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CanY

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Posts posted by CanY

  1. 3 hours ago, JonS said:

    We have not been yet, but am wondering whether Tetsuyasan came over from Perry's.  We are old fans of "Tets" from Murasaki, so wondering whether we can find him now at Ogawa.

    Hi JonS, 

    I`m a big fan of Tetsuya-san too, and yes, he is an important part of our team. He is currently leading the way for us at our Sushi Capitol location. He is the most senior student of Ogawa-san in our current team of chefs and we are lucky to have him with us. Tetsuya-san and I look forward to hosting you in the near future. 

    Kindest Regards

    • Like 3
  2. 12 minutes ago, franch said:

    does anyone have any feelings on this place vs. Daikaya's Izakaya? we went to Daikaya for RW recently and quite enjoyed it.

    Both are great places with their own energy and feel. As far as food and drinks, I believe Izakaya Seki features sashimi and a counter seating where you can watch Seki-san wonderfully prepare orders. As far as setting, for me Izakaya Seki is more tranquil and Daikaya is more stimulating. 

    • Like 5
  3. The media is effective. Yesterday it convinced me to do something that I have never done before: wait in a long line to be placed on a waiting list to eat dinner later on. And as luck would have it, we were 6 people too late so the best offer for our hour or so wait was to be placed on a call list in case some else earlier on the list cancelled. At that moment a new decision faced me, travel about a mile or so to the east or travel about a mile or so to the west. Spot to the west was a familiar one, place where I`ve been to more in the last few years than my parents' house and spot to the east was a new one, never been and frankly never heard too much of. My dining companion was driving and they chose the spot to the east. 

    Nido from the outside looks like any other highly reviewed and highly followed restaurant. On the inside, it looks like it could be a page pinned hundreds of thousands of times on Pinterest for the search words "design", "restaurant", and "cool". Also, the location requires more courage to open than most neighborhoods in this city because it felt like there was virtually no foot traffic. So kudos to the owners for opening where they did. 

    The menu is straightforward and balanced between small small plates to medium sized small plates. We ended up trying six different dishes and everything was well made. Shishito peppers and chicken thighs were my favorite dishes of the night. The service was friendly and attentive. Surprisingly I was too full to try any of the dessert selections but the option with pistachio cream and cookie caught my eye for next time. 

    I never got a text from the other spot, which means no one cancelled from the wait list earlier but lucky for me I enjoyed a beautiful meal in a beautiful setting. I will be back to the spot that was to the west as well but I`m glad I met Nido and I look forward to return to her soon. 

    • Like 2
  4. 11 hours ago, peasoup said:

    Hi Can,

    I ate in the dining room in February, though we had hoped for seats at the sushi counter. We were curious what the difference was to the omakase service between the dining room and the sushi counter, but our server didn't really know.

    thanks for the reply!

    Thank you for coming in and giving us a try. I hoped you enjoyed your experience in February, we just opened on February 1st, so thank you for coming in so early on. There are two differences between the counter and the dining room. First difference is the experience. In the dining room, it's quieter and you can focus more on your dining companion. At the sushi counter, since you are inches away from the chefs, most guests end up watching them and may not necessarily focus on their dining counterpart. Second difference is the number of pieces of sushi or the chef's tailoring of the course for the individual. Once again, since you are so close to him, you can interact with him and he observes you as you're eating your sushi and he`ll shape the path of the omakase course accordingly. Also, the omakase costs little bit more at the counter, and there are few more pieces (varying from day to day) that are served for the guest as their appetite allows. We would love to host you again, and this time just mention your desire to be seated at the counter and it`ll be our pleasure to host you and I`ll ensure you`ll have an excellent experience. Ogawasan and Tetsuyasan (and I) are fun to talk to, and at times there is a bit of a language barrier (between chefs and guests), but we all have clean hearts and good intentions so it ends up making for fun conversations. 

    Kindest Regards, 

    Can 

    • Like 7
  5. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Poste, Cork, or Garrison, great Chef and a great neighbor, Chef Weland a does an excellent job in feeding us every time we visit. And every time we visit, we end up asking ourselves why it's been this long since our last visit. I appreciate how clean and nice Garrison feels and I really appreciate how Chef Weland is there every time we visit. There is something about a team with it's captain always being present. So what's in a name? How many of us can remember what was in this space before Garrison opened without using a search engine? It's the people that make the name of a place matter and if it is Chef Weland's kitchen and it's his food, you are guaranteed to enjoy it. Also, I may not have another opportunity to type the following with the right context, so here it goes: Gougeres on Gougeres  on Gougeres. 

