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Clarity "Freestyle American Bistro" in Vienna - Chef de Cuisine Nick Palermo Comes from Barrel & Crow


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So it seems Bonaroti might be getting something other than a Potbelly within skipping distance of it.  I noticed this place taking over what used to be the storefront/restaurant of Wolftrap Catering, and it seems to have a nice concept in mind - even if the location might be lethal:

Clarity Vienna Facebook Page

@clarityvienna on Twitter

The pedigree is certainly something to raise an eyebrow at, being owned by Jonathan Krinn, formerly of the 2941 Restaurant, and Jason Maddens, formerly of the Central Michel Richard in DC.  Just from looks alone this appears to be something different from a simple Maple Ave. Restaurant clone, but there's no information on the menu or cuisine past guessing what a 'freestyle American bistro' would serve.

Also, no one's posted about it yet from what I can see, so I figured I'd get the ball rolling.

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Just from looks alone this appears to be something different from a simple Maple Ave. Restaurant clone,

Just to clear up any ambiguity, you're talking about Maple Ave. Restaurant clone, not Maple Ave. Restaurant clone, right?

The difference between syntax and semantics: I can tell what you're saying, but a Martian couldn't, especially since you capitalized Restaurant.

Don't I sound like TheHersch? ^_^

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Definitely Maple Ave. Restaurant, definitely, definitely.

Also 246 toothpicks.  246.  Definitely, definitely 246.

I meant it in the sense of another high-brow eatery that belies its external looks.

Again, word of mouth is going to have to be *amazing* on this place, because 1) there's not a tremendous amount of parking, especially during Bonaroti's operating hours, and 2) it's not readily viewable from the street like Maple Ave. is.

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Definitely Maple Ave. Restaurant, definitely, definitely.

Also 246 toothpicks.  246.  Definitely, definitely 246.

Again, word of mouth is going to have to be *amazing* on this place, because 1) there's not a tremendous amount of parking, especially during Bonaroti's operating hours, and 2) it's not readily viewable from the street like Maple Ave. is.

You drove me to the search engine.

It is *amazing* how different the demographics are between Vienna and Tysons Corner (recalling Inox) - right up the street, and a different world entirely.

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You drove me to the search engine.

It is *amazing* how different the demographics are between Vienna and Tysons Corner (recalling Inox) - right up the street, and a different world entirely.

The demographics in Vienna are changing rapidly.  People are buying up plots, knocking down the original houses, and putting up $1.5m+ mini-mansions, especially near the Town Hall, behind Amphora (which have always been there), and on the roads paralleling and connecting to Church St.  The *town* of Vienna's becoming slowly McLean'ed.

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Many people sold out in Vienna and mega mansions replaced those older homes. Just drive down Park Street NE away from Chain Bridge Road and you can see at least 10 huge homes. I agree with Destruya that Vienna is slowly becoming McLean'ed.

I still think Church Street has a lot of potential for turnover and new restaurants to come in there.

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I've found that a fair number of the people moving into these huge houses are house-poor, unfortunately. I'm constantly amazed that the original houses (full disclosure: I live in one) are sold at full price, which is around $550K, then knocked down and sold at a profit for $1.3 million. Incredible. Back to the subject at hand, I'm looking forward to Clarity. I hope they also include "normal" food so I can go with my lovely bride.

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I've found that a fair number of the people moving into these huge houses are house-poor, unfortunately. I'm constantly amazed that the original houses (full disclosure: I live in one) are sold at full price, which is around $550K, then knocked down and sold at a profit for $1.3 million. Incredible. Back to the subject at hand, I'm looking forward to Clarity. I hope they also include "normal" food so I can go with my lovely bride.

Last year, someone bought Sen. Edward Kennedy's home in McLean for $9.5 million to use as a *tear-down*.

I'd heard a similar story about ten years ago, also for a home on Chain Bridge Road in McLean overlooking the Potomac - it was some prince from an OPEC nation.

About 15 years ago, I was playing tennis on the court next to Sen. Kennedy. Two comments: 1) Damn he was slow, and 2) Damn he was competitive.

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I have lived on the outskirts of Vienna (i.e. Vienna mailing address, but not the "Town") for almost 30 years.  As suggested above, the demographics have changed drastically within the past five years.  I feel there is a pent-up demand for better dining venues, as evidenced at least by the huge success that Pazzo Pomodoro has experienced (despite the general panning of the place on this website).  If I had a few hundred thousand to spare and any restaurant experience at all, I might try to pull off something like Clarity is attempting.

Trust me, if it is good food at a good value, it won't matter that it does not have frontage on Maple Avenue.  There is money in Vienna now that has not been there in, basically, forever.  While there are indeed those that are house-poor, as Dr. Xmus notes, there are also tons of lawyers/lobbyists populating the town. (not that this is necessarily a good thing, unless you are an aspiring restaurateur)  The only thing keeping these folks back from being regulars at nicer restaurants is that many spend 99% of their time, and a good bit of their disposable income, on pushing their kids into travel sports, advanced ballet, or whatever.

BTW, I will use this opportunity to ask whether Jason Maddens was also the guy who launched Bungalow Lakehouse a while back.  The name sounds familiar, and if he does something close to replicating the original menu from there, they will likely do well in Vienna.

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So it looks like they're getting closer to opening this place, but I think they're going to miss their target of "February 2015."

VRXAU2K.jpg

One would also think that they'd have teased a menu by now.  If anything, I think this space shows that this is going to be less of a restaurant and more of a "bar with food" - at least until it's warm enough for them to take advantage of their patio.

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So it looks like they're getting closer to opening this place, but I think they're going to miss their target of "February 2015."

....

One would also think that they'd have teased a menu by now. If anything, I think this space shows that this is going to be less of a restaurant and more of a "bar with food" - at least until it's warm enough for them to take advantage of their patio.

 Though very unscientific and thus thoroughly unreliable, only one new open has beat its "target" in the greater DC area in the past twenty years and that's Wagshal's new "Pitmasters Back Alley" BBQ joint. :-)

This thread is encouraging to read from the dining perspective. I don't know Vienna that well but think I may have "discovered" Caffe Amouri on this website a few years ago. Or, was at least a fast follower.

Edited to read:

Link here:

http://www.donrockwell.com/index.php?/topic/15959-caffe-amouri-independent-coffee-shop-in-old-town-vienna-107-church-street-ne/

Any updates on Amouri to post there? Haven't been in a long while,

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So this place is finally open: http://www.clarityvienna.com/

Seats 70, plus 12 in a private dining room.

