Conosci, "Hidden" Prix-Fixe Space inside Alta Strada in City Vista - Chef George Rodriguez Replaces Michael Zentner - Closed

[Marty L.]

Sietsema raves.  Anyone been?

[lotus125]

On 6/1/2016 at 6:42 PM, Marty L. said:

Sietsema raves.  Anyone been?

I had a fairly mediocre meal.  Indeed, the disconnect between my meal and Siestema's review is so large that it makes me wonder if I hit them on an off night.  

[youngfood]

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2016 at 0:21 AM, lotus125 said:

I had a fairly mediocre meal.  Indeed, the disconnect between my meal and Siestema's review is so large that it makes me wonder if I hit them on an off night.  

We went based on Sietsema's rave review and while we enjoyed ourselves, our experience did not match Tom's. Mediocre to good, but not great seems about right.  We tried most of the menu and weren't upset with anything we had, but left with nothing to rave about.  We had scallop crudo at Rappahannock Oyster bar the next night and it was far better than anything we had at Conosci, so while I wouldn't be upset to go back here, I don't think it's likely that I would make an effort to do so again.  Rappahannock strikes me as one of the most underrated restaurants around.  Do not sleep on Rappahannock just because it is in Union Market or is labeled any "oyster bar" -- the kitchen turns out varied and excellent fish and seafood dishes of all kinds.  Their oyster aren't my favorite, but it is my go to spot for other fish and seafood. 

[funkyfood]

My girlfriend and I went here last night for my birthday.  We had a great meal.  We had an 8:15 reservation and chose to sit at the crudo bar to watch the food being prepared and interact with the chefs.  Chef Zentner said it was their slowest night so far--during our two hour meal, only one other table was occupied, so it made for quite a private (but too quiet) atmosphere.  They now offer an $85 tasting menu in addition to the $45 and $115 ones, but we decided to basically just order one of every seafood item, plus the artichokes.  The vast majority of the dishes were fantastic, including the snapper that Sietsema raved about (we ordered a second), the tuna poke, the scallops, the hammachi, and giant (!) shrimp carpaccio on lardo.  The only two dishes I didn't love were the octopus (needed a kick of either more citrus or spice) and the oysters (good, but pretty standard).  For such fresh and expensive ingredients, we thought portion size and prices were both quite fair.  Drinks were good, too, if a bit more expensive than they should have been.

Given the lack of crowd, we got to speak at length with Chef Zentner, who is a nice (though not naturally bubbly) guy.  He just moved here from Boston and said that now Conosci has had a few weeks to get its feet under itself, it is going to start getting more experimental (he even let us try some delicious fermented hot peppers he was playing with).  I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

[Ericandblueboy]

What's the reservation process for Conosci?

[funkyfood]

Gotta call them--they had lots of availability when we did 

[MattCraft]

My wife and I ate at Conosci last night, a couple of blocks from our condo. Since the above posts, they are now on OpenTable, so we made our reservation there. When they called Monday to confirm our reservation, I asked for a seat at the counter which they said they would try to accommodate. We were on time for our 9:15 PM reservation, but things didn't get off to the best start. We weren't seated until 9:45 and there were no counter seats available. However, they did apologize that they could not seat us there (so at least they acknowledged the request), and gave us a nice corner table for two.  Additionally, during our wait to be seated, they bought my wife a glass of Chardonnay at the Alta Strada bar and my first drink in Conosci was comped as well - a perfectly made Nolet Martini, with extra olives. Often, when I ask for extra olives, I get three instead of two - here, they gave me six total, which was a nice touch.

There is no written menu for food. Instead, as @funkyfood mentioned above, you have a choice of three tasting menus - $45 for 5 bites, $85 for 9 bites and $115 for 14 bites. Additional bites are $10 each. Since it is Restaurant Week, the $45 menu was marked down to $35. We knew this going in and saw the menu posted online, and it looked good to us, we went with it.

The first course was three thin pieces of Arctic Char shashimi with chive oil and a painted line of fermented chili paste on the plate. I think they missed the sea salt on the first of my arctic char pieces, as it was bland, but the other two pieces were excellent, with just a dab of the fermented chili adding nice heat.

Second course of red snapper ceviche with purple sweet potato was excellent. At this point, they asked us based on the portion sizes of the first two tastes if we would like to add any. Being particularly hungry because of the wait, we each said we would like one extra taste.

I was done with my martini at that point, so asked for a wine recommendation of one glass to "carry me through" the rest of the evening. They poured me a glass of a 2014 Savennieres which by itself  was wonderful. The next course (the "extra" one) were three pieces of hamachi with some kind of roe (didn't hear) topped with paddlefish caviar. So fish on fish on fish. Interesting flavors, but when taking a sip of wine afterwards, the fishiness came roaring back and was overwhelming. Course #4 were wild mushrooms, simply prepared with ginger and scallions, and had a nice earthy flavor.

We were both looking forward to the fifth course, the crab risotto with sea urchin, as it was called out in both the Post review in the fall and on the Washingtonian mini-review that came with 100 Best list that we received yesterday. However, we were disappointed. While there was plenty of lump crab, the consistency was more of a Maryland Crab Soup (think thin broth) with rice. I couldn't taste the sea urchin in my serving.

Dessert was a small, but adequate serving of dark chocolate budino (think pudding) with a layer of salted caramel and some crunchy goodness. It ended the meal on a very high note.

In the end, our bill was $130 (plus tax and tip) for 6 tastes and a glass of wine each, the first two drinks being comped. There were some hits and some misses, and after the initial hiccup, the service was excellent throughout.  We'll give it another shot, but I admit that I'll be a little wary that had it not been restaurant week, we'd have no clue what we would be eating until it was brought to the table.

[DPop]

On 6/5/2016 at 0:21 AM, lotus125 said:

I had a fairly mediocre meal.  Indeed, the disconnect between my meal and Siestema's review is so large that it makes me wonder if I hit them on an off night.  

My experience was the same. For the price, I can name at least 10 other seafood-centric places in the area that I would rather go than Conosci. And with regards to Sietsma's experience, I've found at more corporatized, celebrity-chef driven restaurants like this one, if you go in the first few months that the place is open, the All-Star team that they have there to get good buzz and reviews always knocks it out of the park.  After those first few months, however?  It's anyone's guess, but usually the quality takes a pretty significant nosedive in my experience....

[notquiteanonymous]

DPop, wonder when you went.  They shifted chefs recently, apparently, and this is now less seafood-focused.  My wife and I went last weekend, and had an absolutely fabulous meal.  We did the 9-course tasting menu for $85 each.  Not inexpensive by any means, but good value when they're throwing sturgeon caviar, uni, and other more high-end ingredients at you.  The arctic char with Korean chili paste was excellent -- a little less funky than gochuchang typically is, which didn't overpower the char.  The octopus and ceviche were other fish standouts too.  The meal ended with a nicely done pork belly and persimmon, which was very pleasant on a chilly night.  And cocktails were great too -- most involved Japanese liquors/ingredients, but both my wife and I had nicely balanced, tasty drinks.  And they were great handling my wife's gluten intolerance, which is always a plus (they asked up front).

I went in not quite sure of what to expect, given the celebrity chef thing and the fact that I thought it was supposed to be all raw fish, but left much more impressed than I thought I would be.  We will definitely be back.  

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Nama (eatruneat)