youngfood

Musso and Frank Grill has been serving charcoal grilled steaks and martinis in Hollywood since 1919. Not necessarily my cup of tea, but kind of a neat old spot if you're into that sort of thing. I'm glad I've tried it even if it wasn't a gastronomic epiphany.

I should have been more clear -- that the wines were local wines was very much to my satisfaction and the price point for the pairing was not at all bad. But, for me, pairings are fun for two reasons. First, you get something that goes well with what you're eating (that happened) and second, you usually learn a bit about what your drinking (that did not happen here). In that we were drinking local wines, I was hoping to learn something about them -- where exactly they were from, whether they were typical, why they were proud to be serving them here and, perhaps where I could buy some of them. Alas, I learned nothing more than that each new glass was also local. Perhaps, our fault for not speaking the local language, but again, we were disappointed that the service component of the wine pairing was lacking.

Ok, I'll start. We visited 3 star Arzak on a recent culinary tour of the spectacular Spanish Basque region town of San Sebastian. In a tiny town full of amazing food, Arzak fell flat. Wine service for the wine pairing was subpar -- "this is a local wine" was the description time and again for the wines that were poured for each course. No objection to drinking local, but if I'm at a Michelin starred restaurant and spending more for a meal than I've ever spent before in my life, I expected much better. Much of the meal was very good, but little stood out and for 3 stars and an extremely high price point, we needed more. By contrast, nearby 1 star Extebarri absolutely blew us away and Barcelona's 2 star Disfrutar seems to me to be a serious contender for the unofficial successor to the shuttered El Bulli.

That's a bummer, but this facebook post from Friday, October 12, at 1:33 pm states that they Kinship would be closed for a private event that night.

Grace's Kitchen Shrimp Salad Po Boy is my go-to. I prefer it to the fried version they had at the start of the season, especially on a hot day. It is way overfilled though, so your suggestion to start with a fork is a good one. I usually just make a mess of myself.

Rosaline opened last year and caught my attention thanks to this nice write up in the NY Times. We had a great quick meal there earlier this year. The Arroz con pollo is otherworldly and the Pisco cocktails were all very good. Highly recommend -- I'ill certainly return on future LA visits.

I'd either do Fancy Radish (which is vegan, but good enough that nonvegans love it too) or check with Kinship to see what they say about vegan options. I don't think I've had anything vegan there, but I'd bet they would be able to come up with a few options and it's a go-to for us.

Tom Sietsema did and was a big fan. We have a reservation the week after next and would love to hear from others who have been.

It's still a very popular spot that fills up early, but if you don't mind waiting at the bar or eating at the bar, it's probably worth a visit as the food, drink and service remain terrific. My only complaint is that I wish it was less popular.

I haven't closely review Washingtonian's new top 100 yet, but their listing Kinship at 27 is a clear error. I can't say I know the number 1 restaurant in town from the number 5 and there are increasingly many great restaurants here, but there's no legitimate way to explain why Kinship was not in their top 25. I think someone else pointed out that Rose's Luxury is also lower than you might expect and suggested that perhaps the Washingtonian folks weren't inclined to list two restaurants from the same team near the top of the list. That's the only plausible explanation I can see here. For example, I've enjoyed All Purpose and really liked Chiko on our one visit there, but I would never put either one of them over Kinship.

Kinship has quietly become our favorite restaurant in town and our go-to for most any special occasion and it met and exceeded our high expectations again this weekend. Kinship pays attention to the details and seems to find a way to make everyone feel both special and right at home. To their credit, they always ask if you're celebrating a special occasion and make note to wish you a happy birthday or anniversary when seated. It had been a couple months since our last visit and the menu this weekend was mostly new to us. I've largely steered clear of Tuna dishes since Todd Kliman's manifesto about its overfishing and declining quality [good god, was that really more than a decade ago?), but we wanted something light to start and boy am I glad we trusted Kinship to have great tuna and to do something special with its Tuna Tataki. The fish was everything I love about tuna and showing none of the signs of declining quality. The dish had a nice mix of textures -- cucumber butter pickle, marinated onion, dashi gelee, and puffed rice -- and the added acid, crunch, and salt really all played together perfectly. One reason we wanted to start light was that we knew we couldn't resist the lobster french toast, which we seem to order just about every other time we're there. There's always plenty of new things to try and some other richer dishes on the menu that we sometimes order instead, but if you've never had it, Kinship's Maine Lobster French Toast is one of the best dishes in town (and you don't have to take my word for it). And, I say that as someone who otherwise pretty much only sats lobster fresh out of the water when in Maine. Kudos to the somm who aptly paired a German riesling with this rich dish. The wine was delicious on its own and had great acidity which allowed it cut right through the buttery, fresh toast sauce. We were on the fence about whether to try to monkfish, but it was a terrific dish and I recommend it highly. Most monkfish preparations I've had to play on the rich, meaty texture of monkfish and lend themselves to a heavier saucing and a more fully cooked presentation than you might prefer from other fish. Chef Ziebold's Monkfish Aux Olives was the exception. The fish was lovely, light, and cooked just shy of medium. The olives came in a couple forms picholine olives and nicoise olive powder and added a nice counterpoint to the natural richness of the monkfish. We put ourselves in the Somm's hands for the pairing and the rose worked very well. I don't think I've ordered or even noticed an Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb on Kinship's menu in past visits and it's one of my favorite dishes to have, so we had to try it. The rack was nicely frenched with all fat full rendered and the meat served at exactly the medium rare I hope for -- a gorgeous shade of red on the inside with a paper thin browned crust. The chef is to talented to just serve the dish simply "Herb Crusted" and the rest of the plate -- eggplant marmalade, sweet peppers, yellow (Thai) curry -- were the prominent flavors around the lamb itself. The flavors all worked and I'll certainly order a rack here again based only on the perfect preparation of the lamb itself, but the saucing and accompaniments here, while good, were not my favorite. Hat tip to @DonRocks, we always allow time for coffee service and I don't want to spoil it, but you should, too. And, if you can save room for dessert, there are always a number of fascinating and serious offerings. We tried the Mango Mascarpone Terrine (passionfruit risotto, cashel steussel, and coconut sorbet), which was fascinating and delicious interplay of hot and cold, sweet and tangy and seemed to somehow infuse mango (and passionfruit) essence throughout. Not too sweet, tangy, warm, cold, creamy, this dish had it all and was a lovely way to end the evening. We're not quite regulars at Kinship and I can't say I know anyone there or that anyone there recognizes us from our past visits, but I think we're finally at the point where we're ready to declare it our number one favorite spot in town and somewhere we're more likely to enjoy than whatever the latest, greatest, new spot to open might be. They get it all right here and the food, wine, and service all come together as well as anywhere we've been. We haven't been able to try Metier yet, but our most recent meal at Kinship gives us every reason to believe the Washingtonian's rating of it as the best restaurant in town. I'm not sure when we'll manage to try Metier, but I'm sure it won't be long before we find an excuse to return to Kinship.

