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Minibar, Culinary Director José Andrés and Chef de Cuisine Ángel León's 12-Seat, Michelin 2-Star Splurge On 9th and E Street - Penn Quarter


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But how do you visit three times before writing about it? That's almost $900 a couple for an experience whose impact is from one visit. I must also ask how could anyone confirm three different reservations? The way this is set up (e-mail) it's almost impossible to get one. We went to the "old" Minibar and loved it. It was also $130-135 four or five years ago and I tried literally several hundred times to get another reservation and couldn't. A great experience at its price point. But not @ $225 prix fixe + $100 per person for wine + D. C. tax (10%) + tip.

I continue to return to the price in writing about Minibar: there is no margin for error at this level. Nor at this level of exclusivity or expectation.

For myself, if we ever did go (and could get a reservation) I would ask if they do corkage? Even supplying my own wine would put this over $600 for two people.

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I never went to MiniBar v 1.0 and that was kind of by design because, despite it having many fans, I chafe a bit at places that make it so difficult to book in the interest of creating an exclusive air. I was also hesitant at spending big for any molecular gastronomy show outside El Bulli. Tom captures that concern for v 2.0 nicely:

the techniques behind so much of this cooking here -- make for a better AP chemistry class than a meal.

And this channels my inner critic perfectly:

It’s not that I’m against novel approaches to cooking but, rather, food that places the intellectual above the delicious -- the head before the heart.

One thing I find interesting is that TS (and even here in this thread) no comparisons have been made to R24. That seems more obvious to me than Sushi Taro, the Inn, and Komi, all of which he does mention.

I haven't been to R24 yet either. But the R24 pull feels stronger than MiniBar 2.0 at this point. There's something obscene about spending more than $150 pp for dinner not including drinks and all the incidentals. To do it, really needs to be something outstanding, surprising and hugely memorable. Will be fascinating to see if the prices hold and how well it does. I won't be a bit surprised whatever the future holds.

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"You came quick and only once". Hmm, I've heard that complaint too. DRUM FLOURISH AND CYMBAL CRASH! Thank you, I'll be here all night!

Sorry. :)

While I think it's great when critics go to a place a bunch of times before a review, one of the reasons they do that is so that they can sample the whole menu. Don't need to do that at a place like this...you get the whole thing every time. Also, if it's ready for a random person to go in at eat at those prices, it's ready for a critic. You have to expect perfection each time.

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$225 is an absurd price. You're competing with Alinea and the three starred restaurants in NYC for that much. I kind of understand the idea of increasing prices to match the demand, but that price point just displays a kind of hubris that's off putting.

I don't know Jose Andres. But everything I've read and heard about it makes me really think he's not a hubristic person. I saw him speak with Ferran Adria at GW earlier this year (or was it last year?). In every respect, he seems like a kind, incredibly talented, respectful, grounded and extremely generous man. Hubris doesn't seem like a relevant adjective to use for him. At least not at all to the level of others tagged that way.

Nevertheless, agree the pricing seems insane. Maybe just a bet not thought through enough? A mistake that'll be corrected? Or a market that will reward the decision? Time will tell.

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I never went to MiniBar v 1.0 and that was kind of by design because, despite it having many fans, I chafe a bit at places that make it so difficult to book in the interest of creating an exclusive air. I was also hesitant at spending big for any molecular gastronomy show outside El Bulli. Tom captures that concern for v 2.0 nicely:

And this channels my inner critic perfectly:

One thing I find interesting is that TS (and even here in this thread) no comparisons have been made to R24. That seems more obvious to me than Sushi Taro, the Inn, and Komi, all of which he does mention.

I haven't been to R24 yet either. But the R24 pull feels stronger than MiniBar 2.0 at this point. There's something obscene about spending more than $150 pp for dinner not including drinks and all the incidentals. To do it, really needs to be something outstanding, surprising and hugely memorable. Will be fascinating to see if the prices hold and how well it does. I won't be a bit surprised whatever the future holds.

