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Colorado Kitchen - Vailed.


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I am pretty sure the Chef and crew are closing up shop for the last two weeks in August for a well deserved vacation so your crack fixes (for which I now am craving) and Sunday night visits may have to wait :P

From an email from CK. They will be closed Sunday night, August 21 and we'll reopen Wednesday night September 7.

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I'd like to thank Chef Clark for responding to a query I submitted to her through this forum. She was very generous with information about one of my favorite dishes. I think it's great that this forum opens up the dialogue between local chefs, managers, staff members, etc., and the public.

I love her restaurant and I look forward to my next visit!

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CK has started their new Fall menu. Chef Clark's take on Veal Blanquette was delicious: veal scallopini with a shiitake-cream sauce, topped with a whipped puree of root vegetables (celery root and turnip it tasted like) and fried mushrooms. I got a bite of the Meatloaf Wellington too (yep, it's meatloaf encased in puff pastry).

Hidden among the 'recipe' wallpaper in the first bathroom, Chef has posted a note from a customer: "I didn't appreciate the Chef's temper tantrum. --M" :lol:

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Comfort food - I can't think of anything that describes the food at Colorado kitchen better......well, maybe yummy is another word. Stopped by for an early Sunday dinner yesterday evening.

Started with some small biscuits, sprinkled with salt - really delicious with some butter and the sweetness of the biscuit intermingling with the salt and the butter.

I had Lentil and Bacon soup which is a great dish for a brisk fall day, full of earthy goodness and my wife had a mixed green salad.

For mains, I had the burger w/ cheddar and sauteed onions anlong with some seriously good onion rings made from red onions. The burger was tasty but probably more medium well than the requested medium.

My wife and daughter split the fried chicken small plate, which came with a very good cornbread muffin and some utterly addictive sauted spinach w/ little pieces of bacon.

Our friend had the veal, with mushrooms and pureed root vegetable and the piece I tasted was very tasty indeed.

A nice dining experience....we'll be back.

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I listened to the NPR piece and had to laugh when she said that she and her staff would be able to recognize those families who ate together on a regular basis. Still, I think anything that gets people to sit down around the same table and eat the same food more frequently is a good idea.

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I listened to the NPR piece and had to laugh when she said that she and her staff would be able to recognize those families who ate together on a regular basis. Still, I think anything that gets people to sit down around the same table and eat the same food more frequently is a good idea.

Laugh? Why? I don't think it would be that hard to determine which families eat together on a regular basis. Anyway, lets talk about the food. According to the latest email, it is soup time and the pork chops (Incredible) are back!

Edited by mdt
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Alright, my mention of the pork chop was too much for me to resist so off we went to CK last night for dinner. The juicy chop was served with some apples and roesti (sp?) potatoes. They have a lobster corn dog on the menu, which got my attention. I am not a lobster freak, but I ordered it anyway. I was pleased as the sweet lobster tail, coated with corn meal batter and fried, was better than expected. It was accompanied by a cranberry apple mignonette.

The place was busy as usual with just 2 servers handling the place, but everyone seemed happy.

Oh, almost forgot apple pandowdy for dessert!

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The Pandowdy is back?! Sweet! I know where I'll be Sunday night!

Alright, my mention of the pork chop was too much for me to resist so off we went to CK last night for dinner.  The juicy chop was served with some apples and  roesti (sp?) potatoes.  They have a lobster corn dog on the menu, which got my attention.  I am not a lobster freak, but I ordered it anyway.  I was pleased as the sweet lobster tail, coated with corn meal batter and fried, was better than  expected.  It was accompanied by a cranberry apple mignonette.

The place was busy as  usual with just 2 servers handling the place, but everyone seemed happy.

Oh, almost forgot apple pandowdy for dessert!

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Colorado Kitchen will be open for brunch today but closed for dinner:

Dear Everyone,

Wow.  That's what we found ourselves saying at 7:30 Saturday evening.  We are, to say the least, awestruck by the overwhelming show of appreciation, curiousity, and just plain desire for really great food.  Whatever your reason, thank you.  We've served more satisfied customers this week than ever. 

Here's the bad news.  We've cooked and served the cupboard bare.  That's right.  There's nothing in the fridge but six burgers and a few sprigs of thyme.  We all know Chef can work miracles, but even she closed the door to her big cooler shaking her head.  "We have nothing to serve for Sunday Dinner," she said mopping the perspiration from her neck.

We'll be open for brunch, but not for dinner on Sunday, November 6.

