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Keithstg

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Posts posted by Keithstg

  1. As mentioned, arrived back in town on Saturday afternoon, headed to the Front Porch for Brunch on Sunday. We hadn't been in about three months, and the brunch menu has changed a bit. More variety, and new cocktail options. There's plentiful street parking in The Plains, and we were able to find parking just around the corner past Doppio Bunny. The Front Porch's patio and front porch (duh) were packed with nice mix of locals and visitors, and live music on the patio. We were seated inside and heard a number of people comment that the Washington Post article had brought them in.

    Appetizer was seared scallops. Scallops were three U-10's, wrapped in prosciutto and on a bed of arugula and goat cheese, topped with some bacon lardons. Scallops were well-seared and while the bacon was kind of superfluous, a nice dish overall. Our mains were Caesar salad with Salmon and anchovies, and chic Chicken and waffles. The Caesar was served in wedge form - the salmon was slightly over my wife's preferred temperature, but she enjoyed the salad nonetheless. Chicken and waffles were solid - two chicken thighs relatively lightly breaded served on top of waffles, with lemon thyme butter and maple syrup served alongside. Not sure that the butter and syrup were very complimentary to each other, so left the syrup behind.

    All in all a nice brunch. My prior opinion of the Front Porch was that it's a solid neighborhood bistro, and that opinion was confirmed on Sunday. Note that the Plains Farmers market is just down the street, right off of 66 - could make a nice morning of the two.

    One final note: Another business was mentioned in the WaPo article - a sandwich shop called Two Kyle's. Two Kyles is a nice market run by good people - their landlord is an ahole, but that's not Two Kyle's fault. Hope that the business and landlord aren't painted with the same brush.

    • Like 5
  2. We haven't been to the Front Porch in a while, but it's a solid neighborhood restaurant. Will be heading over as soon as we are back in town. This and the Red Truck situation have been the talk of the area for a while now. Sally Jenkins did a great job with the article.

    Also were I looking for a financial advisor, I'd probably aim for one successful enough to have an office separate from their home. 

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  3. 17 hours ago, Tweaked said:

    Per the email sent out today:

    "The past few years have been a wild ride, and we’ve shape-shifted into a new identity. Are we a wine shop with a pizza problem? A pizza joint with an ice cream problem? We are all of those things (and more) so we’re embracing our split personality — with Happy Ice Cream right here under the same roof. 

    When we launched Happy Gyro into the world back in 2019, it was an all-vegetarian gyro pop-up. These days, we’ve evolved into something else all together. We’re not vegetarian. We don’t even serve gyros. 

    Now we’re your super casual, one-stop-shopping destination for natural wine bottles, pizza and ice cream — plus whatever else we feel like making on any given day. Right now, the dinner menu is all about Johnny’s naturally-leavened pizza — including *whole* Roman pies! — and cozy Greco-Roman soul food. (Brace yourselves: there will be whole 16” NY-style round pies here and there, too.)

    During the day, the shop is open for bottles of wine and ice cream pints. After 5:30 PM, we do dinner, mostly for carry-out — but now we have a *tiny* standing area in the shop, and a slightly less tiny patio when the weather is nice. Nothing fancy or full-service. Paper plates and sexy stemware. (And we still scoop outside from the cart Tue-Fri evenings and all day Saturday.)

    Come visit us at the shop Tue-Sat 12:30-8:30 PM. Walk-ins welcome for ice cream and wine. Ordering ahead for dinner is still the best move. Did we mention that our wine is always priced retail, whether you’re drinking here or taking home?! Best deal in the city, if you ask us."

    Man I miss Komi. I do love that they reference/ remember Happy Cleaners, which was a neighborhood stalwart back in the day. No longer a block away, but the NY style pies have me very intrigued.

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  4. 13 hours ago, DonRocks said:

    I was at Albi this week, and they have the same fee.

    Precisely. Always find it interesting that some will beat the drum for higher wages but expect a business owner not to pass along increased costs to customers. I’m all for higher wages, and recognize I’ll see those costs in the bill. Makes sense, as opposed to:

    How dare you not pay x wage!??

