Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'French'.
-
I won't be issuing any spoilers in this post, but I would urge any-and-all science-fiction fans to watch one of the greatest science-fiction films I've ever seen: "La Jetée" ("The Pier") - a 30-minute French short (translated into English) - the only place I found it was Amazon Prime (*), and it was $3.99 - yes, it hurt paying that for such a short film, but once I watched it, it was worth every penny. For me to say anything about the film would be to ruin it, other than this: It is an art film - absolutely for the art-house cinema folks - and is unlike anything else you've ever seen (with the possible exception of one modern movie which it directly influenced). It is disturbing, riveting, and sobering - if you're a science-fiction fan and *haven't* seen this, there's a gaping chasm in your repertoire. (*) At 15'40", there is a direct homage to Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" - the influence Hitchcock had on the French New Wave simply cannot be overstated. -
I just finished half-rereading Stefan Zweig's brilliant novella, "Amok," to refresh my memory before reading "Letter from an Unknown Woman," in the same collection of short stories, in anticipation of watching the film, "Letter from an Unknown Woman." However, I just found out there was not one, not two, but *three* films made after "Amok," so the siren song called me, and I began watching the 1934 French version. Note, why did these middle-aged British and French men assigned to Borneo and Malaysia complain about not seeing any caucasian women for months-on-end? Are they out of their minds? Gauguin knew what he was doing, you'll see ... *** SPOILER ALERT *** Do not read any further until reading the novella *and* watching the film. Listen up: It makes no sense to watch this film unless you've read the 40-page novella first, so please, don't - read the novella first, because no matter how good this film is (and I've only watched 15 minutes of it), the novella will be better, I assure you. You'd be doing yourself a grave, literary disservice if you watch this movie before reading the story. So, really, any discussion that follows is going to be assuming you've read the book - and whether or not the film stays true to the novella, well, that remains to be seen, but my guess is that it just might. So read it first, huh? The great Stefan Zweig deserves nothing less (I'm not kidding when I say he's one of the five-best authors I've ever read, even though I've only read his short stories - he is on a par with Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, or anyone else you care to name, and if you doubt me, read him. In fact, if I could read just one more book in my life (assuming all were equal in length!), I might just choose something by Stefan Zweig. As my friend (and donrockwell.com member) Sasha K said, after reading the 41-page-long, "The Royal Game," "People should be ashamed to call themselves 'writers' when works like this exist," and he's absolutely correct. To watch this film, it will help to have some idea of what the true meaning of "running Amok" is - it's a Malaysian term that essentially means losing complete control (because of a strange, unknown disease), and going on a single-minded killing spree, until you either collapse or are killed, and there's no way to stop it once it starts - not unlike being a dog with rabies. This is represented quite well in the first fifteen minutes of the film, and sets the stage for the "real" story, which is allegorical. The film is staying very true to the book so far (I'm 40 minutes into a 1'25" movie), but other than a couple minor deviations, the first major one just occurred: Hélène's lover just found out about the child; in the book, he never found out, and that was an extremely important component of the doctor's unwavering devotion to her. As a psychological drama, it's little things such as this which can never make a movie as good as the book - there isn't adequate time to reflect on things, and compromises will always be made for the audience, no matter how insignificant you think they may be. When you read the story, you'll see how important this seemingly insignificant component is in determining the totality of the doctor's "amok state." Wow, also the blackmail with the letters from Hélène's lover - that doesn't happen in the book. See, in the book, his "amok state" is out of control, yes, but it's tempered with total dedication to her well-being, and he would never do anything to harm her like this. The movie has now taken two pretty big liberties, and I'm not sure I like it; on the other