Small nitpick. I don't think the difficulty in getting reservations was to create an exclusive air. It was a direct function of the fact that previously MiniBar had 6 seats and (I believe) 2 seatings per night. But the 6 seats had a very specific purpose - very personal interaction with the chefs. I believe there were 3 chefs working the night we went, which gives you a 2:1 diner to chef ratio and they are not preparing food for anyone else. That in and of itself is special.

Now you pay a significantly higher amount and you've lost that nearly one on one interaction.

Some people may not agree with this, but I also think MG was much newer on the dining scene and therefore more worthy of the higher price point back then, in terms of both ingenuity and simply supply and demand.

I'm glad you mentioned Rogue 24 too as I was about to as I read your response. ;) I've done both and I personally think Rogue has a really nice balance of playful and interesting vis a vis molecular gastronomy while still (mostly) giving you plates of actual food. To me, it's much more balanced and I left Rogue quite full.

Having said that, I am quite glad to have done Minibar once.

At the lower price point.

"You came quick and only once". Hmm, I've heard that complaint too. DRUM FLOURISH AND CYMBAL CRASH! Thank you, I'll be here all night!

Sorry. :)

While I think it's great when critics go to a place a bunch of times before a review, one of the reasons they do that is so that they can sample the whole menu. Don't need to do that at a place like this...you get the whole thing every time. Also, if it's ready for a random person to go in at eat at those prices, it's ready for a critic. You have to expect perfection each time.

:lol: And excellent points.

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I just can't get by only making a reservation by e-mail. I can't walk in the door, I can't call. I must e-mail. For me a really big mistake to suggest this. Ostensibly, they can pick and choose who they want to come to dinner. I have no idea if a particular day and time is even available.

Consider: an e-mail that I would send: I would like to make a reservation for my wife and I for Friday, ---------. Do you allow corkage?

What are the odds they are going to "accept" me?

And, let's assume that the particular day is booked (which it probably will be with only 24 reservations being accepted). What are we going to do? Trade e-mails on when to come? If they will even have us?

I already don't like e-mail because of its impersonality. If I am going to spend $750-900 for two for dinner I want to feel important.

Ironically, I type this sitting behind the impersonality of a keyboard. No one reading this knows anything about me. I am some kind of omnipotent, omniscient, nebulous entity that is responsible for these words. And the words will evoke a response.

Just as an e-mail from Minibar will evoke a response from me if I am even honored to receive one.

Jose: have someone pick up the phone and talk to the human being who calls you. A dining experience is a personal adventure. Don't start with a keyboard-start with a voice.

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I wonder, does someone call you once you get the rez? I presumed the email only was for the sake of simplicity, on both ends. When we went, it was not via email and was had to plan ahead, waiting by the phone until precisely the right time (I believe it was 9 am) to start calling repeatedly hoping to get through and not get a busy signal over and over. And we were not successful the first time around. That's annoying and inconvenient as hell. I'd much rather send an email and be done with it. You can even set up your email server to send it at a certain time and sleep in, sweet. :)

Then again, Rogue makes you submit what is essentially a questionnaire electronically.

And we all know how that went over.

Enjoying the use of tiny font tonight.

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While I think it's great when critics go to a place a bunch of times before a review, one of the reasons they do that is so that they can sample the whole menu. Don't need to do that at a place like this...you get the whole thing every time.

It would be absurd to eat the same things 3 times prior to giving a review. It is what it is - especially at that price point. I'm one person who never understood Jose's acclaim and probably will never spend another dime at any of his restaurants.

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I just can't get by only making a reservation by e-mail. I can't walk in the door, I can't call. I must e-mail. For me a really big mistake to suggest this. Ostensibly, they can pick and choose who they want to come to dinner. I have no idea if a particular day and time is even available.

Consider: an e-mail that I would send: I would like to make a reservation for my wife and I for Friday, ---------. Do you allow corkage?

What are the odds they are going to "accept" me?

And, let's assume that the particular day is booked (which it probably will be with only 24 reservations being accepted). What are we going to do? Trade e-mails on when to come? If they will even have us?

I already don't like e-mail because of its impersonality. If I am going to spend $750-900 for two for dinner I want to feel important.

