Keithstg

'less I want a beer and a smoke at my local.

There are always private clubs, which are exempt from the ban.

I doubt that I am the only one with this question, but how does one get on these mailing lists? Do you have to visit the wineries, know somebody, or have a bunch of cash?

In the internet era, most of the time all you need is the time to sign up online. Some of the more luddite wineries use Fax. Typically once the list fills up, there is a waiting list, and so on. In the most extreme cases (Screagle, maybe) you may have to know someone, but I don't think cash ever figures into the equation, until you buy the wine, of course.

Ok, we are going to be celebrating our 2nd year of marriage here in mid July. I have heard some mixed reviews, but I am going to give it a try. This will complete our tour of the best of the best in DC. Any suggestions? Is it better to go with the tasting menu or the 3 courses? Is it on Par with Maestro which I loved, or Citizen which my wife thought was better, or Eve which we both loved? I noticed that the tasting menu is $155 which puts it on par with the French Laundry as far as pricing, is the food just as good?

If you decide to try the three course menu, the spring pea/lobster bisque is fantastic, and breakfast at citronelle is an incredibly tasty and fun dessert. I've had the tasting and the ala carte menu and loved both - I don't think you can go wrong either way. Seeing as most less-than glowing reports about Citronelle come from four years ago (or so), and are vague, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

My wife and I had a fabulous meal there over Memorial Day weekend, and I'm sure you will too - Citronelle is certainly on par with all of the others you mention. Happy Anniversary!

I've been a Ray's hold out for many reasons, but primarily because they won't take reservations and I simply refuse to wait in line, for anything, for even a moment.

But when someone who has been to Luger's 40 times (and I assume, Keith, many other great steakshouses) says they've got nothing on Ray's, I'm tempted to drive over to Arlington on a rainy Monday night at 9PM and see if there's an open table.

My Luger's patronage has to do with growing up in NYC with a family of red meat eaters, which led to many, many trips to Brooklyn. All I'll add to the topic is that the past few times I have been to Luger's the porterhouses have been overcooked, and sent back. This seems to happen at PL frequently, for the reasons that Jake described.

Anyway, back to topic. I'm sure you've had to wait in line for stuff before, that didn't end up half as good as Ray's. Head over and enjoy!

eta: Luger's takes cash, but also accepts it's own credit cards, FWIW.

ou cannot compare Ray's to Luger's. For that matter you cannot compare any other American steak house to Luger's either.

Having just been to Luger's last week, for about the 40th time, I can assure you that Ray's would not want to be compared to Luger's. Ray's is putting out much, much better food right now - AND has a much better winelist.

Dude, for a restaurant, and for that wine that is just about a steal.

Agreed, but the $100 price point makes it irrelevant for some. Personally, I'm just glad to be on the KB list. CPS does have some good bargains if you take the time to look. Ditto the comments on Corduroy - Chef Power has put together a great list.

Unfortunately (and I say this as a lifelong DC resident), we're lacking in the mid-priced, chef-driven restaurants that make, say SF or Philly (to name two places I've recently thought about this in), such great food cities. There's only a handful of worthy restaurants here that fit that category, which are the places that get discussed the most on this board (Corduroy, Palena Cafe, Firefly, etc.). I always blame it on the lobbyist/expense account presence (which skews things toward the upper end).

I agree with your assessment, but I'd blame it more squarely on population density in the District. Locals (and by locals in this instance I mean those living within city limits) number around 550,000, the majority of which probably don't regularly support mid-priced, chef-driven restaurants like the ones you mention. The remaning folks who do support such establishments aren't around in sufficent number to support a huge amount of these places, as in NYC (where I am originally from) or SF. I realize that a large segment of the population exists in the suburbs to support these establishments, but I would bet that the majority of folks coming in to DC on the weekend are looking for a "big night out in the city", and typically overlook mid-priced, chef-driven places for either more expense account (or as Tom S. would say, "Big Deal") restaurants, flasier chains (Zengo!) or maybe upscale chains, like ruth's chris, etc.