    • Like 1
  6. I haven't been back to Istanbul in over a decade. Life takes it's toll and something gets in they way of something else, and before too long you feel trapped in between something and something. One of the things I feel worst about missing out on is the food culture of Istanbul. The heart of that culture is friends and families at a table together to share. They share stories, experiences, complaints, news, opinions, and most importantly they share their time over great food. I remember visiting grand restaurants with no soul, and I also remember tables with nothing more than bread, feta, and tea to be packed with life. And even though, the food at 2 Amy's is excellent, what makes them my current favorite restaurant in the city, isn't that. It's their unparalleled ability to welcome you in what it seems to be a loud mad house from the outside. They welcome you with their authenticity, ingenious menu, great wines, efficient service, and with the soul of the space which captivates you from the moment you seat down. I may not go back to Istanbul again for the next few years with how things are going with our own places, however, I am thankful to 2 Amy's for bringing the dining spirit of the Mediterranean to DC. 

    • Like 6
  7. Depends on the time, and I'm only taking an educated guess (but it's a pretty good one). There should be street parking on Connecticut after 6:30, or on any of the nearby side streets at any time (pay attention to the "Zone X Parking Only" signs, which tend to be on only one side of the side streets). There's *nothing* here but the restaurant and a bunch of houses, so I think you'll be okay parking-wise (regardless, if the options I gave you don't work, you're totally hosed unless they have valet parking). My backup would be to park wherever you can and take Uber, but I really don't think it's going to be a problem. In this particular situation it doesn't apply, but Capital Bikeshare isn't a bad idea for parallel scenarios, especially on places like Barracks Row.

    Can, can you chime in?

    I know nothing about this hood. Where might I park on a Fri night?

    Don, you are spot on. After 6:30 pm, there are spots right on Connecticut Ave.. I had few guests who were able to park right outside of the building across from us. Also, as Don wrote, the nearby side streets will have some spots. Most houses behind are Embassy houses and not many other visitors come into the area. In addition, I heard from some guests that there is a garage near the Hilton DC, which is approximately 5-10 minute walk and they mentioned it to be very reasonable. Also, from few guests who live in the Woodley Park side, they say there is parking available there and it's about a 10 minute walk across the bridge. Eric, I hope you will have an easy time finding parking and I hope we will be able to present you an excellent night at our restaurant.

    • Like 1
  8. Just a quick note to say that we suffered through mediocre pizza from We The Pizza tonight only because they deliver, and Wise Guy does not.  We are not the only Hill family to do so, and this isn't the first time we've done this.  Wise Guy is really missing out by not having delivery.  With all the outside services (Caviar, Postdates, Door Dash), I can't think of a good reason not to offer the service.

    3 out of the last 4 orders I placed using Postmates was for WiseGuy NY Pizza. Recently, I completed a move to Navy Yard area, and too tired to cook WiseGuy came to my rescue with great pizza, meatballs, and garlic knots. Also, I noticed they updated their website and it looks beautiful with great pictures of the menu items.

    • Like 1
  9. Few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Tony Erol through a mutual friend. At the time I was trying to open my own eatery and I wanted his advice. As far as independent restaurant owners goes, Tony Erol is one of my role models. And even though I`m not even close to being a pizza or NY pizza connoisseur, I judge my experiences by delicious-o-meter, and everything I had the pleasure of tasting from Wiseguy's scores high for me. 

    • Like 3
  10. This week I learned that Chef Liam and I have a good mutual friend, so I am very excited to head over there and experience Bar Civita. Plus it's right down the road from Ogawa, so I see a lot of visits in between or after service (at Ogawa). And of course a chef owned establishment should have plenty of soul so I`m on board. 

  11. Everyday for the last two years, my life is centered around Japanese food. (mostly sushi but there are a lot of tangent conversations about other aspects of the Japanese cuisine) So when I learned about Nikkei cuisine, I was very intrigued. And with Ocopa opening less than a mile from my house, I had a destination to quench my curiosity. Upon learning that Jose Andres, once a chef- now a great restaurateur, was opening what I perceive to be a Nikkei restaurant on steroids, I was happy to have another opportunity to experience this unique combination.

