B.A.R.

BY ME GODDAMMIT! BY ME! For the record, I think I started this by using the clumsy term "least heralded" rather than underrated. But, as my signature states, I do try to distance myself from my own comments. It's just, the collective and justified angst here regarding of Palena's closing belied the fact that there was often 4-6 months gaps between postings about dinners at that restaurant, on this board. Meanwhile, we, and our WaPo restaurant critic, are often indignant that reservations are hard to come by, or *gasp*, not to be had at the current hottest restaurant in town. I have literally never had a problem securing a table at Oval Room. And I'm willing to bet tables are fairly easy to come by at Obelisk, too.

*gulp*. I did not actually have a top 5, I just threw that in to make my post seem more BuzzFeed-ish. I've been around this board long enough to remember when the front page was nothing but "Tales of Extravagance and Fine Dining" and now, those elite restaurants that used to dominate the conversation are hardly ever heard from on here. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but it seems to be true, and Palena's closing reminded me of that. So, now that you made me come up with 5 ( )..... .....Oval Room. For this diner, the best food of Ashok's empire ......2941 - I recall the uproar on this board that the restaurant was being "dumbed down" and would no longer be the paragon of fine dining. Place still looks great. Food is still wonderful. *crickets* ......CityZen. Hard to imagine that a restaurant this good, with the pedigree of Eric Ziebold at the helm, could be underrated, but it is. I'm not talking about Tom S. and his 4 stars, the buzz seems to have disappeared but the restaurant remains outstanding. ......1789. Jesus, this list may make me seem 70, but damn if 1789 isn't putting out better food now than it has been in the last 10 years. And you hear nothing. ......Villa Mozart. This makes the list because it's close to my house and may never have been rated at all. I, for one, panned the place after trying to eat there once. It has maybe 40 seats, and there can't be more than the owner and another cook in the kitchen, but the food has always been exquisitely prepared; the service, polished.

According to City Paper, a renovation is in the works. This is great news, as my last meal there was superb but the restaurant was showing it's age. This is in my top-5 "least-heralded" DC restaurants and deserves the sprucing-up.

Closed, as of yesterday. Well, I guess that answers that.

I was more interested in why the would do this. The food at GAR has become unremarkable and homogenous over the last 5 years, but they are very, very savvy and successful restauranteurs. It's estimated that 5 of their restaurants are in the Top 100 highest grossing independent restaurants in the country. Celiac disease effects less than 1% of the population. There is really no compelling reason, from a business standpoint, to retrofit the kitchen of a (maybe more?) restaurant doing $12M+ a year for dietary issues this small. Now, the rise in "psuedo" gluten intolerance and the *gulp* Paleo-dieters push that number up quite a bit more. Either one of the principals have a family member with Celiac's (I'm guessing), or one of the smartest restaurant groups I've ever seen have decided choosing to eat gluten free is here to stay. And if Mr. LPerry likes beer, Omission Pale Ale is surprisingly good

Coastal Flats in Fairfax has an entire gluten free menu that every table is seated with (so you don't have to ask). Mostly regular menu items with subtle - if any- changes for allergens. Although neither of us eat gluten free, my SO inquired as to the food preparation process (she's in the GI biz), and was told they have a separate area of the kitchen for preparation in order to avoid cross-contamination.

Casa Italiano right next door to the Holy Rosary Church (Catholic Mass in Italian). Not sure if they have regular hours but yesterday there was an old dude banging out $2 espresso's and cappuccino's after church. Great macchiato, definitely no hipsters. Knowledge of Italian a plus, but not necessary.

Let's all take a deep breath here. Yes, it is sad that Palena is no more, but the man behind the restaurant is still very much alive and extrordinarily talented. He'll be back, in some incarnation or another, and maybe even better. This hand-wringing that we need to support more and champion more, and second-guessing about cover counts and blah, blah, blah doesn't make a damn bit of difference. Restaurants sometimes close, and the list of great chefs who have closed great restaurants is a mile long and just got one restaurant longer. I am sorry for the closing of Palena, a restaurant I consider great. I hope that Chef Ruta is at peace as he turns the page on this chapter of his life's work. I can't wait to see his next chapter, which undoubtedly there will be.

