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Keithstg

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Everything posted by Keithstg

  1. Keithstg
    Many, many times. They're inter-related and on the way to Millwood where I occasionally play golf (poorly). Great spots, and nice wines. If you find yourself in Berryville, try Nik's broiler room. Fantastic, and reminiscent of Ray's the Steaks crossed with a NJ Italian American restaurant. Though I should note that both are "over the mountain", and not considered part of the Middleburg area (Clarke County is kind of it's own tiny, odd universe). Farmer's Daughter is at the intersection of 50/ 340 in Boyce and is a less polished version of Locke Store as well, if it's on your way from Linden, or if you are heading to (shudder) Winchester.
  2. Keithstg
    Ha ha ha - I'll have a drink with you anytime. Heck, I'll even buy 🤣. Not of much help re: Linden dining scene, but Roma in Stephens City punches above it's weight, as does Regions 117.
  3. Keithstg
    Upperville is going on this week - happy to meet for a drink if anyone from Dr will be out for the show (well, almost anyone). Some updates just in case: - Common Grounds: Still closing at 2pm, still open at 6am - best coffee shop and gathering place in town. - Upper Crust: Don, back to its former glory. Closing at 4pm, frustrating for Hill parents. - King Street Oyster Bar: BANANAS since Upperville started. Be prepared to wait. - Red Bar: Best restaurant in Middleburg right now (though it's a low bar) Specials are excellent. - Red Fox: Pivoted to a four course tasting menu and "small bites". I get the sense that people may be dissuaded from going for fear of committing to a four course menu - worth noting that the "smal' bites" includes a 1/2 duck, crispy trout, or fried chicken, all of which are entree size. Sneaky good wine list as well,(anyone geeky enough to pour Biggio Hamina by the glass is cool with me) with some aged bottles. - Hunter's Head: Unspeakably bad. New menu change, which the kitchen can't execute. They'll still be packed all week though.
  4. Keithstg
    Really interesting. I absolutely love that building.
  5. Keithstg
    Behold the Jont of backyard wine tastings to welcome summer - our usual group took it up a notch for this one. The Screagle was an '07, the Monfortino Reserva a 2010. Goodnight all.
  6. Keithstg
    The dinner was/ is sold out. So there's clearly a market, and honestly, depending on pour size and quantity of Krug, could qualify as a value for the wines poured.
  7. Keithstg
    I don't know. Pretty tame compared to some of the other shockwaves that have come out over the past few years.
  8. Keithstg
    Kind of a funny comparison - Lynn and Ichiro are pretty darn similar from a statistical perspective. Batting average aside (because it's 2021 and not 1990), Lynn is offensively superior to Ichiro over the course of their careers. And thanks for the tip about Jont having availability - just booked for late June!
  9. Keithstg
    Had a lovely spur of the moment dinner at Field and Main this past Sunday. We hadn't been in a couple of months, so the menu had turned over considerably. Our amuse was a strawberry/ rhubarb soup "shooter", which showcased both the rhubarb and some vinegar - I liked the focus on the rhubarb as opposed to the strawberry as the main note, and I always consider the use of vinegars (most by Lindera, I believe) as a hallmark of cooking at Field & Main since it opened. Highlights were the Italian Wedding soup, almost more of a minestrone with meatballs to my thinking, with the addition of turnips. The soup was excellent, despite Sunday being a VERY hot day - fortunately we ate inside. Fried Broccoli was also an excellent starter - my wife especially liked the pickled broccoli stems and kimchi puree. Mains were tempura fried softshell crab, the tempura shatteringly crisp, and balanced out by bok choy and beet greens - I got a bite or two of this, though didn't detect the fresno chili sauce - which could have been due to the fact that I had a paltry couple bites! I had the seared scallops, which were fantastic and included a dashi, though the dish isn't on the online menu, so the specific details are lost to time. Our kids enjoyed the smashburger x 2, which they always love, and the Feast Chocolate Chip cookie (subbing caramel ice ream for vanilla) and a dish of vanilla ice cream. Wine was a Domaine Chappelle Santenay from 2015 - nice burgundy and fairly priced. Appeared as though all the cabanas were occupied and F&M was headed for a busy Sunday night - which is wonderful news. Our meal and service was superlative and we look forward to dropping in again soon!