Ironically, I type this sitting behind the impersonality of a keyboard. No one reading this knows anything about me. I am some kind of omnipotent, omniscient, nebulous entity that is responsible for these words. And the words will evoke a response.

Just as an e-mail from Minibar will evoke a response from me if I am even honored to receive one.

Jose: have someone pick up the phone and talk to the human being who calls you. A dining experience is a personal adventure. Don't start with a keyboard-start with a voice.

You make a persuasive case imho. While some won't agree and be fine with the email approach (perhaps demographically driven preferences), at a zillion bucks for dinner, maybe they could take bookings however customers want to request them? So email us, or phone us, or send a homing pigeon...should be whatever the hell we want, eh? That'd take an extra person perhaps but guessing the margin could support it.

As for whether they'd accept you if you ask about corkage in your email, I see the point but imagine the answer will largely depend on how many out there are game to drop $300 or more per person for dinner. If not so many, they'll take you Joe. If there's a mob beating down their inbox (mixed metaphor just doesn't work), then you can talk to the hand. Maybe ask about doing something gluten free along with the corkage. That way the former can distract from the latter and more likely you'll be IN. :D

Yours truly,

Another nebulous (though not so omnipotent nor omniscient) keyboard banger

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I can give him at least a slight pass on the price point, simply because in this venue he has a different business model and overhead from before; it's not sharing space with a more mass-market restaurant. But as Eric and others note, you also expect near-perfection and something approaching transcendence at this price. Tom deserves credit for acknowledging the single visit and the departure from his usual practice, which gives the reader the opportunity to decide for her-/himself how much credit to grant the review. Could he have done another visit a month or two later, and postponed the review? Sure, but I doubt it would have been much different.

While Komi and Rogue have been the touchpoints for others, I actually thought of Medium Rare as a point of comparison: a pretty much fixed menu and price point, even if it is toward the other end of the cost scale. The reason for a reviewer to go there several times would be less to try different dishes than to ascertain consistency in service and output. One could make a similar case here for multiple visits, but again, it seems like at these prices, if they don't hit it out of the ballpark the first time, they're probably not going to get a second chance from most folks. On the other hand, Minibar is sort of a critic-proof place; those who can afford it will go, regardless of what reviewers say--the price alone gives it a rarefied air, like it or not. Whether they'll give it repeat visits, however, is another question, and in that Tom may have behaved just like its core diner by his once-and-done approach here.

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...While Komi and Rogue have been the touchpoints for others, I actually thought of Medium Rare as a point of comparison: a pretty much fixed menu and price point, even if it is toward the other end of the cost scale. The reason for a reviewer to go there several times would be less to try different dishes than to ascertain consistency in service and output...

Bizarre. We went to Medium Rare tonight and I'm just about to post about it. Pretty unexpected comparison here to MiniBar but I do get the rationale.

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I just can't get by only making a reservation by e-mail. I can't walk in the door, I can't call. I must e-mail. For me a really big mistake to suggest this. Ostensibly, they can pick and choose who they want to come to dinner. I have no idea if a particular day and time is even available.

You had the opportunity to snag a reservation for the original Minibar on the way out from your meal at Cafe Atlantico by lamenting with the management your chances of ever getting in. That's how we did it, two people talking to each other. It was a back door to the system; it worked for us and I always assumed it would work for other people as well, although it wasn't a strategy. I was genuinely surprised at how easily we landed a reservation. With e-mail as your only access to the new restaurant, I can understand the frustration. If nothing else works, you could go to the nearby Jaleo, coming frequently and complaining all the time about how much you love the food but what you are dreaming about obsessively every night and all night is being inside Minibar.

We found Minibar worthy as food theatre -- with nothing else anywhwere quite like it -- but we were jaded some by a recent trip to Barcelona, where we found similar experimentation going on within a more traditional dining context. We had some really great meals around the stomping grounds of Jose Andres, more than just experiences. But keeping out of touch does lend an air of exclusitivity to a place. Take Little Serow, which is highly theatrical and offers its extraordinarily exciting Thai food and exemplary service on its own terms. If you weren't to some degree an insider to the local dining scene, you might not even know a restaurant was there as you passed it by unless you asked someone in line what they were waiting for. I have been asked that question every time I have waited in line for the outside lights to go on signaling the 5:30 opening. It can be tough to get into a lot of places -- that's just how life is. Sometimes it's really worth the effort (in the case of Little Serow, I would say relatively small effort), and sometimes maybe not.

