marcos

14th St. crawl.

Italian reds and the amazing wild mushrooms at Cork (got there at 5:30 -- bar was already full. By 6:45 there were no tables and you could hardly move!)

Then a glass of the blue franc and some roasted almonds at Bar Pilar.

Finished up the night with pretty good ropa vieja at Rumbero's. The pisco sour was as good as the ones I've had in Peru, but the fried plantains were leaden, and the service, while nice to look at, was absent minded. Hello! We would like to order more $9 cocktails. PLEASE come take our order!

Ate at momofuko in NY. Had pork and rice pot with kimchi puree. Good ansd satysfying, but nothing to get overly excited about. Had dinner at WD-50 and was impressed by the techniques. It is a fun place to dine, but floavors are often bland. Bone marrow was broken, but all the proteins were cooked perfectly. We had octous, duck, flat iron beef, turbot and marrow. I would go back as it is a lot of fun. Dinner at Palena, as always, was amazing. We went there Tuesday night and I cant wait to go back.

Actually, I cook alot from Thomas Keller's Bouchon cookbook, and I have been to a few bistro's in Paris so I know that bistro food is not all boring. I was saying that it would be boring for DC to become known as a city of bistro's. Also, I am not inclined to spend alot of money at places that serve the kind of food that I can cook at home.

well,

While Dc may be overun with bistros this must have the best food of them all. This is first rate food without the lousy American influence. I ate there and every item was perfect. I was amazed by the perfect simplicity. As a chef who eats out with every opportunity I must suggest that everyone here tries this new place.

went to viridian. The service is very friendly as well as the owner. The food is tasty, but not too inventive. I miss c couple of the old items such as the fried eggs and the steak tartare before was more traditional and did not taste of sesame oil the way it does now. The food value on the medium sized plates is an excellent deal. I hope to one day see this restaurant become a larger success as the owner deserves. I do get the feeling they are on track in correcting the earlier problems.

i actually had the same experience with the calamari and the burger last night which was a Sunday. I noticed the table next to me also had the same issue with the calamari. The wines by the glass were also mostly 86ed. The servers were rude however. The [place is cool though and I really like te table we had. I have had some good food there, but this was horrible.

bone marrow at blue duck tavern and all charcutarie there as well

I want to take this opportunity to let everyone know that I have left Viridian Restaurant. It was time to move on. I have nothing but the deepest respect for the General Manager, Jason Kenlaw and wish everyone at Viridian the best of luck and success in the future.

what happened to Antonio. Why was it time to go. It was less then a year was it not? I thought he was pretty good so I am curious about the sudden departure. I liked his honest approach withoput the asian spin everyone tries to put on things. Unless you trained in Asia you may want to leave it alone as it is very played out. So Antonio, where are you?

FUNNY, there is no caul fat around that trout.

We ended up having quite a nice night in the bar. The service was both welcoming and efficient. We sat at a chair grouping, avoiding the fishbowl rooms, which seemed unappealing even more for their wooden benches than for their glass enclosures. The mini garlic breadsticks were a nice touch and went well with the Manhattan I ordered from their classic cocktails list. I had the angry trout with pears, bacon, hazelnuts, and sage. (I happened upon a recipe for the trout on The List. Looks reasonably easy, though I don't happen to have a ball of caul fat lying around.) It was really delicious -- slightly sweet, and with lots of different textures from the pear and hazelnuts (the dim light made each forkful a bit of a surprise). I was a little disappointed with the fries -- the flavor was nice, but I guess I prefer my fries more thinly cut. I also had brussels sprouts with chanterelles and pistachios; they were good, but not standouts. Four of us shared the gigantic apple pie, which I highly recommend (both ordering it and sharing it).

Like their New Zealand namesake Blue Ducks, they thrive despite an environment that can sometimes seem absurdly inhospitable. Here’s hoping that the caliber of their cooking continues to thrive through winter and well beyond.

you are correct the chef is a great cook and they will likely continue to thrive. All hail the king.