reverbbrad

The wife and I are going on our first sitter-powered date night ever on Friday. Of course, we made these plans from planet busy, so didn't find out that it's restaurant week until afterward. I mean really: Friday! RW! Doh!!! And so, of course everything is booked up - at least, every restaurant that's participating is in RW is. I'm looking for suggestions on dining contra restaurant week madness. Here's what I am hoping: 1. Proximity: Dine in Arlington, DC, or nearby northern Virginia. 2. Kinda Quiet/Mellow, empasis on service. Even if I could score an RW reservation, I'd be hesitant about the crowds. I'm hoping for a good non-RW option - which might have the added bonus of being a little quieter than usual? 3. Price is not that important, short of, say, the tasting room at Restaurant Eve. We need the night out without the little beastie, even if it ends up being milkshakes at Lost Dog (which are a fine thing), but I am hoping we can do something a bit more romantic. Suggestions?

If there is time to make this happen, Beezy and I would love to join the fun!

I enjoyed the cucumber fizz well enough to ask for the recipe, which one of the bartenders was kind enough to share. And get the Peekytoe crab soup. Fantastic!

Absolute agreement. The portions are a normal-person size, not the 1200 calorie monsters from Chipotle that leave you wondering why you didn't just go ahead and eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's instead. The ingredients are a cut above, which makes for a cheap, flavorful burrito. One of these days, I will get around to trying one of the Tortas.

I'll second the rave about the chicken. It really has an incredible, intense flavor; definitely not the 'menu default' chicken. Try it. It is special.

When I was slogging through some long, soul-sucking days in Tysons Corner, the short ribs at Colvin Run Tavern and a nice scotch would always make me smile.

Oddly, after suggesting you pick restaurants with reputations to protect, two of his four rec's are there because he thinks the restaurant's reputation needs to be established. I suspect you will do better if you choose as he does, not as he says, and go for places with something to prove. (I do like the thought about going for a particularly unmalleable style of restaurant such as Fogo de Chao, but I've yet to try something like that). All that said, though, RW is always going to be a mixed bag, and I think the restaurants that do really well tend to be quite customer focused to begin with and keep their RW offering in close line with their regular menu, even if the number of options is limited. I think places that place far more emphasis on food than experience are the ones likely to really fall down -- the kitchen has to manage a different approach, and the service may slide further. My best RW memories from prior years: Corduroy, Dino, and Colvin Run Tavern, which I used to visit for lunch when I worked in Tyson's Corner. I'm very hopeful for a nice dinner at Indigo Landing tonight.

I like it quite a bit. It makes it easy to see if a particular time slot is available, and search quickly for your next preference, without going through a long song and dance over the phone. On occasion, the ability to put a note in for the restaurant is handy - asking for a quiet table or such. My experience is that once the note/request is in a system somewhere, it is more likely to be attended to (even if just by a polite decline); otherwise, your request seems likely to be forgotten. Plus, it avoids dealing with the occasional Unpleasant Restaurant Host/Hostess, of which I've encountered more than a few.

A few months ago, in need of a sure-thing for a special occasion (a birthday dinner for my wife, attended by her mother and very fussy grandmother), I decided to put my fate in the hands of Dino. After sending a PM pleading for a little extra attention, and a couple of phone calls to arrange for things like flowers waiting at the table, etc., they delivered beyond my wildest expectations. All details, large and small, were attended to by our waiter and the GM, ranging from the aforementioned flowers presented in advance, a ground floor table for easy access by my wife's grandmother, a perfectly chosen wine for the occasion, and completely thorough service. The meal itself was so spectacular that I tried to write about it a few times after that evening, and scrapped my posts feeling that I had failed to deliver the gist of how good the food was. So, rather than try to re-live it here, I'll just say that my fond memories about the cheese plate and steak special particularly are still with me. After a stingy RW dinner at a different restaurant, I was reminded by contrast of how completely generous, in both spirit and flavors, that night at Dino was. It's about time I mentioned it here.