Semi-finished space, too large an image to embed:

Facing Back http://i.imgur.com/aQKOGjc.jpg

Facing Front http://i.imgur.com/ZPBh2S7.jpg

Thank you, Destruya!

Jonathan or Jason, if there's anything I should or shouldn't say, please let me know ASAP. Our readers *want* you to get off to a good start, so please sign in and let us know when to come, what to order, what not to order, etc. We're here to support you.

(Same with you, RJ, the more specifics you can tell us about when to come, what to order, what not to order, etc., the more people will come and support both Gypsy Soul and Rogue 24 - we *want* you to succeed!)

Dare I say, "You too, Michael?"

This is going to *very quickly* become the #1 restaurant in Vienna, if all goes according to expectations.

Congratulations!

Don

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So we dined at Clarity last night. Bottom line is that it's a solid win for Vienna, or anywhere for that matter. I made a reservation online through Yelp the other day. Simple to do and Yelp confirmed my reservation both via email and text. We got there a few minutes before 6 and the place was about 1/3 full. In the reservation I just mentioned it was our second anniversary and everyone from the hostess to our waiter to the manager, Tom, came by to wish us a happy anniversary. Nice touch.

Their water service is either still or sparkling. I was surprised to see we weren't charged for sparkling when we chose that, but maybe they give away one bottle per person. After we were done with that they refilled us with still, which clearly wasn't tap, another nice touch.

Our waiter, Ivan, was very attentive and friendly, coming by within minutes to greet us and take drink orders. For appetizers, I had the octopus and my wife had the tempura shrimp. The tempura shrimp were good, but nothing out of the ordinary. They were hot and crisp without a lot of residual oil. The dipping sauce was fairly bland and really didn't do much for the shrimp. The octopus was a good sized portion for an appetizer, slightly charred, tender, and resting on a bed of eggplant and bok choy. It was very good. I'd order this again.

For main courses, I had the 14oz pork blade chop and my wife had the snapper. The pork was excellent. It was seared nicely on the outside and the middle was probably close to medium. I'm happy to see someone not cooking pork to within an inch of its life. This came with some roasted brussell sprouts and a horseradish cream. The horseradish cream didn't really have much of a horseradish flavor, so that could be kicked up a little to complement the pork better, but all in all, a solid dish. I also ordered a bottomless side of duck fat roasted fingerling potatoes. They were fantastic, although I was too stuffed to go for seconds. My wife's snapper was nice as well and not overdone at all. The tomato relish under it was good as well.

We decided to splurge for dessert and get the crepe stack and two french press coffees. Getting that took quite a bit longer than expected, but by this time the restaurant was packed with only one table empty. They said it's been like that every night since they opened a week and a half ago.

Dessert was fine. Nothing outstanding, but really, it was crepes. The bill came to $100 even for two bar drinks, 2 appetizers, 2 mains, one dessert, and two coffees before tax and tip.

Since the menu changes daily, I'm planning on making Clarity a regular in my not-as-frequently-as-I'd-like dining out rotation.

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I am a bit surprised that there are not at least a couple more reviews of Clarity to this point.

My wife and I went late last night (9:15), which was her second time and my third.  My additional time was also a late Saturday when she was out of town and I sat at the bar.  Our first time was a couple of days after they had opened.  Pretty crowded each time, even in the late hours.  Last night in particular, there seemed to be quite a few people at the bar simply to have drinks.

Being a big burger fan, I have found myself unable to order anything off the menu other than that.  It is of the two-patty variety, in color resembling medium-well to well-done, but not overcooked and plenty juicy.  (the first night we were there, our waitress told me it was "Five Guys" style, in that it was two thinner patties rather than one larger patty--hopefully they have disabused her of using that descriptor, because that is where the similarity ends).  Tom Sietsema's recent quick review said that it is served on a potato roll, but it seemed to me to be more of a brioche bun (can it be both?), with some herbs sprinkled on top.  In addition to the beef having a good beefy flavor (dry aged), the confit tomato, a garlic aioli spread, and the white cheddar cheese make for a compelling taste combination.  The burger comes with a choice of one side, and, being a traditionalist, I have order the "Pencil Fried Potatoes" with sriracha ketchup each time.  I am pleased to report that they have finally figured out how to properly fry these.  The first time, it was a limp pile of sogginess.  Last night, they were what you would expect them to be.  The ketchup has a little kick, without being overwhelmingly spicy.  A quick menu note--the $12 burger has now become a $15 burger (it might be slightly larger, as I could not finish it last night), but still fairly priced in my opinion.  The price hike may actually be the cause of me trying other entrees in subsequent visits--it was a steal at $12!  I am guessing that this was something they figured out.

On our first visit, we split the "Brussel Sprouts, Marcona Almonds" appetizer, which I think had the "medjool dates", but definitely did have dried blueberries (the size of BBs, but packing quite a punch) and bibb lettuce.  It was more of a salad than the menu made it seem, but it is something I would definitely order again.  The brussel sprouts were peeled into leaves and the trademark bitterness was very muted.  The marcona almonds were toasted (or something) such that they were less oily, and had a nice crunch.  My wife, on that visit, had the Crisp Red Snapper with red pepper relish, which she liked quite a bit, as did Biotech's wife in the above review.

Last night, my wife had the grilled yellowfin tuna appetizer and a side of "charred greens" (which, looking at the online menu, used to be called "charred broccoli rabe).  It was still the broccoli rabe, but they probably genericized the name of the dish to allow for variation.  Very nice char taste, maybe a little too heavy on the garlic in spots (online menu says "garlic chips", which appears to be accurate, and they sort of clumped in the nooks and crannies of some of the pieces of rabe)  The tuna appetizer was five decent slices of rare tuna underlying a pistachio pesto (online menu says macadamia nuts).  I am not a seafood eater, so I did not try it, but my wife said that it was very good.  She also said that she did not detect any cilantro, despite that being listed as a component.  A fairly substantial portion for an appetizer.

On the beverage front, my wife found a sauvignon blanc that suited her tastes, at $8 by the glass.  They have four beer taps and several beers in the bottle.  (can you tell by now that we generally do not do cocktails?) The tap selections are well thought out, if not skewing (appropriately) to the lighter side.  Currently the lineup is 3Stars (DC) Peppercorn Saison, Evolution (Salisbury, MD) Lot No. 6 (double IPA, but not an enormous hop bomb), Old Bust Head (Vint Hill, Va.) Chukker Czech Pilsner (the only OBH beer that I have liked), and Port City (VA) Optimal Wit.  This lineup has been the same* from opening, possibly it will change toward the dark side when the cooler weather arrives in several months.  Prices on the 3Stars and OBH Chukker have gone up to the upper end of what one should pay for those beers (actually, in the case of Chukker, now at $8/pint, beyond the upper end).