Chef Austin Fausett is departing for Chicago and George Rodrigues from Schlow Restaurant Group where he was the executive chef at Tico, The Riggsby, Conosci, and Calle Cinco is taking over as Executive Chef. Apparently, Proof also plans a "significant refresh" and recently renewed its lease for another five years. All via Laura Hayes in the City Paper. I believe Fausett's wife has also been serving as GM and somm at Proof for the past year or two, but the article does not mention her or any other staff changes.

Where did you end up? We're headed back later this fall and likely to try Alter for the first time.

Lots of change here in recent years, but what a great run Boundary Road has had over it's first handful of years. I so wish we could bring @chefgunshow back!

Yes. We tried to do my birthday there a few Saturdays back and were unable to get a table and ended up with the last two seats at the bar at little before 7:00. Note that they told us that we could not order food (just drinks) if we wanted to sit at the otherwise available table near the entrance, which seemed odd. That said, we had eventually had a lovely meal at the bar itself.

DC Fishwife had big ones on Saturday at Union Market available to buy live and take home took or to eat in fried on a brioche bun. The latter was excellent.

We've been twice and enjoyed it both times. We just made plans to go back again soon. The folks at the Washingtonian are big fans.

Well, that sucks. Joe was on the opening staff at Proof 9 years ago. He is a terrific guy and a big reason we remained regulars there all these years.

Perhaps, but they certainly weren't the only ones doing half priced wine on Sundays --- DC Harvest & PassionFish have done the same. I'd love to hear it's been rescheduled. Does anyone know if the half priced wine nights at Estadio, Doi Moi, and Two Birds One Stone are impacted?

I don't think so.

Same. Still had a good time last night, but would have been nice to know it had been discontinued before advertising it to our guests who joined us to partake in it.

Alas, I seem to have jinxed this -- Proof stopped doing half priced bottles last Sunday.

Proof does half priced bottles on Sundays. It's not the entire wine directory, but they come up with a pretty sizeable list each week and we're big fans.

Mythology is now (soft) open at 816 H Street NE. The concept has been in the works for years and comes from former Atlas Room GM (and Mark & Orlando's owner) Mark Medley with his business partner Todd Luongo. Mythology opened quietly last night. With little fanfare, Mythology lined up the talented Chef Joseph Harran (formerly of Woodward Table, Bistro Bis and Vidalia) to operate the kitchen. If you don't know Chef Harran (and I did not), note that our fearless leader DonRocks has described him here as "exceptionally talented" and a "Top 20 Chef in the city." Our preview meal confirmed Don's informed opinion and was quite delicious and well-executed. We particularly enjoyed the blue crab toast appetizer, the scallops and steak (w/bone marrow) entrées, and the playful "coffee and tea" dessert. The second floor lounge area and roof decks of the building and concept remain under construction, but Mythology is open for dinner now and likely to add brunch and the upstairs bar/lounge space in the coming months. Some aspects of the Mythology theme were not to our taste, but we will be back again for another very good meal soon. Mythology is an instant contender on H Street, IMHO -- Chef Harran in back and Mark in front is a very strong combination and elevates the competition for quality dining here in NE DC.

I absolutely agree. We eat here multiple times a month and love it. IMHO, one of the most underrated spots around. I love the baked claims, the crab cake, the smoked salmon, and just about every other seafood preparation here.