Keithstg

We had an excellent meal at Proof this past saturday. Highlights included an excellent cheese course - with a staff member taking the time to determine which cheeses were pasteurized and which were not, at the request of a pregnant friend. The staff apparently had not had the "pasteurized" question asked before, which is completely understandable, and went out of their way to be accomodating. We also had the burrata and speck dish along with the other cheeses - the only comment here was that the flavor of the speck overpowered the burrata.

First courses were tuna tartare, gnocchi, and meatballs. The meatballs were the winner, although all of the first courses were very good. In fact, I think a great meal could be had by two people splitting an order of each first...

Seconds were sablefish (x2), hangar steak, and salmon. The sablefish were fantastic! Clearly the best dish of the second courses, although the hangar steak and salmon arrived beautifully cooked and well seasoned. Portion sizes also seemed to be larger for the sablefish, IIRC.

All in all, the food was excellent, the service was friendly and accomodating, and the wine service (Deutz NV Champagne and a Anne Gros Burgundy) was impeccable. The list is very balanced, not too "New Worldy", which is a welcome relief from 15+% abv monoliths. We can't wait to return.

Also, the bar was PACKED from about 8pm onwards - seems like the word has already gotten out about Proof, which is great!

Interesting article in today's times...

NY Times

Our res is actually tonight, 6/22. I've been through a few pages of the thread and wondering what spring has brought to the menu. Any more recent reports?

And a question - the desserts sound wonderful, but I am not generally a "dessert person." Would I be foolish to forgo dessert for a cheese course? I would be, wouldn't I? Go ahead and say it...

ETA I have heard rumors of soft shell crab. Will investigate and report back.

I've been remiss about posting, but two weeks ago I had the pleasure of eating at Citronelle twice in 48 hours. Highlights from the spring menu were: Softshell crab tempura - the crab is stuffed with lump crabmeat - outstanding. Also Paella, without rice (ground calamari substitutes instead), and an amazing mosaic appetizer of seafood (hamachi - I think, scallop, and one other fish - then some beef carpaccio to round things out). While not new to the menu, the duck entree has one of the most amazing side dishes I've had all year - bascially duck confit mashed potatoes. And, as always, incredible wines and hospitality from Mark!

This show is where I draw my reality tv line. Not sure the world needs another "Guy's Big Bite" or whatever.

Generally, I look at beef, wine service, sides, and service - roughly in that order. For me, Charlie Palmer Steak and BLT come out on top for DC, Rays by a landslide in VA. I think that the three above are the best combinations of quality beef, a non-corporate / offensive wine list (see Ruth's Chris / Morton's / Palm / Cap Grille). Of the chains (and I realize that BLT and CPS have more than one local), I guess I would take Cap Grille, but there is no uniqueness there whatsoever.

I thought it was interesting that Lee Ann Wong, from the first season, is now a member of the Top Chef production team. She was probably the most mature, professional chef of the first bunch, but was eliminated in favor of having more of a dramatic good guy/bad girl showdown for the finale, which was ultimately won by Harold Dieterle.

I don't know that the words dramatic and Harold belong in the same sentence - I think he's clearly the most talented chef of the two seasons to this point, and likely the most mature as well. I actually think Lee Ann would have fared better in season two - no doubt she would have beaten Andy Nusser Jr. (oops, Ilan) and Marcel...Ilan has no range whatsoever, as shown in the reunion challenge.

Having driven by Granville Moore's recently, I can tell you that mid-June seems very optimistic for an opening date. That strip of H street is getting better all the time, though - especially now that the Pug, Palace of Wonders, and Red&Black are all open.

Citronelle.

Funny that Chef Donna has launched a content-less blog before putting any content at all into the Bebo website.

Funny, but not at all surprising.

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As much as city-wide efforts to restore Eastern Market are both heartening and appropriate, I am all for the idea that the place should serve its own neighborhood. It represents what was here before supermarket chains and represented about the only alternative to bus trips, metro rides and drives away from Capitol Hill for residents, no?

As nice as this might be, times have changed, the cost of space has risen, as has the amount of competition. As much as I was always annoyed with the hordes descending upon Eastern Market on the weekend from other neighborhoods (and -gasp- Maryland and Virginia) from a crowd perspective - those folks keep the market going too, and are no less a part of the landscape than we Hill residents. If more people want to check out how neat Eastern Market was, and will be again, I think that's wonderful. Crowds, illegal parking, confused driving and all.

The problem, of course, is that those of us who don't live in the immediate vicinity have a hard enough time finding parking as it is. Taking away 50 parking spaces without some other accommodation will certainly complicate life for many of us eager to begin spending out money back in whatever temporary solution is found.