Overall, given that we are only 10 minutes away from this place, we will have it in our regular rotation.  It is a very nice, modern setting (albeit in an aging strip mall) which is not common in Vienna.  Tom Sietsema can do better than I in describing the décor.

Also, they have an outdoor seating patio in front of the restaurant, which is not yet open (as in, no furniture currently present), which might be a nice place if they put up umbrellas or some covering so that one is not looking up at the signage for the neighboring "gold and jewelry exchange" a/k/a pawn shop.  There is a maybe 5 or 6 foot tall painted cinderblock wall (currently barren, hopefully somehow decorated once the patio is operational) surrounding the three sides extending away from the front of the restaurant.   This outdoor seating aspect might be a little like trying to make lemonade when handed lemons.

Finally, contrary to Destruya's comment above, there is a considerable amount of parking, both in their regular lot (albeit we have been there on the late side of the dining hours), and in a neighboring lot that exits to Church Street, which services a small office complex during the day.  Clarity has seemingly struck a deal to allow that to by used as restaurant parking come evening, in that there is a sign announcing "Restaurant Parking", which is also mentioned on their website.

*The 3Stars peppercorn saison has been on the tap list since opening, but when I ordered it on my first visit, out came a deeply brown-colored beer in a glass.  Before it hit the table, I told our waitress that that was not what I ordered.  She assured me it was, but went and got Nico, an accomplished sommelier who is also apparently the overall beverage director, who "assured" me that this was the peppercorn saison, because that is what the label on the keg said.  We had a good-natured exchange, with me noting that I had had this beer less than a week earlier at Nats Park, and had had it on a number of other occasions.  I offered to taste it, if he wanted me to see if that would change my mind.  I did, it didn't--it was definitely the 3Stars Pandemic Porter, no surprise to me.  Since I like that beer also, I said that I would keep it, but recommended that he get this situation in order.  Being that it was the third day that they had been open, I also asked if I was the first person to order the saison, and he said "no", and that no one had reported a discrepancy.  I can't imagine (maybe I could if this were more of a hipsterish place) who would have ordered a saison and drank a porter without even knowing the difference.  Honestly, I am a little surprised that Nico was not able to discern this just from the color difference.  Sometime between that first and my second visit, the saison was put on tap.

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I find the mistake with the beer to be fascinating.  It seems hard to believe that a restaurant run by such veterans would make a mistake like this.  Understanding this type of error cannot really be made with wine, it seems to indicate a lack of understanding (lack of care?) regarding the beer list.  I can't think of a time I've been given the wrong draft beer at any establishment in the area for as long as I can remember. 

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I guess the reason that I mentioned it is that I thought it fascinating as well.

At the risk of making this thread about beer instead of really good food in an area that has been sorely lacking in the same, I think it was a small misstep that will not be repeated.  Nico, who Tom Sietsema mentioned had been a sommelier at CityZen, was seemingly tagged to oversee beer as well as wine, and probably does not know beer all that well. I don't fault him, if that is the case (maybe I did in my post, to an extent), as I cannot fathom how difficult it is to keep up with the wine business, which is an order or two of magnitude more complex than is the world of craft beer.

Clarity is definitely not a beer-centric place, but they clearly recognize that a tap list of Bud Light and Heineken is not going to cut it.  I chalk the experience up to them getting some great advice from someone as to what to put on their four tap lines, focusing on local beers (which I generally applaud), and being the victim of having been shipped a keg that was incorrectly labeled.  I am just enough of a beer geek to have recognized the error.  I am not such a beer geek or foodie that I was trying to "pair" a particular beer with what I was ordering to eat, so was happy to ultimately have the beer that I was served.  Thinking back, they did not have the Evolution Lot No.6 on the menu that first night, so I initially thought that they had mispoured the porter instead of the saison that I had ordered, with me thinking that the saison was available on a different line.

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*The 3Stars peppercorn saison has been on the tap list since opening, but when I ordered it on my first visit, out came a deeply brown-colored beer in a glass.  Before it hit the table, I told our waitress that that was not what I ordered.  She assured me it was, but went and got Nico, an accomplished sommelier who is also apparently the overall beverage director, who "assured" me that this was the peppercorn saison, because that is what the label on the keg said.  We had a good-natured exchange, with me noting that I had had this beer less than a week earlier at Nats Park, and had had it on a number of other occasions.  I offered to taste it, if he wanted me to see if that would change my mind.  I did, it didn't--it was definitely the 3Stars Pandemic Porter, no surprise to me.  Since I like that beer also, I said that I would keep it, but recommended that he get this situation in order.  Being that it was the third day that they had been open, I also asked if I was the first person to order the saison, and he said "no", and that no one had reported a discrepancy.  I can't imagine (maybe I could if this were more of a hipsterish place) who would have ordered a saison and drank a porter without even knowing the difference.  Honestly, I am a little surprised that Nico was not able to discern this just from the color difference.  Sometime between that first and my second visit, the saison was put on tap.

I find the mistake with the beer to be fascinating.  It seems hard to believe that a restaurant run by such veterans would make a mistake like this.  Understanding this type of error cannot really be made with wine, it seems to indicate a lack of understanding (lack of care?) regarding the beer list.  I can't think of a time I've been given the wrong draft beer at any establishment in the area for as long as I can remember. 

As someone who knows a lot about beer, but who is not an expert, I can tell you that everyone (above a certain level) knows what a porter is, but many fewer people know what a saison is, and would not recognize one if poured. If it were the other way around (labeled porter, poured saison), he would have known.

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We are moving to Oakton and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed our meal (at the chefs counter) and look forward to spending more time here. The smoke beef brisket was the best brisket(outside of texas) i have ever had. The space is a bit odd and there are a couple other weird nuances, but hopefully Jonathan and Jason can make a go of it and Vienna can support a solid foodie spot without having to drive into the city. 

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At an absolute minimum, this is not only the best restaurant in all of Northern Virginia right now but also the equal of Red Hen the year it opened.  That year it won the RAMMY as best new restaurant in D. C.  This is 2941 and Inox at their best:  Clarity is superb!  And, an extremely comfortable room.  It will be one of the best, if not the best, new restaurants in the entire D. C. area for 2015.  It is that good.