hand, I'm not sure how 90-minutes of psychological pursuit would come across on the big screen, when much of that pursuit occurs in the doctor's own mind (it actually happened, but not to the extraordinary degree to which it does in his mind). These aren't two "black marks" so much as two "gray marks," and I'm hoping there aren't many more, because you're messing with perfection, and you don't want to do that. This is Zweig's story to tell, and it's Otsep's primary mission - in my opinion - to present it as faithfully as possible. Everything comes home to wine: A common wisdom among "terroirists" (of which I am one) is that the *maximum potential* for a wine occurs the moment the grapes are picked; from that point forward, it's the winemakers primary task *not* to screw things up. Think of an absolutely perfect, ripe, heirloom tomato - how can you improve upon this? There are ways, but they generally don't involve corrupting the tomato. There are potential advantages to changing small things. For example, even though it was as obvious as the sun rising in the morning, I failed to see (in the book) that when the doctor saw Hélène at the ball, she was going to have the procedure done later that night - I have no idea how, or why, I missed that, but I did - this movie made that perfectly clear to me (dumbing things down for the dummy, perhaps?) I'm not sure this involves a "cinematic advantage," so much as a "dimwitted reader." The problem is, with him attempting to blackmail her - even though it was almost surely a bluff - when he looks at her and says, "Forgive me," he comes across as a complete, total, *jerk*, whereas in the book, it's clear that he isn't calculating enough to try and pull such a stunt - he was, as he said, running straight forward, at top speed, with blinders on, and nothing could stop him. When you "run amok," you simply don't have the presence of mind to attempt such a rotten tactic, and the movie suffers because he did. A classic, "eat shit" look from the 1930s: And strike three: He never once told her he loved her in the book: It wouldn't have been in keeping with the story. And stike four: The ending was all wrong, and reminds me that the movie was entirely missing the narrator, and didn't work without it - it needed to be structured just as the book was. This film ends with the absolute certainty that this was a clear case of murder-suicide, whereas the book leaves everything completely unknown, and the secrets are forever buried at the bottom of the sea - it is *so* much better in written form, and I urge you only to watch this film if you've read the book, and are curious about a comparison-contrast. I would love an opinion of someone who *hasn't* read the book, but I can't ask anyone to do this to themselves: "Amok" *can't* be a great film - it just can't be. But the novella was one of the greatest short stories I've ever read. Damn - the deviations did this in. Trivia, which I didn't recognize: Valéry Inkijinoff, whom I believe deserved a Best Supporting Actor nomination - despite the Film being French, and despite him being Asian - played the roles of *both* the man stricken with "L'Amok" at the beginning, and also Maté, Hélène's servant, who was unwaveringly faithful until the very end.
-
Just wanted to let everyone know about my dinner last night at a relatively new restaurant in Kentlands Shopping Center, which is located in Gaithersburg, MD. The restaurant was apparently written up recently in either The Washington Post or The Washingtonian. I know it was mentioned in the 100 best restaurant magazine for one particular dish. The restaurant is small and you will more than likely need reservations, espeically once word of this place gets out and it becomes busier. Their number is 301-947-4051 and they're located at 304 Main Street. There are something around 28-30 seats and the night we were there (monday) there was a total of six people, a four top and my girlfriend and I. The have two employees basically, the chef and his wife, they each run half of the restaurant basically. Apparaently their son comes in and helps on busy nights, but that's it. Anyways, they have a prix-fix menu consisting of either 2, 3, or 6 courses. We ended up getting a 3 course meal (48 bucks) but I would have loved to get the six with was in the middle to upper 70's, very reasonable considering the quality of food we got. We both have very refined palates, me being a cook at Maestro in the Ritz-Carlton Tyson's Corner and formerly a cook at 2941 has introduced me to some of the best food in town. I can say this was one of the best meals I can remember. My gf's dinner consisted of a smoked