See you soon,

Chef & Robin

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Colorado Kitchen will be open for brunch today but closed for dinner:

It's fantastic for Colorado Kitchen! Way to go, Chef and Robin! I do, however, want to know how this happens. Wouldn't one know by Thursday if she wouldn't have enough provisions to make it through the winter (I mean, Sunday dinner)? Was it a suprise rush on Friday and Saturday that depleted your supplies? Do you have a supplier who only comes once a week? This isn't an accusation or a dis, but since I'm not versed in the ways of the restaurant, I'm just curious. :lol:

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Some say D.C. is a cold, heartless town. Those people must not have eaten Gillian Clark's cooking at Colorado Kitchen. This is food like Mama would have made had Mama the culinary intuitiveness and fine, sure hand of Ms. Clark.

I am a former Washingtonian transplanted to Southern California. On my visits to D.C. every few months or so, my friend Don Rockwell leads me around to the latest and greatest in Washington restaurants, with many successes (and the occasional dud). The prior night we met with two other friends for dinner at one of my temples of cuisine, Citronelle, where I had, among other morsels, an incredible dish of cuttlefish fettuccini with a caviar cream that was one of the great seafood dishes of my lifetime. So when Don announced that for my second and last dinner on this visit, we were going to a little place in Brightwood Park that looks basically like, well, like a diner where we can get some good fried chicken and biscuits, I figured I’d have to be satisfied with just one serious meal on this trip.

Well, all I can ask is: Gillian, will you marry me, adopt me, whatever pleases you just so I can keep eating your delectable fried chicken (probably the best I’ve ever had) or your world-class pineapple upside down cake (alone worth the 2500 mile trip from L.A.)? At the Colorado Kitchen, Ms. Clark makes all-American comfort food that does more than just comfort; it give it a twist or two that will tantalize the palate of even the most jaded foody. Her chicken fried steak is cooked to perfection, a flat iron steak surrounded by perfectly crunchy crust atop a sauce that is really a ragu of shitake mushrooms with just the right touch of intensely flavored brown gravy. The steak is accompanied by a pile of melt-in-your-mouth mashed potatoes and deliciously homey sautéed cabbage.

Speaking of which, Ms. Clark has a real knack for vegetables. Her veggies are not mere garnishes or accents meant to flatter, but heaven forbid they also don't steal the show from whatever fish, fowl or meat is assigned center stage. A Colorado Kitchen vegetable side could be meal in itself. Her slow-cooked greens with bacon are to die for. (How a girl from New York with the accent to prove it learned to cook so authentically Southern is a wonder.) And Ms. Clark tries not to take herself too seriously. Her dish of pork chops with apple sauce atop a perfectly cooked potato pancake is a little bit Americana kitsch (Ms. Clark says she got the idea from an episode of the Brady Bunch) and a little bit old-school German, but most of all: damned good.

Then there’s that upside down cake, which deserves a paragraph all its own. All I can say is that I’ve been dieting for six months and rarely have allowed myself the treat of a dessert during that time, but this is a dessert worth breaking any diet for. You could take Ms. Clark’s upside down cake, dress it up a little, halve the portion size, and put it on the menu of the poshest restaurant for $18 and they’d be lining up for it. But it wouldn’t be any better than the version served at Colorado Kitchen. (If you get the cake, by the way, ask for a corner piece, which seems to have just an extra bit of crunch, an extra bit of pineapple juice and maybe just a tad more butter.)

In one sense, Gillian Clark’s cooking isn't the most ambitious in town. She does not do the most complicated food, or the most artfully presented, or with the most exotic ingredients (and don’t get me wrong, I love ambitious stuff when it's carried off well). But I can’t think of a restaurant I’ve been to of late whose food is more soulful, more deeply satisfying or a better value. I think Ms. Clark is a superstar in the making because she gets it; she gets that great food is all about making people feel good. At least tonight, her food made me feel very, very good. Gillian, now about that marriage proposal. . . .

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It's fantastic for Colorado Kitchen!  Way to go, Chef and Robin!  I do, however, want to know how this happens.  Wouldn't one know by Thursday if she wouldn't have enough provisions to make it through the winter (I mean, Sunday dinner)?  Was it a suprise rush on Friday and Saturday that depleted your supplies?  Do you have a supplier who only comes once a week?  This isn't an accusation or a dis, but since I'm not versed in the ways of the restaurant, I'm just curious.  :lol:

Well....let's see. This is a tough one to answer. But it all comes down to the fact that the kitchen design only allowed for a 4 x 6 cooler. We pretty much stuff it to the gills Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, my meat purveyors can only restock me on Friday. And there are no deliveries at all on Sunday. The balancing act is that we are closed Monday and Tuesday. I don't want to freeze anything or hold anything that long to Wednesday dinner. I am a freshness fanatic. So if I don't get it Friday...I'm not going to get it. But then I also don't want to get too much on Friday in case we're not busy enough to move it all. We were busier than I predicted so I got burned that time. I've upped my numbers a little so hopefully it won't happen again..but who knows. I eased up on pork chops this week because they didn't do as well as steak and chicken last week. And wouldnt you know they've been selling like crazy this week. I only have a few orders left for tomorrow.