Fair enough, but so long as the outside vendors (who took up the majority of those parking spots on 7th street anyway) were given space to load in their goods and trucks (as discussed last night), I'm guessing that the real impact in terms of parking spots for folks driving in would be minimal. Of course, there's always the metro...

Congratulations Mark!

The NY times has an article today about Eastern Market: NY Times on Eastern Market

Twenty one years in the DC area. Twenty one years of saying "we ought to try Eastern Market." But Market Lunch isn't (wasn't) serving its famous breakfast on Sundays. What's up with that? I hope when they rebuild, the owners insist that Market Lunch or whoever else serves prepared food is open for breakfast on Sunday. Of course, you'd never know this from the Eastern Market website. The entry for Market Lunch has only the name of the owner, the phone number, and the address.

Ellen Paul

Chevy Chase

Edit: What Lackadaisi said.

Hearing a ton of sirens last night, we walked outside to see what was going on. To say that the loss of Eastern Market is a horrible one for Hill residents is an understatment. Eastern Market would not be what it is without all of the wonderful proprietors that we have come to know and trust over the years, Mel and his family and the Canales first among them. We'll be hoping for a quick rebuild, and of course for our friends the proprietors to make it through.

To me, Eastern Market was/is the best thing about living on the Hill as opposed to another less connected community.

Another approach to offsite storage that might work for you is this - PVC pipe. Seriously, I know a few people who have used 4in diameter PVC pipe to build racks within their storage units. Depending on the size of your wine locker, you can generally fit two bottles in each PVC tube, and the 4in diameter can accomodate both Pax and Krug bottles. If you stack up the PVC well, they will fit almost perfectly into the space - one of my friends also mixed in some 3in diameter pipe to store 1/2 bottles and to achieve a tighter fit. Cost was approx .50-.75 per bottle

Just another option for you to consider...

NY Times (registration required)

Speaking of causes, today's New York times has an article on another individual contributing to "agricultural education" (not childhood obesity), presumably without screeching and horrendous acronyms.

I think the article (by Amanda McClements and posted on page 1 of this topic) said "rustic" but don't quote me on that.

Rustic seems to be correct - think antique (reclaimed, not newly quarried) limestone floors, etc...

Are the lines always as rediculous as they were last night? We waited 20 minutes for a soft pretzel before we gave up. My mom told me that on Opening day she waited half an hour for a hot dog only to find that they had run out of buns.

I must admitt that the hot chocolate was better than I dared to hope.

I had the same experience as your mom on opening day, but in my visits since then (4) the lines have been manageable. The food court has been open only sporadically due to the cold weather, though.

The flood gates have opened.

I think that's a bit of an unfair statement. Do I think that the lack of vintage dates on the winelist is annoying? Yes. Is that a minor quibble (for me), and would I gladly return to Cafe du Parc. Absolutely! If this response constitutes opening the floodgates, what is the Bebo thread?

Would the average consumer know or even care about this?

I suppose not, but how many "average consumers" do you think Cafe du Parc, or other restaurants of its ilk attract? I would wager that the typical consumer of CdP (or Corduroy, or Eve, or any number of board favorites) are infinitely more likely to know and care about "this".

Does the wine list really not include vintages? The one on the website leaves them out.

Correct. No vintages on the print wine list. Very annoying.

While I didn't see the awards (or much of anything else on TFN lately), Bourdain took one for the team and his opinion is available here Ruhlman's Blog.

I didn't see that Julia Child was inducted into the "Food Hall of Fame". I guess having Rachel Ray induct her makes sense on a popularity level, and from a background standpoint, except Julia (1) was actually talented, and (2) went to culinary school.

We ate at Cafe du Parc this weekend as well. We were able to walk in around 8:15 on friday night with about a 20 minute wait. The service was excellent, and extremely enthusiastic. My wife had the pate, which she thought was excellent, while I had the onion soup, which was solid and comforting. We decided to share a special - a whole John Dory. The fish was roasted and presented in an iron skillet atop a bed of herbs, haricot verts, garlic, and calamari. The fish was excellent - perfectly cooked and moist. We ended the meal with profiteroles, which were just ok - the ice cream was really nothing special. All in all, we had a wonderful meal, and look forward to going back. Hopefully it'll be a bit more crowded the next time around, though.

I'm not quoting you on this, but you do realize that as a member with a low post count who is handling a happy hour for the fellow members with french wine it is customary to provide various 96 Bordeaux tastings free of charge to the members, right?

'96? I thought it was '82.....