    How dare you charge me a fee, or raise prices to reflect changing business conditions!?

    smh

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  5. 1 hour ago, Bart said:

    I long for the days when they fancied themselves as a neighborhood restaurant where you could "come in and have a few dishes and then come back tomorrow and have some more".  (They used to have a message similar to that on their landing page).

    And adding a BS fee to the bill seems like a very un-Roses thing to do.  But I guess they figured they would soften the blow of a 10% price increase to the menu by adding an additional 3.5% extortion fee to the bill!  🙄 

    Seems like the “bs fee” was well explained, begging the question - do you dislike Rose’s, or the legislation? If the former, all good. If the latter, that’s the new cost of doing business in the district.

  6. 16 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

    I assume you included Kith and Kin?  I was never a huge fan of K&K but its closure has to do with Kwame wanting to leave, nothing to do with the hotel based on the various articles I just read.

    Agreed, two different scenarios and an, ahem, "opinionated" headline in the Post do not necessarily constitute red flags. That said, the Pendry is around the corner, is a better hotel by miles, and also has unique restaurants (esp their rooftop bar, Moonraker) so all isn't lost in that area of the Wharf.

  7. 23 hours ago, Tweaked said:

    2Amys was on point last night.  The specials menu was packed with delicious things.  One of the best nights in a while.

    We enjoyed:

    Sicilian anchovies with bread, butter, and olive oil

    Oven roasted spring onions wrapped in prosciutto

    Arrosticini with lemon (lamb skewers.  Amazing)

    Capicola cotta tonnato (shaved capicola with tuna sauce. Also amazing) 

    Shaved artichoke salad with pecorino, lemon, and mint

    Dairy cow carpaccio the harry's bar way (also, also amazing)

    A surf and turf pizza of our own creation with cockles and pork sausage cooked well done

    Strawberry ice cream and a cookie plate

    We didn't have room for the grilled squid salad, pork liver terrine, potato and prosciutto croquettes, nor Tuscan steak night.

    God, those croquettes are one of the things I miss most about Washington!

  8. 5 hours ago, dracisk said:

    Any recent reviews? Thinking about this place for a milestone birthday dinner this summer.

    I typically head there once a month, so a LOT since the last post! Chef is still named Jonathan, but Jonathan Martin, coming from Goodstone Inn. Believe he has been in place for a year and a half or so. Food remains solid, though lunch is offered only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and is a three course prix-fixe. Dinner retains a la carte and tasting menu options. We have enjoyed our meals there over Jonathan's tenure. The the fare skewed more straight ahead farm to table new American over the winter - the spring menus have shown some more asian/ mediterranean influences, though still farm to table.

    Stephen Elhafdi is the sommelier, also coming from Goodstone, has been there about a year. List now skews more old-world, and is comprehensive - especially deep in Champagne.

    Wouldn't hesitate to celebrate there. Please drive slowly in the village.

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  9. On 6/30/2016 at 4:01 PM, Keithstg said:

    Is competition more beneficial to the consumer, or less? Does consolidating frequent guest programs result in more rewarding programs, or less? I believe a combined SPG/ Marriott would have something like 60% of all hotel rooms 3* and higher in the US under one corporate umbrella.

    Starwood's frequent guest program was/ is light years ahead of Marriott's in terms of benefits and perks. SPG also has nicer hotels, in my opinion, and a merger with Hyatt would have been more beneficial to the consumer.

    With a combined SPG/ Marriott I suppose there are more options in terms of areas of the country/ world serviced, but since 95% of my travel is to major cities that benefit is minimal.

    As I said....Tony confirms.

    The integration of Marriott Rewards and SPG was a monumental task. And it’s quite interesting. You hear SPG loyalists say, ‘My goodness, what have you done to our program?’ The program was very guest-friendly. It was less owner-friendly.” Marriott CEO, Tony Capuano

  10. 11 hours ago, Marty L. said:

    No doubt, ("starting at") $2112 might sound like a lot for a "family meal," but hey, it comes with breakfast, too!

