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Tujague

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  1. Tujague
    I was a bit surprised that Tom Sietsema had Vidalia in his list of restaurants accompanying his report on the DC food scene this week; it seemed to be a sort of slot-filler for "American" or "Southern" or "classic" DC places or something.
  2. Tujague
    I have developed a tolerance for anise flavors, mainly in cocktails, but licorice, no. I have fennel so rarely, I can't speak to that. Tarragon also puts me off, which is another anise-y flavor. My big bugaboo is coconut--especially sweetened flaked coconut--except for coconut milk.
  3. Tujague
    The Iowa Hawkeyes. 12-0 in the regular season, and no shame in that close loss in the Big Ten championship game.
  4. Tujague
    Two good meals while at my Atlanta conference. As Brian notes above, Miller Union is a solid choice: my bourbon cocktail was expertly made, the marble-size grits-and-ham fritters are nicely done, and both my dining partner and I liked our entrees (his lamb was luscious, and my pork loin was tasty)--but it didn't really rise to the exceptional; it's just good modern Southern cuisine. I like the design (we were in the four-season side room, which was a bit noisy and industrial, but not unpleasantly so); which seems to vary from room to room, from homey to modern. One-Eared Stag was very quiet on Sunday night, so we were able to have a quiet, intimate dinner. Like Miller Union, the food didn't blow us away, but it was still expertly done. My sunchoke soup was a creative rendition (though I don't remember much about it); the beef belly entree was like stew with minimum gravy--comforting, and a generous portion. My dining partner's hanger steak, on the other hand, seemed rather small, though he liked it. Very good drinks, and a farmhouse-like feel. I recommend both places, but my latter dining partner definitely preferred his visit to Gunshow above One-Eared Stag.
  5. Tujague
    I share those misgivings. At Hank's on the Hill--at least when Gina was at the bar--I always found the drinks far outshone the food. Yes, there are some good selections, but if you go into a serious seafood mode, the price rises really exponentially, and not always for food that feels worth the price. (Yes, I get that quality seafood is pricey, but Hank's sometimes makes you wonder why.) I often stick to non-seafood options, like that chicken, and I'm more often satisfied with taste and value.
  6. Tujague
    It's been awhile since I'd been back to Hank's on the Hill for brunch, so I stopped in on Sunday, with my eye on the Chesapeake fried chicken and waffles ($17). Hank's version features three mini-Belgian waffles topped by three crispy fried boneless chicken thighs, a decent-sized portion for the price. In short, the chicken is spectacular--crispy, juicy, a hint of spice--just about everything you want in fried chicken (at least anything that you don't have to deal with bones). The waffles, on the other hand, I didn't care for. Yes, they were light and fluffy, but I think it's a malted waffle batter they use, which, along with the slightly bitter maple syrup, makes for something not entirely pleasant for my tastes; the spice in the chicken doesn't help. Admittedly, the drink I had to accompany this, "Quarter Is the New Half"--a mixture of campari, cranberry, rye, brandy, and orange bitters, if I recall--had a Christmas-y taste that didn't partner well with this dish, and may have skewed my impressions. I won't come back for this dish, but I will return for that fried chicken, which they feature on Sunday night. It's a winner, and I don't often say that about the food at Hank's.
  7. Tujague
    So, no one's posted since Montmartre did a modest redecoration/remodeling in mid-August, which, it turns out, also included a modest menu revamp. The golden sponge-painted walls are gone, replaced by a stark eggshell white, with what looks like a sage green below the rustic wainscoating. The tables and chairs and layout are the same, except the bar has been elongated and oriented toward the north wall, allowing about eight or nine seats total, rather than the earlier three. It's a nice-enough change, creating a more stark, contemporary feel--almost cold, really--though I found the lighting a bit glaring (well, at least the too-bright streetlamp outside) and hard to adjust. Large abstracts on the wall both help and detract--they don't add warmth, as such, but help with the proportions. I'd give it a B- in terms of effect overall, with the new bar the best change. On the menu, they have added a special of a French classic that changes each night--e.g., bouillabaisse on Fridays, boeuf bourguignon on Saturdays, coq au vin on Sundays. I stopped in for the last dish on Sunday evening and found a respectable version ($24)--some might want a bit more herbal flavor, but it was nice overall--the greens were a bit salty, but it had a good portion of fingerlings that weren't listed on the menu, which were a highlight. The sauteed shrimp risotto I had as a starter ($12) was also well done, with three plump shrimp. Again, not big flavor, but expertly prepared. Apparently they are also doing a happy hour Tuesday through Thursday at the expanded bar, but I have yet to stop in to find out more. In short, Montmartre is continuing after all these years to provide one of the most consistently satisfying dining experiences on the Hill--not jaw-dropping but the closest we perhaps have to a real neighborhood restaurant.