My wife and I had an absolute dud of a RW experience last night. We arrived with a mixture of curiousity and hope for a dinner that was late enough that our appetites were stoked a litte high. What we got, well... We knew going in that the RW menu was on the spare side, in terms of offerings: we were able to select from 5 apps (2 with substantial upcharge), 3 entrees (1 each of steak, fish, and chicken) and 2 desserts. And a look at the other side of the menu indicated the RW price was a substantial drop from their general menu, where apps run mostly between $12-20 and mains run from around $25 to $50, though both apps and mains also offer substantially higher-priced choices as well. My choices were the prawn salad with tomato sorbet and celery ribbons (+$7), the flat iron steak with polenta and diced carrots, and the cheesecake with blueberry compote. (My wife also chose the steak). The dinner began promisingly with an amuse that was announced as calamari, but actually had a fishy taste and thicker tentacle meat that made us both suspect it was actually octopus. It was dessed nicely in a slightly hot pepper sauce that had a slight vinegar tang. The prawn salad was, in fact, two medium sized prawns (partly deshelled, but with head, tail, and legs on) on a bed of greens and tomato. They were awkard to de-shell; for one of them I had to resort to some extended fingerwork. The tomato sorbet was nice, offering a slightly inventive approach, an alternative to the classic cocktail sauce. The celery ribbons, which I imagine might have offered a slightly peppery contrast, were MIA. It was an ok appetizer, but part of me couldn't let go of the nagging thought of a $7 upcharge for a two-shrimp dish. (Incidentally, the Tuna Tartare carried a $9 upcharge). The steak followed. The flat iron steak was roughly a 6 oz portion (no scale at the table, so eyeballing, of course), and had a nice flavor, but was on the tough side, even for a flat-iron, with one or two pieces remarkably tough to cut/chew. My wife's medium showed little difference to my med. rare, at least to the eye. The polenta was a round cake roughly the size of a silver dollar, nicely crisp on the outside, but bland and watery within. The diced carrots were probably plated with a teaspoon, although perhaps I am being unkind; it might have been a half-full tablespoon. Though still hungry through the dinner course, my experience was partly rescued by the cheesecake. This was a real winner, creamy without being too heavy, with a nice dab of lemon-infused whipped cream on the top, and just enough blueberry sauce that it added a nice additional flavor without being intrusive. In this one course, I found the luxurious experience that I'd been hoping for from the evening, and which was entirely missing from the previous weak offerings. In the end, I was left wondering why this restaurant was participating in RW; while I can accept a somewhat spare number of choices, the actual portion sizes (even with upcharge) seemed miserly as well, and not particularly well prepared. It just seemed like a begrudging effort, and it left me wondering whether it was in line with the quality of the rest of their food or was simply a failed attempt to "step down." Either way, it doesn't say great things about the place, and it didn't make me want to come back on my own dime, or even, frankly, on an expense account.

It's funny, my wife's (Beezy) and my experience was so different that I re-read your post just to see what you had. You and we had ordered almost diametrically opposed sorts of dishes: we've started with cold apps (salads, etc) and moved to more classic protein-based dishes: I've had the hangar steak, chicken, and one of the fish specials, and was impressed by both the steak (not a Landrum steak, but quite nice) and the fish, and pleased enough with the chicken. But neither of us, as far as I can recall, ventured into the pasta or pizza selections. Could be a case where the kitchen does not do the all parts of the menu equal justice.

Just fyi, the answer to all of these questions: "What do you think I should get?" "Is the special, like, good, or should I just go with the steak?" "Which one is your favorite?" is "ShutupshutupshutupshutupIdon'tcaaaaaaaaaaaaare." Don't Play Stump the Waiter "What's sopressata?" "What's a croutade?" "What's the difference between Blue Point and Kumamoto oysters?" Fucking google it later and don't embarrass yourself. Drink, You Asshole! I hope this person is, in fact, a former restaurant worker. Getting angry at customers that don't drink is bad enough, but getting angry with those who express an interest in what they are eating is pathetic. I hope he or she found his true calling in the exciting field of health insurance claims rejection adjustments.

Fine, make me ask the obvious question: what is the pretheatre menu offering? Studio-theatre-goers want to know.

I've been in this situation relatively recently, too. My approach: if you can be discreet, by all means, add to the tip. If not, suck it up. It's probably not worth creating the drama between you and your friends for a few bucks. The last time this happened to me, I wasn't able to add tip on the spot. I found myself at the same place a few weeks later, noticed the waitress who had served us, told her the quick story, and gave her the "rest" of the tip. She seemed delighted that anyone would do that. If this had happened at an expensive restaurant, where the difference was significant, I'd probably make a point to go back afterwords and get a manager that could help me add to the tip.

I find that if I ask politely for a fresh glass, it usually works out quite well. I don't suspect it is a very uncommon or demanding request, particularly if your drink has run out of ice or uses lemon, or sugar, or whatever. It is asking a slight bit more work from the server, so think well of them at tip time.