  10. Keithstg
    Yes, but only two or three times, always for the fried chicken! Was just in town two weeks ago. I owe a report.
  11. Keithstg
    Headed to i Ricchi for the first time since probably 2004 yesterday for Mothers' Day. My kids handled everything with regard to the reservation - picking the restaurant, selecting the time, etc. and reviewed a ton of menus in the process, so I was both proud of their effort and somewhat concerned about the outcome. Turns out there was no reason for concern. While the restaurant still sticks to Tuscan classis our group had a very nice time. There was a special mother's day menu, though we stuck to the a la carte offerings. We split the polpette, calamari, and capesante to start, and our waiter did a very nice job dividing the dishes between the four of us. While the polpette were very good and the calamari fried perfectly, the capesante was the star here. Not a groundbreaking dish, but the scallops, mushrooms, and gnocchi all worked well together. Also a generous portion for an appetizer. Entrees were the above pictured Rigatoni, which my daughter loved, the veal milanese, chicken parmigiana, and filet. The meats were cooked expertly, and while not groundbreaking, were satisfying. The kids had gelato for dessert. I can understand why a Tuscan restaurant was groundbreaking in late 80s Washington, though the vast majority of those restaurants are long gone. That i Ricchi soldiers on is testament to a longstanding relationship with its clientele and solid execution. We shared a bottle of 2015 Argiano Brunello, which was fine. Two minor quibbles, neither of which should be taken so seriously during a pandemic - 1) the wine list is far from "extensive" as claimed on the website, but I can understand not tying up cash in inventory during these times, and 2) the room is a bit tired and could use a refresh, but also not a priority when so many restaurants are trying to survive. Could we have chosen a different place? Sure. Are there restaurants which are a better "deal", whatever that means to an individual consumer? Sure. Was Mom happy? Yes! Were the kids excited that their pick turned out well? Yes! Mom = happy, and kids = proud? All that mattered.
  12. Keithstg
    $335 per, $175 at the bar, all sold out. I have no interest in it, which is a bummer as someone who loved EMP since the Kerry Heffernan days (though not as much as in the Humm era, pre-this nonsense).
  13. Keithstg
    Will Guidara did. Their former partnership (Make it Nice, I think) dissolved sometime in 2019, maybe? This is certainly an interesting switcheroo, from one of the only chefs in NYC who could generate the heat necessary to make this change viable.
  14. Keithstg
    Unfortunate on so many levels. These aren't corporate run restaurants, rather small businesses trying to survive during an extinction level event for their industry. Consider capacity limits and their impact on a restaurant's bottom line. For wines by the glass, what if one orders a glass of wine on a Sunday evening and the restaurant isn't open again until Tues/ Wed - do you expect the restaurant to take a loss on spoilage? Do you think that fewer people in the door could result in fewer BTG wine sales, and greater spoilage? Have you considered the difficulty in hiring and retaining staff during this pandemic, and the need to be adequately compensated for their efforts? While I agree that a $2 processing fee is tacky, it's not an impediment to me if I really want to enjoy the restaurant, as I've enjoyed Ryan Ratino's food since he was at Auberge Provencal. I also understand the need to clutch pearls and be snarky every once and a while (heck, I've loved Statler and Waldorf on the Muppets since I was a little kid). But this thread has 6.6k views - how many of future views will see a post unrelated to the food, service, decor, or overall experience at Ogawa (or Jont), and decide against dining at either because of one or two people's notions of perceived value and speculation about one sushi restaurant's potential quality over another? Buy the ticket, take the ride. Or don't. Senseless complaining about pricing absent critical commentary on the actual food and experience serves to foster negativity and potential harm for businesses just trying to make it through, like many others.
