Mdwizard

I went with a group of seven on opening night, and I agree that the food is as good as ever. The lamb tibs remains one of my favorite dishes in DC.

Not the best scenario from a takeout perspective, given the difficulty of parking in Adams Morgan, but just happy that they're not gone for good!

Thanks Joel. I came across another one of your posts recently (quoted at the bottom) that turned on a light bulb for me to help me understand the coffee science behind my taste preferences. And your post above illuminates the point even further. You're probably right that I used to think there was a "right" way to roast coffee and I'm now realizing personal taste plays a bigger role than I thought.

Do you think the issue of personal taste makes it more difficult for serious but amateur drinkers to talk about coffee in a forum like this? As a coffee lover, I'd love to see more discussion about the flavor of different coffees and roasters. 

I should note that our roast style is different than Blue Bottle. We don't roast darker, but we roast longer. Like other specialty roasters, our goal is to bring out as much of the complexity and individuality of each coffee we source, but to my taste, other roasters emphasize acidity at the cost of body and we have tried to find a different balance of flavors.

Got takeout at Zenebech on Friday and it was as delicious as when I first had it almost 10 years ago. It will be sorely missed! Will be following closely to see if/where they open up a new location.

Grace Street Coffee website

I just visited here for the first time to pick up a bag of beans to brew at home. To my taste, the beans were a little over-roasted (I prefer Counter Culture, for reference), but I'd say it was about on par with other local roasters in the area. I was inspired to try them after seeing Blue Bottle was planning to open up a shop nearby. Interested to see how they do in DC.

I just a spent a night on a business trip in Richmond and wanted to leave two quick recommendations: the Quirk Hotel for an excellent and hip hotel stay, and The Lab by Alchemy for excellent coffee with a knowledgeable barista. They use a rotating variety of roasters; it was Philadelphia's Reanimator when I was there.

I'm not recommending you go out of your way for Pearl Raw Bar. We had a nice dinner in their outdoor space, but the bites of everyone's fish I tried were variously too sweetly sauced or subobtimally cooked. And when we ordered two oyster samplers, the waitress left without identifying which varieties were which--a service mistake anywhere, but particularly regrettable at a raw bar.

Hi, I'm Jeff, and I joined the forum when the guy in front of me got the last chicken at Pollo Rico and I had to wait 20 minutes for a fresh batch (still worth it).

My special interests are coffee and beer (but I'm not a psychopath?) and as a new parent, I'm most interested to learn about good takeout in Arlington. Current rotation: Pollo Rico, Bangkok 54, Taqueria El Poblano, Delhi Club, Ravi Kabob, Peter Chang, and Pete's Apizza.