  8. Tujague
    Probably Midtown/Arts District--not real adventurous, I know. I have reservations at Miller Union for Friday night (though my companion bailed) and One-Eared Stag for Sunday night. The rest of my meals will likely be hotel breakfasts and convention hors d'oeuvres and cheap wine.
  9. Tujague
    To the great Allen Toussaint. You almost surely know his music better than you may think you do.
  10. Tujague
    Any recent updates for Atlanta? I'm heading here for a conference in two weeks, and need an affordable dinner option for Friday night, with good scotch/bourbon/whiskey-based drinks, accessible by taxi/Uber or MARTA. I've been looking at One-Eared Stag in Inman Park, but wondering about anything north of downtown. Thanks.
  11. Tujague
    By "special" I meant that the clothes it wears seems to promise something better than what it actually us, like Perkins playing dress up or something. I can see where it's a kid-friendly place, for sure. But in a market with so few good breakfast options, is this what rises to the top by default? (A surprisingly good breakfast I had recently was at Circa in Foggy Bottom--but they don't open early like Ted's does.)
  12. Tujague
    I shamefully and honestly acknowledge that I patronize my fair share of mediocrities and I can find things on their menus that are satisfying. But those places usually don't try to present themselves as something special or different in the way Ted's does--the classed-up kitsch seems to fool people that what's on the plate isn't as bad as it is. Of course, I am only speaking from my recent breakfast experiences, but my dinner/lunch experiences weren't far better. That's at least part of what makes it so offensive to me. And I'm still tasting this morning's breakfast; it's making me wish I had drunk myself blotto last night so all that grease would have served some purpose.
  13. Tujague
    I would agree that the tasting menu is a good way to go here. Unlike many places that literally offer "tastes," nothing seemed to be shrunken (at least significantly) from a regular a la carte portion, and they will switch out the specified dessert for another if you ask.
  14. Tujague
    A friend treated me to breakfast here this morning, against my better judgment, and I should have reread my earlier post before ordering that grease-bomb breakfast sammie. Not much has changed in the last 2.5 years"”this place is still serving up some serious nastiness.
  15. Tujague
    Thanks for the correction; I didn't have the article to check.
  16. Tujague
    You're talking about Rachel Dolezal. While the timeline is a bit fuzzy in the news accounts, I would say it wasn't for "no apparent reason"; rather, they were approached by a Spokane paper for comment on Rachel's accusations of abuse, to which they objected, and told the truth about her racial background. That's not a comment on racial identity, which is a wholly other, complex issue, but just to say it was initiated by a newspaper doing an investigation, not by the parents, whereas I suspect that in this case, the daughter was the one who reached out to the media.
  17. Tujague
    Despite my misgivings about the "top-ten" premise of the series, I've enjoyed the articles themselves, which I think feature some of TS's better writing in some time. I wonder if he's the beneficiary of having a different editor in the Food section from who he has in the Post Magazine. I regard them simply as nice guides to the food scene in many different cities from one critic's perspective at this point in time. As such, they are neither definitive nor do they necessarily have a long shelf life. The top-ten conceit basically is bowing to listicle culture, but the articles are more substantive than what one would expect from that (which is to say, I don't give it much credence).
  18. Tujague
    Whether this story is true, untrue, or if the truth lies somewhere in between, my question for anyone who is thinking of boycotting the place is, What would you have Tadich Grill do to make things "right"? You can't force a reconciliation between father and daughter, no matter what the reasons for their estrangement. There is no evidence I've heard of any systemic bias against persons of color, either employees or customers, at the SF restaurant. A hefty contribution to the NAACP or Black Lives Matter might seem like a symbol of good will, but would just be absurd pandering for no good cause. Certainly, you have a right to stay away, but doing so over a private, isolated family incident seems like a silly reason to do so. The owners must be throwing their hands up in utter exasperation over something to which they were not primary parties, over which they have no control, or any way (or real reason) to "repent." Let them be.