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You had the opportunity to snag a reservation for the original Minibar on the way out from your meal at Cafe Atlantico by lamenting with the management your chances of ever getting in. That's how we did it, two people talking to each other. It was a back door to the system; it worked for us and I always assumed it would work for other people as well, although it wasn't a strategy. I was genuinely surprised at how easily we landed a reservation. With e-mail as your only access to the new restaurant, I can understand the frustration. If nothing else works, you could go to the nearby Jaleo, coming frequently and complaining all the time about how much you love the food but what you are dreaming about obsessively every night and all night is being inside Minibar.

We found Minibar worthy as food theatre -- with nothing else anywhwere quite like it -- but we were jaded some by a recent trip to Barcelona, where we found similar experimentation going on within a more traditional dining context. We had some really great meals around the stomping grounds of Jose Andres, more than just experiences. But keeping out of touch does lend an air of exclusitivity to a place. Take Little Serow, which is highly theatrical and offers its extraordinarily exciting Thai food and exemplary service on its own terms. If you weren't to some degree an insider to the local dining scene, you might not even know a restaurant was there as you passed it by unless you asked someone in line what they were waiting for. I have been asked that question every time I have waited in line for the outside lights to go on signaling the 5:30 opening. It can be tough to get into a lot of places -- that's just how life is. Sometimes it's really worth the effort (in the case of Little Serow, I would say relatively small effort), and sometimes maybe not.

Have to agree with you here. We write and talk a lot about customer focus, excellence in service and the like but, at the end of the day, we have to accept that launching and running a restaurant profitably is an extremely challenging proposition. Different objectives (customer engagement and cash flow among them) are at odds with each other. That's what offers such rich opportunity for restaurant customers like (some of) us to debate whether place X is doing enough for the price, whether service or food are 'good enough' by our own measure, etc.

I do think exclusivity is part of the formula at the highest-end places as you write above and as I did earlier. It's not that MiniBar wasn't trying to create a uniquely wonderful customer experience in its first incarnation; it was. But when you're tagged as the toughest table in a city, area, country or whatever, that drives demand. Just the way it is. It's a risky game though. Too many places try to go for the super premium pricing/ultra high end segment where everyone's patience is much thinner and thus room for error virtually non-existent. I personally agree with JoeH but maybe on a different basis. Joe thinks Jose should talk to his customers because that has to be the ante for a $700 dinner, it's just the right thing to do and it's what Joe (and no doubt many others) want. Fair enough. I don't disagree but think Jose should be more accessible simply because I'd guess it would produce more profit over a more sustainable period (maybe even along with a slight rethinking of pricing). Will Joe go to MiniBar despite his concerns? Only nebulous, omniscient Joe ( :D ) knows and, that decision across hundreds of potential customers, is the key. Every place in America can't be French Laundry. The economy still sucks, there's a lot of negative focus on the 'top 1%", etc, etc. All part of the uncertain calculus.

MiniBar, to me, seems like a formula in need of a real tweaking given the market it's in, the current environment, the competition and the value proposition (what they offer on the plates and experientially) but I haven't been there, I haven't done it so I don't really know. Time will tell.

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The French Laundry answers their phone. Minibar does not even list their phone nunmber on their website. In fact they say this: "Construction currently prevents us from answering the telephone. Please email us your questions at info@minibarbyjoseandres.com. Please note that reservation requests via this email will not be honored."

I cannot call for any reason-there is no phone number to call. (Although Tom publishes it in his review.) I found this out because I wanted to ask if they even have a wine list or are the only options the beverage pairings @75, 125 and 200? They have a "frequently asked questions" on their website. Is this their intention, to have people pull this up instead of calling? Or to send an e-mail if someone is driving around and has lost the address, hoping someone at Minibar is on their computer to immediately answer?