Several dishes were Great Dishes (crab gazpacho (best gazpacho I have ever had), lamb with creme fraiche) And a very real bargain-serious-it is down a nondescript side street in Vienna.  For all the world you could be in midtown Manhattan when you walk in the door and count ten behind the open kitchen counter.  This is sited as a neighborhood restaurant that could be worth a night or two each week from locals as well as an Uber ride from four in the City who want to put together a blowout ten-twelve course experience to test Jonathan Krinn and the area's best.

175+ covers on Tuesday already, more on every other day.  A well worthy three stars from Tom. It is known and pursued.   I honestly think worthy of a Beard nomination and an award.

Thank you, Chef Krinn.

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Shhh, Joe! :P

Clarity is clearly drawing clientele from well beyond Vienna already.  My wife and I enjoyed it when we could call (using their text-based call ahead seating system) just before leaving the house, and be seated 15-20 minutes later (mostly non-prime time), basically the length of our drive.  We tried that last Thursday, and did not even get a return text.

Everything that we have had there has been stellar.  I think that maybe one of the differences between what they are doing now and what was going on with 2941, and possibly Inox (which I never went to), is that you can certainly splurge and make it a fairly expensive evening, but you can also treat it like a restaurant you can go to weekly without fretting too much about how much you are spending to eat out.  As I think Tom S. mentioned, those nightly meat specials might use what the finest restaurants would consider to be lesser cuts, but they pull them off with aplomb.

I, too, was impressed by the level of staffing, both in the kitchen, and in the FOH.  Hopefully that is sustainable.  Expectedly, service was a little spotty at first, but has improved considerably.

I have not been there in almost two weeks, and had not seen the crab gazpacho on the menu.  I will definitely order it the next time around.

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Based on all the love this place is getting in this thread and the "Best of Northern Virginia" thread, my wife and I are going tonight.

Does anyone have thoughts about the best seating options?

Is the outdoor patio nice or is right next to a highway? (it's going to be nice night)

Are the bar seats a better option if you like to watch the chefs? (we do)

Or is the place to be in "normal" seats?

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At this time of year, the first question is always inside vs outside? When we went, the patio looked nice (it's not right near Maple Ave) but it was too hot, so we chose a regular table inside. But the seats near the kitchen would be fun if you like to watch the chefs.

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Despite being the original poster here, I only managed to get to Clarity *tonight*.  Seeing the glowing review Mr. Honeymoon gave their brisket, I jumped on that when I saw it was available.

It was practically a religious experience.  Sure, you're not getting a *ton* of meat, but every single bit of it is fork-tender.  Even the *FAT* is good.  I left absolutely no trace of protein on the wooden plank they present it and the 'slaw' on.  Indulged in their 'doughnut' dessert as well, which were actually more like beignets than doughnuts.

This place is *legit*.  Only advice I would make is to make a reservation.  Tables inside were open when they opened the door, but walk-ins were getting shunted to the outdoor tables.

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....This place is *legit*.  Only advice I would make is to make a reservation.  Tables inside were open when they opened the door, but walk-ins were getting shunted to the outdoor tables.

Did you notice how busy the bar seats were?  I see in pictures that they have a bar plus kitchen seats.  I'm wondering about solo dining at the bar.

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Just to clear up any ambiguity, you're talking about Maple Ave. Restaurant clone, not Maple Ave. Restaurant clone, right?

The difference between syntax and semantics: I can tell what you're saying, but a Martian couldn't, especially since you capitalized Restaurant.

Don't I sound like TheHersch? ^_^

I only just now saw this. No, you don't. Maybe you were confusing me with Noam Chomsky, although I think that would be a pretty difficult mistake to make, and an appalling insult to Professor Chomsky.

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Did you notice how busy the bar seats were?  I see in pictures that they have a bar plus kitchen seats.  I'm wondering about solo dining at the bar.

The couple who got forced to sit outside was told that if they wanted to sit inside they'd have to sit at the bar or the kitchen seats.  So hopefully that answers your question. :)

And yeah, I know the fat is the point - it's just up until tonight I've not really found a place that does brisket so damned well that the fat is *perfect* and not the least bit chewy or conveys a bad 'mouth feel.'  Even the brisket at Willard's out near Dulles had fat that I didn't find appetizing.

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Did you notice how busy the bar seats were?  I see in pictures that they have a bar plus kitchen seats.  I'm wondering about solo dining at the bar.

My wife and I went on Wednesday and loved it (review coming). We originally planned to eat outside but changed plans when we saw the bar seats (the kitchen bar seats, not the regular bar seats). This is where you want to be!!

There were about 10 seats along one edge of the kitchen and for most of the evening, we were there alone. We arrived just after 6 and left around 8:30 and by the time we left, 2 other couples came and sat back there, but there were always open seats. On a Wednesday. In August.

FYI - You can also get the full menu at the regular bar, which has many more seats, but not a kitchen view.

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As promised, here's my review.  It's long.

After all the rave reviews on DR, my wife decided to try this place and were very glad we did. We had a leisurely, decadent 2 and half hour meal where we definitely ate too much but didn't regret it for a second!

We decided to skip the outdoor seating and sit at the back bar that looks into the kitchen, which I highly recommend. When first got there, it felt like a family joint in suburbia but by the time we got to our seats in the back it felt like a hip place in DC. What I mean is, we were greeted by a young woman (girl) in braces at the hostess stand and saw lots of young families and also much older people eating than you would typically see in a place like Rose's or Kapnos or some hot spot in DC. The girl with braces was absolutely fine and professional and even asked if we wanted to sit outside (which I requested on my electronic reservation), it was just a surprising sight to see someone in braces. (I hope that doesn't come off as derogatory, it's not meant to be.) As we traveled to the back of the restaurant and sat at the kitchen bar, the place lost that suburban family vibe and transformed to a cool downtown DC place. I mean how many neighborhood family friendly places serve foie gras?!?!

When we sat down we were immediately great by one of the head chefs, Johnathan Krinn, who introduced himself to us and told us who he was. Our waitress brought us water glasses and the menu which is hardly noteworthy but for the fact that water glasses were huge! I loved it and told her as much. It was such a nice contrast to so many of the places I've eaten lately where they have tiny water glasses that require refilling after about 3 sips! I even took a picture of one in my hand (for scale) - - that's how much the glasses moved me! We were also served to little loaves of warm bread "“ one parmesan, one with olives.

Before I get to the food I should note that according to their website, the menu changes daily and what they post is just a sample. This is true. Most of the menu we had was the same as on the website but some entire dishes changed (Monkfish is on the restaurant menu and Red Snapper is on the website) and some parts of other dishes changed (the foie gras is served with figs on the restaurant menu while the website has the foie gras being served with gooseberries). I'm just noting that to illustrate what kind of dynamic operation they are running here and supporting the claim that the "menu changes daily".

