Marty L.

I can confirm the croissants are quite good [sampled the regular, chocolate, & almond versions]. All were very good, but definitely give the Almond version a whirl sometime!

I whirled today and can confirm . . . I think this is the best almond croissant I've had in the DC area.

As I suggested somewhere way up-thread, I think you'll likely find something to trash, if only because their ambition and unorthodoxy is is so unbounded -- but I'm also confident you'll find much to praise.

And yes, linen shirt is plenty -- it's a fairly casual place.

My encounters with attempts to put Barcelona on a plate have left me less rapturous than others -- I've had some excellent stuff, but I find can get a little cerebral for my taste, and there is, as they say, a fine line between clever and stupid.

Nonetheless, in accord with O-I's observation, the instant I decided to drive to Bonnaroo, I knew I was going to force my friends to join me at Town House. I guess I'll be packing -- I don't know, fine linen shirt and a pair of good shoes? -- along with the tie-dyes and sandles.

It is my fervent hope that it will live up to the worst stereotype of wank cuisine and that I can thoroughly trash it upon returning, thus launching bitter and prolonged food fight.

I agree -- it's very good, if not quite EPR quality. They even offered a very soothing chicken soup as a special last week, one that they should put on the permanent menu.

This is, btw, the same operation as Pollo a la Brasa, which has been in Bethesda for several years.

Tom wrote about this on Sunday along with the excellent Amoo's (never mentioned on here but it's from the family who own Shamshiry; Amoo's has similarly excellent rice). A visit yesterday turned up succulently juicy, crispy, flavorful chicken with excellent sides (great potato salad!). A very real challenge to Wheaton/Arlington's El Pollo Rico and Crisp and Juicy for the area's best. 7000 block of Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda. WORTH the drive from Reston.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...8112500946.html

Yup, good call Smokey -- the soon du boo at Vit Goel. Great minds think alike (see above)! Hope to see you there sometime soon.

The soft tofu soup (whose name I am totally forgetting) at Lighthouse Tofu on Twinbrook Parkway. Incredibly cheap, filling and tasty.

You people disappoint me-- someone's been laying down on the job. This joint has been open for over 5 years!

Shields and Urie were just brought on board in the past year, thereby radically altering the nature of the place.

I'm sorry you were there on a Monday, Joe. It's really quite an amazing place. John Shields and Karen Urie, and the local owners, are, indeed, attempting something fairly absurd -- to create a world-class, experimental restaurant that is not in the vicinity of any major (or minor) metropolitan area. Last June, for $45 or so, I had one of the best meals of my life there -- nominally five courses, but it turned out to be closer to nine or ten distinct bits of heaven. It is, indeed, an oasis in an area where previously Wendy's was (no joke) the best restaurant around for fifty miles or so. (Ever been to Ridgewood Barbeque in Bluff City, TN, Joe? --that's the closest great meal.) The photos say it all. John and Karen are very much the students of Trotter and Achatz. They take great pride in -- have a blast with -- the elaborate, intricate creations, the "you can't possibly combine those disparate things" disbelief of their clientele. They have extraordinary senses of taste, and abilities to tease out combos that one could not have imagined but that somehow work brilliantly (OK, about 80% of the time, anyway -- not bad odds at these prices).

Truth be told, although it can be breathtaking, and shockingly delicious, it can also be too much at times. It almost overwhelms the diner, there's just so much going on. Almost not enough time to savor the novelty of any particular dish. I think that, as they become more self-assured, they will resist the impulse to be quite so bold, they'll simplify somewhat, in which case (I predict) their cooking will only improve: The wild experimentation might lead to a distilled purity that could be even better. Or not -- who knows? They could go in an infinite number of directions; they certainly aren't lacking for skills, imagination and inspiration.

It's something to behold.

Can it survive in Chilhowie? One would think not. But the owners themselves don't seem to need to turn a profit on this particular experiment, and they brought John and Karen there for the best reason of all: because they themselves wanted to be able to enjoy inspiring food in their own neighborhood.

Of course it seems obvious that J&K might end up in DC, or back in Chicago, or elsewhere -- in which case their spectacular meals will cost three times what they do in Chilhowie.