  15. Keithstg
    Congrats - hope that you have minimal after vaccination effects - and if you do get a fever or chills, stay on top of it with tylenol, etc - I definitely prolonged some agony by not doing so...and also had Moderna.
  16. Keithstg
    True, and the different styles comment is both true and one of the main reasons professional tennis is so interesting!
  17. Keithstg
    Naomi has a net game. Serena doesn't, and never has. Believe that Naomi Osaka varies her groundstrokes better as well and plays with more touch. I've hit with one of Serena's old racquets and it's not only a longbody, but the swingweight is massive (part of which is due to it being an inch longer) - suits her game, but probably explains why she nearly exclusively hits swinging volleys. Osaka can play from behind - Serena can't, and never could. I usually bristle at the historical comparisons (like whoever it was on here that suggested McEnroe was the best of all time), but the case of 2010 Serena vs 2021 Osaka is really interesting to me, since it's basically the same era and equipment. I would be VERY interested to see the matchup!
  18. Keithstg
    Oof - what a great menu! Sad to miss it.
  19. Keithstg
    So unfortunate. They bought Esca in 2019...
  20. Keithstg
    Oof. That's a rough switch.
  21. Keithstg
    Another solid performance from Osaka. Watching her play Serena reminds me of seeing late-career Sampras and realizing "damn, these guys are just better than him now". Serena's obviously still playing at a high level and would have met Osaka in the finals had she been in the other half of the draw, but the result would be the same. No disrespect to Serena, but Osaka and her style of play represents the future of women's singles for now.
  22. Keithstg
    How was it? I'll be up next week, back at Le Bernardin.
  23. Keithstg
    I find Guy Fieri annoying and would never eat in one of his restaurants, but the work he has done to raise funds for restaurant workers during the pandemic deserves nothing but hearty praise.
  24. Keithstg
    Good point. I had chalked up most of the difference to COVID, but should have considered the sale. I don't expect fireworks from the Palm, or Morton's, though I haven't been to a Morton's in a decade. The Palm usually fit the bill as it's close to my office.
  25. Keithstg
    Returned to Auberge Provencal for dinner last Saturday evening. We were here back in June for a meal - for whatever reason Auberge never stays on our radar, which is our loss. Had the Bistro menu as opposed to the prix fixe tasting menu. The Inn continues to do an excellent job with well-spaced tables and servers clad in masks & gloves. For those looking for a long weekend, I believe that the majority of the Inn's suites have exterior entrances, so one could come and go, and have a room service dinner featuring the entire menu and the Inn's fantastic wine list without seeing another guest. The bistro menu focuses on simpler fare as opposed to the more ambitious prix-fixe menu, and it's worth noting that Auberge has had some serious talent come through the kitchen over the years, like Ryan Ratino, for example. With the exception of a particularly sherry-heavy French Onion soup, everything we had was perfectly cooked. We remembered (and enjoyed) the cauliflower soup from the Auberge Delivery Service last Spring, and the soup was as good as ever. Wild Rockfish was a particular highlight - perfectly cooked and well seasoned. I appreciated the clearly handmade lobster tortellini that accompanied the Rockfish, as well as the potato puree. All classically prepared, though I was a bit surprised to see a fennel espuma on the plate, as though 2010 had returned. Steak Frites was also prepared perfectly, albeit with a New York strip as opposed to bavette or a more "traditional bistro" cut of meat. Add to that a well-chosen and abundant cheese/ charcuterie plate and we left thinking that we should return more often. Although Dry January was still in effect for us, it's worth mentioning the Auberge Wine List again. Exceptional in depth/ breadth. Easily the best list over the mountain, and possibly the between Winchester and 2941, though haven't seen that one in a while.
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