Keithstg

"So," he said, a trollish grin spreading across his face, "if the money's there, the kids are well-behaved and there's plenty room for yet another Long John Silver's, and good restaurants still don't move to the suburbs, the problem must be with the suburbanites themsleves, right?"    (Don't hit me, Raisa!)

Or, are hip, talented chefs deterred by by outdated stereotypes of self-centered, mini-mansion dwelling drones too busy making partner and ferrying Madison to ballet, flute and soccer to appreciate a decent meal?  Brendan? 

Another thought: evil strip mall developers who won't lease good space to an independent because they want the guaranteed revenue stream of chain.

Finally, you think Northern Va has it bad, the affluent yet largely African American areas of PG County -- Fort Washington, say -- are a veritable dining desert.

I think that the truth is somewhere in between, but the rapid pace of expansion has to also be considered a factor. As the population out in Loudon and out to Faquier County expands, so to will the services offered - it just takes time. Restaurants with larger financial backing (i.e., chains) will obviously be the first to come in. Independent restaurants will follow IF the community demonstrates a need, and a willingness to support independent ventures.

It doesn't seem realistic to me to expect a direct correlation between housing stock growth and the growth of smaller, independent restaurants. Then again, I haven't ever lived in that "emerging" of an area.

Let me pose this as a question instead of a potentially incendiary statement:

Do you think that the proportion of people who "care" enough about their food to seek out non-chain, chef-driven restaurants (and avoid their converse) is so much higher in the city than in distant suburbs that it is a far riskier proposition to open such a restaurant in the distant suburbs?

(Edited to mention that this sentinment had already been versed by Banco. Must read more carefully!)

I did not know they were available here already. I usually order from their website. I may make it into DC to save the shipping costs. Though I joined their club Delectus and get a discount.

I am surprised they have Cuvee Julia.

They had, at minimum, two cases of Cuvee Julia, of which I bought a half case. Good stuff. What with the recent wine spectator rave I doubt it will linger in stock very long.

I have never tried the Shotfire Rdige. I will go and find a bottle and try it.

When I first tried the Lehmann, I did not even know it was a shiraz as it seemed so diiferent than all the others I had tried recently.

On another but similar note, I am a huge fan of Delectus Winery Syrah's, (actually of all their wines). I love there  1998 Lodi Syrah, it is probably a bit higher than the $30 range at this point, but it is a wine worth seeking out. I spoke with the owners recently and they were trying to market their wines in the DC area, but after Wine Spectator's rating this past year, I think their problem may be keeping up the supply.

Delectus makes great wines. We use the Argentum as our "house wine". All of Delectus's line is currently available at Schneider's on the Hill (cuvee Julia included).

Raisa, I agree with you on keeping up the supply. It seems as if the "secret" is out, or getting there anyway.

Durum wheat is the "hardest" type of wheat; i.e., the flour derived from it has the highest proportion of gluten-forming proteins. (The word "durum" derives from a Latin word meaning "hard", the same root behind "durable" and "endure".) Semolina, which is milled from durum wheat, is the flour used in factory-made dried pasta, a very different product from fresh pasta. Most fresh pasta is made with softer flour (i.e., lower protein), although some people actually do use semolina to make fresh pasta. I've never tried doing this, and have no idea what the finished product would be like. I gather that dough made this way is difficult to work with.

Unsure if the type 00 has been found, but Dean and Deluca in Georgetown has some as of yesterday.

ohhhhhhhh. well whats for lunch?

Yesterday I had a longer than expected lunch break at Jury Duty, and went to Le Paradou to take advantage of the bar menu. Unlike my experience with the tasting menu, the food was excellent.

I had the morel soup, with scallop, which was an incredibly rich dish. Just wonderful. I followed that with a lobster purse, basically four dumplings filled with lobster, carrot, and ginger, with a light ginger sauce. Also excellent.

All in all, a really nice way to take advantage of what was otherwise a really boring day.

I will  be doing my civic duty this week.  Last time I served, I went in unprepared and found myseld eating at the nearby Subway (ugh!). 

What is near Moultrie Courthouse (500 Indiana Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001; Judiciary Square stop on the red line)?  Ideally, I'll spend less than, say, $12 and return to the courthouse within 45 minutes to an hour. 

Bonus points for any place with WiFi.

Excellent question - I will be doing my civic duty tomorrow and was just about to pose this question....

Cafe Asia, Zatinya, Busboys & Poets...

Back room at Firefly?

crazeegirl said:

Good question...I am planning on staying for 5 nights.  I can see myself splurging 3 dinners ($200-400/pp)...I realize getting reservations is another hurdle!!

Couple bistro fares and cheap but good eats would be great.

Get in touch with LeCinq immediately. As Joe mentioned, L'Astrance is another excellent choice, but if you were thinking of going to any of the ***ed restaurants, LeCinq is the best bet. Note, if you are staying at the George V (as we were when we went this April) reservations are much easier to come by.

I'd also recommend L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon for a great dinner that won't be up in "splurge" ($200-400/pp) territory.

Curious how most of the one and two stars are downtown, and the three stars are all within a few blocks of each other.  Other than outlier Le Bernardin, I think they are all within two blocks of Columbus Circle.

I'm really glad to see Scalini Fedeli get a star.  Nobody ever seems to talk much about it, perhaps because they started in New Jersey before taking over the original Bouley space.  But for French-leaning northern Italian it's really hard to beat.

Ditto on Scalini Fedeli. Just a great spot. Last time I was there, Roberto Donna was in the dining room as well.

Another spot on that list that most might not be familiar with is Etats-Unis. A great neighborhood spot on the UES that serves two great menus, on across the street at it's bar.

