Capital Icebox

...rarely mentioned on this board.

There are a large number of well-done posts on Vidalia here, on average a few a month. While I agree that this place is the bees knees I disagree that it is rarely mentioned. Use that scrolly thing on your mouse.

Here is something that has been overlooked -- the $20 3-course lunch at Vidalia, which I hope is still around. It is like having restaurant week all year long, and even though the portion sizes are smaller than they are if you order a la carte, it is still more than enough food. It is priced the same as Eve's lickety split (factoring in the extra course) and certainly on the same level. Add in the option of 1/2-pours of wine and I think you are looking at one of the best dining deals in the city.

Again, virtually every restaurant I go into for the first time (or the second), if I see a waiter/waittress who is knowledgeable and seems to CARE (repeat CARE) about the food I will ask. If I see the owner I guarantee that I will ask. It has nothing to do with privilege, favors, arrogance or anything else. It has to do with my personal obsession for tasting the best that someone can offer.

Yes, but where are these servers and bartenders at Bebo? Few and far between. There comes a point when the consensus goes well beyond groupthink, which should be obvious given that the service and food issues have been independently reported in several places: here, in the Post and Washingtonian, as well as on local food blogs. The problem is much bigger than just what we are whining about, Joe.

Kliman asks up front today (in a Q&A with Chef Todd Gray of Equinox) why shad and shad roe are "rarely" seen on menus in local restaurants, "despite a lot of well-meaning talk from chefs about their fondness for market-based cooking."

This has been a pet issue of Todd's since his City Paper days. But is it just me, or is shad roe pretty well-represented around town these days? All of the major seafood destinations feature it (Johnny's Half Shell, Oceanaire, Hank's, to name a few). Shad itself is understandably less prevalent, but has been featured at Oceanaire, CityZen, and I'm sure y'all know of some others. Cannon's in Georgetown was sold out of shad last week (thanks to this article) but not shad roe. Plus, local fishermen are banned from catching shad since the stocks are low due to pollution and over-fishing. Nearly all of our shad locally comes from the Carolinas. So what are you pushing for, Todd? Shad at McCormick and Schmicks? Illegal harvesting of shad locally? I don't get it.

More importantly, when does it start?

See Michael's post above: Lunch begins today and will be every "Tue-Friday starting at 12."

But why?

Because for me, there is such a thing as too sweet. Would I take a snickers bar from the vending machine and roll it in sugar? No, that would be overkill.

The fries are getting more and more consistent here, the Ray is a surprise hit, a really creamy, meaty fish (and in my case was boneless, a bonus), the catfish rules and should be had with the Chesapeake sauce, and deep-fried candy bars will gladly be made sans sugar dusting. They also seem to have worked out the kinks with the iPod, so it no longer plays Christmas techno, opting instead for The Clash and The B-52s.

Habit-forming.

After my failed attempt at infusing vodka with pineapple I decided to do a little more research, and have some decided to give it another go. I started off simple by infusing vodka with Earl Grey. To prevent the vodka from pulling out too much of the teas tannins, it was a quick steep, less than 24 hours. It turned out well, but due to its strength it is in need of either mellowing or further dilution.

I think you just came up with the tasting for the next picnic.

On the tea infusions, do you heat up the vodka, or just throw in the teabags at room temp?

Please put me down for China Star on the 4th and Thai Square on the 12th, +1 if possible.

They typically don't open the door; they use the little speakeasy window in the door to communicate with you.

As I am aware, and perhaps they were speaking of the window door, but I don't see how that makes a difference here.

I had a hard time understanding the rampant praise for Eamonn's until I tried the grouper a few weeks back. While I am not a huge fan of some of the other items on the menu (and find the fries to be woefully inconsistent), the grouper made a believer out of me. For five bones, you get a meaty, hefty portion of grouper that really exemplifies how good fish n chips can be. Get it while it can be gotten.

When they first opened, the fried candy bars were simply battered and fried. On return visits, they were battered, fried, and then coated with sugar, which struck me as overkill. Are they still doing this?

