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Ledo (the restaurant, not the chain) doesn't have it's own thread here?!?!?! Mon dieu! -
One that comes to mind for me is Grapeseed in Bethesda. Had a great meal there last month. I find this to be one of the highlights of the Bethesda restaurant scene. There are so many restaurants downtown, but hardly any GOOD ones. Anyone have any thoughts on this place? -
This thread is one of the few I could find with a reference to U Street Music Hall, so I will place it here: Closed. I saw some good shows at U Street, it will be missed.- 3 replies
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There's a ramen shop called Ramen Factory 42 in Falls Church that's opening soon, in the mini-strip with Takumi in the former Smashburger location.- 3 replies
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Serendipity led me to Bryan Voltaggio's blogfor his upcoming restaurant Volt in Frederick, MD. It appears that they are targeting mid-July for an opening date. I only had lunch once at Charlie Palmer's when Voltaggio was there and my friend and I had a very good meal, but nothing exciting. I have to say, though, that his blog makes me excited for Frederick. They need this place, so I hope they support him. Check out the cheese they're planning on using! Someone needs to give the Tasting Room a kick in their ass b/c I think they became complacent a while ago. If you go to page twoof the blog entries you can see a video of the space post-demo and pre-construction. It was neat to see the inside of the bay window that I longed to be part of my apartment; looks like it'll be used as a private party room for 10 people. In general, it looks like this place will be small. The video said the restaurant will seat 38! They'll have to have a pretty high price point to pay for the real estate and renovations to this place on top of the high quality of ingredients and staffing I'm sure he has planned. The Tasting Room thrives b/c the swanky fishbowl environment draws in the trendy drinkers who like to be seen. Volt won't have that to fall back on. They'll just have to knock folks' socks off with damn good cooking in a cool, seemingly more quiet atmosphere. Best of luck to them and I look forward to making the trip back up 270. ETA: Looks like the total capacity is more like 100. Pax, Brian -
Last night they had a valet stand working. Dining room is completely set up. Looks like they smartly added to the bar area -
Not sure if my google skills have departed, or if I have really started two threads tonight. We are always looking for a place that is open late. So one night at 10pm, we tried it. The decor is a.... melange of styles and motifs. The meal as a whole was quite nice. It was one of the more plesant dining experiences we have had recently. But when I think back to the actual dishes, noneof them stood out as superb with the exception of a pate but the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. A decent, small beer list with about a dozin an tap, more in bottle and cans. Wine list did not interest me. I asked the waiter to ahve the bartender riff on a Sazerac, and I got a pretty straightforward Sazerac, nicely done but not outstanding. Kay's Goose Island IPA was very nice. We tried two cured meats {duckbreast and fennel sausage} and the aforementioned pate {pork with cranberry IIRC.} The pate was superb and would have been better still if served with something as simple as a little mustard or mostarda to go along with the pate, a small pile of cornichons and a hunk of grilled bread. The duck breast was fine, but I have had better product from Dartagnan. The fennel sausage had a very odd, crumbly, dry texture that was borderline unpleasant. This was unfortunate as the flavors were nice. A salad of chicories seemed to be a conventional produce item, which surprised at a place that makes all their meat items in house. There was a nice smattering of very good blue crumbles from a US artisan cheese maker, candied walnuts and orange sections. The other dish we ahd was a total miss.... grilled calamari with salsa verde. Not one part of the dish worked. Desserts were a baked apple which was more of a apple shaped applesauce with a brulee crust in a creme Anglaise. I was not a fan of the texture, but the flavors were super. My maple & bacon gelato was shy on both bacon and maple, and was ice cream int he extreme and not gelato, but it was a fun, large portion. Kay's apple came with a large wad of spun sugar and my "gelato" has a stained glass dripped sugar thingie on top. There was more sugar in the garnishes than one person should eat in a week. The spun sugar shattered when I tried to take a taste and it took overnight and several applications of shampoo to my quite bushy beard to get it out. We chatted witht he GM and the Chef di Cusina who were very nice. We cut off our waiter who introduced himself with the line "I'm Jason and I am here to guide you thru the menu tonight" We said we had made our decisions and had a couple of questions... what is your favorite pate and what are your favorite two cures. He had answered at hand which I appreciated. But this is not a menu needing GPS or hand holding to understand. Appetizers, entrees and lots of charcuterie. If I had the free time, or on a night in the future when I do, we will return for a late bite. The dinner was about $70 with tip.- 38 replies
