streisfeld

Ms. Alex and I will be in DC later this summer, and we're considering our dinner options for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. We've been to DC numerous times (and, of course, make use of Don's Restaurant Guide), but we always can use some advice.

We're not looking for a bargain per se (although we wouldn't say no), but don't want to spend an outrageous amount (as in CityZen's regular menu or Minibar), either. Here are the places we're considering: Proof (possibly the tasting menu); Palena (probably the café menu); CityZen (the bar menu); Rasika; La Chaumière; Circle Bistro. One possible solution is to go to Proof, Rasika, and La Chaumière for lunch and the other three for dinner, but that might depend on where we are at that time of day. Anyhow, here are my questions:

1) What do you think of those options? (We've been to Palena and Circle Bistro before and would gladly go again.) Do you have other suggestions of the don't-miss type? Any place within reasonable walking distance from a subway or bus stop would be OK.

2) I haven't been to Palena in several years. Is the cafe still at the very front of the restaurant, with no reservations accepted? By what time should we arrive to avoid a wait?

3) Is the bar menu at CityZen still "a steal," as Don says in the Guide? Ditto the arrival time question.

Thanks.

Vidalia's lunch menu (19.90 for three courses) should be on your list.

Saturday night: Chilled asparagus soup with crispy guanicale. Spaghetti all’amatriciana.

Went to dinner last night with the soon-to-be-missus. Started with the mixed green salad which came nicely dressed and with a light layer of cheese. Followed by the Duck Beggars Purse, 5 very generous slices of duck sausage that I would heartily recommend. It was also a large enough portion that you could easily split it within a small group. The sausage was followed by the risotto which was came at just the right mix of creaminess while not being too chewy and not too al dente. The last dish was the sablefish which had a great buttery texture. Equally as good was the carrots and celery side, which while simple had great texture of firm but not crunchy. We finished the meal with three cheeses. The first was made with prosecco which was fully flavorful cheese with noticable hints of prosecco. We dubbed it the tasty novelty cheese. The second was a blue that my fiance described as a starter bleu cheese were it had all the up front taste of bleu, but none of the lingering taste. If you like your bleus to have a hard right cross of taste, this was more a stiff jab, but a great cheese if you wanted to introduce someone or try to get them to like bleu cheese. The last was a fantastically sharp pecorino.

Baby back rib chili with sausage for extra heft. I'm pro-bean (mashed not whole) and pro-tomato.

Acorn squash gluten free raviolis with sage butter

clams and gluten free linguine

duck liver gluten free raviolis

Pork shanks and artichokes over gluten free pappardelle

Cheese course of one goat cheese, one French blue and one Spanish blue

gluten free cupcakes

Last night:

duck confit,

sardines,

grilled calimari,

warm olives and

suckling pig.

I thought sardines were a little dry but would readily return and re-order any of the other dishes. The pig had a crispy skin that was almost like a really think topping on a creme brule. If there's a way just to get a plate of the skin on that dish, I would be in heaven. Chased it all down with a few Lancaster old fashioned's.

Made the mistake of not ordering gradually, and instead we ran into the problem of too many plates and too small of a table.

My fiance ate at the chef's table last Tuesday. I would agree with the previous posts that this meal is probably one of if not the best meal in DC. Highlight of the meal was the veal carpaccio served stone cold creamery style. Veal carpaccio topped with black truffles and placed over balsamic vinaigrette and chestnuts. Accompanying the meat was chanterelles, celery, parmegiano, micro greens and citrus dressing as different "toppings" The whimsy of mixing the dish yourself as well as the different types of crunchy texture was what made this dish for me. Well that, and the fact that it tasted awesome. I would agree that the sea bass was a little flat and while it was good, it was the least favorite for both of us.

My fiance has celiac and the chef was very accommodating. Most courses didn't have gluten to begin with, but the chef was willing to make substitution when necessary. I was served a ravioli, she was served a risotto topped with black truffles. For the desert course, she was served a red wine creme brule. We weren't served a couple of courses (mainly some of pastas), but given the amount we consumed without them, I really didn't mind.

Full meal was:

Deconstructed Sicilian green olives

Tuna lollipops

Bloody Mary

Mix shellfish broth in an eggshell with basil gelatin infusion

Smoked Branzino carpaccio in a cigar box

Cold Stone style veal filet carpaccio on a marble slab with cornet condiments and black truffles

Green pea cappuccino in an espresso cup with brule`fois gras custard and crispy leeks

Lobster risotto with cherry tomatoes confit

Chestnut soup poured over quail eggs, duck sausage and something else I can't remember

Open ravioli served with black truffles. GF substitution: risotto with black truffles

Baked chilean sea bass with 3 fennels and a saffron broth with solid extra virgin olive oil

Salt cured Moularde duck breast and a cube of chestnut puree`braised quince crispy spinach and balsamic chocolate sauce

Desert

Chocolate cake with ganache filling and orange creme topping. GF Subsitution: barolo creme brule

I heard from one friend that fries are dangerous, because a lot of times they get coated with flour and not just the battered ones.

The Missus gets them almost everywhere and there are rarely problems. Usually, fresh cut fries are fine, frozen ones are the problem. General rule of thumb: ask.

Vietnamese is by far the safest of the Asian food restaurants since almost all dishes I've ordered have been soy-sauce free. Sushi restaurants (Sushi Ko in particular) are usually fine with people bringing in gluten-free soy sauce to eat with their sushi. With the exception of moules and frittes, would stay away from French as things you don't expect to be breaded sometimes are plus there's the issue with roux. My fiance (the one with celiac) has never had a problem ordering a burger without the bun. Hope this helps.

Lots of changes to Bourbon since these last posts. The latest is, a new cocktail menu!

Bar manager Owen has been busy - there's an entire page devoted to the Manhattan, and it offers you choices of whiskies and vermouths. Really fun!

The new cocktails are so delicious-sounding that it is difficult to choose, but I had the Maple & Spice, which is Pusser's Navy Rum, lime juice, maple syrup and St. Elizabeth's Allspice Dram. Insanely good.

The Ginger Derby was something that I had recently, too, and I adored it: Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur, Wild Turkey American Honey Liqueur and grapefruit juice. A new favorite for me.

There's a slew of new whiskies to be enjoyed, too. If you haven't been in a while, it's well worth a revisit. Try the surf & turf sliders, or some of their other new menu items. If you go away hungry, I guarantee that you just weren't trying.

Is this the Glover Park one or the Adams Morgan one? Last time was at the Adams Morgan one (a few weeks ago), it was pretty much their bourbon list and beer list. Waitress said they couldn't even make a sazerac.

As far as I'm concerned, the single best Tequila brand on the market is Partida. I've not had better.

I think that the blanco is under $40.

I would recommend the Don Tepo blanco or reposado tequilas (I haven't had the anejo). I think both are really fantastic and blew away some more well known tequila's last weekend in a non-scientific side-by-side comparison with the Patron Anejo and Don Julio. I know I bought the blanco for under $40, but I don't remember how much the reposado was.