I don't say any of this to offend, or to raise the completely played-out "DC vs. Suburbs" debate. I wonder what others think on this topic, and it would be interesting to see/hear what folks in these chef driven restaurants think, or where their customers typically come from. To me, places like Corduroy, Palena Cafe, Firefly, etc. are treasures, and having more of them around would benefit everyone, inside DC and out.

Went to BdC last eve. Sat at the bar. Noticed some new markings on the mirror.

Meursault, Genevrieres, 1er cru, 2001, $49. Producer unlisted, but for $49, why not take a chance?

I like white Burgundy a little, so I had at one. Turned out to be a fine decision. Not going to put this up against say Lafon, but damned tasty nonetheless. The chassagne 1er cru being offered was a little underwhelming, but grew agreeable as it warmed up a touch (had to have the second bottle as it was for research - '99 vintage, can't recall the producer). The Mearsault (Latour-Giraud was the producer) was pretty much the best $49 I've spent in a restaurant on chardonnay, and I trust I'll continue to do so until it's out.

In addition to the mirror, the butcher paper specials are worth looking at - '99 Puy Ducasse for $45, Chateau Clairfont (2nd label of Prieure Lichine, Margaux) '00 for $30. As of late '99 Ridge Montebello for $69? That's below wholesale prices. Makes drinking out of the small glasses a little more tolerable.

Any other steals out there?

If $100 can ever be considered a "good deal", Kosta Brown Kanzler is available at Charlie Palmer Steak. Not a steal, but pretty fair considering how scarce it is in these parts...

They sold out the concert hall at the Kennedy Center?

An Evening with Booby Flay and Rachel Ray

Well, at least one of them is an actual chef....

Although I am just now posting a week later, my wife and I had a wonderful meal at Citronelle over Memorial Day weekend - a much required break from Home Improvements. Many, many, many thanks to Mark for his gracious service, and for the wonderful table! We had a blast, and the highlights included:

Caviar Penguin: A wonderful way to start of a meal. I could eat the homemade blini all day as a snack (the caviar too, come to think of it)! A glass or two of champagne went extremely well with this, as well as the amuse bouche (thanks Mark!)

Lobster and Pea Bisque (me): The past few times we have been to Citronelle I've ordered the Begula pasta, and almost did this time out - I'm glad I didn't - this dish was superb!

Michel's Begula Pasta (my wife): Nothing more can be said about this dish than has already been said. It's fantastic, and I'm sure that the imitations now floating around are not as good as the original! My wife really enjoyed this dish.

Softshell Crab Compote (both): This dish was a wonderful surprise. The tempura batter was perfect, and the softshells were sublime. This was paired with a very nice riesling - thanks Mark!

Colorado Rack of Lamb (me): Superbly prepared, with excellent depth of flavor.

Halibut (my wife): My wife really, really enjoyed the halibut. She made a split decision at the time she placed her order, and I know that she loved the result, because the Halibut was gone before I could even ask for a taste!

We finished the meal with an orange souffle and the chocolate three ways. Just a wonderful meal (and experience) overall, and we can't wait to return. Thanks so much to Mark, and the rest of the staff, for a great time to recount over some (more) brickpointing the following day!

rwtye and I went to Citronelle last night to celebrate our wedding anniversary and the only negative of the whole evening was the regret that we had never eaten there before and had waited so long to do so.

Mr. Slater very kindly arranged for us to have the perfect table -- close enough to the kitchen so the view was fantastic, but not so near that it distracted from the romance of the evening. And, as if that was not enough, he brought us glasses of champagne to start off our celebration.

As a first course, rwtye had the tuna napoleon nicoise topped with the adorable wedge of hard-boiled egg that is not really an egg at all. When he ordered it, I told him I was glad he was getting that because I wanted a bite of the "egg". Well, even after fifteen years of marriage, rwtye still has not learned to always share. The napoleon came out and the first thing he did was spear the "egg" and popped the whole thing into his mouth before I could even utter a word to stop him. He next had the lamb that was served on top of soft polenta & garlic herb sauce laid down across the plate in incredibly precise stripes and surrounded by roasted sunchokes and edamame. He declared the lamb perfectly seasoned and the best he's ever consumed.