I just heard on the news that DC Council is meeting on Tuesday to most likely repeal this law. I agree with Al Dente on this! All the same, I wish we had metro to the suburbs.

Does Metro no longer stop in Virginia or Maryland?

I'm all for responsible consumption, but this oversteps, big time. I'm sure the DC Council will either repeal the law or raise the limit a bit over fear of lost revenues. Time will tell...

Well said re: 15th and C, Al... ditto 14th and D NE.

I had the Chef's Tasting menu while my wife had the Vegetable Tasting menu - a nice way to be able to try more dishes without a fuss. And several of the Vegetable dishes were highlights of the evening. We each had the wine pairing, with different wines paired with the various courses.

It is a lot of wine - I am a big guy and not exactly a lightweight and I was feeling a little silly by the end of the evening. But I've always enjoyed having wines paired with my courses to enhance the food and to try new things. My wife prefers getting something she's sure she'll like to have throughout the evening.

Just to echo Bill's comments - Per Se is well worth the trip. I've been three times since it opened (once for business, twice for fun), and really recommend it. The wine pairings are a good idea, and I think the tasting menus are a must. My wife and I each had the Chef's tasting menus, although they did bring us different dishes at some points, which was a nice touch as we were able to taste some things off each other's plate.

If you ask, you may be allowed to tour the kitchen area after service, which was neat.

If you were truly pervious, you would have gone to Meiwah or Cloud.  

Good point!

good lord! I'm not averse to spending big bucks on a meal but you could have 2 meals at the Lab, Maestro or Eve for that kind of money - were you ordering particularly expensive wine?

The money aspect really doesn't bother me, if the meal is worth it. We spent about the same amount at Per Se. To play in this league, Le Paradou has to be much, much better.

To satisfy some apparent curiosity, we did order expensive (and great) wine. We've been to Masetro, Eve, Laboratorio, etc. perviously, and thought we would try something new. The bill, without tip, came to around $816. With tip, that brings things closer to 1000.

The service was fine when they were present. We found the running servers, lags between courses, acknowledgement, etc. to be frustrating. Reading my post over again there were some extenuating circumstances, but overall we'll return for a meal in the bar, if at all.

My wife and I decided to check out Le Paradou for dinner this past Saturday. No real reason save for the fact we wanted some good food close to the hill. While we received good food, and some dishes were excellent, the service ranged from fair to poor.

We opted for Chef Cam's 9 course tasting menu. As I remember them, the dishes were:

Amuse Bouche - Lobster Croquette. Very, very good, although almost served too hot for a single bite. I should mention that we were seated, without menu, wine list, or acknowledgement for about 15 minutes before this was brought out, along with the aforementioned items.

First Course - Salmon Tartare, Osetra Caviar, and Creme Fraiche (me), Seared Scallop. My wife loved her dish, although I don't remember it exactly. Mine was great, but the combination did more to remind me of our trip to Per Se than it did tell me anything about what was to follow.

Second Course - Tuna Carpaccio with Tomato Sorbet. The Tuna was wonderful, and the texture of the Tomato Sorbet was a nice counterpoint to the Tuna. After ordering our wine ( a Clos de Vougeot) after the amuse, it was finally delivered after this course. The sommelier was unable to assist us with the selection, so it was made by ourselves. The menu was more appropriate to a White Burgundy, but of course we didn't know that ahead of time...

Third Course - Oyster Gratin with Black Truffle. Two large Oysters in a gratin (forgot the cheese) with Black truffles shaved over it. Honestly one Oyster would have been enough - the sauce was very rich, and we had six more courses to go. The Oysters were so good, however, that I was glad that the second was provided, and almost resorted to slurping the last bits of sauce from the shells.

Fourth Course - Langostine w Langostine Flan. My wife's favorite dish. The Langostines were cooked and placed upon a flan, I think drizzled with vanilla sauce. Again, the textures played extremely well together.

Fifth Course - Turbot with butter sauce? Totally unremarkable. The fish was cooked well, but the primary tastes my wife and I remember are that of butter and salt. Lots of salt.

Sixth Course - Foie Gras with Bacon, and can not remember what sauce! While we both love Foie Gras, the star of the dish was the bacon. It was fantastic, but did overpower the taste of the foie gras a bit. Sensing a delay in service was imminent, we ordered a half bottle of wine at this point for the rest of the evening. It arrived and was decanted within about 15 minutes, which for this meal seemed quick. Not acceptable, but quick given how long everything else took.

Seventh Course - Veal Filet. At this point, we were absolutely full, but managed to eat a Veal Filet, perfectly cooked. No recollection of the rest of the dish, but I suppose that's what I get for waiting to post until Tuesday.

Eighth Course - Pistachio Custard with Pistachio cookie. OK, nothing more.

Ninth Course - Trio of fresh sorbets. Again, ok.

Overall Impression - We enjoyed the "smaller" plates at the beginning of the meal more than the two entrees. The room is lovely, and the bar would be a nice place to catch a drink or enjoy a bar menu, if one is offered (I am not sure). The service was attentive, when you could get someone's attention. We left without petit fours, etc. or coffe because it was midnight and we were tired (arrived for an 8:30 reservation). There was so much running (literally) around by the dining room staff that it really began to wear on us. That's fine for a more casual place, but for what amounted to almost $1,000.00 after wine, tax and tip, I think it's reasonable to expect more. The sommilier came by and apologized for not looking after us, and explained that the proprietor of Chateau Haut-Brion was in the house. I wonder if telling us was a good or bad thing. Bottom line, Le Paradou charges premimum prices and doesn't have enough "wow" factor, a la Il Laboratorio, Per Se, etc...

Sonoma can't open soon enough. First Belga, now Sonoma, things are really looking up on the hill.