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Here's CK's Thanksgiving Schedule.

I recommend getting on their e-mailing list (we got a special flash the weekend they closed Sunday dinner service 'cuz the cupboard was bare).

Hmmm, Pot Roast...

From: ColoradoKitchen(at)aol(dot)com

Sent: Sun 20-Nov-05 01:23

To: undisclosed-recipients

Subject: Giving Thanks

Hey Everyone,

Just a reminder that we will be closed for the holidays after Sunday Brunch thru Friday.  Join us for dinner on Friday there'll be a few new things on the menu.  How does Pot Roast sound?  Vegetable cobbler?  Shrimp marinated in garlic and lime and then grilled? 

In the mean time, enjoy your Turkey.

See you soon,

Chef & Robin

Colorado Kitchen

5515 Colorado Ave. NW at 14th and Kennedy Streets

Wed-Sat 5pm - 10pm, Sun 5pm - 9pm

Fri lunch 11:30 - 2:30, Sat & Sun brunch 11 - 2:30

202/545-8280

www.coloradokitchen.info

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Does CK serve brunch on Saturday or just Sunday?

My understanding is that brunch is also served on Saturday and it is less crowded than on Sunday (where people do line up at 11am to get in). IMHO, I found the Sunday brunch to be too rushed for my taste (too many people, a line out the door, etc.). I prefer to go for dinner for a low-key and relaxing meal. With the return of the pot roast (which my husband still talks about, almost 9 months later), we will be back soon.

FYI-I just called their number to find out whether they were doing NYE and there is a button to push for hours, etc.

DC

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Hmmmpht. I asked Gillian for a biscuit recipe back after our first orgy at CK. Used my heavy accent and the whole "just off the boat from Russia and never saw a biscuit before in my entire life" bit, and guess what, never saw that recipe.

I would really like it, though.

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Yeah, I think the french toast is Sun and pancakes are Sat.  Might have that reversed, but it's only one or the other.

I thought Saturday was the corn waffles? Maybe that was the last menu...

Edited by mdt
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Hmmmpht. I asked Gillian for a biscuit recipe back after our first orgy at CK. Used my heavy accent and the whole "just off the boat from Russia and never saw a biscuit before in my entire life" bit, and guess what, never saw that recipe.

I would really like it, though.

FWIW, the latest issue of Cook's Illustrated (Jan-Feb 2006) tackles the biscuit matter (hint--layers, as if you were doing a Danish pastry).

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PM me if you would like the recipe for these.

Does Saturday brunch start at 11 too?  And what time is the last seating?

Are the biscuits at CK 'sweet' biscuits?

Here are the hours from their last email, unfortunately their web site is not working.

Colorado Kitchen

5515 Colorado Ave. NW at 14th and Kennedy Streets

Wed-Sat 5pm - 10pm, Sun 5pm - 9pm

Fri lunch 11:30 - 2:30, Sat & Sun brunch 11 - 2:30

202/545-8280

www.coloradokitchen.info

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Mmm...doughnuts. Definitely worth the trip. Next time, I'll skip the peanut variation and go straight for the chocolate. Near-crispy on the outside, moist and delicious inside.

They were out of the corn-flour waffles by the time my friend and I arrived (drat!) so I got a platter of scrambled eggs, bacon and hashbrowns. My friend had the eggs benedict and we shared a side of sausage. Clearly we're two ladies who like our breakfast meats. While the bacon was really good, the sausage was excellent.

While the service was decidedly not attentive, it wasn't surly either (just kinda slow). I might go back tomorrow to try the French toast or for the whatever-is-leftover-in-the-fridge dinner.

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To confirm, presently it's corn waffles on Saturdays and french toast on Sunday. I arrived perilously close to the end of brunch service recently. You run the risk of them being out of certain items, however I imagine it's quieter and easier to get a table.