It sort of seemed like PX was the punching bag on yesterday's chat. Someone apparantly was sour grapes because they couldn't get in. That bit about being left out in the cold was over the top. If they don't have room to let you "inside," that means they have to leave you "outside," regardless of the weather. And just because they have space when you call, does not mean that there will be space when you get there 20-minutes later. A couple of parties of 4 will fill that place up in a hurry. And my understanding is that they do not like to have standees in there. They consider the place full when all of the seats are taken or reserved.

I think the issue had to do more with how they were treated:

""If you don't have a reservation, there's no way," we were told. When I tried to explain that I had just spoken to someone on the phone and was told to come on by, the door was shut in my face without further comment."

Granted, this is just one side of the story, but I would surely be upset if that had happened to me. There is no charm in rudeness.

Abay Market cannot handle large crowds--it has five, six tables, tops--but if you want to experience real, raw Ethiopian cuisine, this is your place. Read more.

Really enjoyed reading this, and can't wait to check it out. Considering that Bamian and Edy's Chicken are close by you could put together quite the progressive dinner.

I've been to Restaurant Eve for one of their "special nights" and I can assure you, there was nothing dumbed down about the menu. Nor did they offer less for the money. Quite the contrary. Now, why don't we hear from somebody who actually ate at the Bistro last night before we continue making wild assumptions about the quality of the food or the service?

We have confirmed so far that at the "top tier" restaurants we know of (Citronelle, Komi, Corduroy, Ray's, Dino) any additional price increases involved additions to the menu or dishes. It seems silly that Eve has to be another line in the argument for not dining out on Valentine's Day. But there it is.

Komi's prices were 166% of normal and the caviar and foie gras did not justify that much of a price increase. Not complaining, I went in with my eyes open.

ETA: And just out of curiosity, were the prices charged at the bar different than what they were charging guests in the Bistro last night? Does it seem unreasonable for a restaurant to charge the same price for the same meal regardless where in the restaurant you decide to dine?

The prices at the bar were the same as in the Bistro, I believe. What seemed unreasonable is charging almost twice as much for the same thing, not that the menu was the same in the bistro and the bar (they usually are anyways, as you know, except for a small number of appetizers on the bar menu that are a little less than on the bistro menu).

Komi was $125 for a special tasting menu last night, which I understand to be different than the normal $74 tasting menu. Similar percentage of upcharges to Eve, yes, but you got something more. (And $125 instead of $74 doesn't give you 166% of normal.)

ETA: I suck at math. I mean it isn't a 166% increase, but it appears you meant it is 166% higher than usual. That means at Eve it was 200% higher than usual for some dishes like the salads, with no extras.

Just to be clear, my point has nothing to do with Eve. Many of the top tier restaurants raise their prices at times such as NYE and VD. My view is that it's unfair to tar a particular establishment when the practice is so widespread.

I am not tarring anyone, just pointing out that prices were up 70-100% over the usual on Eve's menu last night, with no apparent difference in the composition of the dishes. It'd be helpful for others to post who else did the same or similar, I would think, so we can get an idea of what the "industry standard" truly is. If it is so widespread, let's establish so. We've already learned that Corduroy and Ray's did no such thing...

Palena? CityZen? Citronelle? Let's hear it.

You were lucky because of the weather.

Nope. The place I ended up was more packed than Eve before long. I just had good timing.

At any rate, for someone who holds Eve as a sacred cow as I do, it seemed out of character.

Good luck finding a table somewhere else or a bar where the prices of the dinner menu have not bee escalated for VD. It is industry practice and simply reflects the law of supply and demand. There are only x number of seats available and on VD the demand is 2x. I don't blame them and I don't begrudge them. Some chalk it up to the cost of insuring against the risk of alienating the SO on a day when the risk is high.

The prices were higher at the place I dined last night but the menu included upgraded ingredients such as foie gras and caviar.

I did find a table somewhere else without a problem, that had great food as usual, and the prices were not escalated. If you are going to raise prices for a special occasion, fine, but at least give me something more for the extra money I am giving you. I am not sure charging twice as much for the same dish you served the night before is "industry practice." Where you dined, for instance, you were getting more for the extra money you paid.

Thanks to Crackers. Hopefully, three calls are a charm. At Restaurant Eve: In the bar, no reservations required, Valentines' Day menu, a la carte. The menu hasn't been set yet.