We started with the seared Foie Gras with sliced figs and some sort of fig/ginger reduction ($21). Kind of pricey for an app, but it was HUGE!! It was probably over an inch thick and about the size of a hamburger patty! Well worth the money and really great tasting. It was a great combination of flavors and textures and was cooked perfectly. I'd order this again in a heartbeat.

We were torn for our second app between the octopus or the mussels (in truth there were a couple others we could have easily ordered too, but we already had three entrees in mind!) and took our server's advice and got the mussels. Just a quick note about the octopus - - we saw many orders of it being made and brought out, and it was a huge portion. I'm ready to go back tonight just to try this!

Back to the mussels app ($13) "“ they came with little chunks of lamb sausage, roasted cherry tomatoes, goat cheese and a lobster broth. Wow! The combo of the lamb sausage and mussels really worked well together. I don't recall ever having meat in a mussel bowl and this was nice surprise. The lobster broth and tomatoes were really nice too. Much better than a typical mussel broth."¦"¦.more bread for dipping please!

We still hadn't decided on the entrees yet, but we were sure one of them was going to be the lamb special which is currently only served on Wednesdays. In fact, that was the whole reason we were here that night. We were torn between the scallops, which we saw coming out all evening and looked great, (and huge), or the monkfish, which we both really like, but don't often see. We asked the other head chef, Jason Maddens which one we should get, the monkfish or the scallops. We even asked if there was any way we could get a half order of each seafood dish to go with the (nonnegotiable) lamb. His response was something like, "I think you should get the monkfish and the scallops and I'll fix you up a little plate of lamb too. We can't let you leave without trying them all". Hummm, OK, we're in! If that's what the professional advises, that's what we'll do.

We sat there for a little while longer digesting our apps and drinking our wine (a nice French rose for $35) and decided we better put our entrée order in or we'd be there until midnight so the next time our waitress came by we said we were ready to order, she replied, "Chef has already taken care of that for you." Wow! Great! I wasn't actually sure what we were getting at this point since we didn't really order, we just asked for advice and agreed with the somewhat crazy response! (Who gets 2 apps and 3 entrees for two people?!?!)

We ordered another bottle of rose (half of which we took home) and watched the show going on in the kitchen. A note about that and the quality control going on here: Both head chefs were large and in charge tonight with each one of them working on each dish that went out and a lot of dishes got worked on by both of them. At a couple different points during the meal we saw dishes that were not up to snuff being returned before they went to the table to be remade, or to be given to the crew in the back (bus boys, dish washers) to be eaten. The quality and the quality control is very high here and it was easy to see why from our perch overlooking the kitchen.

In a little bit the lamb arrived and it looked every bit like a full portion. We didn't know it until we got the bill but this was on the house! A nice unintended benefit of sitting at the kitchen bar and asking the chefs for guidance.

The lamb itself was fantastic, as was the sauce and the little salad of greens off to the side. I saw all the others in this thread raving about the brisket and I'd like to get back there to try it, but I'm not sure I could go on a night when they're not serving this lamb! We asked Jason how they prepared it and he said it was brined for 12 hours then slow roasted for 5 hours. (I think that's what he said anyway.) As we were raving about it, we asked why they don't offer it on more nights (every other night the special is the brisket) and Jason said they plan to add more variety to the nightly special menu, but they are starting slow to ensure everything is "just exactly perfect" (he didn't actually say that, but if anyone gets that reference, please let me know!)

Soon after we finished the lamb, our other two entrees arrived and they were both full size! And we loved (and split) both of them.

The monkfish was served on bed of sliced mushrooms and little pieces of asparagus in a very light, almost clear broth. The veggies and broth almost surpassed the fish in terms of awesomeness. I think I could happily eat a soup that was just the "supporting" part of this dish.

The scallops (4 very large ones) were seared and served on top of a bed of creamed corn (super sweet) and some seared spinach. In the middle of the scallops were a few small pieces of perfectly flat bacon. The dish didn't need any bacon to make it special, but a little bacon is never a bad thing! The most interesting part was that each little square piece was perfectly flat and thin. Like the monkfish dish, the supporting players in this dish were just as good as the main ingredient.

To continue the night of excess, we split the dark chocolate mousse cake and had some French press coffee. A couple other desserts looked great, but there was no way we could eat them, but I'd love to try their made-to-order doughnuts or their sugar poached peaches.

Everything about the night was really fun, enjoyable and delicious but the biggest surprise was when we got the bill"¦"¦"¦"¦"¦.$180 after taxes but before the tip!! (we tipped on the comp'ed entrée). That's 2 apps, 2 entrees, 2 bottles of wine, coffee and dessert for $180!! "Hey Toto, we're not in DC anymore"

This is a neighborhood place that's putting out "special night out" food. Why oh why don't we have anything like this in the Mt Vernon area?!?!? If the chefs are reading this, any chance you guys want to open another place at Cedar Knoll on the Potomac? That's a spot that is dying for food like this.

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As promised, here's my review.  It's long.

After all the rave reviews on DR, my wife decided to try this place and were very glad we did. We had a leisurely, decadent 2 and half hour meal where we definitely ate too much but didn't regret it for a second!

We decided to skip the outdoor seating and sit at the back bar that looks into the kitchen, which I highly recommend. When first got there, it felt like a family joint in suburbia but by the time we got to our seats in the back it felt like a hip place in DC. What I mean is, we were greeted by a young woman (girl) in braces at the hostess stand and saw lots of young families and also much older people eating than you would typically see in a place like Rose's or Kapnos or some hot spot in DC. The girl with braces was absolutely fine and professional and even asked if we wanted to sit outside (which I requested on my electronic reservation), it was just a surprising sight to see someone in braces. (I hope that doesn't come off as derogatory, it's not meant to be.) As we traveled to the back of the restaurant and sat at the kitchen bar, the place lost that suburban family vibe and transformed to a cool downtown DC place. I mean how many neighborhood family friendly places serve foie gras?!?!

When we sat down we were immediately great by one of the head chefs, Johnathan Krinn, who introduced himself to us and told us who he was. Our waitress brought us water glasses and the menu which is hardly noteworthy but for the fact that water glasses were huge! I loved it and told her as much. It was such a nice contrast to so many of the places I've eaten lately where they have tiny water glasses that require refilling after about 3 sips! I even took a picture of one in my hand (for scale) - - that's how much the glasses moved me! We were also served to little loaves of warm bread "“ one parmesan, one with olives.

