Keithstg

This is unfortunate, although I always wanted to like eM more than I did. The atmosphere was great, but the food was....competent, I guess? Nothing exciting, nothing adventurous, just solidly prepared. Of course, that's saying quite a bit for Winchester, but still didn't have us flying back OTM to return. Hopefull all involved land on their feet elsewhere.

DCist is late to the party - Domaine has been in business for years now. Those considering storing wine at Domaine may want to read this first - unsurprisingly Lazar didn't get into this in his interview: Lazar charged with two felony counts

My usual reaction would be to dismiss stories like this, but ultimately isn't stuff like this what retirement is about? Picking up something to do that's a shared interest, hopefully with someone you love? I'm not about to hit the road anytime soon, but good for the Yoder's.

Looks short, but well chosen. Some nice values, even at the higher price points.

Great to hear that Antonio is there now! I am a bit surprised about the wine list - granted it has been several years since I was at the Roland Park Petit Louis, but I remember the wine list there being strong...

I remember that as well - it's probably been 13 years since I was last out here. I also think you may be right about long-term residents, but wouldn't they be more likely to park off-peak? I can't say I have much sympathy for those who had years of free parking for second and third cars, but that may just be me being crotchety.

Having watched this thread with great amusement since it started, I was anxious to experience the alleged horrors of paid parking at RTC. I spent a total of about two minutes downloading the software, setting up my account and paying for the day's parking ($8). Couldn't have been an easier experience, and parking is less costly than my office building in Tysons. Now that parking is free after 5pm, what on earth is/ was the big deal? RTC is a faux community, populated with chain restaurants, office buildings and apartments. Given that businesses can validate parking and that parking is free during off peak periods I still fail to see the reason for the tempest in the teapot that has been so breathlessly reported on.

To my dog, Fred. From humble beginnings at parts unknown to the NY Avenue shelter and through 12 years with our family in DC, NY, VA, ME and parts inbetween he was a constant presence, a perpetually wagging tail and incorrigible around any food within leap's reach. Fred was so loved, and will be so missed.

Annnnd... The New Bridge has closed and re-re-opened as "Denim and Pearls", a nominally Italian restaurant. The New Bridge team is out (save for the building owner) and Chef John Payne is in. We stopped by for lunch on Monday, and see very little reason to return, sadly. DnP is not ready for prime time. We ordered fairly simply and were seated to the back of the sparsely populated dining room. Our group ordered a "housemade mozzarella" salad with heriloom tomatoes, basil and balsamic to start, two meatball subs, pasta with meatballs and fettuccine alfredo with flank steak. Our server took our order, brought us drinks, and we waited. And waited. And waited. At the twenty minute mark (for a salad, mind you) we asked our server if the salad would be forthcoming. At this point the lunch could have been rescued by a sympathetic word or an update - basically any interaction. However our server returned about ten minutes later with our full order. One of our group pointed out that we had asked for the salad to start, and was given a shrug in response. That aside, the mains were pretty solid, save the fettuccine. Meatball subs were a generous portion of pretty light meatballs in a bright tomato sauce, and the spaghetti and meatballs were basically the same, sans bread. Nothing groundbreaking, but acceptable. The fettuccine came topped with three slices of flank steak, cooked far beyond the requested medium rare. The alfredo sauce was fine, but the plate had a coating of balsamic vinegar around the rim and under the sauce. I now know why you rarely see alfredo sauce combined with a heavy dose of balsamic vinegar. Blech. The dish was a total failure. Between the overcooked steak, long wait and subpar fettuccine I don't see much reason to return until we hear that the ship has been righted, or this location has yet another iteration. Cafe Torino provides a reliable, if atmosphere-less option for Italian-American cuisine in Warrenton.

