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Galileo III, Downtown in the old Butterfield 9 Space - Closed


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From Roberto Donna's face book status...

Galileo III is coming next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All the evil eyes look at this and eat s.....t !!!!!!!!!!

interesting menu!

I guess he is too good to offer an apology to those he stole from. I guess he doesn't think he did anything wrong despite the fact that he plead guilty to a felony. For the sake of the employees, I certainly hope that he is not signing the checks at this place.

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Well, that facebook quote sealed it for me. I get that many years ago iterations of his restaurants were the place to go. I went to Galileo several times and the meals were tremendous. In my opinion, though, there are plenty of places in town now that rise to the level of a phenomenal dining experience (or close enough to it) that I will choose to spend my money and time in those establishments. I have a list in my own head, but I am curious as to what others think of the top 3 or so that could go toe-to-toe with the ghosts of galileo past.

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DC SAT questions:

Galileo : Brickskeller :: Dining : Beer

Edit: the comparison isn't really all that apt if you just think about the physical/historical details of the actual restaurants, but I'm leaving it up for the symbolic analogy quotient.

Why? Is he going to be out of half of the items on the menu? :(:)

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[This thread is really making me weigh the benefits of open dialogue against the drawbacks of chaotic, pro forma trashing - let's not forget, there will be plenty of new staff whose livelihoods will be at stake here.]

True. Let us hope that the future will be much better for them than the past.

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If we can set aside the legal etc issues about Chef Donna, can anyone please report on the food at G3?

(I'm a huge fan of the Chef@Laboratorio, and am looking forward really reallllllly hopefully to trying that, but the restaurant is (according to its website) functioning, not yet with the Lab, so: anyone tried it?)

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Is there a bar or a la carte menu for dinner? The website provides only a "prefix" dinner menu.

Looks like fixed price dinner only, but while there isn't a bar menu listed, the website says "Whether you’re in the mood for a cocktail or fabulous wine and light fare at the intimate bar seating, or lunch/dinner in the main dining room..."

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Looks like fixed price dinner only, but while there isn't a bar menu listed, the website says "Whether you’re in the mood for a cocktail or fabulous wine and light fare at the intimate bar seating, or lunch/dinner in the main dining room..."

Certainly not the place for an inexpensive lunch!

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Certainly not the place for an inexpensive lunch!

No, it is not. Average appetizer $13, average entree (pastas included) $20.75. Obviously marketing towards the expense account business.

The menu reads great, and reading it makes me hungry. But it's gonna be too steep for me.

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Hello everyone,

Thank you for talking about Galileo III . We are open from today and I am ( after asking the permission to the Don ) offering a special for this week to all the DonRockwell follower :

You can make reservation at night up to this coming Saturday up to 4 people under the name of DonRockwell and you will be able to order the four courses plus dessert for $ 55.00 a person .

That should allow you to taste planty of the food that we are offering this month. Plus I will make sure you will taste even more .

Corkage fee is $ 25.00 for who is interested.

Thank yuo again.

Ciao Roberto

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Hello everyone,

Thank you for talking about Galileo III . We are open from today and I am ( after asking the permission to the Don ) offering a special for this week to all the DonRockwell follower :

You can make reservation at night up to this coming Saturday up to 4 people under the name of DonRockwell and you will be able to order the four courses plus dessert for $ 55.00 a person .

That should allow you to taste planty of the food that we are offering this month. Plus I will make sure you will taste even more .

Corkage fee is $ 25.00 for who is interested.

Thank yuo again.

Ciao Roberto

That is a truly gracious and generous offer. Will I have to show my DR.com Diner's Club Card? :(

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For anyone that has been around long enough to remember when the last incarnation of Galileo was a single concept restaurant -- no laboratorio, no osteria, and no grill, and the dining room was the sole focus -- you should be excited about Galileo III. The current incarnation of Galileo evokes what originally made that a special restaurant, though this is definitely an updated version.

My dining companion and I took advantage of the DR.com deal tonight at the bar, which we split, and can honestly say that every dish was exceptional. From what we selected, it seems like they've opened with a heavier fall menu with a lot of hearty flavors. We started with the Budino Di Parmigiano, which is a gooey pot of cheese with deep mushroom flavor and a healthy slice of truffle. As appetizers, we had the Porcini, which is basically a fritter with sauteed porcini and a black truffle sauce, and the Capesante, which is scallops with smears of yellow and black polenta. For our "mains" we had the Mezzelune pasta, a dumpling-like pasta filled with eggplant and crab in a rather striking orange sauce, and the lamb with celery root pure, artichokes, and an equally intriguing coffee sauce.

As for beverages, the cocktail menu features several of Chris' "greatest hits," including the El Diablo Magarita from Andale, and the amazing Manhattan from Dino, both of which may be even better than I remember. My companion got a trully great pear sidecar that I would also recommend. The wine list is fairly small right now, but the "Bliss" Sauvignon Blanc that my companion had, which is one of about ten whites available by the glass, was very good. And the bar menu, which is not yet in place, sounds like it will feature about ten items and be priced a bit more gently.

I should also mention the staff, all of whom could not have been nicer or more professional.

In short, go get the deal that Chef Donna has offered. This is the rare restaurant opening that lives up to the hype. Congratulations to everyone involved and thanks to Chris for the hospitality.

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Replying to my own post. (Or maybe Don can just remove it all to avoid any confusion.) Just spoke with Nathalie at the restaurant and she clarified the number is correct (202.783.0083) and they were experiencing momentary trouble with Verizon. All is back up and running and we're signed up to give Galileo III a try this Friday.

JFW

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Budino. Taglierini.

Budino. Taglierini. Capesante.

The deal the Chef is offering to us right now is a steal and well-worth the effort to get yourself over here. And Chris is a super nice guy if you decide to eat at the bar. The Taglierini (Black Taglierini with lobster cream sauce and butter poached Maine lobster tail) was as good a lobster pasta dish as we've ever had -- far exceeding anything besides Fabio's famous lobster pasta from Maestro. The Capesante (scallops) were as sweet and rich as could be. Definitely worth taking advantage of the opening special to try a handful of these dishes.

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You guys now make feel like I should extend this to next week, because my family of staff and my self have loved having you warm my new restaurant.Should I ? What do you think?

Ciao Roberto

Yes please! My mother-in-law and sister-in-law are arriving tomorrow night, each of whom we treated in years past to blissful Laboratorios -- the new Lab not yet being available, we'd love to at least show them G3!

-- Monte

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You guys now make feel like I should extend this to next week, because my family of staff and my self have loved having you warm my new restaurant.Should I ? What do you think?

If you did, I would be there again (I may be there Friday anyway). And I should note, your "family of staff" were amazing. I'm really rather impressed.

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Made a dinner reservation for Friday earlier today. After seeing the photographs, looking forward to it even more.

Staff was very nice and gracious over the telephone. I know there is a lot riding on it for everyone,

but liked the tone set so far of simply being nice.

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