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We only get up here from Sarasota one week each month these days, so it's nice to find some new places. Le Mirch is right next to Bistro du Coin, so we gave it a try tonight. We didn't note any particularly French flavor combinations, but the food was excellent. Not as creative as Rasika, but not the usual neighborhood Indian, either. The actual menu is much more informative than what's on the Web site. We had as appetizers les Epinards (crispy roasted spinach leaves topped with an interesting tamarind/yogurt cream sauce, red onion, and avocado), and Chicken Momo (spiced meatballs in tomato sauce). They went together really well. Mains were goat curry (off the menu -- ask about goat and they'll prepare it any way you like) and lamb shank (braised and pulled off the bone into a sauce of onion, tomato, ginger, and Kashmiri chili). Both were excellent. We ordered the goat 5/10 and the lamb 7/10 on their heat scale, and I think both were optimal (no head sweat, very warm tongues, two runny noses. 8;) ) Very good naan and basmati. All went very well indeed with a decent California zinfandel. The wine list is pretty well-chosen, and populated with decent selections from $30 on up. There are five dessert wines, four of which are $150 and up, including Y'Quem at $450 (not for us). Desserts were kheer, a rice pudding with almonds and raisins (thinner than usual), and mango cheesecake, which was more of a mango pie, with little notable cheesecake flavor or texture. Neither was a hit with us. Not Rasika, but well worth a visit, even if just to get the goat. You folks up here are so lucky to live in a city with such broad offerings. After 30 years here, we really miss the variety.

Chez Andree, Alexandria (Glebe Rd.) -- 1964 http://chezandree.com

All the west-coasters I know love In-n-Out, but when you discuss it with them, they go for the toppings, not the actual burgers. I've been to a few locations, and thought they were awful. Ditto for Five Guys. The burgers themselves are horrendous -- overcooked patties, drowned in fat. If I cooked a burger like that, I'd throw it away.

