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Jim G

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krill

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  1. Two evenings at Chateau Rockwell: Night one started with truly the most spectacular acrobatic catch I’ve ever witnessed as Don grabbed my plummeting bottle of 90 Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Spatlese (dropped from my hand) in mid-flight to save it from the tile floor and a tragic demise. Then, at dinner at Restaurant Eve in Old Town Alexandria, we drank: ’86 Cheval Blanc—I’m still a Bordeaux novice compared to Don, but he loved it too. Classic Cheval, to quote the Donald, not outstanding length but still a fine representation of the domain, drinking well now but no signs of decline. ’83 Jaboulet Hermitage la Chapelle—Don claims to have had far better bottles; this one was disappointing, four-square, varnishy and drying out. ’97 Ch. Musar (.375)—A controversial wine. It was noticeably cloudy, which muddied the wine. I found it, although simple, still a decent drink from an average vintage; Don thought it sucked—I recall the descriptors tinny and metallic. ’00 Pegau—We both liked this wine—probably near its peak, IMO, and not the most finesseful style of C9P, but plenty of intense, sweet, relatively unadulterated fruit that was enjoyable in moderation ( I could never drink an entire bottle of this stuff). By the way, the cooking of Chef Cathal Armstrong is worthy of mention—one of the best meals I’ve had in D.C. in recent years. On night two we learned that Don’s spectacular catch of the prior night was less consequential than we had thought. The Donnhoff was a dud – tired and uninteresting This bottle was, BTW, purchased on release from a reputably reliable source (i.e., David and Josh). ’95 Claude Dugat Charmes-Chambertin—Don asked me if I had a camera on my cell phone so I could photograph him pouring the remains of the bottle down the drain. Although the Dugat was initially camouflaged by my leek and pancetta risotto with seared scallops, eventually we finished the risotto, revealing the Dugat in all its magnificent mediocrity. A nose lacking in nuance followed by a clunky mid-palate and aspirin -like finishing acidity. Not to pick on Tanzer (Parker probably rated the wine as high or higher), but I couldn’t help but take a peak at Steve’s review of the Dugat on release: “. . . . Dense and extremely concentrated; this shows an almost painful intensity today yet has no rough edges. Pure Pinot sap. Totally convincing grand cru. Builds and builds on the palate and aftertaste.” (94 pts.) Seven years later, the only thing I’m convinced of about this wine is that if you own it, sell. As I write, Don and I are nursing a ’96 Willi Schaefer Gracher Domprobst Spatlese. It started out promising but within 30 minutes became close to impenetrable, dominated but its acidic finish. Hopefully it’s just a stage, or maybe our palates were fatally tainted by last night’s Musar. Best, Jim
  2. Some say D.C. is a cold, heartless town. Those people must not have eaten Gillian Clark's cooking at Colorado Kitchen. This is food like Mama would have made had Mama the culinary intuitiveness and fine, sure hand of Ms. Clark. I am a former Washingtonian transplanted to Southern California. On my visits to D.C. every few months or so, my friend Don Rockwell leads me around to the latest and greatest in Washington restaurants, with many successes (and the occasional dud). The prior night we met with two other friends for dinner at one of my temples of cuisine, Citronelle, where I had, among other morsels, an incredible dish of cuttlefish fettuccini with a caviar cream that was one of the great seafood dishes of my lifetime. So when Don announced that for my second and last dinner on this visit, we were going to a little place in Brightwood Park that looks basically like, well, like a diner where we can get some good fried chicken and biscuits, I figured I’d have to be satisfied with just one serious meal on this trip. Well, all I can ask is: Gillian, will you marry me, adopt me, whatever pleases you just so I can keep eating your delectable fried chicken (probably the best I’ve ever had) or your world-class pineapple upside down cake (alone worth the 2500 mile trip from L.A.)? At the Colorado Kitchen, Ms. Clark makes all-American comfort food that does more than just comfort; it give it a twist or two that will tantalize the palate of even the most jaded foody. Her chicken fried steak is cooked to perfection, a flat iron steak surrounded by perfectly crunchy crust atop a sauce that is really a ragu of shitake mushrooms with just the right touch of intensely flavored brown gravy. The steak is accompanied by a pile of melt-in-your-mouth mashed potatoes and deliciously homey sautéed cabbage. Speaking of which, Ms. Clark has a real knack for vegetables. Her veggies are not mere garnishes or accents meant to flatter, but heaven forbid they also don't steal the show from whatever fish, fowl or meat is assigned center stage. A Colorado Kitchen vegetable side could be meal in itself. Her slow-cooked greens with bacon are to die for. (How a girl from New York with the accent to prove it learned to cook so authentically Southern is a wonder.) And Ms. Clark tries not to take herself too seriously. Her dish of pork chops with apple sauce atop a perfectly cooked potato pancake is a little bit Americana kitsch (Ms. Clark says she got the idea from an episode of the Brady Bunch) and a little bit old-school German, but most of all: damned good. Then there’s that upside down cake, which deserves a paragraph all its own. All I can say is that I’ve been dieting for six months and rarely have allowed myself the treat of a dessert during that time, but this is a dessert worth breaking any diet for. You could take Ms. Clark’s upside down cake, dress it up a little, halve the portion size, and put it on the menu of the poshest restaurant for $18 and they’d be lining up for it. But it wouldn’t be any better than the version served at Colorado Kitchen. (If you get the cake, by the way, ask for a corner piece, which seems to have just an extra bit of crunch, an extra bit of pineapple juice and maybe just a tad more butter.) In one sense, Gillian Clark’s cooking isn't the most ambitious in town. She does not do the most complicated food, or the most artfully presented, or with the most exotic ingredients (and don’t get me wrong, I love ambitious stuff when it's carried off well). But I can’t think of a restaurant I’ve been to of late whose food is more soulful, more deeply satisfying or a better value. I think Ms. Clark is a superstar in the making because she gets it; she gets that great food is all about making people feel good. At least tonight, her food made me feel very, very good. Gillian, now about that marriage proposal. . . .
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