Before I get to the food I should note that according to their website, the menu changes daily and what they post is just a sample. This is true. Most of the menu we had was the same as on the website but some entire dishes changed (Monkfish is on the restaurant menu and Red Snapper is on the website) and some parts of other dishes changed (the foie gras is served with figs on the restaurant menu while the website has the foie gras being served with gooseberries). I'm just noting that to illustrate what kind of dynamic operation they are running here and supporting the claim that the "menu changes daily".

We started with the seared Foie Gras with sliced figs and some sort of fig/ginger reduction ($21). Kind of pricey for an app, but it was HUGE!! It was probably over an inch thick and about the size of a hamburger patty! Well worth the money and really great tasting. It was a great combination of flavors and textures and was cooked perfectly. I'd order this again in a heartbeat.

We were torn for our second app between the octopus or the mussels (in truth there were a couple others we could have easily ordered too, but we already had three entrees in mind!) and took our server's advice and got the mussels. Just a quick note about the octopus - - we saw many orders of it being made and brought out, and it was a huge portion. I'm ready to go back tonight just to try this!

Back to the mussels app ($13) "“ they came with little chunks of lamb sausage, roasted cherry tomatoes, goat cheese and a lobster broth. Wow! The combo of the lamb sausage and mussels really worked well together. I don't recall ever having meat in a mussel bowl and this was nice surprise. The lobster broth and tomatoes were really nice too. Much better than a typical mussel broth."¦"¦.more bread for dipping please!

We still hadn't decided on the entrees yet, but we were sure one of them was going to be the lamb special which is currently only served on Wednesdays. In fact, that was the whole reason we were here that night. We were torn between the scallops, which we saw coming out all evening and looked great, (and huge), or the monkfish, which we both really like, but don't often see. We asked the other head chef, Jason Maddens which one we should get, the monkfish or the scallops. We even asked if there was any way we could get a half order of each seafood dish to go with the (nonnegotiable) lamb. His response was something like, "I think you should get the monkfish and the scallops and I'll fix you up a little plate of lamb too. We can't let you leave without trying them all". Hummm, OK, we're in! If that's what the professional advises, that's what we'll do.

We sat there for a little while longer digesting our apps and drinking our wine (a nice French rose for $35) and decided we better put our entrée order in or we'd be there until midnight so the next time our waitress came by we said we were ready to order, she replied, "Chef has already taken care of that for you." Wow! Great! I wasn't actually sure what we were getting at this point since we didn't really order, we just asked for advice and agreed with the somewhat crazy response! (Who gets 2 apps and 3 entrees for two people?!?!)

We ordered another bottle of rose (half of which we took home) and watched the show going on in the kitchen. A note about that and the quality control going on here: Both head chefs were large and in charge tonight with each one of them working on each dish that went out and a lot of dishes got worked on by both of them. At a couple different points during the meal we saw dishes that were not up to snuff being returned before they went to the table to be remade, or to be given to the crew in the back (bus boys, dish washers) to be eaten. The quality and the quality control is very high here and it was easy to see why from our perch overlooking the kitchen.

In a little bit the lamb arrived and it looked every bit like a full portion. We didn't know it until we got the bill but this was on the house! A nice unintended benefit of sitting at the kitchen bar and asking the chefs for guidance.

The lamb itself was fantastic, as was the sauce and the little salad of greens off to the side. I saw all the others in this thread raving about the brisket and I'd like to get back there to try it, but I'm not sure I could go on a night when they're not serving this lamb! We asked Jason how they prepared it and he said it was brined for 12 hours then slow roasted for 5 hours. (I think that's what he said anyway.) As we were raving about it, we asked why they don't offer it on more nights (every other night the special is the brisket) and Jason said they plan to add more variety to the nightly special menu, but they are starting slow to ensure everything is "just exactly perfect" (he didn't actually say that, but if anyone gets that reference, please let me know!)

Soon after we finished the lamb, our other two entrees arrived and they were both full size! And we loved (and split) both of them.

The monkfish was served on bed of sliced mushrooms and little pieces of asparagus in a very light, almost clear broth. The veggies and broth almost surpassed the fish in terms of awesomeness. I think I could happily eat a soup that was just the "supporting" part of this dish.

The scallops (4 very large ones) were seared and served on top of a bed of creamed corn (super sweet) and some seared spinach. In the middle of the scallops were a few small pieces of perfectly flat bacon. The dish didn't need any bacon to make it special, but a little bacon is never a bad thing! The most interesting part was that each little square piece was perfectly flat and thin. Like the monkfish dish, the supporting players in this dish were just as good as the main ingredient.

To continue the night of excess, we split the dark chocolate mousse cake and had some French press coffee. A couple other desserts looked great, but there was no way we could eat them, but I'd love to try their made-to-order doughnuts or their sugar poached peaches.

Everything about the night was really fun, enjoyable and delicious but the biggest surprise was when we got the bill"¦"¦"¦"¦"¦.$180 after taxes but before the tip!! (we tipped on the comp'ed entrée). That's 2 apps, 2 entrees, 2 bottles of wine, coffee and dessert for $180!! "Hey Toto, we're not in DC anymore"

This is a neighborhood place that's putting out "special night out" food. Why oh why don't we have anything like this in the Mt Vernon area?!?!? If the chefs are reading this, any chance you guys want to open another place at Cedar Knoll on the Potomac? That's a spot that is dying for food like this.

Great review, thanks. I will second the mussels and scallops, since that's what i had and both were excellent. French press coffee for me as well, but sadly no room for dessert. (Too much of that excellent bread, I'm afraid.)

I also got a drink from the craft cocktails list -- I'm not a big hard liquor guy but I confess to being a sucker for interesting craft drinks with a variety of ingredients that don't clobber you with the taste of the alcohol. (When we went to Brine, I got a fun pisco drink called Where Is Asher. But I digress.) Here I got one that I knew would be bright green -- it might have been the No Mas on the current list but I can't be sure). It was quite tasty.

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I recently took a home DNA test. Apparently, my brain's reward circuitry is totally whack: it takes an excessive amount of stimulus for me to register any kind of pleasure or reward. That's probably why I spent 20 years clinically obese: I have to eat a lot before I feel anything. Stupid dopamine.

Anyway, you can imagine my surprise when I took a single bite of the limited time "pork-strami" sandwich with chicken liver mousse on rye ($17) and experienced religious levels of euphoria.

It was the best sandwich I ever had.