salmon plate with goat cheese and chives, designed like a butterfly (cute and tasty), sauteed calamari tubes with green olives and garlic, Duck Pot au feu (spl?) with cabbage/potatoes and a mustard/tarragon sauce. My dinner consisted of sauteed escargot with puffy pastry "shell", seared foie gras over poached pear and sauterne sauce (big portion and perfectly cooked), and squab stuffed with chestnuts and prunes with a light roasting jus. The service was great, we received an amuse of a salmon roulade. We got a cheese plate for our dessert which I had a glass of Cote du Rhone with which was very nice and my gf had one of the largest glasses of sauterne I've ever seen, the stem itself being a good 7 inches I'll bet. After the check we both got a chocolate and grand marnier truffle coated in cocoa powder. I really can't say enough good things about the place and would recommend it to anyone looking to have a great meal in a cozy french restaurant. He changes it often, but also keeps some of the favorites around all the time which is normal for any chef. Call them up and go for dinner, as they are only open for dinner, mon-sat, closed on sundays. -
The French Hound serves lunch on Saturday. It's a great little spot. http://www.thefrenchhound.com/ -
Sadly, one of my favorite spots in the city closed on Wednesday. Le Train Bleu was the not-so-secret "secret" restaurant in Bloomingdale's. It was designed to look like an old rail dining car and was named for the famous train of the same name (not the restaurant in the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris). In a lot of ways, it was one of those restaurants that time apparently forgot -- the experience was probably the same a month ago as it was when it opened in 1979, and the same people likely still worked there. About half of the patrons were tourists, but the regular clientele -- now in their 70's and 80's -- were probably the same too. And the food was always good, though not spectacular. Still, it was just one of those places that you love to be. While it was only a block from my apartment, I didn't go often because it was seemingly never open (it closed at 5:00 every day). But it will nonetheless be greatly missed, and I'm glad I got one last lunch on its final day. It was as good as it ever was until the end. [Originally posted on NYDiningGuide.com]
-
- 4
-
-
- Upper East Side
- Lennox Hill
- (and 3 more)
-
We have eaten at Mediterranee a handful of times for lunch once with our in-laws (who are very picky I may add) I always get the prix-fixe lunch for 16.95 where you get an appetizer an entree and dessert and so does hubby. Here is their info: 10123 Colvin Run Road, Great Falls, VA (703) 757-9300 (It runs right behind Route 7 about 2 miles or less from Wolf Trap) We went there on Friday and as usual the food was great! The service is usually fantastic but it was a bit uneven flowing... I'm used to the two women who work the dining room and there were two gentlemen but they did good enough. They brought out their usual freshly cut french bagette bread basket and butter and then we proceeded to order. I got the Country Pate with olives and gherkins and Hubby got the Grilled eggplant with cumin and oranges. For my main course I got the peppercorn hangar steak with frites (fries ;-) heh) which had a fantastic cream sauce not too heavy nor too light. Hubby ordered the Smoked pork loin in a coconut milk cilantro sauce with pineapple I really REALLY am not into pork or ham but I had a forkful and I wanted to steal his dish and run off and eat it too! It was so smoky and delicious and made really nicely. For dessert he got the Bread pudding with caramel sauce (the caramel sauce was DEFINITELY homemade a tiny bit over-cooked but not really noticable but nice texture and odor YUM) I got the Crepes stuffed with chestnut cream and it was yummy... next time I may get the Banana flambe with rum, served with vanilla Ice cream... I'm just not into Ice cream too much. Anyhow this is a great place for lunch and one day I hope to try it for supper if I ever have time. --- Happy New Year L'Shanah Tovah to everyone.... and beit avon' -
Work with me here for a minute folks, as I try to sort out this quote system... (in other words, sorry if it looks weird, I'm trying) I had a terrible dinner at La Fourchette, admittedly 5 years or so ago. But it was bad enough that I wouldn't go back. Terrible service, and food that included a mayonnaise-based dressing (I detest mayonnaise, and most of its aise cousins) on a nicoise salad. The waiter argued it wasn't a mayo dressing, it was oil and vinegar. Umm, yeah, there's oil in there, but there's also blipping egg in there, thus making it an -aise! Plus, that's obviously not a the kind of dressing that belongs on a nicoise salad. Yeck. -
