate, mac & cheese, duck breast, and doughnuts with peanut butter ice cream and chocolate. Plus several mixed drinks and a few beers.

[discojing]

I heard they are opening to the public April 4th.

I went there the same time as SeanMike and also enjoyed everything I ate and drank there! corned ox heart ruebens, mushroom and snail toast, peanut butter "ice cream sandwiches", and two great cocktails (plus rolls, butter, and a beer). I heard they butcher their own meat in-house which is why they have so many different cuts of meat on the menu.

I'm excited to go back soon and glad a restaurant like this came into the 'hood.
I can't wait to go back and try the fried pimento cheese, sweetbreads, and whatever else they happen to throw on the menu.

I'm also glad that someone from Inox found a home -- I loved that restaurant and was sad to see it close.

[r2feinma]

Really appreciate the replies and excited for when they open to the public this week.

[RWBooneJr.]

It's only the second day, but this is the best restaurant in Clarendon right now.

[kirite]

It's only the second day, but this is the best restaurant in Clarendon right now.

I couldn't find the menu, but are there some vegetarian options?

[Rovers2000]

I couldn't find the menu, but are there some vegetarian options?

Menu

[RWBooneJr.]

There's a sample menu here, but it's already changed and I don't recall much that was vegetarian. The potato gnoocchi was still there, but I'm not even sure if that's vegetarian. Meat makes its way into a lot of dishes here, even the fish. The octopus comes with (great) pork rinds.

[Andelman]

For obvious reasons, I am very excited that they are up and running. Everyone should definitely check it out. They have really done an amazing turnover of the space and it really bears no resemblance to its former existence (AF). Very, very nice beer selection and the small sampling of food I had the other night was really tasty (octopus included). Best of luck to Scot and the rest of the team!

[RWBooneJr.]

This place is truly excellent. It probably has my favorite burger outside of DC, and possibly in the area. You should go, and do it soon. Everything on the menu will be 30-40% more expensive in a month, except the entrees, which will be 20-30% more expensive.

[jiveturk21]

I agree with RWBooneJr. above, the prices at Green Pig Bistro will likely rise along with its' popularity. I would prefer that they stay the same, or in the same ballpark, and have them slightly decrease the portions because the best way to eat here is to try a little bit of everything.

With that being said, our dinner last night was a promising start to a place that is pretty great already. The bar area was packed, but they have a pretty cool app when you check-in so that you can monitor your waiting time and the groups in front of you. Even though I am currently not drinking, the bottles behind the bar looked interesting and varied. A quick glance at the cocktail, beer and wine list confirmed that they take all seriously, but don't take themselves too seriously (the value was there).

The dining room can be loud, lots of hard surfaces all around. It didn't seem like they were filling all of their tables at once last night (people were waiting, tables were open, maybe they didn't want to overwhelm the kitchen?), but when they are packed, with people drinking all night, I guess it will get deafening in there. But, it is a bistro, so I think that you can expect that to happen from time to time.

Service was helpful and pleasant, but scattered. I will give them a pass for now, lots to learn and still early on. However, the thing that I did like is that lots of people (servers, hostesses, managers, owners) stopped by the table last night to see how things were going.

The food, overall, was very strong. The rabbit cake was superb. The skate was good, but not great. I liked their version of poutine, flavor wise, but I wish they would crisp up their fries more before putting the gravy on. The twice baked potato gnocchi were light and fluffy, but I felt that the sauce was pretty bland. The sweetbreads, in my mind, had too many things going on and not enough sweetbreads. The pieces that I had, however, were cooked perfectly and were flavorful. Duck confit salad was another winner. The parker house rolls were gone in 10 seconds, but please put more butter on the plate next time (everyone loves butter). For dessert, the doughnut was not what we expected and, quite honestly, a bit disappointing. The ice cream and chocolate was solid, but the doughnut itself wasn't quite right. On the other hand, the butterscotch pudding gets early nomination for the best dessert that we have had all year (even better than the Reese's eggs that I am scarfing down from my Easter basket).

When all was said an done, the four of us ate for $160 (which includes tax and tip). There were two pregnant ladies and sober me, but my friend was trying to make up for it with several beers and some glasses of wine.

Overall, this place is going to be a home run, but still has some things to work on out of the gate. When I pick up my drinking habit again, I see myself sitting at the bar many afternoons and eating my way through the menu.