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Sooner or later when hanging out on the Upper West Side, one of our group (usually someone who grew up there or used to live there) will always suggest we head over to La Caridad 78 for some sustenance. It is a Cuban and Chinese restaurant founded by Chinese immigrants to Cuba who later fled. This is not a fusion place. Oh, no, this is old school. Half of the menu is Cuban, and the other half is Chinese, and that is really how it should be. This is not a trendy place. It just pumps out solid food in extraordinary portions for the hard working folks (as well as the overpaid) on the Upper West Side. The small dining room could charitably be described as unadorned, but who really cares. The place bustles with local families, cab drivers, and everyone else who passes through the area. The tables are generally filled, but turn over quickly. I tend to favor the Cuban dishes, such as the Chuleta En Salsa De Soya (Pork Chop In Black Bean Sauce). Sure they were not thick, but there were at least 5 pork chops on this plate. Other dishes were similarly abundant. Do not be put off by the menu. Believe me, it looks odd. Almost jarring. Go with some friends. Order some plates to share with a few beers (very limited beer menu). This food is good; not great, just simple, generally well executed, plentiful, and affordable. Do not forget to check out the handwritten specials on 8 1/2 x 11 paper taped to the wall. We tried the Homemade Fried Dumplings and were glad we did. There are some pictures on their Facebook page (in addition to their website), if you are interested. Cash only. -
José Andres' new restaurant in Beverly Hills, called The Bazaar, gets a 4-star rave review in the L.A. Times: It sounds like an upscale amalgam of Mini-Bar and Jaleo. "A Rare Four-Star Review: The Bazaar by José Andrés" by S. Irene Virbila on latimes.com -
Anyone been yet? I made up my mind as soon as I saw the signage (and later looked at the website) that I would never go here, but my wife's friends are already talking about a marguerita happy hour some time next week. TS' fairly scathing review, which should come as no surprise to any of us: http://www.washingto...tic-review.html -
how Tom S. could give Opera two stars is beyond me. The food was pretty bad as I remember and we were quite limited as the table next to us steered us away from the pasta dishes. Best U street meal has been at Coppies Organic. -
Excellent meal last weekend, simple French not overly sauced, vegatables treated as they should be. The clientele was definitely older. Did not see anyone who seemed younger than 65. Younger folks don't know what they are missing -
If you are in the Lake Ridge area of Woodbridge, there's a locally owned frozen custard place called BR Frozen Custard & Sweets. In addition to vanilla & chocolate, they also have unique daily flavors and weekly sundaes, all made fresh every day. The also have a daily assortment of frozen custard sandwiches that we have enjoyed as well. The daily flavors calendar can be shared to your Google Calendar, which is a wonderful and terrible thing. http://www.brfrozencustards.com/ -
Open only since September, Kafe Bohem (KB) totally deserves its own topic here on dr.com. I begin with this just because there already is a topic for the associated restaurant, Bistro Bohem, which is under the same ownership and shares a wall. Coffee shops are culturally rich for many reasons and this is just one part of their attraction. Most obvious is the coffee/product. We discuss that alot here on the site. Sometimes other beverages or foods. The venue itself. The historical or regional background of the owners or guiding philosophy, including (but definitely not limited to) the various policies in place guiding everything from laptop usage to whether a small glass of water is served with an espresso. And, as important as anything else, the people who frequent the shop. Why start out a topic with the stuff above? Because just when I find myself slipping down the slope of believing we may be approaching coffee shop saturation in DC soon, I come across something that makes me realize the silliness of that notion. We're not even close. HEADLINE A wonderful place to sip, munch, work or talk, all packaged in a way fundamentally different from the many other great coffee shop spots in Washington, DC. VENUE Kafe Bohem is located in Ledroit Park right where Florida, 6th and T (all NW) converge. The coffee preparation area and checkout are on the left at the entrance and are relatively small relative to the generous amount of square footage devoted to smaller and larger tables. The amount of space (and thus ease of getting a place to sit, talk or work) rivals anything in the city. And, when you also add the 40 or so seats in the restaurant (also available to cafe patrons during the day), this is about as spacious as it gets with maybe only Coffy Kafe in Columbia Heights close on a pure square footage basis. The cafe has a a darker (but not dark) feel befitting its eastern European orientation. Dark woods, exposed brick, beautifully darker stained wood floors. Outlets have been thoughtfully located to allow connection from most any cafe table. Free encryptied wifi. While the password is printed on the bottom of any receipt, seems now that they may be using an unchanging phone number 🙂 While there's a definite seriousness to the coffee and baking (more on that to follow), there's a professional and capable casualness to the service and general vibe. Music nicely completes the feeling of tranquil third-placedness without at all being too loud or interfering with conversation in any way. COFFEE KB's coffee program is exclusively based on Julius Meinl coffees. Julius Meinl is a 150-year-old coffee purveyor from central Europe, headquartered in Vienna. Their US presence is new and limited with three Julius Meinl shops in Chicago and, as far as I know, just Kafe Bohem representing them here. The coffees are of high quality and sourced from the familiar regions in Africa and Latin