In the bar at Eve last night, the "Valentine's Day Menu" was exactly the same as the regular menu, except all appetizers were priced at $25 and all entrees were priced at $40. So the arugula salad with prosciutto and parmesan, which is normally $12, was going for more than twice that. As was the bacon egg and cheese salad, in fact all of the appetizers (which max out at $18 for the oysters on the regular menu) cost much more than they usually do, as did the entrees, which are usually in the upper $20 range. I asked and was told there was no difference in the composition of the dishes last night, but that they had simply decided to do special pricing for the holiday. It seemed unusual (and disappointing) for Eve to do this, especially in the bar, and I was not the only one who left to dine elsewhere.

So the industry pros are of possible value, but none of the rest of us? Sounds like someone doesn't care for this board very much. What about those who are none of those things? What about the home cooks? Bakers? Shoppers? Those who like getting together to explore and discuss _______ ( fill in the blank with ethnic restaurants, cheap eats, various markets, food books, etc.)? Donrockwell.com posters are not exclusively chefs and their panting groupies.

It is apparent from Todd's missive that he spends little time actually reading the board, which is unfortunate given what he said about it today to his readers. I agree with him about the "gushing" problem (although it seems to be less and less frequent), but he seems to ignore the serious amount of self- and group-policing that goes on here. No potshots are allowed, and if you are going to really criticize a place, you had better be prepared to back it up with details and experience. I think if Todd spent some more time reading (and posting) here, he'd have a better appreciation of what this board can be.

Then again, if I were a restaurant critic I don't know that I would feel much love for my competition, either.

"Adams Morgan DC:

good morning, I don't know if you have been asked this before, but what do you think about DC food blogs. I mean you know Don Rockwell b/c you work for the same publication, but do you think sites like dr.com are helpful or do the "writers" expect to much from dining--- esp. those who b/c they belong to a message board expect special service and perks? Is this fair for a restaurant?

Todd Kliman:

I guess the question is -- helpful to whom?

To the person who knows little about the area's restaurant scene? No. To the person who loves to go to restaurants and eat and drink but who isn't the sort of person inclined to dissect the dish and the rationale for pairing a certain course with a certain wine? Again, no.

There are some people on these boards who know an awful lot about food and drink, to be sure.

Some of them are actual insiders -- people who work in the business. Some of them disclose their connection, some don't. It hardly matters either way, since the nature of the Internet is that readers don't read all that carefully and the information, in the end -- the sheer information, not whether it is true or false, rumor or not, honest critique or public relations -- is ultimately what is retained in the great collective memory.

And some of these people are quasi-insiders -- people who are fond of a chef or restaurant and who then become fans or, if you will, groupies of that chef's place. People who want to be on the inside. Special treatment invariably follows, which in turn leads to gushing posts on the message boards, which in turn creates a buzz about a place."

So I guess he's saying that DR.com is helpful to no one. Meanie.

If you can get there at lunch, the kamemeshi is even cheaper.

Even cheaper because at lunch the kamemeshi doesn't come with sashimi.

Hot damn the scallop here is good.

Interestingly, as of a year or so ago, the best price I have ever seen for Hendricks was at .... wait for it .... Virginia ABC stores! I think it was a promotion that's probably no longer in effect, but it was under $30 a fifth; I forget the exact price, but I think it was maybe as little as $28.

It is on sale for $29 today.

Try one at Eve made by Tammy no matter what your brand or taste. I have just begun drinking martini's again after a long ago bad experience so my experience is limited but in addition to loving Tammy's martini's I hear a lot of Eve customers rave about the martini's at Eve and, in particular, Tammy's. .

It's a shame they won't let her make them at PX.

It took a huge leap of faith to leave a well-paying job as a journalist and spend my days making preserves.

Such things exist?

You can definitely add the Stardust Restaurant in Alexandria to your list (Montgomery at Washington, behind the Wendy's). They have a short but good draft beer list, and the burgers look pretty decent too. And...all the booths in the front room where the bar is, have huge, heavy glass ashtrays on them.

Old Town has a few options in this department:

Vermilion

Southside 815

King Street Blues