[discojing]

I've been in a million times since the soft opening and the food and service is always superb! I mentioned to a manager that there needs to be some hooks under the bar for purses and especially coats since there is no coat rack in the place -- I hope this gets added since I heard someone else mention it that night too. I live in the building, so it's not too much of a hassle for me to forgo the coat/purse and just bring my wallet for now.

I've already noticed that the prices have gone up a few bucks in about as many days. I remember there was an article where Scott said he was competing with Cheesecake Factory. The prices aren't exactly the same, but they're close enough and honestly, there's no competition. I highly doubt there's an overlap of clientele from CF to Green Pig. When I was there Friday night, one of the managers told of a dissatisfied customer that said they had eaten a better steak at Outback and that they were going to blog and write on all the food sites how bad Green Pig was. They refused to let the meal be comped and stood outside of the restaurant for a while telling people to not go in. I wonder if the diners knew that the chef uses off-cuts of meat for steaks? Then again, I don't know if there can be much reasoning done with patrons of Outback. I know the Bloomin' Onion is good there, but they're not the same "type" of restaurant as Green Pig. I joked and said "let them try to diss you -- I, along with many others, have already written our 5 star reviews!".

The dining room is ridiculously hot (I run cold, so If *I* say it's hot, it's sweltering), but I like sitting at the bar since Andrew is such a great bartender. They have a chalkboard special where the drink changes about every night since they only have 3 drinks on the menu. The only problem is that the bar gets so ridiculously crowded. I'm hoping that the crowd dies down a bit when the hype is gone, but I can't guarantee that since I've been recommending and bring lots of people TO it! I guess it doesn't help that there's a spin place in the building as well and the classes tend to let out and converge at the bar here.

On another note, I went here on Saturday with a vegetarian friend. Luckily she isn't too strict of a vegetarian since I'm pretty sure there's lard or bacon in everything. She had the mac & cheese (the potato gnocchi had big pieces of bacon in it, the mac had smaller ones that she didn't notice ^__^), a skillet of the delicious corn bread, yummy cocktails, asparagus hollandaise, and she tried one bite of my snail/mushroom toast. She eats chicken sometimes, so I'm sure she would've eaten more if there would have been less adventurous meats. "The reuben is really good!" "Um.. it's ox heart". Not the best meat to ease in with.

[DPop]

Agreed with the sentiment above about this being the best restaurant in Clarendon and that the dining room is like a sauna. A very cold DC Brau and an order of the Corned Ox Heart Reubens helped distract me, delicious little sandwiches not much bigger than a silver dollar but a great snack and take on this traditional sandwich. I loved the depth of the heart meat, it wasn't so gamey that it took over the whole sandwich but you could tell you weren't eating regular corned beef. Very nice way to start the meal.

The Fried Chicken special on Mondays is a different kind of prep, with dark meat wrapped around white meat, all on the bone and fried. Mac and cheese was fantastic, which is rare for a simple dish that gets screwed up often. The habanero sauce that they serve on the side is ridiculously hot, so much so that my heat loving wife forced me to trade for her cheeseburger. She was sweating by the end of the meal, which is quite the accomplishment. That sauce is not for the faint of heart by any stretch.

The Cheeseburger was really good, nice meaty flavor and a loose pack for that much needed moisture. The only complaint was the bun, which did not hold up to the juices and while I know it was toasted, it tasted stale because of how thin it was. A simple adjustment will easily fix that.

The Pie of the Day, Key Lime, was as good as I remember RTS' being back in the day. Nice sugar-graham cracker crust and that lime flavor that often gets drowned out by creaminess in inferior versions of this dessert. It was expensive for a 4 inch diameter pie ($12!) but so damn good.

Great beers by the bottle and draft, a passable wine by the glass list that was fairly priced, and good service for a place that just recently opened. Our server was actually surprised that we knew about the place, he said that the only people he had served had been locals thus far due to the lack of signage and internet buzz. He should be prepared, this place will be hopping on a nightly basis very soon.

[DonRocks]

Agreed with the sentiment above about this being the best restaurant in Clarendon and that the dining room is like a sauna. A very cold DC Brau and an order of the Corned Ox Heart Reubens helped distract me, delicious little sandwiches not much bigger than a silver dollar but a great snack and take on this traditional sandwich. I loved the depth of the heart meat, it wasn't so gamey that it took over the whole sandwich but you could tell you weren't eating regular corned beef. Very nice way to start the meal.

