franch

18 minutes ago, mr food said:

We were unimpressed by 2 Amys pizza a few months ago-pretty tasteless.

same. preferred Ghibellina's from the time we were there.

24 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

please tell me what concerts cost $562 for 2 tickets...and where you would be forced to fork over another $400!!!! for transport, food and drinks?

Much appreciated.

and then tell me if this meal at Shaw Bijou will include a world class music act, transportation and a decent meal. Because as far as I know, it is an over priced meal served a block off of Rhode Island Avenue by a guy who is more concerned about his image than actually cooking for a living...at a price point so far out of whack of his experience, talent, and ability to execute that it takes a brave soul (not to charge as much as he is charging but) to call him out for his  bu!!$h!t.

i don't get this crazy anger you have about this place. there is literally no restaurant in the world i feel this negatively about. let alone one that hasn't opened. maybe you should disclose your ties to Kwame, since you know him well enough to say that his restaurant that isn't open is overpriced, that he doesn't care about cooking for a living, and that you are confident he has no talent or ability to execute. did he pour sugar in your gas tank a few years ago?

34 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

You have clearly shown your allegiance and excitement for Shaw Bijou. Now it would be appropriate to share any and all ties to Kwami, his partners, this project and/or Top Chef. Because you are quite the cheerleader...(will there be pom-pom's and short skirts? Sequins? Overpriced parking? Are you Dan Snyder? Will there be Cowboys and Eagles involved?).

i'm sad you think that someone who disagrees with your vitriolic opinion about a restaurant must be financially motivated. but for the avoidance of doubt, i have no such motivation. i've actually never watched an episode of Top Chef, but may watch the episode Kwame is in before my reservation. i met Kwame for the first and only time at his wing fry event. oh, i think he liked my post on Instagram too, does that count? i met Greg for the first time there too, but i think i may have run into him at Eleven Madison Park. 

as for the rest, trust me, you don't want to see me in a cheerleader's uniform, i'm not the owner of the Washington Breadsticks, and i'll be damned if there's Dallas or Philly sports involved.

10 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

Hamilton (over priced and over hyped)

now you've gone too far.

2 hours ago, Jonathan said:

Yes all sales are final for concert tickets. But what concert costs $962 for 2?

This guy is the equivalent of CREED yet he's charging prices more apropos to Mozart.

i wish this guy picked another city to open up in.

plenty of concerts cost $562 for 2, and you can buy $400 of booze anywhere.

On ‎8‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 5:24 AM, DonRocks said:

No, I'm saying that individual brands have suffered the decline you're referring to. For example, Pilsner Urquell. I'm sure there are individual beers that have gotten better; I just don't know of any.

The game these days seems to come out with a brand that "craft" beer lovers like, sell it to a larger brewery, and then either participate in its decline, or get the hell out of Dodge.

It's no different than with restaurants - come out with something popular, then start to clone it, and watch the quality go downhill, and hope you get rich before people realize it wasn't even all that great to start with (although sometimes it was). By the time it completely sucks, you'll be so rich you won't care.

i'll take the decline in Pilsner Urquell and some other brands in exchange for having several great to world-class breweries within 40 minutes of DC and having at the bare minimum a quality IPA on tap in literally every bar in DC I have been to that serves beer.

sometime after November 5th, you'll have a review here of some sort.

21 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

She's one of the coolest-looking dogs I've seen - do you know her pedigree? (Is that the right word for a dog of mixed breed?)

She's a Samoyed. Bigger than an Eskie, smaller than a Great Pyrenees.

hello! I was told this is where dog pictures go!

Zooey Dogschanel was born in December of 2011, and we picked her up eight weeks later. she looked like a tiny adorable stuffed polar bear.

g

she is close to five years old now, and she's still super cute, but is a bit bigger and more serious looking now.

you can follow her on instagram at @zooey.dogschanel.

7 hours ago, DonRocks said:

I just want to say two things: First, surely brewing Diet Coke is a technical process also.

More importantly, I'm not saying either you or Tweaked are wrong and that I'm right; I'm merely offering up a different opinion, so please don't take my comment(s) as some sort of sniveling nyah-nyah. I was tired when I first read the article, and I really *couldn't* finish it - every time I got 1/3 of the way through, my mind started drifting, and I'd have to start over (I found it to be a rather dull, monotonous tome). However, it is absolutely my experience that no food product (beyond a certain level that one individual can supervise to some degree) improves when expanding beyond a certain size - I cannot think of a single one, and my personal experience with beers selling to large breweries has been a decades-long anecdotal witnessing of a decline in quality. Please do *not* think I am arguing or disrespecting either one of you two - I would be *thrilled* if great beer was mass-produced and widely available for less money; I've just never seen it before.

