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pdmarquardt

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Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain (14/123)

  1. Sure, I know people who've consigned part of their collection to restaurants (hell, that's how Proof got started). But I don't think saying "no corkage" really drives the locals who would be bringing bottles from home to say "okay, I'll pay a $500+ markup on a $150 bottle of 2001 Cos." (GTFOH.) I'll bring the '82 from home and pay a solid corkage, but they're not losing much by way of profit; they're just making me drink worse. I'd bet there's little overlap between "sure, I'll pay your list for a fancy bottle" people and "I've got a good cellar but I'm not stupid" people - and if you have, say, $60 corkage you're not likely to get people stopping off at Safeway on the way in. This kind of policy makes me say that there are a lot of other good restaurants in DC.
  2. No corkage is a killer. I don't (much) mind a substantial corkage fee in a high-end restaurant. But I'm never, ever going to pay a markup of hundreds of dollars. Basically the restaurant is saying that's fine - we'll take our $60 markup on a nicely made wine off our list - but no drinking cellar treasures for you. I don't get why that's good for anyone - they can't have much turnover at the top of the list anyway.
  3. The one I didn't see here is Weygandt in Cleveland Park, which is well worth a visit. Others I use here are Bassins, Wide World, Arrowine, CW, and Ace, though I also do a lot of out-of-state and auction shopping. I like Schneider's but we're in NW and are rarely on the Hill.
  4. For those who are Blanton's fans and note that supply comes and goes, a batch seems to have hit the DC market recently.
  5. That's a lot of short crops in a not-very-long stretch. Some of the producers must really be feeling the cumulative effects at this point.
  6. Going to Ace ASAP. Thanks for this - very useful.
  7. This is all correct. Global Entry is absolutely worth it if you travel internationally pretty much at all. Ten minutes customs hall to curb if you carry on. Do NOT, however, do what I did and sign up for NEXUS because why not? (I'm originally from Detroit and do pop over to Canada sometimes.) NEXUS interviews can't be done here; they have to be done at a limited number of border stations so that both the Canadians and Americans can interview you. It was a huge pain that set me back until my next trip to one of the border cities. Don't know about SENTRI but suspect there may be similar issues. Also, remember to keep your personal data on their online system up to date. They're not great about contacting you when they need something.
  8. I lived in that neighborhood for years, and parking is not great. Best bet is probably to park on Harvard (there's usually parking near the Zoo) and walk - you'll spend more time walking but less time circling. I haven't been back since it first opened (because we have a toddler, not because we had a bad experience), but I would go again. I would, however, do some homework before I went - ordering well seemed important, at least in version 1.0 (maybe even beta 0.9.9) of the menu.
  9. Carolina Wine was more a guy who got in over his head and started kiting checks. The PC guy was stealing money from the get-go. There's a reason he's going to jail.
  10. I'd add Kitchen Galerie Bis - bistro of Ze Kitchen Galerie, wonderful food, much easier to get into. I liked Pirouette but didn't love it.
  11. I know a bunch of people who have them. Those who have them tend to love them but not actually to use them as much as they thought they would. Dessert wines are a great use case, but other than that we tend to drink at least half a bottle (in which case a cheap and very effective solution is to take a small screwcapped bottle - we use old Perrier bottles - and fill it to the very top with no headspace before capping it). By all accounts they work very well, though, so if the spend doesn't bother you go for it. Only thing to be slightly careful about is old bottles - the bottle ends up pressurized, so there is some risk of breakage if there's a flaw in the glass.
  12. Weird experience with Cibola Farms, where we're regulars - we bought a couple of pounds of bison ground chuck, and it was full of big chunks of gristle and even a couple of bone chips. I picked it over before making patties and the burgers were still nearly inedible.
  13. Hi there - We're on the consuming rather than the producing side (okay, we like to cook too, but you get it). We believe in division of labor; I'm the wino, with the hugely overstuffed cellar to show for it, and my wife is the foodie (second disclaimer - we're both both, but I'm the one who will talk about Galician red wines and she's the one who will talk about new chefs in Chicago). We've been kicking around DC food and wine communities for years but are new to this board; I'm looking forward to checking it out. Cheers, Paul
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