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To quote the latest Colorado Kitchen e-mail newsletter:

Happy New Year Everyone,

We're back from our trip down South..  We spent Christmas outdoors in T-shirts. New Year's Eve we were surrounded by tall pines under a blanket of stars.  We had lots of bar-b-que, Georgia peanuts, and plenty of Southern hospitality.  We even got to sample the very waters they say Ponce de Leon discovered on his quest for that fountain of youth. 

Chef had plenty of time to relax and think about food.  White line fever on Interstate 16 made her think of onions.  The lonesome cattle grazing in Central Florida made her want to put veal cheeks and sweetbreads together.  Ocean views made her crave lobster rolls. 

We've put the motor home in storage and here we are with a new menu and some interesting wines from small local vineyards of Virginia and North Carolina. 

Chef & Robin hope 2006 is a great year for you and that you'll start the year with a great meal.

See ya soon,

Chef & Robin

Colorado Kitchen

5515 Colorado Ave. NW at 14th and Kennedy Streets

Wed-Sat 5pm - 10pm, Sun 5pm - 9pm

Fri lunch 11:30 - 2:30, Sat & Sun brunch 11 - 2:30

202/545-8280

Anyway, for those of you who have been to the CK brunch more than once, what would you guess the wait would be around 11:45 for a party of two?

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Chef had plenty of time to relax and think about food.  White line fever on Interstate 16 made her think of onions.  The lonesome cattle grazing in Central Florida made her want to put veal cheeks and sweetbreads together.  Ocean views made her crave lobster rolls. 
So, here we are living like 5 minutes away from Colorado Kitchen and our very first visit was last night. Even though Sundays are deemed 'pot luck' by the chef with a smaller than usual menu, the items mentioned in the newsletter were available. The veal sweetbreads & cheeks were really very good, as were the amazing applewood-smoked bacon collard greens -- I'd go back for those alone. Kudos to the apple pandowdy, one of the best desserts I've had in a long time. We're looking forward to more visits to this kitschy neighborhood gem. Edited by Camille-Beau
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Went to CK on a recc from this board. I was just really hungry this morning and saw people raving about how good the brunches were.

I was happy I was alone, because there seemed to be folks consumed with trying to secure a table. Two ladies who entered after me pretended they didn't see me and hustled themselves up to the waiting list, only to find out the waiting list was too long for their tastes. They left with a sourpuss look on their faces.

The super nice and very young (14 maybe?) hostess was happy that I requested a seat at the bar. I was served quickly and even when I didn't get my coffee right away, that hostess asked to make sure I had been served.

Only complaint is weather related. Isn't there some smarty pants out there who can invent some affordable structure that will keep out the cold when a door opens? Gawd that place was freezing with the wind whippin' around.

I read good things about the French Toast, but it wasn't available. Waffles were substituted, but I asked if they were good and the server seemed unexcited about them.

Eggs Benedict are pretty great in my book, so I went with those. They were awesome. I think it was ham instead of Canadian Bacon, which was fine.

The guy next to me ate three powdered donuts and a side o' hash browns and seemed content.

I couldn't figure out how he ate those donuts without drinking coffee.

The staff seemed as happy to serve the $3.50 donuts as they were the $11 something Eggs Benedict, which says something.

Anyone who complains the place isn't comfortable could only have that observation from watching the people who roll in there and jockey for tables. They stood there and argued with a 14-year-old hostess who stood her ground.

Good for her!

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They must be doing quite a brisk Sunday dinner business.  I arrived at 8:30 last night only to find out they were closed since they had sold out of most everything.  I really need to start eating dinner earlier.

They actually were putting the 'Closed' sign on the door as we left at 8:20. Most of the tables were full the 1.5 or so hours we were there with many other patrons ordering hamburgers (which look great, by the way).
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I heard Chef Gillian Clark on NPR yesterday; I forget what show. She delivered a nice little essay about her work and about taking care of customers. My question is, does she really pronounce her first name with a hard G, as the person introducing her pronounced it? Just curious, as I never heard the name pronounced that way before.

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Had brunch at CK yesterday morning instead. Got up later than planned and rushed to get there before 11 so that we could get a seat during the first seating. Arrived a couple of minutes before the doors were opened and got a place in line. Doors open and people slowly enter in to be seated. Not 45 seconds later a couple come out in a rush with the guy angrily stating, "They don't know how to treat their customers." (or something to that effect) They were one of the first 5 or 10 people in the place and were surely going to be seated so I am not sure what happened. I thought it was pretty damn funny.

Anyway, we sat at the counter and enjoyed a plate of donuts, shrimp and grits, and the fried catfish. That is some deliciously fried fish!

Edited by mdt
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