Cheers,
Rocks

don, are you saying that the quality of beer available in America (let's say American-produced beer) has been subject to a "decades-long . . . decline in quality?" that's quite an astonishing claim in the face of the craft boom and indeed bubble in my eyes. in decades, we've gone from true beer die-hards who made trips to Colorado to try Coors, because that's as far east as it went, and Bud or Miller on tap everywhere to a DC Brau IPA and a couple other local beers on tap even at bland places or places not thought to care about their beer selection like dive bars and hotels.

I forgot to make my first post here. I'm Justin, and I moved to DC with my wife from NYC this year. My name on the forum comes from the inventive and revolutionary condiment made by the fast food division of Madrigal Electromotive GmbH, a combination of French and ranch dressing.

We are food, wine, beer, and cocktail enthusiasts, avowed Shaw Bijou cheerleaders, college football and soccer fans, and have a fluffy dog named Zooey Dogschanel.

17 courses. 32 seats. 8 tables.

hoping for opening weekend.

does this, or any other place nearby, serve Nihari/Nehari?

On ‎8‎/‎16‎/‎2016 at 9:59 PM, ktmoomau said:

That's fine.  I understand that sentiment, BUT this is the exact reason why I will go there more often than I would say Hill Country or Sweet Heat Bbq right by my office.  I absolutely lament when we go to bbq joints and the sides are terrible or just not a priority (don't get me started on how terrible the cole slaw and potato salad at Smithfield Bbq is) while I am sure Hubby absolutely doesn't care.  If we can go somewhere and indulge a little, but also have vegetables that taste awesome that is a win, win for me.  

I agree - and honestly, if a BBQ place cares enough about their sides to do a kale Caesar well, it may also care about the more traditional sides like coleslaw.

OH MY GOD PLEASE LET THIS BE HAPPENING.

not particularly happy that it's on H Street NE and nowhere near me, but i'll take an Uber both ways for it. one of the BIGGEST hits I took moving from half a mile from the 14th Street location (and working half a mile from 53rd and 6th) here was the halal scene.

let's bring Russ and Daughters down here for lox and i'll be on cloud 9

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

On 8/17/2016 at 5:11 PM, CapitalGourmand said:

You and I are in the same boat . . .

this boat seems to be sinking in the middle of the Anacostia.

let's go together sometime. when the lines die down....

1 hour ago, jca76 said:

It's more that we didn't like it well enough to seek it out as it's not a convenient local option.  If I'm going to take an Uber up to dinner in that direction, it'll be to go to 2 Amys or Tail Up Goat.  If I want Indian, I'd go to Rasika or somewhere closer by.  

What counts as a savory cocktail?  None of the three we tried struck us as notably savory, and the green one (I also can't recall the name) was particularly well balanced between its herby, vegetal, and spicy flavors.  But it sounds like you and I have very different cocktail preferences.  I love the shrub trend, enjoy herbs and spices in my cocktails, and if you're making something with tomato water, I will be ordering it.  

understood re: just inconvenient enough to be annoying. I need to try tail up goat! (I was underwhelmed with 2 Amys given the hype)

I think "herby" "vegetal" and "spicy" are about what I mean when I mean "savory" cocktails. for lack of a better explanation, putting stuff that normally goes in food (and not in cocktails as of like ten years ago) in your cocktail makes me sad. we could not be more different in our cocktail preferences.

10 hours ago, Marty L. said:

Bon Appetit names Black Saint the second-best new restaurant in the country.  Well-deserved kudos!  And to think -- it's still only the seventh-best restaurant in Columbia Heights, per the Dining Guide.  (Just good-natured ribbing, Don!  But really, there ought to be an enormous gulf in that section between Bad Saint and Thip Khao, on the one hand, and every other place, on the other (with honorable mention to Mi Cuba Cafe).)

"i'll go later", I said.

"it'll always be there", I said.

"the lines will die down", I said.

crap.

2 hours ago, jca76 said:

 But if it were on 14th Street

where do you live? I'm near Logan Circle and it was a little bit of a hike, but at the same time, the Uber ride was probably $7 at most. it's also very close to the Red Line for those who work downtown as well.

also, with regards to the sweetness in the Ragda Pattice, it was likely the tamarind chutney -- a flavor that I'm personally obsessed with and consume a gross amount of when I eat samosas.

EDIT: this isn't a knock on Bindaas, but holy crap, can we stop this awful trend of cocktail bars concentrating on cocktails with savory ingredients. I understand it for a  Bloody Mary (which I also think is disgusting), but THREE OF THE FOUR COCKTAILS on the menu were savory cocktails. 75%. for god's sake. this trend makes me more unhappy than the Pickles Everywhere 2k14 trend.

I went last night with my wife. Unfortunately, the menu is not online, so I am approximating what we ate. I was disappointed to see no Indian beer or whiskey after the hype that Eater and co. gave their bar offerings.

I had two The Silk Road to drink. This was basically a mango lassi, but instead of yogurt, it was rum. Delicious. My wife had a Curried Away, a gin fizz with curry spices and ginger, which she didn't particularly love, and another drink I don't remember the name of that involved jalapeno, basil, and cucumber, which she liked.