    With my birthday approaching, my fiance wanted to surprise me with a nice dinner, so she made reservations. (She forgot to clear the history on her browser, so I quickly figured out where we were going to go) When we showed up on a Sunday evening, the place was about half full, by the time we left, they were almost close to capacity. One thing I noticed that surprised me was the amount of older (65+) clients. Maybe it was the time of our reservation, or maybe they had early bird specials we didn't know about, but half of the tables I observed was in the older crowd.

    Service was laid back. Our server was very knowledgeable and I could sense his excitement to be part of their team. (Towards the end of the meal, I asked him when and how he joined the team, and he said that he is Peruvian and when he heard about the place, he quit his job and wanted to work there.)

    For food, we tried hakao (steamed glass dumpling), sanguche de chancho nipon (pork belly),  uni causagris, engawa with uni nigiri, aji de gallina, nobu usuzukuri, and for dessert suspiro limena, and marcianos. Most enjoyable dishes for the night were the aji de gallina and suspiro limena. Instead of breaking each dish down to what was good or bad for me, I`ll say this, at Ocopa, I felt a sense of authenticity and I felt I was part of the establishment even if they had a rougher experience compared to China Chilcano. At China Chilcano, I felt a sense of being a spectator as if I was at Folger Theater, I was able to observe the experience, but my role was very defined; arrive, order, eat, and leave.

    The restaurant itself is very polished and thinking about how much it would take to make a space that big this polished gives me wild dreams of what I can do with 1/10th of that budget. So it's nice to see that Mr. Andres and his team went all out to bring a new addition to our city. I think China Chilcano will find their line and define a standard and like all other restaurants under Mr. Andres' empire, perform at that level to those who want to experience an ethnic experience, but not that much.

    • Like 5
  12. March 15, 2015 was a glorious day for me. It started with my football club (in Turkey) taking over the standings with a convincing victory and the day continued with my first visit to the Red Hen. It turns out, I live really close to the Red Hen. I showed up around 04:45 pm, because I read that they save room for walk-ins and they have a bar with the full menu available, but also because I know restaurants with good reputation and great food tends to fill up fast. I sat at the end of the bar, with a perfect view of their open kitchen. First thing I noticed is how excellent their set up and lay out is. The design of their cook line was very straightforward with clear distinction of each stations, and the expediter was really great at setting the tempo. (I dined alone for the first time in a long time, and I was right by their kitchen, so I observed a lot more than I usually do since I didn't have to keep up with conversation nor I wasn't disrupted by my phone.)

    I started off with a beet salad, followed by squid ink linguini, and short rib. I finished my evening with the donuts. Everything I ordered was enjoyable but the highlights for me were the squid ink linguini and the donuts with the cinnamon crunch gelato. I wish the linguini was served in a magical plate that kept re-filling itself. Also I like the wines by the glass list, it kept it short and to the point. Two different selections I tried, Vermentino and Corvina, became a great companion to me.

    By 05:30 pm tables and the bar were full. The only thing I disliked was the people hovering behind the bar to grab a seat when they became available. By 05:45 there were about 5 people or so standing with a drink and watching people eat, and it felt uneasy. But it didn't change the fact that I enjoyed the food, the space, and the people of the Red Hen. I look forward to returning, on a Sunday, right at opening.

    • Like 5
  13. Since I grew up in the restaurant business, owning/running a restaurant was always a goal of mine. And no matter how far I got away from the restaurant business, my life always boomerang back to the restaurant industry. When I was younger, I planned to expose myself to as many different types of restaurant operations as possible, from fine dining to casual high volume, and to few other in between. In my quest to achieve that, I wanted to work for GAR. Few years back, I ended up working for Sweetwater Tavern in Merrifield, VA location. I was a server and I only ended up working for about 6 months or so, but the insights that experience provided for me are still very useful to this day. Chef Brandon, mentioned above, is spot on. From what I witnessed, everything was made in house, down to the dressings and sauces. The quality of the proteins are higher than one might expect from seeing their prices. Also the professionalism of everyone, from employees to management, is top level as well. Even though I may not visit and enjoy their food often, or agree with how repetitive their menus are, I`m in awe of their organizational set up, professionalism, quality (for the price range), and how well they treat everyone. ( and their sales figures) I haven't work there in years, nor do I keep in touch with anyone from my brief time there, but I`m still loyal to the organization in a sense that I strive to have a similar organizational environment.  