I had these side-by-side with the beet and ricotta salad, and they made a terrific combo. Just the right amount of decadence mixed in with an extremely healthy dish. Try 'em together and let me know what you think.

[goodeats]

I love the new aura of this place! It has a much different vibe compared to American Flatbread (happier!), and everything is a pleasant and comforting feel in its color shades and beam placements. The wood work is simply beautiful; apothecaric almost. I like that.

But the star tonight for me was the Crispy Pig Taco ($6, I think). It would make any Chinese/Taiwanese mother proud. I actually can't wait for my mom to try this dish. For me, who can argue against fried pig ears? So crunchy, crispy, cartilage-y? It was very well done.

The crew worked very well together: front bar area with Matt and Andrew and back kitchen with Chef Scot and Chef de Cuisine Will. They look at ease and comfortable with each other.

Chef Scot's enthusiasm is great for his restaurant and I'm so glad it's infectious and welcoming.

I wish I was a cow tonight so I can have four compartments' worth of stomach to try various things, but I'm glad to be able to go back again next time.

[mdt]

We had an excellent dinner here on Saturday night. We just walked in around 730p and only had to wait 1 beer worth at the bar before we were called (texted).

We started with the Corned Ox Heart Reuben, Lamb Sweetbreads, and Fried Pimento Cheese. The reuben's were just ok as the most dominant taste being the dressing. There could have been any kind of meat in the sandwich. The sweetbreads were cooked perfectly and who does not like fried cheese?

We ordered the pork shank (for 2) served in a ceramic dish with a piece of pork belly atop some greens and grits. Not sure what the spicing was in the grits or gravy, but it has some warmth to it. The meat was fall off the bone tender and flavorful. A perfect dish for a rather damp and somewhat cool night. The Parker House rolls, which come 3x3 on a plate, were good for dipping into the gravy.

We finished with the doughnut that is cut profiterole style and filled with 3 scoops of wonderful peanut butter ice cream. After the dish is placed on the table the server pours chocolate sauce over the top. The ice cream and chocolate sauce were the star components of this dish as the doughnut was rather dry and flavorless.

We ordered way too much, but enjoyed the leftovers that we took home. We will certainly return. Don't know if it was recent opening buzz or what, but I never saw that many folks at AF when it was there. Hopefully they are very successful in this spot.

[daveo]

It's only the second day, but this is the best restaurant in Clarendon right now.

Oh my oh my. you got my palate excited!!!!

[RWBooneJr.]

Oh my oh my. you got my palate excited!!!!

Four weeks later, it still is the best restaurant in Clarendon. Last week, I had a killer cornmeal crusted softshell sandwich, served with a (very) spicy potato salad, which was offered as a special. I'm still thinking about it.

[Pool Boy]

Went here recently -- really enjoyed it a lot. Laid back, good service, good food, if a little loud. Missed out on the corned ox heart because they didn't have it ready yet (we were too 'early' - grrr). Trotter tots were off the menu already so missed that too, but grazed through many of the snacks, sides and appetizers. These were larger in size then expected it should be noted. Really good meal. Will be back to try the mains at some point - even though this place is across the damn river.

Parking around there sucks, too, it should be noted.

[Arcturus]

Parking around there sucks, too, it should be noted.

There's free parking in the garage under the restaurant.

[DonRocks]

There's free parking in the garage under the restaurant.

The word will be out at some point, but until now, I've never not gotten a space there.

[RWBooneJr.]

Parking in Clarendon is far simpler than most people believe. In addition to Green Pig's free parking, there are two parking garages on Filmore and one on Garfield. There also another on Clarendon across from the Whole Foods and one up on Highland that used to be free, but I'm not sure if it's open at night anymore.

[ktmoomau]

The word will be out at some point, but until now, I've never not gotten a space there.

Except weeknights when cycling classes haven't let out yet, then I haven't gotten a space, apparently Revolve is pretty popular.

[hopsing]

The parking garage on Highland is still open, but it is now run by Colonial Parking. It costs (I think) $4 on Saturday night.

[Pool Boy]

We ended up in a tight parking spot in a garage in the same building-block, which might be related to this. But there was precious little non-resident parking. We lucked out and got the only available spot, but this was after quite a bit of circling for on street parking someplace/anyplace.

Is there a specific-to-The-Green-Pig-Bistro parking garage that I am unaware of?

[DonRocks]

We ended up in a tight parking spot in a garage in the same building-block, which might be related to this. But there was precious little non-resident parking. We lucked out and got the only available spot, but this was after quite a bit of circling for on street parking someplace/anyplace.