America. As notable, roasting for the US market is done in Chicago so no issues with freshness. Consistent with German/Austrian thinking on coffee, coffee drinks are made with medium roasted and not dark beans. The latter are used for espresso. I had a "Melange Viennese" which, at KB, is identical to a wet cappuccino. Different from how some define the drink in Europe, where it can also be called a Wiener Melange and made with coffee in addition to the espresso and milk or foam. More on that for coffee geeks here. My capp was very nicely made with perfect balance of milk to espresso and served very warm to barely hot (versus scalding). A pour-over bar is planned and well underway and will feature single origin coffees. I was told this should reach fruition by the end of the year. By the looks of things, they seem to have a good variety of quality looseleaf teas on offer as well. PASTRIES Simply stated, the pastries here are better than those I've had or seen at any other coffee shop in the area. I didn't ask about the baker or learn more about what they're doing but, based on a wonderfully fresh, flaky and moist apple streudel and a surprisingly generous (maybe 1.75 inches thick) slice of apple cake which also managed to be very light, someone here knows what they're doing. BOTTOM LINE Kafe Bohem is a wonderful addition to the DC coffee/cafe scene, proving there's still much that can be innovated and enriched when it comes to places to get a cup to run, hang or something else. I've never tried the restaurant but, based on this visit to the cafe, will soon. If you like good coffee and/or are looking for a good place to connect with someone or get some work done, you can't do too much better than coming to Ledroit Park for KB. -
Eastern European cooking seemed a natural follow-up to a film by Czech avant-garde animator Jan Svankmajer at the National Gallery last month, so we boarded a 70 bus to the fairly new Bistro Bohem. The small and inviting restaurant is located a block away from the gloriously revived Howard Theater and is an encouraging addition to Le Droit Park, which is looking particularly good these days, not counting the incongruously monolithic Howard University Hospital looming over its shoulders. (In pre-gentrification days, when these streets could turn unexpectedly mean, the proximity of the hospital was a good thing for stalwart neighborhood residents who had just been bludgeoned.) We had read enthusiastic things about Bistro Bohem in the newspaper and had heard similar praise from friends, so what unfolded was a bit of a disappointment. I won't blame it on Svankmajer. Although food plays more than a bit part in his movies, it is a source of mayhem, as it was in what we had just seen -- "Little Otik" -- where babies being fished out of briny water are delectably pink and you can see why customers are lined up for them. Savory soups and stews are brought to the table throughout the dark proceedings, and they appear fortifying, though unfortunately not enough to sate the enormous appetite of a rapidly flourishing tree-stump baby who has been brought to life by a hopelessly barren couple. Finally confined to the basement of the disconcerted parents' apartment house after devouring the mailman and a social worker, the temptation of a courtyard patch of cabbages is Otik's downfall, an ending out of the folktale on which this is based, a chronicle of an insatiable appetite running roughshod over the countryside. If I lived in its neck of the woods, I would visit Bistro Bohem often for its drinks and beers, but I would tend to stay away from the food unless I was famished. Sharing appetizers and small and large plates, we felt a bit like Otik, devouring our food but never finding anything that was truly satisfying. Garlic soup was mostly all salt, though the interplay of garlic and toasted bread revealed an intriguing affinity in flavor. Flecky in texture, melted Gruyere provided a reminder that this was a poor man's version of French onion soup. Pierogi with a potato and cheese filling were light and supple, steering things in a happier direction, except that there was some undercooked flour in the bechamel-based sauce on which they rested. Home-made potato chips were ridiculously bad, dripping in oil, some half crisp, others totally soggy, a few with raw centers. And a potato pancake was gummy, covered in a dark gloppy sauce, along with small orange knots of hard chicken. The menu advises that the kitchen is small. Clearly it was wrestling with the food the night we visited. Maybe it was just our dumb luck that the wrong person was cooking. Why go to Prague for food, when you can go to Paris? Bistro Bohem raised but did not answer that question for us. -
We had dinner at Addie's last night, and while it's still cute and one of the few non-chain, non-ethnic restaurants in Montgomery County, it has slipped, and slipped a lot, since were there last year. Addie's is a sentimental destination for us; we ate there the night before our daughter was born and as a parent it's hard to forget your last carefree, kid-free meal, before high chairs or babysitters become part of your life. There is an informal, cozy feel to the reataurant (located in a converted house), which is charming when the cooking rises to the level of the prices they are charging (apps $8-13, entrees $21-28), and the service is warm and polished as it has been in the past. When the food is pedestrian and the service unpolished, as it was last night, you are left to puzzle over what exactly was worth $80 a person. Addie's strength has been its appetizers, so it was shocking to look over the menu and not see a single appetizer or salad that appealed to me. I ended up ordering the field greens with