Keithstg

Kinship, Metier, Marcels, Bresca, Fiola (original, NOT Mare)

Totally different! The beignets were fantastic, and brunch was a big focus...

This is a bummer, as someone who has been to every iteration of Komi since it took over the former "Vivo" space above Happy Cleaners, and who isn't interested in takeout. That said, I'm thrilled that the Monis/ Marler team has found fulfillment, even if not in fine dining.

I hope that Chef was made an offer he couldn't refuse, AND that the word is getting out. Was pretty crowded when I swung into the bar last night. My son has declared Red House his Sunday post-game meal spot (for home games).

What if I told you that there was a fantastic restaurant lurking in the suburban hellscape that is Haymarket? What if I told you that the restaurant had “Corduroy vibes”, from the old Four Points days? I’m willing to bet you’d be as surprised as I was to hear and interested in checking out the Red House Tavern – Joel Valente’s new restaurant. Joel comes to Red House from the Inn at Little Washington. Good friends told us about the Red House on Saturday night, and we headed in after a hockey game in Haymarket on Sunday. The space is beautiful – easily the nicest build out of a Hilton Garden Inn I have ever seen, and a real surprise. I don’t think anyone would have described the Four Points build out as “beautiful”, but the great food in an offbeat location had me drawing the Corduroy comparison, which is high praise. The wine list skews industrial, but the restaurant just opened so here’s hoping that improvements will be made. We had a bottle of Primitivo, which was tasty enough and reasonably priced. The menu is divided into small plates (to share) and larger fare (to share) – though we approached the menu more traditionally with each of us having an appetizer small plate and some larger fare. Small Plates were Roasted Bone Marrow, served in the traditional St. John style with Parsley Salad – some citrus added acid and grated horseradish provided a nice bite. Charred Octopus was presented similarly to many charred Octopus dishes I have had before, with roasted potato, celery and lemon zest but was punched up by the addition of a peanut romesco sauce and giundilla peppers, which I had to look up. Mussels were also traditionally done with leek, garlic, shallot, and parsley with a slight departure in the cider making up the broth base. All were very well executed and plated with care. Large plates included the Tavern Burger, made with beef from our neighbors at Ovoka Farm. The burger was large, well-seasoned and cooked to the specified medium rare. The burger does not come with fries, but rather a salad. Just an FYI as our hockey player wanted to add fries after the fact. Scallops came with a bacon broth, mushrooms and beans. Well seared, perfectly cooked. Pork Cheek included a sunchoke and cider puree. Carried out a pappardelle ragu – all the pastas are made in house. We are in Haymarket quite a bit for hockey – very glad to add Red House to our rotation. I’d say similar to Corduroy in that it’s excellent food in an unexpected location (on two counts in this case), dissimilar in the wine list and cuisine (Corduroy was/ is more refined).

As attention spans shorten, it's anachronistic to think that people are interested in the "true story" without a summary bottom line. Also obvious - small "mom & pop" places can be high end. See: Blacksmiths, Three; as one easy example. I'd wager that while largely interested in shorter form content, most readers can calibrate the difference in one star for El Pollo Rico and one star for Art and Soul (examples only, no clue of what stars each had/ has). Yeah...I understood the focus on value. He just missed the mark.

Agreed that the vegan bit limits customers. Does seem as though EMP may now be the easiest 3* reservation to secure in NY, so should probably have tempered my timeline, which holds for IALW, btw, which is still a vastly different restaurant hundreds of miles away.

Not sure what any of this has to do with EMP, which has somehow maintained 3* for another year. Weekend reservations at both EMP and IALW remain hard to find or nearly impossible less than several months in advance.

The best restaurant in Ashburn/ Leesburg is a very low bar, but Ahso is criminally underrated imo. I think the "budget conscious" focus of the guide was a great idea. Tom just mostly forgot about the good food piece of it. I read Tom's reviews, and am generally a fan. But no more stars is a massive cop-out.

And it's now reopen (presumably has been for a while). Had a simple, and simply lovely, meal last Thursday. Seafood tower, seared Halibut, chablis. Was very pleased to see at least 100 other diners with us even at a late lunch (2:30pm) hour.

A little surprised that Tom Sietsema (foolishly, IMO) decided to drop stars from his reviews and no discussion of it on Dr.com...

I'll third Lotus of Siam. Fantastic place, wine list is still excellent. For my money the best off-strip option. May also want to check out Eater Las Vegas - one of the better updated Eater sites and will have Henderson recommendations as well.

To Richard Keane and Bill Meehan.

That would be most welcome. The new Moynihan Train Hall and Acela Club are both fantastic.

Union Station is a debacle. Starbucks is on its way out. As a frequent Acela traveler I have been flying shorter distances and limiting the train or heading directly into the Acela club to avoid a very unpleasant experience. The food court is about 2/3 empty, and Shake Shack is basically all that’s left in the main hall.

So, if your vacation was interrupted by work and you had to fly back to DC for two days, and had this Tuesday night (7/12) free for dinner, and price was not a consideration, where would you head for dinner for one?

Seems like you worked through it! The Miami reference, as relates to food. Re: Cafe Milano, think Fiola Mare has always been better than Cafe Milano, and will always be - but DC isn't setting the world on fire in terms of upscale seafood these days.

Fiola Mare is now a Miami restaurant (well, Coral Gables) which happens to be located in DC - adjust expectations accordingly. Maybe it always was, but the feeling that I first experienced in 2018 seems all encompassing now.

One of the best softshell crab dishes anywhere is the soft shell sandwich at Blue Water Kitchen in Upperville, VA. Chef/ Owner Mike Kozich has a serious pedigree and the soft shells are prepared Citronelle-style (stuffed with lump crabmeat and then tempura battered & fried). Fantastic. May want to call ahead and ensure availability. Edit: and get there before Upperville starts in two weeks.

I've really enjoyed restaurant at the Clifton Inn (in Clifton), and Brasserie Saison, on the walking mall. Keswick Hall has reopened and their restaurant looks very nice. That said, It's a Jean-Georges outpost, so probably 65mph, down the middle fine-dining fare.

Yes. The vanity fair prints will command solid prices, among others.

I haven't been to a Clyde's for months, and it's usually just to grab a bite after my son's hockey games as an alternative to Buffalo Wild Wings or similar, but seeing this really bummed me out. https://bid.alexandriaauctions.com/auction/the-clydes-of-reston-collection-may-25th-2022-310/bidgallery/

Agreed. Sad to see CityPaper continue to be gutted. So many great reporters have come through there - within and outside of food.

Having been last week, would skip.

Bresca or Jont?