In the meantime, make sure not to travel to Asheville on a Sunday or Monday.

This is the most intriguing, mysterious restaurant in America: Chef John Shields was sous chef at Charlie Trotter's then opened Alinea with Grant Achatz as his sous chef for two years before moving to Chilhowee. Chef Karen Urie worked at Tru then later moved to Charlie Trotter's as its Head Pastry Chef for five years...before moving to Chilhowee.

http://www.townhouseva.com/Town%20House%20...%20Profiles.pdf

At the Town House Grill they are nightly serving absolute blow out dinners among the best in America: http://townhouseblog.blogspot.com/

Several weeks ago, en route to Asheville, we stopped in Chilhowee for dinner.

It is 296 miles from Reston to the Chilhowee turnoff of I 81. Within seconds of exiting the Interstate there is a huge junk yard on the right side of the road, only a couple of blocks from the town's several block long Main Street where the Town House Grill sits several doors down. Gas stations, a convenience store or two and an aging Super Market frame the intersection along with a vacant store front or two. We also passed several locals chewing and spitting tobacco walking down the street near where we parked.

Behind the restaurant we expected to find a garden or a stream or, at least a cornfield. There was a parking lot. With chipped cement.

I should also note that Bristol, VA/TN is 29 miles down the road while Blacksburg is an hour or so north. Neither Bristol nor Johnson City seemed to us as the type of sophisticated metropolitan area that would support the kind of creativity that graduates of Trotter's and Alinea's may have fostered. We also weren't quite certain how they sourced most of their foodstuffs. Fed Ex? This was not an area similar to Washington where The Inn sourced locally.

All the more reason to have dinner there.

They were closed. On Monday. (No wonder no one had answered the phone when I called for a reservation-they are only open 5-9 Tuesday to Saturday.)

We looked in the windows and I took pictures. A lot of photos. The interior of the restaurant seemed to match the town.

There has got to be a story here. A REAL story. I am also absolutely obsessed with returning to Chilhowee to have dinner here. "One whose opinion I trust," Estufarian from Chowhound, has been here. He has eaten his way around Europe and the U. S. as well as Trotter's, Tru and Alinea. He insists that he and his wife thought this is one of the five best restaurants in North America right now.

In Chilhowee, VA.

I don't know how much longer this couple will be there but I suspect I shouldn't wait too long to find out. Six hundred miles round trip for a dinner that may be a real memory...and a story for the nursing home.

Addendum: shouldn't someone in the industry in D. C. be trying to talk this couple into moving here? To hell with Gordon Ramsay, they may be able to fill Maestro...

The Floating Market Noodle Soup and Tom Yum Pork Noodle Soup at Nava Thai (see http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/559929).

The, uh, pho at Pho Hot.

Any soup emerging from Frank Ruta's hand at Palena, including the ridiculously perfect consomme recently offered.

Not soup exactly, but the Soon du boo at Vit Goel.

"a good ratio of fish to rice"

We hear this a lot on these threads and elsewhere. I think when most people write this, they are referring to a *high* fish/rice ratio. IMHO, however, that phenomenon -- huge pieces of fish on nigiri -- is one of the very worst characteristics of most U.S. sushi. The classic idea (or so I've been told -- and my experience at good sushi bars bears it out as the Platonic ideal), is that the fish should barely cover the rice, that the entire nigiri should be consumed in one bite, and that one should be able to savor the freshness of the fish and the rice in tandem, without one dominating the other. Better to have more pieces, and a better variety, than a handful of monster slabs of fish.

In Bethesda, my family thinks Chicken on the Run is still better than the new Don Pollo. Altho DP is more convenient.

They ought to be the same -- two outposts of the same restaurant. Of course, it's possible that the ovens at the older location are more "seasoned," or something subtle such as that. But I haven't noticed much of a difference . . .

Kotobuki has a good, not life-changing, miso with clams.