I ordered the white asparagus 3 ways -- soup, salad and steamed (?) topped with hollandaise and a poached egg. If I had to choose, the soup was the best of the three with the salad running a close second, but all were delicious. To follow the asparagus, I had, at Mark's suggestion, the cobia with crab risotto and saffron-potato puree. Wow. Very decadent. Very delicious. Very quickly devoured.

After a just-sweet-enough raspberry mousse pre-dessert, rwtye had the trio of ice creams (caramel, vanilla and bittersweet chocolate) because he was getting near his limit of food for the evening. But dessert is always my favorite part of dinner and, in the description of the napoleon on the dessert menu, I saw the two words that never cease to entice me: "maple" and "caramel". It was an absolutely faultless combination of textures and tastes and an ideal finale to my dinner.

For us, the most surprising thing about Citronelle was the warmth and ease of all of the staff. We really expected a more formal and stuffy atmosphere, but we found it very comfortable. And one of the best parts of the night was watching Chef Richard plate some dishes for one of the other tables. He was perfectly serene, an island of calm in the midst of a busy kitchen, as he arranged the food just so. We wanted to clap when he finished.

Overall, a wonderful dinner in every aspect.

And thank you Mark for the bubbly, the table, the advice, the astute matching of wines and all the other little things you did to add to a very special evening.

Thanks for this - we'll be going to Citronelle this weekend, and it's been a while. Now I know what to look out for!

Heading to NY for the weekend, again...

Still needed:

A dinner somewhere near the Theater District on Saturday night. Or not near the Theater District that can seat us very early so we can get to the theater.

For the theater district, I'd say DB Bistro Moderne (a bit on the high end, but the much talked about burger is worth it), Amarone (47th and 9th) for a nice, relaxed Italian meal, or Bistro du Vent, which is on 42nd and 10th IIRC, and is a neighborhoody bistro - part of the Batali stable of restaurants. I think that BduV would be my pick overall. Then there's always Siberia for a drink afterward if you are in the mood for a really eclectic scene, to say the least, and have time before the show. PM me for details if you want.

Today's chog. There's not a single blueberry pancake in all of Northern Virginia Todd could have suggested?

I'm also not exactly sure about what Chrissie chiming in constantly contributes to the chat. I think I'd prefer more back & forth with chatters than a discussion between the two of them. Just my $.02.

I agree 100% about Chrissie. Incidentally, someone did mention Vermillion, which is in NOVA (I think, I don't cross the river much!)

Other tasty dishes were duck breast with duck confit parmentier, and a shepherd's pie of shortribs.  The "profiteroles" of escargot were also really good -- small savory, slightly garlicky choux filled with escargots with a compote of sun dried tomatoes and more escargots in the middle of the plate.  I don't think I have ever had escargot with tomatoes, but the combination is really good -- maybe someone should try it on pizza? 

I was at Gerard's place for dinner last Friday, and can concur with you on the escargot profiteroles - I split the escargot appetizer and the lobster appetizer with my wife and we both enjoyed them. Although it's a pricey supplement, Gerard's signature lobster dish looked very good, although my wife finished it before I could try to steal a bite. I ordered the shortribs, and found them to be overcooked and bland. I like the concept of the Sheperd's pie, however both the beef and the potato top were overdone, which took away from my enjoyment of the dish. There was enough sauce on the plate to make it edible, however.

One point about the wine list - it's still not great, and wines are served waaay too warm, although that applies to many restaurants in town. All in all, we'd definitely return to Gerard's, and I'll give the short ribs a try again - hopefully my experience will be more like yours!

I'm 26. I had one visit to Citronelle at 21 and two at 22. On one of the occassions, I was with a middle-aged couple - and they share my recollection of the evening.

Dan, you are certainly entitled to your opinion, although I do think it a bit unseemly to state it online four or five years after the fact (especially without acknowledging the time passage). That said, I've been to Citronelle three times in the past five months or so. One visit I had the tasting menu with wine pairings, while the other two I dined ala carte. Each time, without exception, I had gracious service, and really wonderful food, from Michel's Begula Pasta, to Breakfast at Citronelle, to a very nice sous vide dish. The wine pairings with the tasting menu were excellent, and if I were to have any criticism it would be that the pours were too generous ! Each time that we dined ala carte, Mr.Slater was very professional and worked within our budget to find things that we liked. In the end, I'm sorry that your experiences haven't been as good as mine were, but I'd try it again and see if they don't prove you wrong.

