Keithstg

Had lunch at the Tysons location of The Palm last week. The Palm would have been packed for Thursday lunch pre-pandemic, with Smitty holding court in the bar area for a huge group of regulars, creating a very private club like atmosphere (a nicer atmosphere and more exclusive than the nearby Tower Club, lol). The restaurant area would also be full. This past Thursday was much different - no bar crowd obviously and a dining room perhaps 1/3 full, very well-spaced throughout the multiple rooms. The 3 course business lunch is still available, and paper menus/ masked and gloved servers are present. I went for the lobster bisque and chicken parm, while my colleague received the blackened chicken salad. The lobster bisque was generic, cream/ sherry/ seafood stock with some chopped lobster in the bowl. Nothing special. The chicken parm has always been the best entrée available in my opinion, and I received a large, well coated chicken cutlet with the Palm's traditional piquant tomato sauce. All seemed fine - until my companion received his blackened chicken salad. The chicken salad was composed of some sad cubes of blackened chicken atop wan looking lettuce and barely pink tomato. Could easily have come from Wendy's, and I can't imagine it being served at the Palm, or any restaurant of it's ilk, pre-pandemic. Our server basically shrugged when asked about the salad, though did offer to replace it. Bottom line, stick with steak and parm. Tables are well spaced, and staff taking appropriate precautions, though the lunch business has pretty clearly been decimated. I hope that dinner is faring better.

It's a start, for sure, but a late one that flies against the state's own data regarding transmissions. Safe to say that the bloom is (or should be) off of whatever rose existed for Cuomo's handling of the pandemic, especially if you happened to have had a loved one in a New York assisted living facility. Totally agree that a raise to 50% would be appropriate, and share your opinion of the current mayor. He will leave whoever succeeds him a total mess and a ravaged tax base. Best of luck.

Well, Cuomo did relent a bit on this yesterday, so we shall see. Quite a 180 inside of 48 hours - perhaps at least pretend to have a plan? Interesting how completely sidelined the incompetent DeBlasio has been throughout this process. https://ny.eater.com/2021/1/27/22252519/new-york-city-restaurant-reopening-plan-cuomo

Unreal...still no plans to help the industry - 11,000 restaurant jobs lost in NYC - in December 2020 alone. https://ny.eater.com/2021/1/26/22250295/cuomo-not-contemplating-indoor-dining-return

Funny to read my comments in the thread from before I was a local resident. Jonathan Leonard is now Chef at the Ashby Inn, and Jean Van Haute is the Executive Chef at Goodstone, coming by way of Bruges, Belgium. A number of staff from the Ashby have migrated over to the Goodstone, further reinforcing the rural hospitality switcheroo. We hadn't been in for quite a while, so headed over for dinner on Saturday night. The new conservatory is a beautiful addition to the property and is quite "atmospheric" as JoeH might say. Tables were very well spaced across two levels, and staff were well versed in appropriate protocols for COVID - gloves, masks, etc etc. Dry January is still in effect for us, so no wine. My overall impression of the wine list was that while large, it was skewed to recent vintages and fairly expensive compared to other lists in the area. That said, plenty of variety on offer and I surely would have a suitable bottle or two. Appetizers included a cheese plate for my daughter, escargot for my son, foie gras terrine for my wife, and french onion soup for myself. My wife and I also split an order of escargot. All appetizers were enjoyed, but when is a foie gras terrine ever bad? The escargot could have used more salt - a recurring theme throughout the meal. Entrees included Roast Chicken, Pheasant, beef tenderloin and turbot. The Roast chicken was a solid preparation - certainly the best between Middleburg and DC, at any rate. My daughter especially enjoyed the croquettes that came along with the bird. The pheasant was another winner, likely the most interesting dish, though the portion was pretty darn small. Turbot was beautifully presented and perfectly cooked, but desperately in need of salt. The lobster béarnaise sauce did a but to punch things up, but not enough. Even the dish's underpinnings of fingerling potatoes could have used additional seasoning. Desserts were chocolate mousse and crème brulee. Nothing groundbreaking, though tasty. All in all a nice meal in a comfortable environment with excellent service. A bit more attention to detail wrt seasoning would have materially improved the meal. Not an overnight addition to the local rotation, but we will be back.

Awesome - good luck! If you end up working with Tim Burch, he is a great guy.

Curfew is only for Arlington and Alexandria, btw.

For January, nothing. Bummer. Among the general wines for the holidays, we had the usual suspects, though one wine was a huge surprise. A neighbor left a bottle of 2002 Rappahannock Cellars Cab Franc on our doorstep (literally), so we figured "why not" and opened it, saving a '76 Insignia for a later day. Whoa. Not only was the wine still alive, it was in a really nice place. I have no illusion that the wine was meant to age for 18 years, or that there's anything but provenance and careful storage to account for the showing - or even that there are many other bottles of this wine still around. The wine was bought on release by my neighbor, moved probably 30 miles from the winery to his cellar, and sat there ever since. Anyway, could have fooled a pretty solid taster as a just past-peak Bordeaux - say a 5th growth - not a Figeac or Petit Cheval, but thoroughly enjoyable and unexpected - which is why I drink this stuff to begin with. Not Loire-esque in the least, maybe due to American Oak?

Late to posting this, but attached/ below is a menu from our dinner on 12/5. Really enjoyed the space and atmosphere. Food was excellent as well, though the wine pairings/ list could use some work though the Sipp Mack Riesling was a winner (we did the "premium pairing", noted with diamonds). Headed back on Thursday - reservation times seem to have opened up a bit. Stayed at Hopkins Ordinary which is about 300 yards from the restaurant. I'm decidedly not a B&B person, but enjoyed our stay. There's a brewery located at the Inn, and a minimum of doilies/ chintz. One could make a really nice weekend out of a combo three blacksmiths/ IALW trip.

I’ve purchased a box of mixed peppercorns and sorted out the green ones...channeling the old Van Halen “only brown M&M’s” tour rider...

Wow. That’s a long time. how about Astrea caviar? You can use the code CLAYFU for 25% off, courtesy of a friend from wineberserkers... astreacaviar.com

Sauce for beef Wellington?

With no plan to address the imminent failure of many of these small businesses. DeBlasio continues to destroy New York City.

While I fully agree with Bart’s recommendation, Eater has recently published a guide to holiday meals that may be worth a review as well.

White truffles are in season - Urbani Truffles ?

I've used Case before and the results were fine, though I think a lot depends on your project manager. I have been far more pleased with Distinctive Building Group and BOWA Builders, though I used them all for different projects on different homes. Distinctive did our kitchen over, which is in a quirky former general store and they did a flat out fantastic job from start to finish - on time and on budget.

Thanks, Tom. Order off of the website?

One of my colleagues swears by them and she orders multiple each year. I've had a piece or two and found it enjoyable, if a bit salty.

Engineered is a great word to describe a product brimming with GMO's and other modified soy-related products.

Told you.

Didn't they have two locations in the area at one point? I know they opened a place in NYC off of Canal Street that didn't last long. Seems as though they are down to three locations in Vermont. Perhaps the retail expansion was ahead of its time...

That's really too bad. A business lunch staple. Always solid. Guess it's back to Mon Ami Gabi...

Their ice-cream is also exceptional. Produced in collaboration with Moo-Thru, another Fauquier County business. Not widely available, and absolutely not cheap, but every bit the equal of the flyover-based ice cream makers so fawned over.

The Whole Ox in Marshall, VA. carries Kelly Bronze turkeys, though may well be sold out at this point. Believe that they deliver also.

Very interesting!