We hadn’t been to L’Auberge Provencal in a few years, but headed out last weekend with a couple friends for a German Wine dinner, hosted by Elite Imports. We had a five course meal with accompanying wines. Each course paired very well, and we wouldn’t hesitate to return to La Table Provencal for a “regular” meal. Fluke Sashimi, preserved lemon, green apple, mango vinegar - Graacher Himmelreich Reisling Kabinett, Joh. Jos. Prum 2015 Excellent first dish – the preserved lemon and green apple matched particularly well with the Kabinett. We also received a peach gazpacho as an amuse, but this was rather unceremoniously plunked in front of us and as a result didn’t know what it was (apart from obviously being a gazpacho of some type) until later. Service was a bit choppy – we were often left to review the printed menus to understand what we were eating. The waitstaff didn’t describe the dishes at all. Scallop, spaetzle, heirloom tomato, chili flake - Graacher Himmelreich Reisling Spatlese, Joh. Jos Prum 2015 Maybe my favorite course of the afternoon – I taste any chili flake, but the acidity in the Spatlese and the tomato cut the richness of the scallop and spaetzli nicely. A small portion though - as the scallop was definitely singular. Maultaschen, bratwurst, Asian pear, dates, caramelized onion - Zeltinger Sonnenhur Reisling Spatlese, Joh. Jos Prum 2015 Another good example of how an off-dry or even sweet wine with enough acidity can pair with heartier foods. This dish included three silver dollar sized pieces of bratwurst – the maultaschen was in a ravioli-like format and the pear and onion were carmelized in a sort of rustic jam. At this point we began to notice two things – that the portions were pretty small, and that wine glasses were not topped up during courses (and were relatively small pours to begin with). Baker Farm pork roulade, potato, cabbage, fig, juniper - Weingut Bernhard Huber, Baden Pinot Noir Spatburgunder Trocken, 2014 Excellent dish – and a great pairing with the Spatburgunder, however I think that the wine suffered by comparison as it was such a departure from the gradually building sugar profiles in the wines until this point. The majority of the group ranked this wine as their least favorite of the afternoon, but I wonder if that would have been the case were it served earlier. The roulade was good, but two slices – cabbage manifested itself in the form of two cabbage leaves, and the potato salad was two spheres of potato with the traditional accompaniments. Peaches, Olive oil cake, vanilla yogurt, pine nut brittle - Wehlener Sonnenhur Reisling Auslese, Joh. Jos Prum, 2015 I was fully prepared to hate this course, but boy was I wrong. As delightful as a box of birds. Enjoyed the olive oil cake and yogurt as they were on the savory side and provided a very nice contrast to the sweetest wine of the evening. A great time was had by all - with two caveats. Portions were on the small side, as were the pours. I understand that there is a fine line in tasting menu portion control and wine dinner/ lunch pours, but the pours were considerably less than a half glass. The other caveat was the service – I’d describe it as perfunctory – bring plate, drop plate, clear plate. The service may have been compromised by the fact that the reps from Elite were often talking to the group between courses. Given the 2015 vintage’s reputation in Germany it was a nice opportunity to taste through some Rieslings and bring back a few cases.

Interesting article. Amazon is a logistics company first and foremost, and their focus on process will hopefully lift WFM and enable more focused management (Mackey was/ is a catastrophe).

I found myself out in Berryville, VA last weekend and stopped in to a relatively new burger shop on W. Main street called Charlie's. Charlie's is a family owned casual restaurant serving burgers, fries, hot dogs and milkshakes. The beef is local (though no source is listed on the menu) and ground in house, and the shakes are made with organic ice cream. We ordered a few burgers and a hot dog, along with an order of regular fries and sweet potato waffle fries. The burgers were cooked to order and to temperature, and can be topped with a fairly wide array of free toppings, plus the usual upcharges (cheese, bacon, etc). Both the sweet potato and regular fries were previously frozen and not made in house, but were fried to order. The burgers were all cooked as requested - one quibble from our group was that a double burger should have two slices of cheese on it, but that's very minor. Shakes were also excellent, and a wide variety of flavors were available (we had vanilla and banana). Service was a bit slow, but as mentioned everything was done to order and the owner's entire family was in the restaurant serving customers. We were given an extra helping of sweet potato fries to make up for the slowness of getting burgers out - a nice but unnecessary touch. There's not a whole lot in Clarke County, and one could do much worse than stop in and support this family owned establishment serving up good, honest fare. We aren't "over the mountain" much, but will be sure to head back in when we are.

Houses near H Street are now listing (and selling) for up to/ over $1M. Think its safe to assume gentrification has arrived. Those souls who moved in were intrepid in 2004 (like me, but I'm in the country now). Now, not so much.