Ironically I cannot help but think of Chef Vola's in Atlantic City who do not publish a phone number either. I wonder if Jose has had dinner at Vola's? http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/473826

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I don't disagree but think Jose should be more accessible simply because I'd guess it would produce more profit over a more sustainable period (maybe even along with a slight rethinking of pricing).

José was certainly accessible when it came to trashing me as host of eGullet and writing a lengthy, detailed letter of reprimand to Stephen Shaw complaining about my outspoken viewpoints.

He was certainly accessible when it came to joining eGullet and doing an extended Q&A there after I had stepped down as forum host.

He was certainly accessible on Twitter yesterday when he expressed "disappointment" in Tom Sietsema's mediocre review (why would anyone feel the need to go to the new Minibar more than once to review it?)

But, for whatever reason, he hasn't been accessible at all when it comes to supporting "his friend" Gerry Dawes on the donrockwell.com chat.

Or, for that matter, "his good friend" Ann Cashion when she did hers (this would be about 10-15 years after she hunted him down and singlehandedly rescued him from total obscurity while he was working as an unknown cook in San Diego (yes, this is *after* his "best friend," 'partner,' and "mentor" Ferran Adrià fired him from whatever line cook position he had - it took Adrià quite awhile to recover from that devastating separation, I'm sure)).

Nor was he accessible in replying to the single greatest review of Minibar ever written.

Nor was a single word mentioned when I issued a really nice review of the Crystal City Jaleo six weeks ago, raising it to Italic in the Dining Guide.

Why is this? I don't know - you'll have to ask him. Gerry Dawes has been an enthusiastic, ardent supporter of José Andrés over the years - one might think that some reciprocity would be shown in return, but who knows what motivations drive the strange, mysterious actions of this superstar artiste?

Oh, and do note that I've always taken the time to spell his name with the correct accents out of respect.

Cheers,

Rocks

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Wow--lots of background there with which I wasn't familiar. Definitely concerning given from you, Don.

I'm sure it totally fails to seriously address the question of why he hasn't been supportive/accessible recently but, from EaterDC yesterday in a piece commenting on the TS/Andres "twitter war:"

A spokesperson for Andrés declined to provide any further elaboration on the chef's comments. Andres is currently in Puerto Rico tied up with opening his new Mi Casa restaurant, which is scheduled to debut next week.

The profile of the chef selling out to become a business magnate has long ago become cliched*

*slightly annoying I'm not sure how to insert an accent mark, tilde, umwalt, etc here unless as to be done in another program and then pasted

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I was looking through the thread in the egullet that Don posted, and someone in October 2004 noted that the price went up to $85 per person. Ahhh, those were the days.

My wife and I went in April of 2008 and absolutely loved it. We happened to sit next to a guy who was about to graduate from Georgetown Law who was in the process of becoming a self taught chef. He had tons of questions for our chefs and the converstation was an incredible eye opening learning experience.........."Heat the XXXX at 63 degrees C for 4 minutes and 25 seconds. Not 63 degrees, not 65 degrees". That wasn't an actual quote, but the instructions were VERY specific. It was part magic show and part chemistry class.

Here's a link to his review and photos if anyone wants a blast from the past. http://www.eatfoo.com/archives/2008/04/minibar_washington_dc.php

One tip for people trying to get a reservation.....if you can talk to a real person, ask to be put on their cancellation list. You have to be pretty flexible in when you can go, but it may help you get in quicker.

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We happened to sit next to a guy who was about to graduate from Georgetown Law who was in the process of becoming a self taught chef.

Bart, it really is a small world - that Georgetown Law grad/self taught chef you sat next to? That's my brother-in-law, David! He is now in San Francisco, running a VERY successful underground restaurant and working to open a brick-and-mortar place. Here's the website if you'd like to read about it and see some photos: http://www.lazybearsf.com/blog/

I know he enjoyed his Minibar experience more than I did, but I definitely agree that the magic of the "old" Minibar was that you were so close to the chefs and the action that you could really interact. Don't know that that will ever be replicated.

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Too funny! I've been following David from afar since our dinner in 08 on both his old and new websites. I keep expecting to see him on Top Chef or in the Food Section of the Post. I so wish he was staying in DC so I could try his underground place. Looking at the photos of the dishes he creates always floors me. They look every bit as professional and gourmet and high end as anything I've ever seen by anyone at any level!