[posted on eGullet 2003-2004] This evening I walked past Hard Rock Café, and there were four tour buses outside, and a line stretching out the door and down the block. A half-block north was Bistro d'Oc, smack dab in the intersection of 10th and Construction, and there were two people in the restaurant when I walked in. The owner/chef of Bistro d'Oc founded La Miche in Bethesda thirty-five years ago, and to prove it, he has this rocket-ship of a wine sitting on the bar that was presented to him as a gift when he opened La Miche: a 1982 Tayac (Cotes de Bourg) in what surely must be a Nebuchadnezzar (a 20-bottle bottle), or whatever the largest format is for a bottle of Bordeaux. This thing dwarfs the double-magnum sitting next to it, and must weigh at least 75 pounds. Wines are skewed to the ordinary, with a predominance of selections from the Languedoc-Rousillon region of France which produces over a billion bottles of wine annually (for real!). Some of these wines might seem fairly priced in the mid-$30s, but they're actually rather expensive for the quality unless you have the knowledge to navigate through the minefield of relatively obscure producers. The bread is freshly baked, but industrial to the point of pain (pain industriel). Vegetable soup is honest and bland, celery-based, served in a tureen with a minimum of fanfare and seasoning. Bavette of Kobe beef with blue-cheese sauce and frites was ordered medium-rare, and was perfectly cooked, even though it was probably a 9th-generation grandfather thrice-removed that was from Kobe, Japan. The blue cheese sauce was simple, with La Fourme d'Ambert (a nice surprise) as the base, made with cream and shallots. The frites were so-so, not great, not bad, crispy and correct, but lacked any sort of wow coefficient. The owner/chef's wife is Thai, and - ha! - betcha didn't know that Bistro d'Oc is a little-known source for interesting Thai dishes within the Penn Quarter area. A crabmeat-stuffed "cigar" is basically a spring roll, the size of a gargantuan phallus, and served with seaweed and a sweet vinaigrette dipping sauce. Dessert was a peach clafoutis with custard, and distressingly served a la mode. A freshly made dessert, but ponderous and not a real clafoutis. It was bogged down by its own custard and the giant scoop of bad ice cream on top which intercepted any serious attempt to enjoy it. A pity, because the innards weren't all that bad. So, Bistro d'Oc is a legitimate, fairly priced Gaulois-like selection in a soon-to-be-crowded area. May as well go sooner rather than later, because once construction is complete, the place will be more crowded. Given that there were less than a dozen customers in there this evening, while Hard Rock Café had several hundred, it deserves to be mobbed, and I hope it is. A worthwhile, well-priced restaurant, a real attempt at cuisine and even fine dining, and I'd happily return. Cheers, Rocks.
-
I just stumbled across Laura Lawless on Twitter. I don't know Laura, but back in the "old days," when I was a beginning French student, I relied on her website for a *lot*. Things have changed, and so has her website: Lawless French (kind of a clever double-entendre) has a much cleaner, nicer look than her old website did, but I know from many years ago that her content has been wonderful since the get-go. I don't even need to spend much time on her website to be able to recommend it to budding Francophones. One fun thing is that she has a <<mot du jour>>, which is perfect for intermediate-level French speakers looking to improve their vocabulary without working too hard to do it. For example, today's word was <<quincaillerie>>, or a hardware store. That's useful information, and it takes about two seconds to learn - all you have to do is create a list, and put her on it. As an example, I did that here (feel free to subscribe - I'll probably just leave her as the only thing on it for awhile). So, lawlessfrench.com: highly recommended! Make sure to look at the "Subjunctivisor" - a way to help suffering French students with the God-forsaken subjunctive verb tense. I don't know if there's a feature on her website where people can ask her questions, but if anyone here has French questions, I'll be happy to help. In fact, this just popped into my head: A separate thread (or even a subforum) where members can let people know they're fluent in a second language, and volunteer to answer any questions. I can do it for French (if I don't know something, I'll be happy to research it, as I *should* know it).