Yes

A simpler time, to be sure. The Galileo III thread is also a fun read.

Was in New York last weekend and have some updates to prior posts. Got in on Friday in time for dinner despite a crushing Amtrak delay and headed to Carbone (181 Thompson St): Carbone remains as good as it was years ago, despite even more press and a Michelin star. Appetizer Standouts included tuna crudo and octopus pizzaiolo. Our group then split a couple orders of pasta - Rigatoni alla Vodka and Lobster Ravioli. Both were excellent - no lack of spice in the vodka sauce often seen in the overly sweet pizza shop versions. Mains included the Veal Parm - pretty much the platonic ideal of a veal parm - and the porterhouse. Porterhouse was served with the filet as tartare and the strip black and blue - fantastic. Some blips with the service as we sat for a while prior to our drink order being taken and after that things seemed a bit rushed overall. I attribute some of this to the Michelin and other general hype that MFG has gotten over the years. Charlie Bird (6th Ave and King Street): Brunch at Charlie Bird was great, and pretty low key for what can be a tremendously crowded and loud restaurant during lunch hours. Starters were housemade burrata with chile and charred broccoli along with roast octopus/ mint/ ceci bean/ pea/ nduja. The burrata was excellent, but really what burrata isn't? The roast octopus was good, however my favorite octopus dish in NYC is at Peasant. Mains were crispy chicken and cacio e pepe. Both were very good. Combined with some rose it was a very pleasant brunch with an incredible soundtrack. I prefer Charlie Bird at dinner, but brunch was significantly less crowded and very reasonable. The Grill (Seagram Building): I spent a lot of time in the Seagram building growing up, and ate at the old Four Seasons a slew of times. The guys from MFG have taken over the space and have brought out a menu of old school chophouse classics. The room is mostly the same, and judging from the crowds the place is already a hit. Our group shared a number of appetizers, with one taking advantage of the cold appetizer buffet, which he enjoyed. You could pick from oysters, charcuterie, salmon and other crudite. Kind of an interesting touch for a restaurant with pretty clear aims with respect to stars (Michelin and otherwise), but I bet it makes service much, much easier. Other apps included scallops in snail butter (fantastic), blue crab gumbo and a mushroom omelette prepared tableside. Tableside preparations are central to the restaurant, with one app, two entrees and several desserts all prepared at the table - reinforces the old-school vibe. In fact, since the Jockey Room reboot in 2008 I'm not sure of a place in DC that does much tableside prep anymore, and the same is true of NY. For mains we had the dover sole mueniere (tableside), the prime rib (carved tableside), Guinea Hen Claiborne and the Larded Squab. All were excellent, with the guniea hen and dover sole being my favorites of the bunch. Still crowded on a summer Saturday, the Grill is already coming into its own, and is well-worth a trip back to the old Four Seasons. No room for dessert, but enjoyed several wines and some cocktails. The cocktails were well-made and interesting selections following the mid-century theme. The wine list is extensive.

So should flash photography. Was in NY this past weekend and The Grill was like a paparazzi line. Horrendous.

Wise words. Thank you.

That particular location of El Agave may well be the worst restaurant in the United States.

I had heard rumblings about this - now official: Amazon to Buy Whole Foods for $13.7B

Forget Pok Pok, Rick Bayless should just move to Pluto. We live in interesting times.

Had a fantastic lunch at 2 Amy's on Tuesday. The special pizza (morels, garlic tomato purée, parsley and grams) was incredible. Well worth an order if it's still on the menu.

I ate at Plume consistently back in the olden days, when Michael Scaffidi was the somm and the very underrated David Dunlap was chef. Continued after Chef Dunlap left, but stopped once Michael took his talents to New York. Clearly the list has changed in the intervening years, but I recall average restaurant markups and a varied and interesting list - lots of good entry points sub $100. Glad to hear that interesting options still exist there, if not the same value.

That entire article was absurd.

So did those chairs end up on Rasmus or has someone involved with the place kept them? Great subtle dig in the article as well: "Not a lot of people have seen the location, so we're not planning on a lot of modifications" Zing!