Sitting next to him really took the whole minibar experience to another level. Listening to him talk to the chefs about spherification and isomalt and a hunderd other things I'd never heard about or understood was one of the most memorable parts of the meal. It was like being behind the scenes at a magic show.

I wish him him the best! Any way you can convince him to move back to DC?!?!! :)

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$225 is an absurd price. You're competing with Alinea and the three starred restaurants in NYC for that much. I kind of understand the idea of increasing prices to match the demand, but that price point just displays a kind of hubris that's off putting.

The insanity continues. Eater is reporting that they are opening a more exclusive area inside minibar called "Jose's Table". It's for 6 people max and you get additional dishes not on the regular menu. The good news is they roll up drinks, tax and tip into the price. The even better news is it only costs 3 grand! Yes, three thousand dollars.

http://dc.eater.com/archives/2013/07/01/minibar-gets-even-more-exclusive-with-joses-table.php

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If it includes drinks, gratuity, and tax, it's not much different than the current situation (I'm obviously assuming this is $3,000 total, not each) - just another way to get people in the door, and ... talking about the restaurant. :) It's about an extra $100 per person.

The really scary thing is that I'm not sure if it's $3,000 total or $3,000 each.

If you're spending $7,000 on a <cough, cough> "limited edition" pen, is it really *that* much more absurd to spend $70,000?

When you're dealing with a world population in the billions, all it takes is a very, very small percentage of people who have yet to receive their diagnosis. Here, let me save you $125:

post-2-0-16215700-1372720560_thumb.jpg

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According to Eater: "up to six people can be accommodated at the table, which will be positioned behind a white curtain" for "an even $3,000, which includes the menu, beverage pairings, tax and gratuity."

Serious question: I wonder if this will inhibit some from dining there? With Minibar around $800 to 900 per couple, all in with a wine pairing, a private chef's table behind a curtain seems like an elitist move that might discourage others from sitting at what amounts to a counter while spending almost as much.

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$250 per head is plus wine, tax and tip.  Which, with a wine pairing of $75 to $200 per person, tops out at a middle of the road price of more than $1,000 for dinner for two ($250 + 250 + 137.50 X 2 for wine pairings + 9.5% D. C. sales tax + 20% tip) which is breathtakingly expensive for sitting at a counter stool.  Actually, breathtakingly expensive for sitting in any seat.

Sorry, for this price I want three Michelin stars and correct service.

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Recently went back to minibar (almost exactly two years to the day since our last visit) with four friends, three of whom had eaten there before; the fourth had come down from New York especially for this reservation.  It's still a fun, frequently quite delicious experience.  Unfortunately, despite being two-thirds more expensive than our last minibar meal, it's no better -- and in some ways not as good -- as it used to be.  We had a great night, but I'm not sure how strongly I could recommend it unless money was no object to the prospective diner. 

While there have been complaints here about the lack of posted phone number and the opaque email reservation system, I found it to be significantly easier to navigate than the old call-right-on-the-hour-and-hope-to-get-through system.  (I've literally spent hours getting a busy signal and redialing over the years.)  I wonder if the increased capacity and price have decreased demand, and the email system is a way to cloak that.  

 
From a design perspective, the new space is beautiful and I suppose in keeping with what most people expect/want from a meal at this price point, but I think the larger space is to the detriment of the chef interaction experience.  Layout issues aside, Johnny Spero and the rest of the chefs were great -- answered our (probably increasingly annoying) questions patiently and with a sense of humor.

So, the food.  Given the time lapse and significant price hike, I was most disappointed that there were so many dishes that were basically unchanged.  I understand that this sort of food requires a lot of development time, and at this price point they probably don't expect many repeat diners (certainly not frequently).  But after two years and a restaurant move/revamp, we shouldn't have recognized approximately a third of the non-canape/petit four dishes as things we'd eaten on our last visit (a few of them as substitutions to accommodate my pescatarianism).  The meal also felt shorter/less substantial; despite complaints I've read over the years, this was the first time that I left minibar wanting a snack.  (Luckily barmini's snacks are great.)