-
The only thing I know about <<La Règle du Jeu>> ("The Rules of the Game," a French film from 1939), is that it has a reputation of being one of the finest movies ever made. That's it - I know nothing else, so here I begin, in complete ignorance: To be honest, I didn't even know it was a French film until five minutes ago. I will, obviously, be giving my thoughts as I go ... The film takes place on the Eve of WWII, when (fictional) famed aviator André Jurieu (played by Roland Toutain) makes a trans-Atlantic crossing in 23 hours - 12 years after Charles Lindbergh's real-life 1927 flight which took 33 1/2 hours in the Spirit of St. Louis (which is housed in the National Air and Space Museum on The National Mall in DC). Call me a dweeb, but I love fictional films that interweave non-fiction - I love to learn, and any real-life info-nuggets I can pick up are always remembered. Note that "La Règle du Jeu" takes place in contemporary time - the events took place in 1939, and the movie was released in 1939. After Jurieu is swarmed by the media, he is greeted by his friend, Octave (Jean Renoir, the son of famed painted Pierre-Auguste Renoir (really!)) - Jurieux is clearly crestfallen that the girl of his affections - the very inspiration he made the flight - Christine de la Chesnaye (Nora Gregor) wasn't at the airport to greet him, and he doesn't take it well in front of the media - clearly, "love," or possibly "unrequited love" could play a central role in this plot. Christine was listening on the radio along with her (seemingly) faithful maid, Lisette (Paulette Dubost), with whom she seems to have a friendly, respectful, relationship. To create a liaison, Christine jokingly asks Lisette if she's having some sort of relationship with Octave - both Christine and Lisette are married to other men: Christine to Robert, Marquis de la Chesnaye (Marcel Dalio) for three years, and Lisette to Schumacher (Gaston Lodot), the gamekeeper at Robert's country estate, for two years - the French do enjoy their extramarital dalliances. Robert, meanwhile, is having an affair with Geneviève (Mila Parély), whom he sees the next morning (can you tell this is confusing yet? My *goodness* the relationships, and ex-relationships; the crushes, and non-crushes; in this film are mind-bending, and very difficult to keep up with, so *pay attention to the characters and their relationships with one another* - at least for the first twenty minutes of the movie.) I have a feeling it's going to be imperative, and will pay off in spades, to have these character relationships down pat inside your head before the movie progresses too far. I can see this film going in any of several directions - a mistaken-identity comedy a la "Marx Brothers," or a drama about lost or unfulfilled love, or something else entirely, but it's clear that human interaction is playing a crucial role thus far, and I'm only about 20% of the way through (overall, it seems more comedic than dramatic so far). Make the investment, and pay close attention to avoid needing to watch the opening more than once - at least up until the point where the film fades, and the automobiles are heading to La Colinière in Sologne. At La Colinière, Schumacher catches a poacher, Marceau (Julien Carette), and turns him over to Robert - who's impressed with his trapping skills, and hires him on the spot (much to Schmacher's dismay). The next thirty minutes are merely a "slice of life" about the upper crust in France, and their vacation lives of leisure at the country home, replete with interpersonal relationships, jealousy, shocking candor, and it leaves me wondering where this is all going. I'm almost halfway through this film, and for it to be considered "greatest-ever" material, it had better start improving, pronto - I just don't see it yet: I'm starting to fear this is one of "those" movies that all the critics like because they're supposed to like it. There are elements of well-played character development, but this all needs to have an end game, because it's not standing on its own - at least, not yet. Yes, it's a satire of the leisure class, perhaps to the point of being farce, but it needs to be more than this - I'm still hopeful, because there's been nothing "bad" about it whatsoever; it's just not compelling, or even all that witty. A discussion, at a gala, between two men having affairs: "You haven't seen me." "Why?" "Schumacher's after me." "What for?" "On account of his wife. We were playing around. He saw us and he's not happy. Oh, your lordship ... women are charming. I like them a lot. Too much, in fact. But they spell trouble." "You're telling me." "You've got it bad, too?" "Somewhat ... Ever wish you were an Arab?" "No, what for?" "For the harem ... Only Muslims show a little logic in matters of male-female relations. They're made like us." "If you say so." "They always have a favorite ... But they don't kick the others out and hurt their feelings." "If you say so." Meh, this is just not that good - I understand it's 77 years old, but it's still just not that good. I'm thinking maybe in context of France, 1939, this is considered pretty "bold" satire, making fun of the upper class like this, but if that's what makes this movie great - it's just plain dated. Still, I'm only halfway through ... onward. Okay, with about twenty-five minutes remaining, I've peaked at a few reviews, all of which say this is "one of the greatest films ever made." I'm afraid I'm going to need to be told *why* it's one of the greatest films ever made - I guess that's the difference between my knowledge of restaurants and films: with restaurants, I'm the one who can do the telling; with films, I guess that sometimes, I need to be told. Damn this is frustrating. I mean, I can see it's a scathing social commentary, I can see it's a farce, I can see it pits upper class vs. lower class, man against woman, and makes all sorts of fun against high society, but *one of the greatest films ever made*? Are there any film scholars here? If so, I ask for your help - this is like "Middlemarch" meets "Reefer Madness." Great works of art often go over my head the first time I experience them, and I'm willing to accept that such is the case here, but I'm going to need some assistance with this one. As great as "Citizen Kane" is, that film has plenty of detractors who wonder why it's so great - I don't think those people are Luddites; I think they honestly just don't get it. To me, "Citizen Kane" is *terribly* boring in parts - it really drags - but I can see greatness in it; I'm just not seeing that greatness in "La Règle du Jeu," unfortunately. I think its okay, but I'm not getting the multi-layered nuances it supposedly has. There's one line I just saw that sums it up for me to this point: "Corneille! Put an end to this farce!" "Which one, your lordship?" At the end of the movie, loose ends are tying themselves up, and it's clear to me that the upper crust values their lot in life more than they value humanity - *their* humanity. It's a savage beatdown, and a funny one, but not in a "ha-ha funny" way. The film is filled with stereotypes, and man it's hard to absorb on the first viewing - this is not a movie to watch alone; it's one to watch among other film lovers, and discuss as it's happening. Well, it was pretty powerful, all right - I watched it over two nights, and was very tired both evenings. I need to study it some more - much of it went over my head for sure, but I can sense how ruthless it is. "La Règle du Jeu" is free on Hulu - would a few of you all please watch it and tell me all the wonderful things I'm missing?