Great question. First, I should note that I think it is the best in the area, but it seems that miso soup is not the strong suit of most Japanese sushi restaurants in these parts. That is unfortunate, because it can be such a lovely soup. Why I think that Kaz has some of the best is that the soup tastes like it is made from scratch, I can pick-up the subtle flavor of the dashi and it balances well with the miso.

Thank you for the tip on Chopsticks, I will give it a shot. What I would really love to find is someone in the area that makes a miso with seafood. My favorite miso was at a small shop in Kagurazaka that cooked the soup with snow crab legs and delivered the bowls with two very large appendages sticking out of them or at the food-centric Ryokan, Fukiya where breakfast started with a miso soup made with clam broth and baby clams throughout the soup. But absent a similar soup, I will be happy with the simple goodness available at Kaz.

That's funny, because I was there for lunch for the first time in a while on Saturday, and I was shocked by just how mediocre -- tasteless, really -- the pizzas were. In the early days, Comet's pizzas were alternatively delicious or inedible, but never dull -- aggressively flavored and salted, a wild crapshoot that sometimes paid off. This weekend, however, there didn't seem to be any salt at all in the crust, and it was all (i.e., two pizzas and the chickpeas) just so . . . blah. I couldn't believe it was the same joint. (Well, I still love the architecture, and the ping pong, and the staff is terrifically friendly, but I'm referring to the kitchen.)

Which is not to say that Don is wrong -- to the contrary, I'll bet he did, indeed, receive fabulous pizzas. It's merely to suggest that this remains one of the more maddeningly inconsistent restaurants around, and that there's no "formula" in the kitchen, for better and for worse.

I HATE trying to drive a stick down the steep switchbacks of Rock Creek Parkway on a dark rainy night while trying to eat pizza.

"So why do it, Don?"

Because I must.

At 8 PM Saturday evening, there was a 30-minute wait for a table at Comet, so we got our pizzas to go, and they were as good as they've ever been.

A Steel Wills ($12) has a spreading of Comet tomato sauce, topped with farmer's market spinach, lots of fresh garlic, good black olives (regretfully pitted), and remarkably buttery dabs of fresh ricotta.

The plain old Tomato Pie ($7.95) remains the best value on the menu because it highlights the three biggest strengths of Comet on the cheap: crust, sauce, and cheese. This time around with Pepperoni ($1), and a pint of Victory Prima Pils ($6) while waiting for the pizzas to cook.

Comet was at capacity and they still put out amazing pies - this makes about four times in a row where the pizza was so good that it left me shaking my head.

Cheers,

Rocks.

I just won a gift certificate to Mandalay. I've never been, so I'm seeking your advice. After reading through the thread, I get that the ginger salad (Gyinn Thoke) is a must, as well as the cream of wheat dessert (ShweJi), which was also recommended to me by a friend. I'd really appreciate your suggestions for dishes that come between salad and dessert. If it helps to know this, we do eat meat and we like spicy food. Thanks for your suggestions!

On Thursdays, the chicken special is very good. The chickpea dishes are excellent, as are one or two of the salads and noodle dishes.

Whatever you do, however, be sure to order it authentically spiced. There's no restaurant in town with a greater distinction between dishes "not spicy" (pretty bland) and those that are ordered spicy. The spices apparently bring out the complex of flavors.

P.S. Don't get your expectations too high for the ginger salad (good but not Myannmar level) and the Shweji (also good, but not life-changing).

I love Pho Hot, but think the wings are nothing special.

I hit Pho Hot this weekend with Barbara. It was good, better than most pho places out there, but I thought the broth had too much cinnamon in it. It did have a lot of meat in it (meatball+brisket) compared to other places. Barbara's grilled pork with noodles were good, although they give you way too many noodles in the bowl. The imperial spring roll and the fresh summer roll were both excellent. And I'll definitely have to get back to try the wings.

On another thread, Dean wrote that Bob "is apparently no longer affiliated with Bob's" 88. Any word on whether that's true? If so, is he still affiliated with Bob's 66? Anyone eaten at these places since (if) Bob left?

I had lunch there for the first time last weekend, and, based on that one experience, must tentatively agree with Don: The mussels were ok but nothing special; the fries and waffles very disappointing.