I took one bite and then just sat there for a minute feeling feelings. Nothing's supposed to make me feel feelings! It was a foreign and wonderful sensation. The pork was moist and smokey, the mousse meaty and rich, the pickled vegetables (?) tart and juicy. And of course the rye paired beautifully. After all, this is Malvin Krinn, Chef Krinn's father, artisan breadmaker, and former ophthalmologist we're talking about. If you've ever been fortunate enough to have his bread, you know how good that rye was.

The fries were so-so.

Against all sanity and pushing the limits of human tolerance for smoked meats, I followed up my sandwich with smoked wagyu beef brisket | dry-rubbed | carrot slow | Carolina BBQ ($19). This was part of a menu feature called "Chip off the Block" where they take some meat and, every day, do something different and fun with it: "...as ideas pop into our heads." The slaw was almost too bitter, but the meat was (IMHO) better than anything I had in Austin, TX. Rich, smokey, and with perfectly-textured bark. A giant pile of sauced smokey meat served with some veggies on a wood slab?

All of the reservations for reasonable dinner times were booked (Saturday night) and they're mostly booked next week, too. My wife and I were lucky resourceful enough to get there at 5 and be seated as walk-ins. We had the option of sitting outside or at a counter overlooking the kitchen. We had the best seat in the house and chef Krinn stopped by to say hi to everyone. Who needs reservations???

Clarity deserves to be a gustatory destination, and luckily I live close for it to become a regular haunt.

CAUTION: Under the influence of the pork-strami sandwich, I may have said some things to my wife that are untrue and that I now regret ("I'm sorry, honey, but I love this sandwich more than I love you."). The DNA test also says I'm predisposed to make bad decisions, so I blamed my parents.

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My wife and I went in and beat the Sunday evening rush this evening (and there was one, almost exactly at 7:00).  We looked online for reservations, but the earliest was 8:30.  I used their voice-to-text system (leave voice message, get a text back) hoping for a better time, but 8:30 it was.  The texting continued, with me asking if they still kept tables aside for walk-ins, and got a text in the affirmative, so we headed over and got there at about 6:45.  The regular tables were filled, or else waiting for parties that had reserved them.  Walk-in was limited to outdoors, bar, "the pass" (kitchen-side bar) and one community table for 4 in the bar area, where some of our friends happened to be sitting.

We took two of four available seats at "the pass", with outdoors being generally available (because it was still kind of steamy at that hour), and the regular bar being basically full.  The bar emptied out a little starting at about 7:30--that would not happen on a Friday or Saturday.

Having only eaten the burger there previously, I resolved to get something different.  I chose the brisket ($19) over the porkstrami sandwich ($17), not being astute enough to think about ordering both.  As it was, I finished only a little over half of the brisket, taking the rest home.  It was the best I have had in a very long time, maybe ever.  And I was hungry.  They were putting the plates on the scale to weigh out the meat portion, so initially I thought it might not be a large portion.  I think that their scale is broken.

The "carrot slaw" had mostly arugula, and very little carrot, so maybe they were running low on certain ingredients. (they also used up all of their wood slabs--the first briskets I saw come out were on those, but there was a switch to plates along the way).  It was more like a side salad, but very tasty and tart/sour with I guess a vinaigrette.  A great foil for the richness of the brisket.

My wife had scallops ($26), four nicely sized ones served on a bed of nicely fresh, sweet corn, garnished with a few strips of bacon.  She loved it.

I started with, and shared, the yellow tomato gazpacho ($12) which had crab as an ingredient, which I assume is the crab gazpacho Joe H speaks of above.  Not much of a crab flavor, but otherwise really nice, tart, and refreshing.

Chef Krinn had some friends sitting next to us, so we did not get much interaction, but he did not mind us eavesdropping on the "industry" talk.

I did not realize that the porkstrami was a limited time offering.  I may have to get back in there this week.  If you don't mind sitting at the bar or pass on Sun-Thu, that may be the best way to go at near-prime time, without long range planning.  I don't think that would work on Friday or Saturday, unless you go super early or late.  Fortunately we are close enough to have been able to pull this off tonight.

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We had a very enjoyable first experience at Clarity Saturday evening. Our party of 4 all started with the gazpacho (no variety in our group!). it was delicious, with crab and grapes in a rich yellow tomato liquid...minor quibble is that a little more of the liquid would have been nice to cover the ingredients). Mains were the burger, scallops (over a really tasty fennel puree) and the monkfish (which I loved because it was perfectly prepared and not the least bit "chewy"). Poached pear dessert was very light and good way to end. Our dining companions brought wine and corkage was only $10. It was predictably slammed on Saturday night. Here is wishing much success to exactly the kind of place we need in the Vienna area.

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Well, I have both good news and bad news:

Mar 29, 2016 - "Nick Palermo is Leaving Barrel & Crow in Bethesda" by Becky Krystal on washingtonpost.com

The good news:

Nick is going to be the Chef de Cuisine at Clarity in Vienna.

The bad news:

Nick is going to be the Chef de Cuisine at Clarity in Vienna.

What this means is the possibility that Jonathan Krinn and Jason Maddens have expansion in mind - it's unlikely to have three cooks of *this* caliber at one bistro in Vienna, VA without having imminent plans for expansion - recall when Michael Landrum, Michael Hartzer, and Jarad Slipp were *all three* working at the original, one-and-only Ray's The Steaks in Rosslyn next to Pho 75 - those were some heady days for diners - then, shortly afterwards (although not as shortly as Michael had hoped), Ray's The Classics opened in Silver Spring, and then all hell broke loose and Michael became nationally famous.

You can draw your own conclusions from this news, but I've pretty much already drawn mine.

Regardless, congratulations to both Nick and to the team at Clarity - this is an excellent acquisition: Take advantage of it *now*.

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On ‎4‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 9:16 AM, DonRocks said:

Well, I have both good news and bad news:

 

Mar 29, 2016 - "Nick Palermo is Leaving Barrel & Crow in Bethesda" by Becky Krystal on washingtonpost.com

 

The good news:

 

Nick is going to be the Chef de Cuisine at Clarity in Vienna.

 

The bad news:

 

Nick is going to be the Chef de Cuisine at Clarity in Vienna.

 

What this means is the possibility that Jonathan Krinn and Jason Maddens have expansion in mind - it's unlikely to have three cooks of *this* caliber at one bistro in Vienna, VA without having imminent plans for expansion - recall when Michael Landrum, Michael Hartzer, and Jarad Slipp were *all three* working at the original, one-and-only Ray's The Steaks in Rosslyn next to Pho 75 - those were some heady days for diners - then, shortly afterwards (although not as shortly as Michael had hoped), Ray's The Classics opened in Silver Spring, and then all hell broke loose and Michael became nationally famous.