Maytag Blue, walnuts, pears, and a slightly-too-sweet champagne vinaigrette. It was competently executed but almost every restaurant nowadays has this same salad on their menu. The soup was black bean with creme fraiche, which sounded perfect for lunch entree but too heavy for a dinner app. One of our friends had the mussels with tomato, shallots, and garlic. The mussels were very high quality, as I would expect from a Black restaurant but were overwhelmed by the amount of garlic in the sauce. Scott had a special, duck confit salad, which must have been good since he cleaned his plate. My entree was the "Black Pearl" salmon with Spanish chorizo rice, grilled rapini, apricot chutney, and Romesco sauce. The salmon was by far the best thing about the dish, lovely fresh and sweet and served medium. It went downhill from there. The rice tasted like it had been made hours before; it was dry and the slices of chorizo had been cooked until devoid of all juiciness and cut too small to impart much spice. The "grilled" rapini had never seen the grill, it was merely cooked until not quite done so that it was bitter and tough. The apricot chutney, of julienned dried apricot, pieces of kalamata (or a similar tasting) olive, and sliced toasted almonds, sounded intriguing and was what made me pick that particular entree, so it was disappointing that it never came together. It might have been better if the individual elements had been cut smaller and allowed to mingle maybe with some olive oil. As it was, one bite was sweet with just apricot, another salty with olive, but it was hard to get a bite that combined the flavors. The Romesco sauce combined better with the fish. I didn't taste anyone else's entree so can't comment on those. We drank a Malbec that was pleasant, fruit forward, not too heavy, and served much too warm. It worked with the fish but it would have been improved by a few minutes of chilling. The dessert menu offered cinnamon-chocolate ice cream, raspberry sorbet, apple crisp, some kind of chocolate mousse thing, and a carrot cake with creme anglais and caramel sauce. We opted for the carrot cake and it was tasty and suprisingly light, but needed more spice (cardamom would have been lovely in it), a little more frosting and a brighter sauce, maybe with lemon, to set off the richness. Little things would have improved the service. Letting us open the wine list before asking for our drink order. Replacing silver that had been taken away. Asking if we were done before clearing appetizers. Reciting the specials slowly, so that we could understand and not have to ask her repeat things. Bringing forks with our desserts. Asking "Are you finished?" rather than "Are you still working on that?" We had a pleasant evening with good friends that we hadn't seen in a long time, but expected more from Addie's. Not sure if we would go back. -
Here's something to look forward to-according to the City Paper, the wildly popular 'Red Hook Lobster Truck' might be rolling into DC this summer. -
Mason Dixie (MD) could easily be a startup working on the next hit iOS app with an eye on Apple to acquire them. Young, talented "founders." One with the title "CEO" as in a tech company. Another with a high-profile day job. They recently won "Launchpad," an "entrepreneur's competition" netting a $500K "investment" and, until very recently, operated out of an "incubator." Surely very cool. But no software or cool app here. Rather, southern style biscuits and, they're good. Very good. One of the founders is a chef and responsible for the namesake item. Another is the sommelier at Fiola Mare. MD is looking for permanent space and, in the meantime, operates from a pop-up location in Union Market from 8 am until "sold out." The bacon comes from Benton's in Tennessee. The eggs from local farms. The biscuits are everything a great biscuit should be: rich, fluffy and just strong enough to hold a variety of interesting sandwiches ranging from pork and fried chicken to chili and the morning take on a McMuffin. As quick breakfasts go, the egg, bacon and cheese paired with a cappuccino from nearby permanent Union Market tenant Peregrine is as good as any other startup meal elsewhere in the city. Likely better. Hope to see these guys in town soon. In the meantime, damn good biscuits and Biscuit sandwiches at Union Market Wednesday through Sunday. Website - Facebook Nov 4, 2014 - "Mason Dixie Biscuit Co. Shifts to Union Market" by Becky Krystal on washingtonpost.com
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I think I'm going to like the concept. An accomplished foreign chef, like Jose Andres (or Jacques Pepin) comes to America and falls in love with our regional ingredients and traditions, and then gives them center stage with a slight uplifting from his culinary heritage. I'm going to like this a lot....- 46 replies
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I live close to both Goldbergs and Bagel City and I prefer the latter. I agree with your assessment on the crust/chew factor. Tasty, good size. Goldbergs are a little too bloated though I do like the taste. Funny enough, I actually find the service to be quick and very friendly at Bagel City when I go on a Saturday or Sunday morning - while I feel like I've gotten a colder shoulder at Goldbergs. But I'm not too fussed, they're just fetching 6 bagels out of bins for me. Oh and the 'Saturday' part of Bagel City is a plus for this gentile. -
For any 40+ oenophile around Baltimore, The Milton Inn's closing is a huge loss. I haven't been here in probably fifteen years, but I've dined here - with untold number of wines - at least five times. Every time I drive by it - admittedly not that often - I'll have fond memories tinged with sadness.