    • Like 8
  14. The Washington City Paper had a great piece on these apartment dining rooms back in 2011.

     

    I was thinking to myself that it would be fun to be a DC apartment/residence dining room. And then I read the piece from The Washington City Paper only to find that the Pines of Florence space is mentioned as one. Perhaps I should have wished for the winning numbers for tomorrow night. Also I was happy to read about Muslu's.

  15. Yes, that's correct (I didn't even think about that).

    You know, long ago, the best thing at Tabaq Bistro (psst ... update your website!) was the Borek (which is kind of similar as well, except cigar-shaped). Oftentimes, it helps to find out the ethnicity of the owners, and order something from that country - that was the case here.

    As much as I enjoyed the rooftop views of Tabaq, I never tried their food, and I believe they are closed so perhaps that's why their website is out dated. And when my mom visits me in town, I`ll get her to make some sigara boregi (the cigar shaped borek) with rich feta and parsley, and save some for you. ( :D )

  16. Other than the shape, is there a substantial difference between a Sambousik and a Fatayer? (I'm not going to cheat and research this.)

    Although they're a bit yeasty, and maybe not very "down-home," I've always liked the Fatayer at Lebanese Taverna carryout (not loved, but liked).

    I think Sambousek is fried and Fatayer is baked. (But I could be wrong, since in Turkey we have different names and variations of them.)

  17. Granada is located on 368 Elden St. Herndon, VA 20170. They are located in a run-down shopping center with relatively out dated furniture and a confusing set up for a first time guest. 2.3 miles down the road is another restaurant. This restaurant has 919 locations and operates in 62 countries. A single location of this restaurant costs around 2 to 6 millions dollars to open doors. It's decked out with big signs, nicer furniture, professionally designed menus, and a good size staff. Guess which one I would go back for and be willing to pay double the amount of what I paid for the same food from my previous visit?

    Maybe the title of this page is a dead giveaway but my answer is Granada. I don't get the name. Perhaps they're paying homage to Emir Muhammad XII or perhaps they root for Granada FC in La Liga. But besides their name, I get everything about them. I get that serving food from the Middle East without the "kabob", "Mediterranean", and "halal" keywords may deter the general public, so almost every Middle Eastern restaurant ever opened in our region feels the pressure to feature one or more of these words. I get that good food has nothing to do with decor. I get that having high stars on Yelp will help determine whether a restaurant of this make-up will make it or not. I get that although the suburb folk craves well made food, they won't patron it on the regular unless there was hype surrounding the place. So when I visited Granada this past Sunday, I felt joy of finding this restaurant in an area which is filled with restaurants which are a lot like the most outer piece of an empty babushka doll; well designed and hollow.

    When you walk into Granada, it's unclear whether you approach the register to order or take a seat or wait to be instructed. After getting seated, we tried grape leaves and falafel. They were both enjoyable. For next course, we ate Turkish pizza and lamb tagine. Turkish pizza had hints of sweetness, but the consistency of the pide was in line with what it is served in western Turkey. Lamb tagine was the best dish of the night. It was also the best dish of the month for me. If you don't like lamb, you won't enjoy it. It's gamey and best part of it is hidden in it's marrow. If you like lamb, you will wish that the pot in which the dish is served is magical and presents you with never ending lamb. The marrow has wonderful flavor that if you don't enjoy it, it`ll remain hidden. After the amazing lamb, I enjoyed rice pudding. Even though it's very different than what I`m used to, it was delicious. I also ordered basboosa, madlouka, and baklava to enjoy later while watching Cowboys position themselves for another early playoff exit.

    Later that night, we did drive 2.3 miles from Granada to the earlier mentioned restaurant. Best thing they served was the cold Stella on tap. Food there was, is, and will be tasteless and soul-less. Hopefully honest efforts of small, family owned restaurants will continue to flourish and prosper.