The expectations-defying hot-and-cold contrast of the opening pisco sour was a fun start; an icy quenelle of sorbet melted beneath the hot foam (produced from a heated-in-a-waterbath whipper).  A frozen shell of melt-in-your-mouth (or fingers, if you dally) pureed almond filled with blue cheese was delicious . . . as delicious as it was when we had the same dish years ago.  The best dish of the night showed only a very limited, ungimmicky display of modernist technique: a raw spot prawn with shaved apple miso ice was so refined that it would have fit perfectly on the Saison menu (my favorite meal of the last year).  My second favorite dish highlighted how precision techniques can be deployed to create truly delicious food: spirals of "pasta" made by dipping a corkscrew into a bath of gelling agent were injected with a vibrant basil pesto.  (Chef Spero kindly brought out some empty fusilli and a syringe to show us how they're filled/let us taste the empties for contrast.)  "Andalucian Tofu" was also great -- I loved the gazpacho ice and the textural contrast with "tofu" (of almond, I think?), although I would have preferred smaller cubes of the latter to play up that contrast.  

I understand that dietary restrictions can be difficult for restaurants to manage, but it's still frustrating when the most disappointing dishes are substitutions because it feels like accommodations are a bit of an afterthought.  "Spring is Coming" was a beautiful-looking but boring-tasting salad of edible flowers on shaved ice; flavoring the shaved ice would have helped significantly.  Even more frustrating is when a repeat isn't as well done as the first time: in this case, the "white" of the parmesan egg was insufficiently set and therefore dissolved into a puddle -- losing the cool textural similarity to a real egg -- as soon as it was cut open.  I did love this dish in its previous incarnations, and it still tasted good here, but it was a poor way to see us pescatarians out of the savory courses.  A disappointment to everyone in my party: smoke-filled balloons were snipped open with great fanfare to release an enticing, roasty aroma, but when the smoked cleared, we were left with a bowl of not-particularly-exciting mushrooms.  The black truffle shaved on top may have helped to layer the earthy flavor had it been a stronger truffle, but it was imperceptible in the taste.

We were moved to barmini for petit fours (where we were later joined by two additional friends for hours of cocktails and snacks from the bar menu).  The highlights among the cute petit fours:  We all loved the yuzu marshmallow.  The "doughnuts" were Krispy Kreme ice cream inside; awesomely Momofuku Milk Bar-esque.  The liquid raspberry center of the bon bon was delicious but had only the barest hint of wasabi -- and that might have been mostly the power of suggestion because we were told it was included -- and would likely have been outstanding with more.  The gummy whiskey bottles -- which I've had somewhere else before, made with different types of whiskey if I recall correctly? -- where a fun throwback to the cola bottle gummies that I loved as a kid.
 
Course by course details, including photos, on my blog.
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Recently went back to minibar (almost exactly two years to the day since our last visit) with four friends, three of whom had eaten there before; the fourth had come down from New York especially for this reservation.  It's still a fun, frequently quite delicious experience.  Unfortunately, despite being two-thirds more expensive than our last minibar meal, it's no better -- and in some ways not as good -- as it used to be.  We had a great night, but I'm not sure how strongly I could recommend it unless money was no object to the prospective diner. 

...

 
Course by course details, including photos, on my blog.  

Absolutely outstanding writing both above and on your blog.  Thank you for sharing-real pleasure to read.   Also interesting to read your comments about the Willows from a year and a half ago.

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Course by course details, including photos, on my blog.

 

Ten years in DC and we had never been to Minibar until this past week and we only went because I saw that there was a reservation for two on Table 8 for a Thursday night at 9 pm and we had a coupon code for a free Table 8 reservation. Considering the Minibar Table 8 fee was $75 per person, this seemed like a good use for our freebie. As it was dinner for two plus one champagne pairing, one non alcohol pairing, and a couple cocktails came to nearly $1000. By far the most expensive meal we've ever had in DC and honestly one of the most expensive ever including recent meals at Noma, Celler de Can Rocas and Eleven Madison Park. We had a strong sense of what to expect and certainly the food for both taste and entertainment value did not disappoint.