First I should mention that on my first visit to a restaurant, I tend to go along with whatever they suggest, rather than requesting something else (another table, etc.), and evaluate the place based on the default experience they deliver. If it's bad enough I will tell them, and walk out and eat somewhere else. Tuscano West is one of those downtown restaurants (usually Italian) that I've walked by hundreds of times, but never really thought to try. You know -- once you've endured the disappointment of ballyhooed places like I Ricci, why bother? Wait until you get to New York, Boston's North End, Philly, or San Francisco. But a Groupon tempted me, so... I arrived at 6:00 on the Wednesday night following hurricane Sandy, well before my wife, who was coming from work, for our early (6:30) reservation. I checked in at the stand, and headed to the bar for a Scotch. The bar does not have a price list of its single malt Scotches. This is significant, since prices for the the same whisky vary wildly from place to place. (With over 100 single malts at home, why should I overpay for mediocrity at a bar?) My wife arrived at 6:25. We returned to the stand, which was staffed now by someone else, who had no idea who I was. We were not offered a choice of the nearly empty dining rooms, but were ushered immediately to the isolated front room, rather than the much more interesting rear room with views of the kitchen. And to the only microscopically tiny two-top in that front room. I observed that we wouldn't be able to order much with such a tiny table, but the woman either didn't get the jab, or chose to ignore it. In addition to being very, very small, the table was oriented along the long axis of the room, (the opposite of all the other tables), thus insuring that one person (me) would be able to observe absolutely nothing but the blank wall behind a wood service counter -- not the dining room, not the outdoors through the window -- for the duration of the meal. Already, Tuscana West had made a bad impression that it could not overcome. Normally, at this point, I would have gone elsewhere, but this was a Groupon night to try a new place... The wine list is not kept up to date; they were out of the wine we ordered. The waiter recommended a Chianti, Ruffino Ducale Riserva 2007, which he said was priced slightly higher, but would be provided at the same price as the wine they were out of. It tasted a bit astringent, of which I advised the waiter (there was no mention of decanting and no decanters in evidence), but opened up nicely by the end of our second course. A small plate of olive oil accompanied two breads: the usual completely ignorable, cottony, Italian Wonder Bread equivalent, and a Focaccia that my wife enjoyed. A shared appetizer salumi plate included one slice of a nice salami, three slices of a dull mild sopressata, one coarsely-cut slice of undistinguished prosciutto, three slivers of an unidentified hard cheese, and some excellent marinated peppers. It was good, but not excellent, and was more than we needed for a shared appetizer. Secondly, we shared a special hot appetizer of Italian sausage with sauteed onions in a sort of Italian barbecue sauce with stick cinnamon. The sauce was wonderful, but the sausage itself was quite bland and ignorable. My wife had a nightly special of duck breast in pomegranate sauce, with risotto. The duck was fine (though not nearly as good as the D'Artagnan breasts we cook at home), cooked medium rare as requested, but the risotto -- the same risotto with gorgonzola that was available on the menu as a stand-alone dish -- was a disappointment, somewhat dry and not at all toothy. I had a nightly special of pork loin with vegetables. The three generous slices of pork were overcooked, in a nice sauce of lemon and sage; potatoes were perfect, but the rest of the vegetables (carrots and beans) were barely warmed through,and not to my liking. We asked about desserts, and our waiter rattled off a list. I opted for cheesecake -- plain, so it could be the star that cheesecake deserves to be. A minute later, he returned, saying that he was told they were out of the cheesecake, so I ordered my second choice raspberry and blackberry tart. In a minute our waiter again returned, saying that they had only one slice, which I took to mean the tart -- until, ten seconds later, a server placed a slice of cheesecake before me. The cheesecake was a nice light ricotta variety, with a graham cracker crust flavored with cinnamon. We ordered double espressos, decaf -- but they don't offer decaf, so we settled for regular (I'm very caffeine sensitive, so I paid for this in lost sleep later.) What urban restaurant doesn't offer decaf espresso these days? How hard -- and expensive -- is it to keep a pound of ground decaf or decaf beans around? The double espressos, when they came, were of decent flavor, but weak -- more like an Americano -- and served in larger cups. At this point, we decided to have our after-dinner drinks at home, and paid the check. When we left at 8:50, the maitre d' stand was unmanned, so there was no farewell or opportunity to offer comments. To summarize: the table was horrendous, the food was interesting but also had significant flaws, the service was very good but hampered by the table location. For $200 on a Wednesday night, you can do much better.

When is the opening? Are they going to rival BGR for quality?

Againn update, 1/18/12: Lost reservation (made and confirmed directly with restaurant by telephone). Food quality excellent, but menu descriptions (esp. smoked salmon, which is a ground patty) misleading. Comparatively decent wine markup (2.5x retail). Table too small for two to enjoy full supper with wine (bread basket had to be placed on the windowsill), made entire meal awkward. Private Scotch lockers tend toward Johnny Walker Black -- pretty funny! Apparently they don't have a very discerning clientele. Nice bar, but not a place we'll be heading back to for a meal.

Limited, reasonably priced wine list -- we ordered a Gruner and a zin, but were served a cab from the same vineyard. The red was not opened immediately as requested, and they had no decanter, so we asked for a pitcher and decanted it ourselves. Baked brie sub-par, rubbery rind, domestic? Smoked salmon supermarket-like, but nice presentation. Pistachio crusted salmon fine; lamb shank needed a bit more braising time, but acceptable. Frites excellent. Mashed potatoes crusted from sitting under warmer too long, not good. Well-meaning server overheard that it was my birthday (we were grabbing dinner before an Improv show) and brought us unbidden a small chocolate cake with candle -- I HATE THAT! It offends me no end. And to top it off, the cake was awful -- ate one bite and quit. We never got to see the dessert menu. We will probably never go back for dinner. Note to restaurants: Please ditch the birthday cakes. Some of us don't appreciate it at all. If we wanted something special done, we'd arrange it with the restaurant beforehand. If we can afford two bottles of wine, we can afford to buy our own desserts.