-
This debut film by director François Truffaut is a delight to watch. Well acted and beautifully shot, this filmed charmed and moved me. Semi-autobiographical, Truffaut tells the story of a mischievous French teen. Obviously bright, but not given the proper guidance at home, his misbehavior escalates. Jean-Pierre Léaud, only 14 at the time, is wonderful in the role of Antoine Doinel. The other teen actors are very good as well, and Albert Remy and Claire Maurier are perfect as Antoine's inept parents. Truffaut was only 27 when he directed this film. "The 400 Blows" is regarded as one of his finest, and is considered one of the earliest works of the French New Wave. I love quiet, beautifully made films like "The 400 Blows," a character-driven look at a troubled boy looking for his place in the world.- 1 reply
-
- 1
-
-
- Drama
- Autobiography
- (and 15 more)
-
Bistro Cacao will be opening shortly in the old Two Quail space at 320 Massachusetts Avenue NE - they're currently shooting for the end of next week, but that is not official. The restaurant is owned by Harun and Yavuz Bolukbasi who owned Mezè in Adams Morgan. But the really exciting news about Bistro Cacao is the chef, Kemal Deger, who last ran the kitchen at Le Tire Bouchon in Fairfax, and the GM, Veronique Onteniente, who just got back from France, and who before that was the gracious presence running the front of the house at Montmartre and Montsouris. If you're familiar with the work of these two, you know they'll make a formidable BOH-FOH combination. Bistro Cacao's website isn't ready yet (and currently lists an incorrect opening date), but it can be found at www.bistrocacao.com. Good luck to everyone, and congratulations in advance. Cheers, Rocks
-
Always enjoyed my meals at BF and will be in the area this evening so I thought I might dine there. Any recent visitors? -
"The Red Balloon" is a sweet, simple and visually appealing film. Just 35 minutes long, it tells the story of a young boy who finds a shiny red balloon in the streets of Paris. The boy takes the balloon everywhere he goes. It soon becomes apparent that the balloon has a mind of its own. It follows the boy everywhere, and hovers outside his window when his mother won't let him bring it inside. It is a lovely little tale of friendship, love and devotion. It captures the innocence of childhood, and highlights the fact that children can also be quite cruel to one another. There is virtually no dialogue and a lovely score. The little boy wears all gray, and the streets of Paris are shown in muted shades of bluish gray. The shots of the shiny red balloon against this backdrop are stunning. This film was made by someone with an artistic eye. I read some reviews that saw a deeper meaning in the film. Perhaps there were religious or political messages to be found. I enjoyed "The Red Balloon" on its most basic level. It made me feel like a child again. A balloon to a child is the world! Can you imagine having one that follows you around and waits for you outside your school?
-
"Bastille To Open Second Location In Alexandria" by Rebecca Cooper in bizjournals.com "The new restaurant, which will keep the name, while the original changes monikers [to Bistro Royal], will be located on the ground floor of the Asher Building ... at Pendleton and Fayette streets in North Old Town." Contratulations to the Poteaux family and to Mark Slater. This restaurant was too good for its tiny environs for quite some time now, and deserves a better space. Mark, is there anything else you can add?