Is there a specific-to-The-Green-Pig-Bistro parking garage that I am unaware of?

No, the free lot is in the same building-block, but it's mostly for retail customers, as far as I've seen - it's the one with the dangerously narrow concrete columns (i.e., don't try it with a Hummer). Maybe I've just been lucky, but I have *always* found a space there.

[goodeats]

I popped in for quick nibble - thought this place would be a great place to catch up with a friend for brunch on Saturday. I was a bit sad about the fact that they didn't have their sourdough doughnuts ($4), but a plate of cinnamon buns ($4? $5?) quickly remedied that thought. The frosting was nicely done.

I think the hits are definitely their in-house sodas - I had a stomach soothing hibiscus-lemon soda ($4) while my friend enjoyed her orange-cream one. I was able to beg (thank you all so much!!!) the kitchen to sample (1 generous serving = $5) their in-house-made ice cream (maple!) and sorely wish Chef might consider putting this a la carte on the dessert menu (please? pretty please?). It was really refreshing on the hot day and too tasty of an item to be a sidekick to other plated desserts.

No problems parking on Saturday afternoon around 3pm. But I think everyone was *really* out and about, since even Trader Joe's was abnormally empty then, too.

[wendydb22]

I can't begin to tell you how happy we are to have Scot & his team up the street from us here at screwtop. If you haven't been, please go! I love the fried pimento cheese and the Green Pig cocktail. I was hoping this would be my "go to bar" when getting off of work, however the bar is so busy I can never get a seat! Good for them! Great for Clarendon!
We Dig the Pig!

[SeanMike]

I always have fun when I visit Green Pig, so I swung by yesterday to say good bye to Matt Wilcox, who is going to be working at Cause for a while before heading down to Savannah, GA.

Cocktails: started with the Pimm's Punch and then had an unnamed rum drink that Matt made up. Had to grab one of the $3 Tavern Ales (before 5 PM) and a $5 glass of wine (before 8 PM) the latter of which was improved by a shot of Fernet. Uh. Don't ask.

Food-wise, I started with the "loco corn", a street food style fried corn on the cob (actually maybe 2.5 cobs, as I had five pieces) with parmesan and flavored mayo on it. I followed that up with duck liver gravy poutine, cheesy french fries with gravy and big hunks of duck liver.

Clearly between that and the burger at Liberty yesterday, I hate my own health.

But they were delicious!

[ktmoomau]

Had a really nice meal Friday night. The Parker House Rolls are reminiscent of the amazing rolls we would get at a restaurant in my hometown which is now not what it once was, as is the case in lots of very small towns. Amazingly soft, sweet, yeast rolls. The cocktails were very good too- I had the Pimm's Punch and another I can't remember. I had the rabbit cake, which was really good, tender rabbit, nice purees and crunch from the sugar snaps. If you are a food shouldn't touch person this isn't your type of dish. The applesauce in the dish was really refreshing and good. I liked all the flavors. Hubby had the spaghetti and meatballs. He didn't realize the daily special is like it's only little meal plate with salad, bread and dessert, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. For dessert we had the chocolate cake with ice cream on the side, the cake itself tasted very similar to a souffle and was very good. Hubby said the ice cream wasn't special, but I didn't have any.

What I really liked about this place was that the food was simple and well made. It wasn't fancy, it wasn't pretentious. It was good food on a plate, I could see this entering normal rotation for me, easily. Well thought out and very well executed. I am really excited to go back. There were a few small hiccups- we ordered drinks that didn't come for about ten minutes, but just as we said something to the manager, the waiter was coming with them- someone else had stopped by first and taken the order so was prob just a mix up, the red wine was very warm and the restaurant itself was pretty warm, but I am sure the weather didn't help.

[genericeric]

It does look they finally have their site up with menu: http://greenpigbistro.com/menu

[Genevieve]

Do they have outdoor seating? (thinking tonight is so lovely we have to eat outside, and we've been wanting to try the Green Pig)

[weezy]

Better check -- I think they're closed on Tuesdays.

[Genevieve]

Better check -- I think they're closed on Tuesdays.

Thanks for the warning! I will check. Probably will go to Me Jana otherwise, as they have nice outdoor seating and we haven't been in a while (we're semi-regulars there).

[durwoodx]

I do not believe they have outdoor seating, which is something the previous tenants struggled with mightily as well....