    ...and a room for the night, and a cocktail reception, and wine with the "family meal". I mean, I get that we are supposed to react with outrage (or something), but at least provide the full tally.

    I had no idea that thelistareyouonit still existed!

    • Like 2
  11. 18 hours ago, reedm said:

    I just tried to find out what Kinship and/or Metier are currently offering, but the website is not working correctly. Does anyone have any idea what's going on? A google search turned up a potential foie gras controversy, but I'm not sure if that is related.

    Cheers

    Kinship's website is working perfectly for me. Metier's is showing some errors. Also, their phone number is listed online. Perhaps a call could sort this out?

    • Like 1
  12. 1 hour ago, eatruneat said:

    Or is it really so someone can say they went there, implying they could afford to go there and spend that kind of cash, even regularly? Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more in the latter category. 

    I suppose this at least partially true, what with social media and all. Someone should interview Carole Greenwood about this and see if her views on photos in restaurants have changed (I can't stand them either)!

  13. 26 minutes ago, Bart said:

    Even you must admit that is a bit tacky.

    If you do the "all in" meal, it's $1025 per person, before tax and tip.  To add $2.50 to that is beyond insulting.  It's like, "The joke's on you, sucker!".

    It reminds me of the movie "The Menu" which, if you haven't seen it, you should!  It's great.  One tip:  Read nothing about the movie before you see it.  Going in cold makes for the best experience. 

    I personally wouldn't show the service charge as a separate line item, but I've paid it a few times and had superlative meals. Zero factor in my dining decisions. One thing that does factor in are fully-prepaid, totally non-refundable reservations - like at Saga in NYC. I understand the concept but appreciate a window (say 7 days) where a refund would be possible. Think this trend will proliferate in 2023.

    • Like 1
  14. On 1/8/2023 at 5:34 PM, Bart said:

    How long before they list the price for a bottle of wine, and then charge you $20 per (empty) glass, to drink it in, because "glass fee" was buried in small print on the 23rd page of the wine list?

    I'm having flashbacks to the $650 tasting menu at Jont where they have the gall to add a $2 service charge to take the reservation.

    Ahh, the ol' hyperbole cannon! You'll be pleased to know that the service charge at Jont is now $2.50.

    As someone who was a fan of Fabio since Maestro, it pains me that this entire restaurant group is so wack now. And pricing isn't even in the top three to five reasons for said wackness.

    • Haha 1
  15. 22 hours ago, DaRiv18 said:

    Thanks, KeithA. Making it and storing at home isn’t feasible anymore, due to time and space constraints.  I agree it’s better to make it yourself, I even settled on my preferred recipe. Frankly I prefer the convenience of buying it. 

    Assuming you are willing to drive to Marshall, VA - The Whole Ox.

    Place I think will deliver: Fields of Athenry, Middleburg VA.

    Closer to DC and may make their own: Organic Butcher, McLean.

    I can also confirm that low prices will not be a concern. :)

  16. On 12/14/2022 at 11:56 AM, Pat said:

    The Pacci's in the former Park Cafe space on 13th Street just south of East Capitol looks very close to opening. I'm really happy for them, as they have had to do a tremendous amount of work on that space and it has dragged on seemingly forever.

    There are still permits in the window, so DC bureaucracy could be an issue, but they have tables and chairs set up inside and what looks like a very nice bar in the back (with someone behind it when I went by yesterday).

    Such a wonderful building and location - here's hoping that Pacci's is a home run in that space.

    • Like 1
  17. 18 hours ago, The Doctor said:

    Thanks! Of those, I've only done Metier. It had the advantage of a nice space that made you feel separated from the outside world. And the food was of comparable quality, but Komi provided way more over a greater period of time, and with more engagement with the servers. If I had the Komi experience in the Metier space, it would have been amazing.

    Another option is Jont, which I've only been to once, but has a longer tasting menu and engaging servers. Would also suggest minibar, but sounds like it won't meet the quantity requirement (and I have not been since pre-covid). If quantity of food and length of meal is the ultimate arbiter, maybe the Four Seasons is still doing their excellent Sunday brunch?

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