Principia
-
Posts
274 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Articles
Dining Guide
Everything posted by Principia
-
Picante, Chantilly Park Shopping Center
Principia replied to ol_ironstomach's topic in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining
The +1 and I took in some Picante a few weeks ago... very tasty, if as gigantically portioned as ever. The waitress was very impressed that B ordered the Camarones al Diabla - apparently she can't even manage the dish herself, but he finished it. Admittedly, he didn't go on to consume the soup-bowl's worth of remaining sauce, but finish he did. I recall the extra-gigantor portions dating back to when the place first opened... did they go through a phase where they'd made their servings smaller? -
Chutzpah Deli (http://www.chutzpahdeli.com) in Fairfax has 'em; Schiffman's Bagel Buddies & New York Deli in Fairfax has 'em; it wouldn't surprise me if Brooklyn Bagel in Clarendon or So's Your Mom in Adams Morgan has 'em. I suspect most, if not all, of these would just be ones imported from New York, like from Kossar's (http://www.kossarsbialys.com/bialy%20making.htm).
-
I got there for a very late lunch last week. My fries were nicely crispy, so I think it may just be an intermittent problem? Very nummy all in all.
-
Are they trying to keep from appearing pretentious by avoiding the use of the existing French terms?
-
In one of life's little ironic twists, I have to confess that I share the same opinion of the Cheesecake Factory as I do of California Pizza Kitchen: I'll eat much of what they offer, just not the items they purport to be their specialities. Although I only eat there if a full shopping expedition is happening during the wait, the CF at Tysons Galleria has really good salads and other veggie selections. I'm still peeved that they discontinued the Frozen Hot Chocolate, though.
-
Given the choices available at most of the locations these joints are at, I'll take a GAR restaurant - except Carlyle, perhaps. I only ever get to Coastal Flats and Sweetwater, and even so I've noticed menu creep. I fail to comprehend why, if they are going to continue merging the menus of their various outlets, GAR doesn't just turn them all into CFs and STs? Or are they just too cheap to redo the buildouts?
-
Restaurants That Never Come Up
Principia replied to Kanishka's topic in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining
Red Sage - meh. It was ok when I ate there recently before a show at the Warner. We were too cheap to pop for B9. I love The Melting Pot (well, at least the one in Reston, can't speak for the other local iterations), but to nominate it for a RAMMY? Why? You're basically getting a bunch of ingredients and making your own food. -
Mme. Richman's prose was indeed eloquent, but if folks think that Tom Sietsema has unrealistic expectations of service based on his experiences... To me it was evident from her reviews that while she was theoretically supposed to be anonymous, if the restaurant didn't actually recognize her and treat her accordingly (i.e. like the Queen of Sheba, of course, while coyly pretending they had no idea who she was), they got slammed. I certainly don't expect a celebutante's reception when I go out to a restaurant, and in her latter days Phyllis R. really seemed to lose touch with the average diner's experience. To be fair, one of my favourite restaurants on the planet is The Vortex in Atlanta. They are not rude - they are just very, very specific about what crap they won't tolerate being foisted on their staff.
-
Wegmans, if she's anywhere near one. Sutton Place, alas, is no more - she'll want to look up Balducci's in the phone book.
-
If by "fair number of people" you mean us here on this board, I would hardly say that qualifies. And I'll point out that it was a member here who has openly posited a name - not Tom, and not the poster.I'm surprised if this person's friend was close enough to the restaurant team to be invited to a dry run that the friend doesn't know how to get feedback to the management. If the service and food really were as horrid (and illness-causing) as this person claims, then they need to let the restaurant know before it opens.
-
Libelling whom, precisely? One, I've been food poisoned a few different times at restaurants (the two-occasion culprit having since closed), so I don't know why people find it so hard to believe that this could happen. Two, do you know who they're talking about? I certainly can't tell from their purposefully vague description.On the other hand, if the poster had given enough detail so that people reading the chat could have a fairly good idea of what soon-to-open place was being discussed, then no, that wouldn't be fair.
-
And mine? Sevai Payasam....
-
Does Ben & Jerry's Black & Tan count?
-
Half-cooked microwaved brownie batter in a Gladware tub, that's what he wrought.
-
I'd love to come, but there are familial health issues going on right now, so I also cannot commit to anything further out than the next day or two. And I was so looking forward to some pierogies!
-
I concur (as does Rocks, from his post - he wasn't saying we aren't "allowed" to discuss the topic any longer). Okay, so here's a thought: would it be better if restaurants just had a servis compris on wine service? Is there anyone around here who does such a thing?
-
I'd say it's a win-win situation because in his scenario no-one is being taken advantage of.
-
I was thinking Jacques, but perhaps our mysterious bon vivant might choose to reveal themselves instead of leaving us to guess?
-
Somehow I'm guessing sommeliers aren't paid $2.30 an hour. Perhaps tippage is not as relevant to a sommelier as it would be to a member of the ground troops?
-
I think the point is that if you ask anyone in the business how much they'd like to get tipped on anything they sell, they're going to give you an inflated answer because they want as much money as possible. A perfectly understandable desire, but c'mon - 20% of a bottle that's already had its cost punched up several times over? I think not. There's an interesting query for the wine drinkers out there in DR land: are you likely to give a better tip percentage-wise if you know you're not being raked over the coals on the price of the wine itself?
-
I would imagine this consideration includes making everything twice as expensive in order to accommodate the fact that one's clientele are going to spend the entire evening lolling around the restaurant long after they're done with their meal?
-
I think the current system many restaurants (such as The Melting Pot) employ of having seatings works just fine. You're not charged extra - you just have to get out. I don't think a metered system a la taxicabs or speed chess would work. Potential abuse issues aside, as long as the table is continuing to order additional stuff, who cares if they're at a table longer? The continuing to order stuff is key in my mind: I'd be perfectly happy to see places like Tryst start charging their "Oh, I think I'll milk a latte for four hours while I stretch out and surf the net having spread the rest of my crap out all over a four-top" clientele out the wazoo. Well, at least once the place has started to fill up. I can't imagine how much money places like that lose to leeching bozos who make it so people who actually want to spend money can't get a seat. At least the average lingering-over-wine diner has paid to have a full meal first, y'know?
-
'In no particular order' my ass. And to report that the restaurant is closing - as in perma-closing - without confirming it with someone directly? Oh, yeah, there's some responsible reporting. I wish we could write the Post directly and tell them 'Hey, they're just taking a few weeks off to get Ray's The Classics up and running,' or 'What, the man can't take a vacation?', but sans input we'd just be speculating too.
-
This discussion has its origins in the Dino thread, where it was mentioned that someone from the restaurant *had* been posting here under false pretenses (i.e., not identifying themselves as coming from the restaurant's staff). Apparently this person - Dino's GM, Michael - was the person who started the deleted (and now resurrected) "Washington sux!" thread. Evidently said thread was started because Tom Sietsema had had the temerity not to like Dino and had said so in print. Don may (or may not) have subsequently kicked the guy from the boards as a result. Folks, feel free to offer corrections if that was not an accurate recap. eta: see deangold's post below.
-
http://www.equinoxrestaurant.com/calendar.php