Count me as a dissenting vote. As promised, I returned to Et Voila this evening.

Frozen bread, crummy fries, forgettable mussels, a mediocre onglet - Et Voila is an overpriced neighborhood restaurant, no better than Kemble Park Tavern. Its one big strength is a good list of bottled Belgian beers.

Traditionally, it has been considered in poor form for one restaurant critic to review the work of another, but at what point does it become negligent not to do so?

If Tom Sietsema had a non-paying blog, he'd get a free pass, but the Washington Post restaurant critic has a fiduciary responsibility to the public, and to dole out 2.5 stars for nothing more than a decent neighborhood restaurant - which is a shadow of Belga Cafe, and much less interesting than Brasserie Beck - seems just plain wrong. How can Et Voila earn the same star rating as The Oval Room and Corduroy?

Am I a traitor for saying this? Tune in tomorrow at 4 PM.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Tried Pho Hong Anh this evening. I don't know if it was simply an off-night, but it didn't hold a candle to Pho Hot, or even Pho 75. The broth was wan (almost as if there were no beef or star anise in it), the beef fairly tasteless; the Chang Muoi way too syrupy.

Hard to believe this is the place Dean was raving about. Something doesn't make sense.

Put me down in the Pho Hong Anh camp with Pho Hot a fairly close second. Thanks to SquidsDC for the life changing suggestion. I would never have thought to try it otherwise.

click

Agreed that it's fine in a pinch -- but not as god as Pho 75 a few miles up the road, and doesn't hold a candle to Pho Hot.

Hi all-

I just wanted to share the name of a great pho place I just tried in rockville (on Nickelson on the left past the shopping center with the Rodmans). The pho was rich and not greasy at all. and the shrimp summer rolls were very nice as well- though oddly contained beef.. but great dipping sause.

If you are near by- its definitely worth a trip. we had a pho craving and it definitely hit the spot.

Oh, one more thing. Did they give you the sawgrass? The last couple of times I have been there it was absent.

When that happens, they'll give you the sawgrass if you ask for it. And by the way, the short ribs on rice are really good, too.

What's the best Thai in Bethesda?

The Thai language menu at Bangkok Garden.

I will say one of the shops to the left of 4 Sisters has some fantastic fried tofu with mushrooms and such. Its maybe 8 shops down, after the bar. Not a restaurant, but one of the markets with a cafeteria style counter.

That would be Thanh Son. And it is great.

Most of this is good advice. But the first bit of guidance -- "I wouldn't recommend working your way around the entire Eden Center restaurant offerings. We've done that. Four Sisters is the best hands down and some are pretty bad." -- couldn't be more wrong. The single greatest thing about the EC is working your way through it and finding hidden gems. There are a few -- never quite all the same -- in the interiors,a nd the tofu place right out front; but more importantly, of the ol' "standbys," Huong Viet and Viet Bistro are much better than Huong Que, notwithstanding that the sisters are, indeed, very nice.

As a new poster making my way through many of these strings for the first time, have to weigh in here. This is one of our "what are your everyday places to eat" places. Have been there at least 30 times on trips to/from dulles or for destination.

- I wouldn't recommend working your way around the entire Eden Center restaurant offerings. We've done that. Four Sisters is the best hands down and some are pretty bad.

- crispy pork rolls, carmelized fish in clay pot, nearly anything with black bean sauce, peppered beef (inside cover on the menu, comes with their DIY lime, salt and pepper dip which must be used), minced clams...all can't go wrongs

- don't go here for pho. it's not their thing as others have pointed out. pho 75 and others are better

- the family is wonderful. make it a point to meet at least one of the sisters. you can pick them out by referencing the painting to the left of the kitchen doors

- o'connell, james webb, lots of Vietnamese, yes, good crowd

- I've never had a ding or car issue while there but, yes, have to be especially careful maneuvering and parking

- great value if you order correctly. I'm happy for them that the business has grown enough to make Merrifield possible. Hoping it doesn't change 'em. don't worry about the slipping date. it'll likely slip more and this place will never be in fuller, more authentic glory than it is right now. nothing in DC or NoVa compares.