I’ll join the choir of disagreement on this point. This is a clever quote but a poor analogy. At full price, this is neither a rehearsal nor a preview event. As with the rest of us, her qualifications are not a requirement here. The writing rises or falls on its own merit. This point seems unfair. Terms like “subpar,” “doesn’t taste like anything,” or even “undercooked,” are clearly opinions. There is no factual standard to bring to bear here. Similarly, terms like “pre-prepared” or “lamp-broiled” are facts. They may be incorrect, but they can be verified objectively. I think most intelligent readers can tell the difference. This is a little trickier, but first, a nitpick: a ‘boycott’ is a fairly loaded term, usually referring to an organized effort to target an institution, likely for political reasons. (You seem like a good enough editor to know this). This is nothing of the sort. In fact, Ms Grace actually suggests people go to the restaurant, just not for the food. Now to the main point… any review critical enough of any restaurant is an implicit suggestion by the writer not to go. Whether the writer actually says something like “Don’t bother with this place” or the more common “I won’t be going back” or even “I was very disappointed,” the effect is the same, and the sentiment is perfectly valid to express. This is a bit like saying that everyone is pretending to be a NASCAR driver on his or her commute to work. I doubt Ms Grace has either aspirations or pretensions to being a paid critic. In this light, while most of your critique of her writing is valid for a published article, here they simply seem cruel. And wrapping these criticisms in the idea that we ALL should endeavor to be journalists is misguided. We are not “researching subjects,” we are writing about our experiences. There is accountability here. You (or anyone) are certainly welcome to ask questions directly of the poster. It would have been perfectly fine to ask what her idea of a gorgeous dining room is, or even to note that browned scallops were probably seared, not lamp-broiled. Instead, you gave her a thorough editorial dressing-down in the third person, in the process questioned the validity of the rest of our non-professional writing.

Thanks for the tip! I had the gazpacho, and loved it. And kudos to them for not sticking to a tired bar-food format, but actually branching out with some interesting and creative options. Here's hoping it catches on, because they are doing a terrific job.

Actually, I have the opposite of this experience with one restaurant. I've been to Chef Geoff's a handful of times, and I've never had bad food or bad service. My experience has ranged from a little above average to a couple of dishes that were particularly good. But, I've heard nothing but bad things, so I always wonder... have I just been really lucky?

Ok, I know I am gonna get roasted for this, but: No matter how good a restaurant is, nobody bats a thousand. I've had less than stellar meals at some of the board favorites here, and had they been my first time there, I'm sure I'd think WTF? If I know the general quality, it's a lot easier to think 'huh, musta been an off night.' Of all the food I've eaten over the last couple of years, that lobster creme brulee really stands out for me: I was blown away. But I don't remember it being particularly sweet. It really is possible this guy's came out wrong. And, since it's an unusual food, it's a hard thing for someone to know "Hey, this doesn't taste as intended" and ask for it "right," which is what they might do for, say, overseasoned or overcooked fish. As for the price: of course you are going to be disappointed when you spend more money on food you don't like. If I spend $250 on a dinner, and it doesn't live up to expectation, it's normal to feel more irritated than if I had spent $50. No one get's mad when we point out that a local steakhouse produces an amazing dinner for $20... we all celebrate. It's the flip side of the same coin, is it not? [Edited for formatting...]

My wife and I were also lured out by the bistro dinner last night. Showed up early, and there was no wait for a table. It felt like the early days of Ray's! I'll be honest... the reservation system did keep us away except for "occasions"; with the new system, I think we'll be in quite a bit more often. I'm hoping it's good for business Mr. L, 'cause I sure love it. While the raves about the food are well deserved (and echoed here), I just wanted to point out one more little thing they do right: we were served red wine last night at cellar temp, not warm. So few places actually get this right that it seems worthy of mention. And: three courses each and a bottle of wine, and we still got out of there under $80. The bistro deal rocks!

I had the chance to go to Dino last night. While we were there for dinner, I had already had a large lunch as part of a going away lunch for a coworker, so I was keeping it on the light side, and for some reason, I was especially in the mood for comfort food. To start, ordered the apple, baby spinach, and goat cheese salad, which is similar to a salad we make at home quite often. They did a nice job with it (everything was fresh), and I loved the bits of black truffle in the salad. I'm stealing that for the home recipe! (Although, I did think the candied hazelnuts were one sweet bit too many with the apples and the dressing. Or maybe I am just too used to toasted hazelnuts) For my main, I had a half order of the polenta and mushroom, which really is one of my ultimate comforts. I'm not sure why this dish is so hard to find well prepared (maybe it is too pedestrian?), but Dino did it right. Good, creamy consistency, mushroom sauce that worked well, although a bit more mild in character than the menu suggests. Perfect for my mood, though. I did get to try a bit of my dining companion's prosciutto, and I'd make the trip back for that alone. Soft, thin shaved, melt-in-your-mouth prosciutto. Good stuff!