As much as we might not want to recognize the problem, Jose Andres has become a "Brand Name." It began when Jaleo multiplied -- neither the Crystal City nor Bethesda locations were ever ujp to the original. Even very simple dishes such as the apple and anchego salad were prepared more coarsely at the satellites. Atlantico started going downhill when Minibar was a year into its run. Jaleo in Vegas is considerably more upscale, but I found the food imitative of the original Jaleo menu. OTOH, his China Poblano in Aria is delicious and fascinating, particularly if you sit at the counter and watch the ethnic artisans at work assembling your meal's component dishes. I've eaten there three times this year, and all three have been great. But given his track record, I'd recommend getting there in the next year, before things start suffering from a lack of expert attention. LA I don't get to, so haven't tried it. From reviews, I have no interest whatsoever in America Eats, just as I've never cared for Gadsby's Tavern in Alexandria.

Impressions from Chef Geoff's Tyson's on 4/15: The mussels and Korean chicken were excellent, flavorful and correctly cooked. The pork chops were quite good, but were not cooked medium rare, as the server suggested -- they were served medium, slightly pink in the center, as one would expect for pork. The kitchen needs to learn how to cook ribs. My "Kansas City" ribs were definitely not Kansas City cut. Worse, they were undercooked, tough and rubbery. I stopped eating after three bites from various locations in the half-rack. Only the dessert donuts saved the day (evening). Also, IMO, the wine list is overpriced for the level of the menu. Downtown's wine list is both better priced and far, far more interesting. The Tyson's wine list looks like they acquired a defunct restaurant's stock and have not added to it. The beer list does not provide enough information about the styles of the draft offerings, and the bartenders don't recognize the term "Calvados," despite a Busnel (spelled "Bushnell") printed on the Cognac/Brandy list. The place has a really nice decor, and is mobbed for happy hour, but the table service was inattentive, despite the dining room being only half full -- we were unable to order a bottle of wine until after the appetizers had been finished. Overall, despite the much better wine list downtown, we're unlikely to be tempted to try the downtown location or Lia's.