We had the Avocado Golgappa, which were delicious deep fried snacks with tamarind, raita, and avocado and the Ragda, which was basically everything inside of a samosa on a plate to start. Both were good, but the Golgappa would be a must order every time dish.

We then split three larger plates - the Chicken Kathi Roll, a kathi roll with chicken tikka masala in it, the Pork and Pao, purportedly vindaloo pork and a roll, and the Shrimp Uttapam, a rice pancake with shrimp and veggies. The kathi roll was fantastic (how could it not be). The uttapam was really good and interesting - the shrimp and veggies were perfectly cooked and the flavors mixed very well with some sort of spicy oil. The pork and pao left something to be desired - it was tangy almost like a bad BBQ sauce and did not resemble Vindaloo at all.

We also had a Spinach Paneer Naan, a naan stuffed with spinach paneer and cooked in the oven we could see from our seats. It's hard to go wrong with cheese and bread, and this was no exception. They also have a bacon cheese chili naan that I would love to try on the return visit.

Service was great - our waitress was prompt and able to answer any question we had about the menu, drinks and food came quickly. Would like to try more things on the menu -- hope they add more cocktails and beers.

19 hours ago, CapitalGourmand said:

I was also present at the Philly Wing Fry. I arrived about 45 minutes early (umbrella in hand) just to make sure I was not at the back of the line. My friends and I were all pleased with his cheesesteak interpretation and are looking forward to the opening of Shaw Bijou. I read on one of DC's food blogs (I'm sorry, can't remember which one) that he may at some point turn the Philly Wing Fry into a fast casual concept.

This is a story I've been following since it was first announced in April of last year. At that time all that was available was a video of a faceless chef cooking and plating a steak. This was well before his appearance on Top Chef. I was skeptical that a tasting menu restaurant from an unknown could succeed in DC. But seeing the success of Pineapple and Pearls and Metier, not to mention the fame he's garnered from his Top Chef appearance, I think he can do well. And if the reviews that follow are positive, then this could possibly become a destination restaurant.

I've read some express concerns about his age and experience. He just turned 26. But that was the age Grant Achatz was when he took over the kitchen at Trio, and we see how things turned out for him. Of course, by that time Achatz had been sous chef at French Laundry for over a year, which brings us to the experience aspect. Onwuachi has never run a professional kitchen. He's been chef de partie at EMP (and I believe Per Se as well), which involves some kind of management. But I'm sure it's a lot different from being sous chef. Still, he ran his own catering business from a young age to pay his way through culinary school, so I'm confident he is not lacking in the management department.

The more information that is revealed about The Shaw Bijou, the more excited I become. After adding a pastry chef from the Made Nice restaurant group, this might become DC's answer to EMP. I've dined at the restaurants of other EMP alum, and it's always been a memorable experience. I'm expecting the same here.

the day I can eat that philly cheese steak for $15 any day I want is the day I am morbidly obese and broke.

i'll bump this thread while Shaw Bijou remains stuck in permit hell.... his PR campaign is in full swing. he's writing a book, he was on CBS this morning, all sorts of other stuff.

he hired gisell paula from NoMad as pastry chef:

"Kwame Onwuachi's Shaw Bijou is One Step Closer to Opening" by Tim Carman on washingtonpost.com

he did a thing in March called the "Philly Wing Fry", where he and Chef Vakiner served "100-day dry-aged wagyu beef cheesesteaks with roasted garlic aioli, caramelized onions, pickled pearl onions, and smoke provolone; tamarind-glazed confit wings with crispy garlic and chives; and waffle fries" at $15. there was a huge line, including me and my wife, who waited outside in the cold for a totally reasonable amount of time (so i told her....) a can of wine later and a bit of cold survived, it was a really goddamn good cheesesteak and wings. it was stunningly good, in fact. Chef Kwame went through the line saying hi to people, taking pics, etc. i have actually never watched Top Chef (!), so it was cool to meet him, but at the same time, i wasn't there for a selfie. i was there because my favorite server at my favorite restaurant in the world (Eleven Madison Park) told me that the Shaw Bijou was going to be my new home when she heard i was moving to DC. (turns out that Chef Vakiner was in the kitchen at EMP the night i proposed to my wife at the chef's table sort of thing in the kitchen.)

i'm excited. he's got the experience from EMP, he's got the people, and he's got the funding. will it fail? maybe, it's a restaurant after all. but if anyone is going to make this succeed, he's at the top of the list. i'll be there night 1 if i can. sorry @DonRocks

Sugar Shack is opening "in 2017" with a cocktail bar around 9th and U Street:

"D.C.'s Sugar Shack Donuts Will Have a Basement Bar Dubbed Nocturne" by Laura Hayes on washingtoncitypaper.com

have not had the chance for dinner yet, but the dim sum brunch on the weekend was really REALLY good.

this one is on our list for sure. an all-star bartender from churchkey will be working there, so that's a bonus.