    • Like 4
  18. Food is one of the best ways to introduce cultural values, especially if that particular culture features customary dining experiences. I like to believe Turkish culture is very food-centric; from rich and diverse breakfast tables, to small yet concentrated lunches, to dinner tables which on average will rival the tables of heads-of-states in other nations, Turkish people center their lives around eating and drinking. So when I wanted to introduce my fiance, future sister-in-law, and future father-in-law (who is a Sushi Chef for 40+ years) to dishes of my home country, I first wanted to take them to Zaytinya. (After all it is under the Andres umbrella, ensuring certain level of quality and execution and from experience the nicest demonstration of Turkish flavors in DC.) However, upon arrival Zaytinya was book for a private event. So I did what any non-DonRockwell-community-member-with-a-smartphone would do and I used yelp. The object was simple, find a near-by restaurant with some what decent food. So thanks to Yelp, I told the cab driver (the ones without the U on the side window of their hondayota) the address to Agora. We arrived to an almost empty restaurant, as we learned we are there for their happy hour. The very limited menu, since they didn't make the full menu available, didn't make me happy. However, as someone from within the industry, I do not judge establishments based on their rules, because I believe rules are their for a reason and the house doesn't need to explain me the rules. So I rolled with the punches and picked variety of plates from lahmacun to manti to humus to other dishes to provide variety and display the rich food culture of my heritage. That's where the story ends. Best part about the rest of my night was Raki and Efes. The worst part was seeing manti served with what looked like to be a tomato paste. Still, I wish them the best of luck. 

    • Like 1
  19. porcupine are you sure that this is the same ownership as Sala Thai?

    This realty listing doesn't rule it out, but it makes me believe it might be owned by someone else:

    attachicon.gifScreenshot 2014-11-23 at 15.09.34.png

    [Please see this post about the auto-recover feature.]

    ---

    ETA - Their Facebook page answered my question.

    I have not tried this place yet but I came across this listing few months ago, I was tempted by the location and the unique small space. However, gross rent was bit too high for me to feel comfortable on month to month bases. Now within 0.1 mile of each other, there are two Japanese (or Japanese inspired) places. (Izakaya Nagomi 1990 M St NW and this place at 1817 M St NW) Perhaps the organic composition of small Japanese places are appealing to the current trend of small places with small plates in DC. But I`m excited to try their food and sake.

  20. I tried Peking duck for the first time last night. This past week there was a lot of chatter about duck and since I didn't have any experience, I asked a friend for a recommendation. He was very quick to recommend Peking Gourmet Inn in Seven Corners so we made reservations for Sunday night and on we went. I felt like I traveled back in time as I walk through their narrow corridor to be greeted by their very busy and efficient hosts. As we walk to their dining room, time travel continued. It was an interesting change (in a positive way) from the modern spaces that I have gotten used to by dining in DC establishments. From the uniforms of the serving staff to white-clothed tables to walls filled with pictures, I was impressed with the production value of the front of the house staff. I could nitpick my server or the tight space of the table in middle of the floor, but observing the genuine effort of the staff and the amazing volume they were hosting on a Sunday night, I was really impressed rather than stressed. Since I am not familiar with the cuisine, I glazed over the menu and ordered fried dumplings and a duck. I enjoyed the duck show: they brought out the duck and cut everything out table side. As a Turk, the premise of rolling meat in bread with onions is a wining combination, so I enjoyed my first Peking duck experience. The sauce was really sweet but since I`m not familiar with the details of the cuisine, I can't say it was accurate or not. Overall, I would go back for the duck, although I`m not loyalty struck to this location, if I discover a place closer to RFK (my home ground) I would probably go there. 

    • Like 2
  21. Here's an interesting question: Would you consider Ocopa to be "Modern Peruvian," or a fresh take on "Traditional Peruvian?" I'm not sure there's a cut-and-dry difference so much as there is a "tendency" to be one or the other.

    A parallel example would be Rasika being Modern Indian and Indique being a fresh take on Traditional Indian.

    I would consider Ocopa to be "Modern Peruvian" as there are a lot of Japanese influences in their menu. I believe the Japanese presence in Peru began in the late 19th century and considering the time it would take for the two cuisines to fuse together, it wasn't until the middle of the 20th century for it to be a cuisine of it's own, Nikkei cuisine. And if you consider traditional Peruvian to be in line with the history of Peru, it can reach back to 15th century. When I read their menu, I get more of a Nikkei feel rather than a traditional Peruvian feel.

    • Like 2
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