I enjoyed this article quite a bit. What I think is getting missed in this thread, with talk of percentages, is that that the variety is so sorely lacking. The only analogy that I can think of is if most restaurants served all-veggie food, but had an obligatory hamburger or baked chicken on the menu, often prepared with little attention. Some may be excellent, but there is a crushing weight of sameness to your dining experiences. I’m not a vegetarian, but I tend to try and keep my diet light on the meats, which means looking for good vegetarian alternatives (I had no idea there was a term for this, and I’m not sure why it really exists. I don’t feel like a “-tarian,” just a diner with my own tastes). It was easy to recognize the trends that Bob points out. It’s genuine, and it shouldn’t take personal phonecalls and pleadings (combined with either the confidence or arrogance, depending on your POV, to ask a restaurant to change “just for you”) to get something different. However, Bob, I am surprised no one has mentioned this: I know that you were focusing on “white tablecloth” restaurants, but why does this exclude the entirety of ethnic dining alternatives? To put it more bluntly, is there any reason that “white tablecloth” has to be, well, white? And why is Komi an exception if Zaytinya or Indique are not? It seems to me that you are dismissing a huge number of opportunities from the outset, as if you waved your hands and said “these don’t count.” As I recall, Jose Andres’ restaurants offer a pretty nice variety of veggie tapas (well, Atlantico excepted), and the room at Oyamel is pretty grand. (I’d second the criticism that your complaint with Atlantico was not one of food quality, but of service. I’m inclined to wonder you felt your waiter served you differently, or just poorly). For mid-scale, I know there are a number of places within a short car-ride from my house that do a very nice job with veggie dishes: Layalina, Bangkok 54, and Lalibela all come to mind. Punjab Dabha is only a little further down Rt. 50. I’m personally curious about both Indique and Rasika, but have not yet been. So, while I agree that some trendy/upscale restaurants deserve a few dings for not making more of an effort, I also think you threw away the baby and are carping at the bathwater.

You know, I should have pointed out that the dish was well described on the menu, so there was no surprise when it arrived. (I'm still learning how to write about my food experiences here.) Personally, I still find the name of the dish peculiar. Tartare makes me think of that particular combination of beef and seasonings. On checking the definition (and, uh, correcting my spelling), I noticed a few sources include the seasonings in the definition. I definitely didn't mean to imply that I was expecting one thing and received another. Clumsy writing. Cheers! Brad

Dinner there with my mom on Monday. I'm turning my mom into a more adventurous eater. She's always been on of those people that likes to go to the same [often mediocre] places, and I've started a campaign to bring her to more of my faves lately. Amuses: Baby Burger, Corn Dog, Crab Dumpling, and Duck Confitte. I always look forward to the baby burgers here... I love how they work with the truffle butter and the sweetness of the onions. This time, though, it was a miss. The meat was kinda dry, and the butter was applied haphazardly, so that the butter was more on the bun than the meat (and off on one half). The crab dumpling was terrific. The sauce did not overwhelm the crab meat, which was a nice quality. The corn dog was better than usual, the shell had a nice little crunch, and the chorizo wasn't dry (as described above). Maybe it was karma's trade for the burger. My mom enjoyed the duck, which I did not try. Apps: Mushroom Ragout and Tuna Tartar I had the mushrooms, which I really enjoyed. They really maxed out the flavor of the mushrooms, and the pairing with the bacon (which was a nice, meaty, butcher style bacon) made for a nice textural contrast. It was a rich appetizer, and I think would have worked just as well if it was a slightly smaller portion. I tasted the tuna. Very nice, but it is certainly an interpretive 'tartar.' The elements are all sweet - onions, sweet potato, the pineapple sauce that they finish the plate with. Nothing represents the spiciness or briney quality that I think of with a more traditional steak tartar. But it's an elegant dish, and one that I'd happily order if they changed the name to 'eggs benedict.' Mains: Salmon with Lobster Risotto. Salad. I had the salmon. Cooked a medium rare (more on the rare side) with a nice, crispy skin. It was a good piece of salmon, well prepared. Which was a good thing, as the risotto was seriously undercooked. I think it was meant to be al dente, but the grain was still hard (crunchy) in the center. The sauce seemed nice, but was obviously hard to enjoy. I did mention it to my waitress when she came by (which was after the first few bites, but not before. Kudos for that!). She said she'd look into it, but we never heard anything more about it. As the rest of the food was nice, and I was pretty full (two amuses, an app, and a decent portion of salmon was plenty), I didn't pursue it. Goaded a little by my mom (who'd had salad...), I split the peanut butter and chocolate pie, which was not something I'd order again, particularly. Not bad, but not great. Overall, a good night out, with some peevish dissapointments (which run counter to my prior visits).

I remember it from my own Hoya days, a little over a decade ago. I liked the fries and milkshakes. The food was thoroughly average, though. I have to give it to the Econ students on this one. Wisey's, on the other hand, must stay. Viva la cheeseburger madness.