RD made a similar dish for a special Lab dinner a few months ago and everyone was gaga over it.  I made note that it was very similar to Michel's.

Gotcha. After further thought, I'd change my description from "similar" to "all out theft".

Does anyone know how the Iron Chefs on the original show were chosen to be the Iron Chefs?  where they already well know in Japan, or where they really the best that The Chairman could find   

Obviously the American show is a vehicle for already established Food TV stars (other than Cat Cora, who has underwhelmed me as an Iron Chef).

I don't watch the American version a lot but I've been impressed by Batali, Fley sometimes, and I think Morimoto was better on the original.

and Walken as Chairman would be brilliant...maybe they could get him as a judge for a show.

I'm fairly certain that all of the original chefs for Iron Chef Japan were well known in Japan prior to being selected. As for the American version, I agree about Cat Cora, she's awful, and they could have done so much better with their selection. Even just looking here in DC, Ris Lacoste would have been much better - or Carole Greenwood, just to see what would happen!

Watching the match on tivo last night, I'm surprised no one has remarked on Roberto making what for all intents and purposes was "Michel's Begula Pasta"...

From: The List, Are You On It.

Christophe Poteaux, currently Executive Chef / Food & Beverage Director for Aquarelle at The Watergate, will open this new restaurant in Old Town Alexandria by September, featuring a moderately priced, modern French/Mediterranean cuisine with a blend of world ingredients.

So does anyone know where and when this is going to open?

And, does this mean that all the rumors we have been hearing about the Watergate getting a new restaurant are more or less true?

cat cora is a hack chef, the woman Iron Chef; who in the biggest robbery of Iron Chef America was crowned victor over Alex Lee, perhaps the finest contestant the show has ever seen.

Hear, Hear!

Nobu? I mean a chain? you're telling me that Nobu London is a better sushi/whatever fusion thing than, oh I don't know, EVERY RESTAURANT IN JAPAN, or even the US. This is schlock. Although I do concur with the omission of Circle Bistro this year.

Good point. Masa in the US would certainly be right up there as well...

The guy was being an asshat, but that having been said: why should the host of a restaurant in New York City be expected to recognize two Washington chefs on sight?

Although there is a Bobby Van's in New York, there are also two in the District, where this episode ocurred.

See -- it happened.  Tom let all those posters whine in his column, and now even culinary celebrities are doing it to -- not finding a manager, not giving the restaurant a "chance to make it right," possibly even (if you believe management) taking a minor inconvenience and blowing it all out of proportion becuase Washingtonians are self-important boors. I blame Sietsema.

I disagree. A response like "you'll have to wait", if delivered in the manner suggested, would have elicited the exact same response from me. A simple answer, and a trip out the door. No need to be dramatic about things, but that attitude from the maitre'd goes beyond what would deserve a chance to make it right. I don't know where the manager suggested that the incident was a minor inconvenience - he seemed to think it was a very poor display on his restaurants behalf. Say what you will about people whining in Tom's column, but in this case I think the complaint had merit.

That said, I love the more Burgandian style of wines like the Radio Coteau Savoy.

Somewhat off topic, but the spring allocation of R-C arrived at my door yesterday! Eric Sussman is a great winemaker, and not necessarily in the Turley mold...

Was this the special?

Whoops. The wine was consumed at Vidalia. Sadly, Mr.Mortet ended his own life.

This weekend at dinner:

Denis Mortet "En Champs", Gevrey Chambertin, 2001: Really great wine, and a truly tragic situation. Mr. Mortet will be missed. The wine was consumed during a really nice dinner at Vidalia.

Littorai "Cerise Vineyard", 2002: a good Anderson Valley pinot noir, although it did remind me a bit of Beaux freres for some reason-I don't know why. This wine would be a good example of an Anderson Valley pinot. Had it at Sonoma, on 50% off wine night - a really nice promotion!