Yes, it would be hard, because this is a thread-appropriate forum. (See example here on RW in DC.)Not everyone who visits the Redwood thread wants to know about its RW policies (such as I). Especially when it just occurs for such a short duration. When I visit this thread, I am curious on what worked and didn't work here (only this part would include the RW dining experience). I think based on what Elias posted here, he was more than willing to work out issues through PM, and any posters that have beef with him or Redwood should take it one-on-one and not involve others.

This is a common problem with writing an email or posting on a forum -- tone. And I have to agree with Mark that you came across as harsh. You have an option to edit your post for 24hrs, and you could've easily edited [name] out for another instead of being a bit snippy. I'm not trying to start a fight with you (you can PM me if you want to start one), but again, we all learn by posting one way or another on this forum.

Goodeats: I sincerely don't know what you mean by saying that this is a "thread-appropriate forum." Of course not everyone who visits this thread wants to know about Redwood's RW policies -- just as not everyone wants to know what the wine list looks like, or where the restrooms are hidden. But all of those things are relevant to the discussion of the restaurant, and all of them are informative . . . to those who care about such things.

No one was asking Eli to "work out issues." We were simply trying to find out, and inform DR readers, what it was serving for RW. This shouldn't be like pulling teeth.

As for my tone: As I said, I wasn't trying to be harsh or vitriolic. But I've gone back and deleted a couple of lines from this afternoon that might have been viewed as snarky, just to be sure -- thanks for suggesting that.

FWIW, heaven knows I don't have a "beef" with Eli and have no desire to start a fight with you or anyone else. I'm assuming Redwood will be as terrific and as welcoming as Mendocino and Sonoma have been. Carry on.

Perhaps you can explain to us why this is such a BFD? Bethesda Restaurant Week is over. I personally think your treatment of Elias is rather harsh.

Hey, I hardly meant to be harsh -- as I said, I'm a fan of his establishments -- and I agree entirely that this is not a BFD at all. Which is why it is all the more strange that Elias would go out of his way to refuse a very reasonable request for information from his customers -- to leave an impression of hautiness and disrespect where it is so unnecessary.

Imagine, for instance, Mark, if someone on this list had called Citronelle trying to discover the price range of Rieslings there, had not gotten a clear answer, and asked for information on this board -- after which you had posted that the curious poster should PM you, but you proceeded not to provide a clear answer in the PM, let alone any accurate information here on the board for the rest of us who are interested.

You wouldn't do such a thing, right? Because it would only antagonize folks who really like Citronelle, and its wine list -- loyal customers, that is.

That's why I find this whole thing strange -- particularly for a restaurant trying to get off on the right foot.

[There are any number of valid, legitimate, customer-friendly reasons why a new restaurant might not want to promote their Restaurant Week here.]

Perhaps -- although none comes immediately to mind.

But in any event, this isn't a matter of advertisement. Certain folks who are very interested in this restaurant, and hoping that it succeeds, asked what its Restaurant Week policies are. Certainly that's relevant information to those of us who are trying to decide whether to eat there during the Restaurant Week. It's not a state secret -- it's information now known to the hundreds of patrons who have been to Redwood in the past few days, and to anyone who asks on the phone. One of the proprietors actually reads the thread, and could save everyone here the trouble of calling/stopping by, by simply telling us this public information.

But he doesn't do so, even though he bothers to post twice, thereby leaving it to others to find out and to announce it on the list. For what purpose? How is that "customer-friendly"? I'm genuinely curious, because this seems so evidently to be very poor customer relations. (And I say that as someone who has very much enjoyed every visit to Sonoma and Mendocino, and is looking forward to Redwood.)

[10,000 unique visitors a month and they don't want to be overrun in their second week of business?]

"We're offering any appetizer, any entree and any dessert on our menu for $30 this week. However, I should warn you that because we just opened, and it's Restaurant Week, we are already almost fully booked for the week. If you can't get a reservation, we'd love to have you join us even after Restaurant Week -- fear not, because as at Mendocino and Sonoma, we charge very fairly for the quality of fare offered."

Would that be so hard?