A couple observations:

The non alcohol pairing was a good choice - something we have gotten into the habit of ordering when it is available- they tend to be really interesting. Thus far, the best we have had was the tea pairing at The Test Kitchen in Cape Town.  The Minibar pairing is more or less virgin cocktails which is most similar to what we had in Osaka at Hajime as opposed to Noma's juice pairing that is juiced essences of the ingredients in your corresponding food course.

If you look at jca76 blog post and photos, we had many similar if not identical courses (see Flipagram). But what is perhaps more interesting are the obvious influences of courses from our beal and that of jca76 that are coming from other notable chefs. Example - Whiskey Bottles as the final mignardise from jca76 meal. We had a nearly identical course at The Fat Duck in October. The meringue burger bun is something that we have had  at El Bulli, Tickets and Disfrutar in Spain. Not surprising given the influences of the restaurant.

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Example - Whiskey Bottles as the final mignardise from jca76 meal. We had a nearly identical course at The Fat Duck in October. 

Yes!  That's the meal I couldn't remember when I posted.  Beautiful slideshow.

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I just retired (yay), and once the various financial wheels turn and spit out my retirement money, we're going to do some traveling, domestic and some Europe, focusing on art, architecture, and food. But first we're going to start at home, DC, for food. We're huge Komi fans (in the day, we were huge Laboratorio fans), but want to also try 3 or 4 other extraordinary dining experiences. (We'll also do some great-but-not-tasting-menu dining.) Minibar is an obvious choice. We went to Minibar maybe 15 years ago, which was fun. At some point later I checked and the price had gone crazy high, but now there seem to be a merely-high option (Chef's Counter, $275 + $115/$195/$500(!) pairing), which sounds like what we did an eon ago, as well as crazy-expensive (Private Dining at Jose's Table, $565 including pairing). I have 3 questions:

Anyone have a basis to compare the $115/$195 pairings (I can't consider the $500 one), is the former great or meh, the latter definitely worth it?

Any personal experience comparing the Counter to the Table, latter worth it?

Re The Table, the website says it is "designed for a single party of up to six guests," but the site allows you to make reservations for 2 -- does it diminish the experience of this lovely meal to share the table with 4 strangers? (I found the Counter experience, like the Roberto's 4/8 counter, to still be fairly personal.)

Thanks for any advice based on actual experience -- Monte

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I can't add my personal experience, but some of my friends went a couple of years ago and enjoyed the experience. That said, it's now extremely expensive.

They just opened up reservations for February and March, including a special Valentine's Day menu. $1469 inclusive (without the $500 pp upgrade). 

Well beyond my means, I'm afraid. 

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40 minutes ago, reedm said:

I can't add my personal experience, but some of my friends went a couple of years ago and enjoyed the experience. That said, it's now extremely expensive.

They just opened up reservations for February and March, including a special Valentine's Day menu. $1469 inclusive (without the $500 pp upgrade). 

Well beyond my means, I'm afraid. 

Mine too - can anyone tell me what the difference is between the "regular," $275 Prix-Fixe and the "Chef's Table," $565 Prix-Fixe? 

I've dined at Minibar 3-4 times, but the last time I went, everything *was* a chef's table, or a chef's counter. 

Note also that the Chef's Table for this Valentine's Day is sold out - now, I have no idea if this is a group of billionaires from Monaco, or José's family and friends, but it is, nevertheless, listed as being sold out at $565 per person. 

I say, more power to 'em. If they can get it, why not take it? They do plenty for charity.

Screenshot 2017-02-06 at 11.32.28 AM.png

Crestfallen that my original review [edited, btw, :angry:] from 2003 didn't make it onto their website - it was the first, and I still think it holds true, despite my initial meal having cost only $65 (with, I believe, a $15 corkage fee available). Minibar should probably be ranked in Bold, but do I want to spend $500 of my own money to go again and find out - when it's already at the top of the heap, at the risk of a chef change the following week - or do I want to fly out, see Matt's concert, and visit him for a few days? (PS - don't forget the Chicago Poll - nominations close in 48 hours.)

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