 

You can draw your own conclusions from this news, but I've pretty much already drawn mine.

 

Regardless, congratulations to both Nick and to the team at Clarity - this is an excellent acquisition: Take advantage of it *now*.

More bad news, at least for me.  The arrival of Nick Palermo has coincided with the disappearance of their wonderful cheeseburger from the menu.

On a positive note, the kitchen seems to be getting dishes out in a more timely manner.

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Is the brisket still a staple item on the menu?  I've not been back in months, but I've a friend coming from Oregon and Clarity's on the short list of restaurants to potentially take her to (even though she's pretty enthusiastic about Nostos as the only Greek she can get out there is Gyros and street-quality Souvlaki).

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You must have made a reservation there before.  They use texts to allow you to confirm or cancel your reservation several hours beforehand.  They are using those phone lists to announce that they are now doing lunch on Thursdays and Fridays.  (here's hoping that the cheeseburger reappears on that menu)  Their website also notes that they will stay open between lunch and dinner "for open seating with a snack menu."  They also do something of a happy hour on weekdays, but I do not know what the deal is for that.

As to brisket being a staple item on the menu, at some point last Summer or Fall, they scaled it back to only doing it on weekends, and would commonly run out some time over the course of the weekend.  I don't think they did it at all over the Winter months, but am not entirely positive.  I haven't been in since the weather took a turn for the better, so I don't know if they have fired up the smoker again this season.

ETA, the cheeseburger did make it onto the lunch menu:  http://www.clarityvienna.com/lunch-menu/

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6 minutes ago, JBag57 said:

You must have made a reservation there before.  They use texts to allow you to confirm or cancel your reservation several hours beforehand.  They are using those phone lists to announce that they are now doing lunch on Thursdays and Fridays.  (here's hoping that the cheeseburger reappears on that menu) 

Yep, out of the blue as in we ate their last summer (while the kids were at camp).

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30 minutes ago, DPop said:

So is Jon Krinn still at the restaurant?  Anyone have any insight?

When you say, "at the restaurant," do you mean "affiliated with the restaurant," or "sweating it out every night in the kitchen?"

I don't know the answer in the immediate term, but this post should eventually come to fruition. 

The Chef de Cuisine is (in my experience) the most important position in a restaurant - the equivalent of a quarterback in football, but nobody can expect a Chef de Cuisine to be on their feet, toiling in a kitchen, for their entire life. My guess is that we'll see Jon begin working the business end of things, dropping into the kitchen when needed, but concentrating on the larger picture. Even Jason and Nick together is more than is needed (or perhaps possible), especially given that they've both run kitchens before, and Jason will probably be turning things over to Nick if he hasn't already - Tim Ma is a good example of what I expect we'll see happening with Clarity.

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1 hour ago, DPop said:

So is Jon Krinn still at the restaurant?  Anyone have any insight?

He was there when I was last at the restaurant, about a month ago.  All three were which, when I commented on the small space, led him to say "it's a good thing we all get along really well."

I don't think the plan was ever for him to be in the kitchen every night, but I could be wrong.  Particularly since they are now open for lunch, I would expect there to be some type of rotation.

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Jon Krinn was at the restaurant last night, don't know who else was in the kitchen.  The food came slowly but they were fantastic.

The first course was a nicely done butter poached lobster.  Notwithstanding the tenderness, the kids didn't really like the lobster.  Too bad the lobster 3-way wasn't on the menu any more (poached tail, tempura claw, and ravioli).

The second course was rabbit two ways, roasted loin and chicken-fried confit leg.  Strangely, I thought the confit leg was dry but the kids loved them.

The third course was a freebie, a chicken dumpling (like a pierogi) topped with goat cheese.  I only got a small taste as the kids gobbled it up.

The fourth course was a braised lamb cavatelli (from the tasting menu section).  The lamb meat was super tender with a good blend of fat and meat.  The sauce was slightly spicy but the kids didn't object.

The fifth course was BBQ wild boar ribs.  I ate it with a knife and fork, but deep down I wanted to use my hands.  Something unsatisfying about eating ribs with knife and fork, but it was pretty tasty.

After dessert of chocolate cake, the kids thought this was one of the best meals ever for them.  I like the fact that the menu is getting more interesting.  Before Inox closed, it was putting out some really delicious and interesting food.  When Clarity first  opened, I thought the menu was too safe.  Maybe Jon is getting his groove back.

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Here are some pics of my most recent meal at Clarity.  Tucked away in Vienna next to a country club.  I felt like I was dining in McLean.  Meaning, the clientele was older, and the place cleared out at 9pm sharp.

1. Ricotta & Sour Cream Cheesecake: glazed huckleberries and pistachio ice cream

2. Bittersweet Chocolate Devils Food Cake: Dark Chocolate ganache, brownie cookie, pudding skin, and chocolate ice cream

3. Concord Grape Panna Cotta: Concord Grape sorbet, whipped cream, and lemon curd (my FAVORITE dessert of the night)

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IMG_5357.JPG

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now that I got your attention with desserts.  Lets move on to the appetizers.

1. Shabu Shabu: skirt steak, foie gras, wild mushrooms, shrimp, baby fennel, and barley miso broth (the broth was the highlight of this dish)

2. Kumamoto Oysters: ginger mignonette, ghost pepper jam, opal basil.

3. Grilled Eggplant & Bufala Mozzarella Salad: beet greens, tomato confit, cherry tomatoes, and roasted peppers

4. Bouillabaisse: little neck clams, gulf shrimp, roasted peppers, braised corvina, savvoy cabbage, potatoes, and grilled crostini

IMG_5339.JPG

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On 10/31/2016 at 0:38 PM, TheGut said:

2. Kumamoto Oysters: ginger mignonette, ghost pepper jam, opal basil.

We had the Kumamoto Oysters there about 10 days ago and we really enjoyed them.  I was concerned that the ghost pepper jam might be too overwhelming for the oysters, but it turned out to be a good accompaniment.  The oysters were plump and buttery.  I'd certainly order them again.

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21 hours ago, TheGut said:

4. Bouillabaisse: little neck clams, gulf shrimp, roasted peppers, braised corvina, savvoy cabbage, potatoes, and grilled crostini

IMG_5336.JPG

Perhaps the photo is misleading, but this looks like quite a small portion, and a bizarre ratio of broth to fish.

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