I had dinner here two months ago and am sure Mr.'s Friedman, Zutant, and O'Malley have been wondering the last few weeks, "I wonder if that random guy from Virginia ever came to our restaurant and why didn't he post on social media about it?" Gentlemen, my apologies. I did go, and it was awesome. Like, really, really awesome. We arrived at 5:45pm on a Saturday, hoping to put our name on the list and grab a cocktail around the corner while we waited. The restaurant was about 75% full and we were asked if we wanted to be seated right away. Sure. Perfect. I love the décor of the restaurant and even when it was packed (which was about 30 minutes after we arrived), it wasn't too loud. We started with cocktails, my wife having the lovely Ms. Haversham or something like that and I had a great Manhattan. I've forgotten our server's name, I'm not sure if I ever even knew it, but she was a petit brunette, with short hair and a few tattoos and she was awesome. Really pleasant, great menu suggestions, deftly handled drink pairings, and we just let her pretty much order everything. There were no low-lights- not a single dish I had a quibble with. Two months later, I still recall we had the fresh ricotta crostini with truffle honey and balsamic, the roasted octopus, the burratta, the salt cod brandade, the spaghetti squash with hazlenuts, and the rabbit sugo. Loved every one of these dishes. Every damn one. And at that point, something happened that hardly ever happens when we go out to dinner. I was full. I actually went to an extraordinary restaurant and spent less than $60 on food for two people and was stuffed. I've spent $500 and stopped for a slice on the way home so this was a welcome change. The beverage program was interesting and superb. Can't remember everything we drank (our bar bill was much higher than our food bill), but we had several orange wines, which were delightful, all of which were recommended by our server. Which brings me to the highlight of the dinner. The Rabbit Sugo came with homemade fettuccine and some mustardy breadcrumbs and was just a great dish. But our server told us we had to have a few glasses of the French cider by the glass to accompany the dish. Cider isn't one of my favorite beverages, but that cider raised that dish to one of the best food and wine pairings I've ever had. Applause all around. A little more than two hours after we arrived, I placed my DR.com Dining card down with my Wells Fargo Visa Card and received no discount whatsoever. So, WTF is up with that? At any rate, for my money, this is the best new restaurant in DC and I look forward to coming back as often as I can. If I was a better writer, perhaps I would rave more. I'm not, so I can't, but this is a great restaurant. Just superb.

I don't understand the kerfluffle over the no-reservations policy. IIRC Zaytinya didn't take reservations for the first couple of years and then modified it slowly, to fit their business needs. Rose's may or may not do this, but their business model needs to work for THEM, and sometimes that might exclude ME. Oh well.

Although I understand the newsworthiness of Rocks post, the thread should have been closed after that. Unsubstantiated speculation about a restaurant (or any businesses) demise can have real effects.

I have ONLY eaten there for lunch and itt has always been great. That being said, my wife and kids are out of town the next couple nights so I might try dinner for the first time.

I wouldn't be here without eGullet, which was an extension of him. RIP

Cinema Arts in Fairfax deserves to be supported, and vigorously. Independently owned, no gouging, free popcorn refills, and great movies. The place is tired and worn down but the owner is present and often takes informal "polls" of what movies to bring in after showing 2-3 trailers before a movie. I love that place and hope he can keep doing what he has been doing for a long time. I read David Hockney's book about 8 years ago and have been anxiously awaiting this movie. Tonight might be the night!

According to Ryan Lizza's twitter feed, Eataly will be opening in DC at Capitol Crossing http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/eataly_signs_on_to_come_to_dc/8308

I haven't eaten at Daikaya, but I have been to the ramen shop below several times and immensely enjoyed it. That being said, I enjoyed the multi-faceted "review" of the restaurant in this weeks magazine for one reason. Philip Kennicott's review. Paragraph's 3-5 really spoke to me and I loved it. The "You're going to love this next piece because it's in B flat" line made me laugh out loud. We need more of that. Much more. Oh, here's the link

They should have their tongues cut out.

Rocks, you have to put it in your rota because they actually have a real Chef who runs the kitchen and designs the menu and that Chef does change from time to time. I knew a very good Chef who worked there about 8 years ago and was truly surprised that he was running the place. He said the pay, hours, and benefits were great and that he had lots of freedom to play within the concept. Shouldnt be multiple locations, menu and quality vary from place to place.

While I'm not ready to say it's the best place in Tyson's, it's easily the best place in that mall and probably the other mall too. Eat there all the time, never been disappointed, except for the times the line has been 40 feet out the door.

On a Saturday night, its not. A few years back a friend of mine worked there and said Monday through Wednesday night was their weekend.

Two adult burgers. Two kids burgers. Twosides of fries. Two milkshakes. Two IBC rootbeers. $49. Greasiest meal I've had in a long, long time. Never again.

My last meal at Ashby was very good. The dinner was extraordinary. Neal Wavra was the reason our dinner was far greater than what we merely ate and drank. he setting was lovely. The dinner was impeccably prepared. The wines were well sourced and interesting. But Neal tied it all together and made it truly special. Best of luck to them both (not that people this talented need luck).

Rocks. I can come and get them today. Call or text me on my phone.* *Oh. I just read the rules.

A few weeks ago we popped in to Mockingbird Hill, after a leisurely walk from the Red Hen, with a pit stop at Big Bear Cafe*. I'm not a good enough writer to truly capture how aweome this place is. It's great, really, really great. It reminded me of the Brewers Art when it opened in Baltimore in the mid-90's. A funky little space with a passionate owner, enthusiastic servers, and a tightly focused selection of products no one really knew they wanted. For the Brewer's Art, it was Belgian beer. For Mockingbird Hill - sherry. DC has had a long list of cookie-cutter, expense account restaurants that put out very good to excellent fare. The sum of their parts, however, is often soulless. Mockingbird Hill oozes soul and is an amazing addition to the neighborhood, specifically, and the DC food and wine scene in general. *for my money, these two adjacent neighborhoods have some of the most exciting restaurants in DC right now.

Surely someone downtown needs a good lunch-time line cook! PLEASE PM me, as one of my cooks was a lunch cook at Elisir and has been without a second job for a month now. Very good worker.