I had wanted to try Bistro Cacao, and OpenTable's Spotlight featured them this week, so I plunked down my $25 for the $50 credit. Before the Spotlight even filled, I made a reservation for last night. The offer filled, and I was able to print out the voucher about two hours before leaving for downtown. Metro got us there a bit early, so Schneider's it was. Fifteen minutes later, with one Cognac tasted and two bottles of Cognac and Calvados richer, we headed down the block at 6:30 for an early supper. There were a couple of tables already occupied, and we were seated in one of the curtained-off two-tops in the easternmost dining room. The chairs were overstuffed easy chairs, a bit too low for the table height, even for me at 6'3"+. Using the loose pillows at our backs as seat cushions took care of that problem. When our server brought menus, I have him the OpenTable voucher and asked if we were the first users (I'm sure we were). He didn't recognize the voucher, and asked if we had anything that looked "like a check" (They're pretty obviously used to Groupons and the like.) I said we didn't, and he went off to verify with someone else. A few minutes later, he returned and told us it was fine. We ordered pheasant pate ($8) and smoked salmon (a daily special, $12) to start, with rack of lamb ($21) and an onglet ($19) to follow, a glass of Lauverjat Sancerre (2009, $10) to accompany the salmon, and a bottle of Paveil de Luze Margaux (2006, $67). The Sancerre arrived immediately, followed by the appetizers about five minutes later. But it didn't seem to occur to our server that a glass of the Margaux was needed to accompany the pate, so I had to flag him down again. A few minutes later that was sorted out, although it took two requests before my wife was given the wine to approve, since I was already working on the Sancerre. The pheasant pate was accompanied by baby greens. It had a very smooth texture, as opposed to being a coarse country pate, and was delicious. The smoked salmon was accompanied by very small, tender capers and a mound of arugula with a very light vinaigrette. It was absolutely superb -- possibly the best I've had in the last two years. My only criticism would be that it was accompanied by too much arugula. The main dishes arrived a bit too quickly on the heels of the starters, but their quality overcame that minor irritation. The rack of lamb was outstanding, tender and juicy, perfectly medium rare, with a hint of mustard on the crust. It was accompanied by a cake of sauteed mashed potato, which I found a bit dry, rather than buttery/creamy, and six spears of perfectly roasted asparagus. My onglet was au pointe as requested, with a deeply seared crust, and an excellent red wine and shallot reduction. The onglet was in two similarly-sized thick pieces, which is optimal. I wasn't sure if the frites were freshly cut or not, but they were around 3/16" square and perfectly cooked. I snarfed them all down, which is something I very rarely do. Two small ramekins of catsup and mustard were provided; I assume these are concessions to American taste, but it was disappointing to see them. We ordered a cheese plate, which included Roquefort, Camembert, Petit Basque, and Le Chevrot (goat), accompanied by plump red seedless grapes and thinly-sliced apple. (Their Web site lists St. Andre as well, but none was served.) The cheese was served too cold; we waited five minutes or so for them to warm a bit, but they still suffered as a result. The Camembert in particular was a bit inferior, and the Roquefort was decidedly handicapped by our having nothing appropriate to drink with it. (I'd generally prefer that after-dinner cheese courses do not include blue cheeses, since their taste seldom complements the flavors remaining in the mouth after a meal.) For dessert, we had profiteroles ($8; like the onglet and cheese, mandatory on the first visit to any French bistro) and a trio of sorbets ($7), raspberry, mango, and lemon. The sorbets were very good, but I don't think they were house made; they tasted to me exactly like Haagen Dasz. The profiteroles were not very good at all. They tasted warm in spots, cool in spots, as though they'd just been warmed in a microwave. The pastry cream was all right, but the chocolate sauce was not as dark and flavorful as I would expect to find in France (or at home). We skipped after dinner drinks and coffee. The drinks menu did not offer Calvados, and I felt the Cognacs, etc. were somewhat overpriced, starting at $13 for a plebian vsop. This was a bit surprising, since the wine list is well-chosen and nicely priced. (But since we have well over 100 single malts and an assortment of Armagnac, Calvados, Cognac, etc. at home just a Metro ride away, that was fine with us.) My sole exception taken to the wine list was that it includes only one malbec, and that Argentinian. What? Onglet and no Cahors? Sacre bleu! Overall, there were a few holes in the service, but the staff was friendly, and things can only improve. The food was very good overall, comparable to Bistro d'Oc and Montmartre, but in a slightly more formal setting. The check came to $166 plus tax, less the $50 certificate. Not bad for a first visit to a relatively new restaurant. We'll be back.

I'm still trying to locate the wit in the quote that Zora Margolis is quoted describing as "viciously witty." Vicious, yes; witty, no. I though that Rockwell quote pointlessly nasty (rather than acerbic) at a junior high school level. It certainly didn't reflect well on either Rockwell or this site, and contributed to the overall negative impression imparted by the article..

Flew to Chicago this morning. Lunch at Marche, just returned from an early supper at Topolobampo, one of our favorite three restaurants in the country. And Rick Bayless was actually in the kitchen today, not off galavanting for PBS. 8;) Incredible as always. BTW, stocked up on the Frontera bottled sauces. What was formerly sold as "Roasted Arbol Sauce" is now being labelled simply "Red Pepper Hot Sauce," but the sauce itself is unchanged. Crofton on Wells tomorrow, Roy's on Friday, MK Saturday, home Sunday to fast for a week... 8;) -- Larry