- 16 replies
-
- 2
-
-
- Alexandria
- Old Town
- (and 3 more)
-
Sometimes after a long day one just wants quiet. Quiet, and a good meal. After leaving drinks with a friend I had every intention of walking around the corner to The Modern for a quick meal. I took a spin through, but the bar was PACKED. Fortunately I decided to walk across the street to Chevalier. Shea Gallante is the chef at Chevalier - you may remember him from Cru. Chevalier is a high-ceilinged, rectangular restaurant. Booths are well spaced and the whole operation seems luxurious, but understated. Looking at marketing materials after the fact, Chevalier seems to be marketed as a "Brasserie Luxe", whatever that means. I don't find anything brasserie-ish about the menu, but I guess YMMV. Started off the meal with an amuse of a gougere stuffed with black truffle. Very good. A second amuse followed, this time cured salmon topped with salmon roe, sitting on a blini, which was resting on some creme fraiche. Also very good. I ordered a sancerre to start off - didn't catch the producer, but it was solid, if unspectacular. On the waiter's recommendation I started with scallops, which were paired with roasted beets and soubise (some horseradish added to the usual onion). The scallops were cooked perfectly and were well seasoned. I didn't think that the beets added much to the dish, but the soubise had a pleasant kick from the horseradish. At this point I was ready for my main course, but the waiter instead brought over a portion of fusilli pasta with an octopus bolognese. The dish was topped with some breadcrumbs which added a nice textural component - the octopus wasn't too assertive in the sauce, and although the dish was mild I enjoyed it. The sommelier suggested a Rully for the main course, and it was again solid, if unspectacular. Main course was the butter poached lobster, served with ricotta gnudi and a lobster emulsion. The main course had a generous portion of lobster, and some artichokes were included along with the gnudi. The gnudi were a good match for the lobster and this was the best dish of the night. No dessert for me, but a pair of macaroons were dropped along with the check. There has been some talk on the site lately about what constitutes good service. For me, the service at Chevalier was excellent. The servers were professional, knew the menu, made suggestions when asked and offered to answer any questions. They worked as a team to bring and clear dishes, kept water refilled and were very unobtrusive. A manager came by and asked how everything was when she picked up the bill, but that was about it. I didn't feel fawned over at all, just that I had come to a professional establishment and that the staff to care and pride in their jobs. All in all Chevalier was a good meal in a serene setting. Shea Gallante is a fantastic chef, and I admit I expected more from the meal - this was a very solid ** or ** 1/2 star meal, but given the meals I had at Cru previously I was expecting to find a bit of a diamond in the rough (well, not exactly rough, but you know). If in the neighborhood again I would stop in, but wouldn't base a trip around it.- 1 reply
-
- 1
-
-
- Midtown West
- Baccarat Hotel
- (and 2 more)
-
I'm not saying this is breaking news or anything, but Aykan Demiroglu, former GM of Le Paradou and owner of Locanda, has posted a classified here.