  19. Tujague
    Actually, Don, I didn't know that. What I don't know is where exactly to put certain posts, and it's frustrating to get second-guessed on things without warning, when I"m trying to do my best to respect you and the site. I'm not questioning your policy; I'm trying to raise in a constructive way ideas about how there might be ways to direct certain discussions to more appropriate forums, which is not the same thing as "questioning" policy. And this "free publicity" you are touting doesn't exactly encourage me to visit the place, since the talk about the tipping policy is mostly negative, and totally obscures whether SMN is actually worth visiting, policy be damned. And I'll post a review if my income ever recovers enough that I can eat out more, which is unlikely in my current state of burnout.
  20. Tujague
    I'm wondering: Is it possible to create a new string of forums around business and practice? It bugs me how some restaurant discussions like Sally's Middle Name, Rose's Luxury, and some others get hijacked about practice issues, but it seems like there are other issues that might fit under a new grouping--general service issues, tipping, reservations, Open Table, parking, etc. For now, these seem to get subsumed under "News and Media," or connected to a specific restaurant where something is regarded as an issue (Rose's no reservations, Sally's tipping policy). It might not be as large a grouping as the others, but it would give the restaurant forums more breathing room to talk about people's actual experiences. (And no, Don, I'm NOT trying to create more work for you. It just seems like there must be a better way to deal with this stuff. And PLEASE, move this into a separate discussion thread whereever you regard appropriate. Thanks.)
  21. Tujague
    So, I count exactly two posts since the beginning of August that refer at all to the food at SMN. Everything else is about the tipping policy--and much of that not even specifically about the policy at SMN. I'm not saying it's an unimportant or even uninteresting subject, but why can't this be in the other tipping discussion forum, or create a separate "Sally's Middle Name Tipping Policy" discussion? Hell, create a "Rose's Luxury No-Reservations Policy" forum while we're at it. It feels like the larger dining experience is getting lost in these discussions of specific practices, and for those who want to know more about the former, it's getting tiresome. Not trying to shut down conversation, but at some point letting this go on so long in this space makes it seem like the restaurant is nothing but a particular policy, and I find that disheartening. I haven't eaten here for awhile, but if I had, I'd feel discouraged from reporting on my actual meal (or even linking to Sietsema's two-star review in this week's WaPo Magazine), because it'd get lost in the rest of the din--so why bother?
  22. Tujague
    From the menu: no worries about food poisoning here!
  23. Tujague
    Tom Sietsema's Number One favorite restaurant for 2015--plus four stars--so don't look for things to get better.
  24. Tujague
    VW is one of the few companies producing both diesels as well as electric/hybrid vehicles. I don't doubt that there is a sizable part of the market that still resists hybrid/electric technologies, and so with this they could cater to a wider audience, and boost their average MPG numbers to meet stricter regulations. So, it may not be that less money went into electric/hybrid R&D, but that their R&D in diesel tech showed worse results than they hoped, but they had sunk so much money into it that they felt they couldn't abandon it. My guess is that VW is not the only company fudging numbers on diesel vehicles, and this is the tip of the iceberg--Daimler and a number of other companies with major diesel programs are probably shaking in their boots right now. It's mystifying to think why a technologically advanced company like VW would not be able to get results similar to Daimler, unless the latter is cheating also. But if they aren't, then there is no reason why this should kill diesels. (On the other hand, Mazda is struggling to produce a SkyActiv diesel for the US that gets the performance they are aiming for; it seems to be less about MPG or emissions.)
  25. Tujague
    Ninnella has been sold and will soon become Lincoln Park Kitchen and Wine Bar (catchy name, that ). According to the realtor who did the deal, the focus will be on small plates, and the menu posted in the window lists cheese plates, pastas, flatbreads, and a surprisingly wide range of some creative-sounding dishes at a much lower average price than the earlier incarnations there. If the chef can pull this off--and the realtor told me he is very experienced, though I can't recall details--it may well finally be the sort of place that location has needed (though its history has taught me not to hold my breath).
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