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"Part of Georgia Avenue Will Close Temporarily To Allow Outdoor Dining" by Mike Diegel on sourceofthespring.com "A portion of Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring will be temporarily closed as of 5 p.m. June 12 to allow restaurants additional space to provide customers outdoor dining. The right lanes of Georgia will be shut down between Silver Spring and Thayer avenues in a pilot project that will run through at least June 21. The pilot, known as Streetdine, is the result of a collaboration between the State Highway Administration, the Silver Spring Urban District, County Council Vice President Tom Hucker (D-District 5) and local business owners."-
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La Favola opened recently in the old Ovvio space. The menu has pizza and mostly uninteresting Italian dishes. It's not red sauce Italian...I don't know what it is. -
In today's Washington Post there is an article in the financial section on the Newseum which is under construction on Pennsylvania Avenue. Part of the article notes that an announcement is expected today for the inclusion of a "high end" Wolfgang Puck restaurant when the building opens later in '07. In Los Angeles his signatures restaurants are Chinois on Main in Santa Monica and Spago. Similar restaurants (but not as good) are found in Vegas and elsewhere while Postrio is in Seattle and San Francisco. Can Emeril's, Norman's and Roy's be far behind? -
Just finished some leftover "Steak Frites" from dinner last night at Mokomandy so I thought I'd start a topic about it. Mokomandy stands for MOdern KOrean by MANDY. The menu is a combination of modernized Korean and modernized Cajun dishes...but not fusion. Everything on the menu is either Korean or Cajun, just not both. My wife has been a few times with friends, but this was my first visit. The space is relatively small, and somewhat modern, but it still feels cozy. Great liquor and wine selections, with a lot of wine options from less-well-known producers (US, South America, France). Wine bottle prices are reasonable, no complaints about the mark-ups. Service was great at all levels. The owner and several members of the wait-staff recognized my wife and even greeted her by name. Bartender was knowledgeable, friendly and professional. Same for the waitstaff. (Small but comfortable bar, could be a little less bright). The menu is organized by Small, Medium, Large, and $2 Sides. You can do a la carte, or, depending on the size of your party, order a couple of the large items to share and then mix in small and medium. Our group of four seemed to like everything we had: Gator croquettes -- awesome, with nice bacon and bechamel sauce. Fried pickles -- if you like pickles, you'll like these. I'm not a huge dill pickle fan, but it's hard to argue against anything fried. Fried Young Chicken -- very interesting with bacon, brussel sprouts (which were surprisingly good), onions, and more. Jambalaya -- Pork, Chicken and Cracklins. I didn't try (besides the cracklins), but my friend who ordered it seemed happy with it. Korean Pot Roast -- I told the waitress to have the chef surprise me, and this is what I got. Great variety of textures and flavors. Thin sliced pears in flower-like shapes atop beef, purple rice, sweet potato puree and more. Doesn't belong in the "Large" section of the menu. More appropriate for its own "Huge" list. Steak Frites -- Great seasoning on the tenderloin medallions, a very good sprucing up of a classic dish. As we were the last table to leave, the chef spent a few minutes chatting with us, and was genuinely interested in how we liked our food. This place has a good menu, good staff, and they are trying hard. I look forward to going back soon.
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