-
Surprised no one has yet opened a thread on Bistro La Bonne. It recently opened in the nondescript place at 1340 U st where Axis was formerly. There has been practically no press on this, so it looks like they are trying to slide into their opening. Looking forward to having another French bistro near my place, we tried it out last weekend. We had heard the chef had been previously at Tabaq (negative points) and Bistrot du Coin (positive points). It was full at 8:30 on Saturday night (a good sign) so we sat at the bar and had a drink while we waited for a table. The bartenders and staff seem to be the same as from Axis. They always had a good bartender, so I am glad to see he is still there. They also still have a pretty good beer list (I settled for a Leffe Brun on tap) and they said they expect to get even more (mainly Belgians) in the coming months. After about 10 minutes a table opened up and we sat. The interior has changed a bit - some French posters and signs on the walls - but that's about it. Even though the menu had a number of really good sounding plates, the three of us were feeling like traditionalists, I guess, as one person got the house salad as a starter and the other two of us had the bibb salad. Both were very large for the price and for an appetizer and very good. Good quality produce and nice dressing. Both of us with the bibb salad thought it was one of the best in town (and definintely better than the bibb salad at Marvin, which usually comes out with no bibb lettuce and mesclun instead). The house salad was pronounced good by my friend. All of us had the steak frite for an entree. And, again, we all liked it. Two of them came out just barely above the ordered level of done-ness. My medium rare was not very red in the center and my +1s Medium was a bit gray, but flavorwise they were spot on. Great seasonings, a large piece of good quality meat, and a bargain at $15.95. The bernaise and the fries were also very good. All in all, we thought the salad and steak was a tad better than Bistrot du Coin (our favorite local hangout) and the fries and bernaise were just as good. We did not order dessert, but they looked to be a mixed bag of very good looking tarts and leaden looking mousses. Our main quibble would be with the obviously overworked and distracted service. It's their first month, so maybe it will get better. It wasn't awful, but could have been a touch more attentive. It wouldn't keep us away. The general sentiment was that this is a good to very good place for french staples. The atmosphere is not the convivial fun one you get at Bistrot du Coin but the food was as good if not better. I think I'd hit La Bonne if I wanted a good, quieter calmer meal with my +1 or another couple, and Bistrot du Coin would remain my favorite for a loud, racuous, night on the town. -
Going there for a family dinner. I have never been there, but would like to know if anyone has any idea of what to order or if they do anything particularly well. I'll report back on our experience Sunday or Monday night. watch out for the wind this weekend. -
We really liked Le Chéri, a new restaurant by Executive Chef Pierre Calmels of Bibou, who seems to be spending most of his at Le Chéri these days, and Chef de Cuisine Val Stryjewski. In a weekend that also included Vetri and Bibou, I definitely preferred Le Chéri. The more updated and creative cuisine here appealed to me more than the more homey cooking at Vetri or Bibou. The restaurant itself is located in the Philadelphia Art Alliance building.The dining room and bar areas are quite dark and atmospheric. We were able to get seats at a high top in the bar area immediately, a little before prime Friday night dinner times. So the bar may be a good bet if they don't have space elsewhere in the dining room.- 3 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- Rittenhouse Square
- Rittenhouse Row
- (and 6 more)
-
Read this today: "4935 Bar and Kitchen Owner in Negotiations To Take Over Brasserie Monte Carlo Space" by Andrew Metcalf on bethesdamagazine.com Brasserie Monte Carlo might be down on the ropes.....or not. Only been there once in the past 4 or 5 years. Almost got there a couple of weeks ago, might try to get there for lunch in case they are gone soon. -
Oh my - it's been so long since that has been updated that most of the restaurants discussed above have closed! We've gotten a few new good ones though! Le Parc Bistro (where Mick's used to be) is a delightful French bistro with comfort bar ambience and a gorgeous Salade Nicoise. Great for both lunch and dinner -
How not to attract a new customer... I've walked by Annie's a few times, and have been meaning to try it. I understand that they have a small menu that changes daily, so I went to their website to see what they had tonight. No word on their website...only an old RSS feed that hasn't been updated since May. I called, and the man who answered knew a few of the items that they had for dinner, but not everything. I mentioned that it would be nice if they updated their website daily to show the menu, but he said they didn't have time to do that, and I should check their Facebook page instead. No link to the Facebook page from the website (no mention of it either), so I did a search and came up with two different Facebook pages. One that I needed to "friend" the owner in order to view, and one that hadn't been updated since February, 2011. So I'm not going there tonight. Maybe some you will disagree, but in this day and age I expect to be able to see a menu online...especially for a place that has a very small menu. To be fair, Annie's says their menu depends on what they get from local farmers, so they probably don't know far in advance what they're making....but it only takes two seconds to update a Facebook page. Maybe they do that on the page I couldn't access. We'll see. With that said, has anyone eaten here lately? Worth the hassle? -
Le Matin de Paris has closed, and is being replaced by Manoa Bakery & Cafe.
-
An approximately year old, very promising, locally loved, classic French restaurant receiving regional and national attention now as a 2015 Beard semi finalist. Website Local review here as neither WaPo or Washingtonian have reviewed it: "Expert Approved: The Alley Light's Food Thrills Even The Toughest Critic" by C. Simon Davidson on c-ville.com Has anyone been?- 9 replies
-
- 3
-
-
- Charlottesville
- Downtown Mall
- (and 4 more)
