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Tujague

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Everything posted by Tujague

  1. Tujague
    It gets worse.
  2. Tujague
    I'm going to invite Bob to move into my place tonight so we can proceed immediately with converting his condo into a fundraising venue. Thank you.
  3. Tujague
    District Commons? I haven't been there for a few years, but as I recall the food wasn't bad, and the nice thing about the menu is that it seems flexible enough that you can design a meal that won't overstuff you before a show.
  4. Tujague
    Frozen Tropics is speculating PP&S's closure may have to do with its recent settlement agreement process re: wine and beer sales. Maybe retooling for that?
  5. Tujague
    I've never been to PP&S, but I don't disagree re: Taylor's. When they first opened, they seemed to be focused on being a creative presence in underserved neighborhoods, especially H Street. Now H Street can hardly be described in those terms and Taylor's approach seems more marked by cynicism.
  6. Tujague
    Their Facebook page says they're closed right now, with "More info coming ASAP." This doesn't sound promising. Anyone know what's going on?
  7. Tujague
    Closed.
  8. Tujague
    Yes, but that was several years before the Row went through its major makeover, and even though the food was better than what could be found elsewhere on 8th St., it still lacked on service and atmosphere issues, and the cooking could be spotty. (I haven't been back in years because I found it too cramped and noisy, the service scattered, and the food not a particularly good value.) Again, I think it's the right place at the right time--Belga has succeeded by being above the local average during a transformational time, but it didn't seriously rethink how you do business in a competitive atmosphere, which I think Rose's has done.
  9. Tujague
    I think beyond that, Barracks Row--and the Hill in general--was primed and ready for something really special, beyond the mediocrities and mostly local chains that had long populated the area. Eighth Street SE was already drawing people, but Rose's was truly unlike anything else the Row had seen. And even though, say, Beuchert's has its fans, Pennsylvania Avenue, even though its in close proximity, simply doesn't draw people in the same way. It's still not a culinary oasis by any means, but it's a far shot better than when I moved there in 1999, when Banana Cafe and Trattoria Alberto passed for haute cuisine there.
  10. Tujague
    Interesting. I haven't been back for about five years, in part because the food was only so-so, but more because the noise there was so enervating. In some ways, for me it was the first restaurant where the noise issue became a major issue (and it does seem like this became more of a general topic of discussion in DC restaurants around that time also; didn't Sietsema start doing his decibel ratings around then?). Glad to hear the food is being upgraded; but has it improved on the noise score at all?
  11. Tujague
    It's been so long since I went there, I can't recall precisely how the meal was set up, but I agree with Pool Boy that it wasn't really a tasting menu as we seem to be describing it here. Wow--I guess we have a really different definitions of "Metro-friendly," since it's only about three blocks from the Foggy Bottom station, and right on several bus lines. Granted, it's not the most pedestrian-friendly walk for various reasons--and that's not an especially customer-friendly Metro station--but it's hardly a trek to get there.
  12. Tujague
    Pool Boy's post resonates with me. Most of the best tasting menus I've had were nearly a decade or longer ago--Minibar, CityZen, Komi, Obelisk--and most I've had in recent years have left me rather indifferent. None were bad, but few rose to level of the memorable. Palena and Bistro Bis are also high on my list, but they seemed to be something slightly different, as more full, multicourse meals (the latter seemed to be doing a best of classic French cooking). So, yeah, maybe my tastes have changed also. But I am not sure that the tasting menu is necessarily the best way to get to the "heart and soul" of a restaurant, as Don suggests--or, at least, I wouldn't assume that is necessarily how one would find that. It depends a lot on the chef. While José Andres is not necessarily the best person to point to here, outside of his work at Minibar, it seems like he is a chef who works best on a smaller scale; the least of his local restaurants to date have been America Eats and Cafe Atlantico (at least in its later iterations), where larger dishes have largely not had the sort of resonance of his small dishes. Some may work well on both levels (Eric Ziebold? Frank Ruta? Cathal Armstrong? Michel Richard?) but I think those chefs are less common than the menus we're being presented would make you think.
  13. Tujague
    Well, since I was one of the persons who wrote that he thinks he's "over" tasting menus--referring to Iron Gate--I guess I should say a bit more. I suppose that there may be some other tasting menu experiences that also triggered this, though I'm drawing a blank right now about which; I was rather underwhelmed by my experience at Restaurant Eve's Tasting Room, but that was some years ago. Nevertheless, I do think that it's something a little different from what Don describes above; it's less about leaving hungry, but having left a speed-dating event without the opportunity to make a longer-term connection. With some courses on many tasting menus, a few bites is enough to leave you satisfied--more would be overkill--while other courses seem to beg for more time to be spent with them. Of course, there's few things as discouraging as ordering from a normal, a la carte menu and finding yourself with a dish that bores you a few bites in. But as I said in my review of Iron Gate, there were a few courses that I really wanted them to be larger, so that I could really tear into them, get to know them better. I wish that some places would give the opportunity for "second helpings" on certain courses, so that if there is something you really enjoyed, you could get a bit more, or options for larger portions (with any necessary upcharges). (Cafe Atlantico used to do a small-dishes brunch where you could order a second helping of anything that you liked--that sort of idea.) At any rate, I get frustrated at some places because I can't spend more time with dishes I like, but the possibility of returning for more is unlikely. But this also gets mixed in my head with the trend toward creative menus with smaller or sharing-size dishes that ask you to order from many different categories, with little certainty of what makes for a solid meal. That's a real virtue to the old-fashioned three- to four-course meal, which is why it's endured. Perhaps that's why Restaurant Week has proved so popular--not because of quality or value, but because it sticks to a format that "works," feels familiar, and is a fairly safe bet to leave one satisfied on some level. (Case in point: a very good lunch at DBGB yesterday: salad, burger, dessert. Only the salad was a bit disappointing in terms of size; overall the quality was high and value excellent.) (Woo hoo! My 600th posting!)
  14. Tujague
    To Jean Cabut (Cabu), Bernard Verlhac (Tingous), Georges Wolinski, Stéphane Charbonnier (Charb), the rest of the staff of Charlie Hebdo, both those murdered and survivors--and to provocateurs worldwide. Freedom of expression will not be terrorized. #JeSuisCharlie.
  15. Tujague
    I don't know if it's so much sign of the times as a concession to the fact that Ray's is no longer a "buzzed-about" restaurant--or even the network of restaurants it once was--and this is one way that it can reassert its presence in the public eye in the midst of an onslaught of other places competing for dining dollars (even if that part of Arlington has fairly paltry offerings these days). To be honest, I find it easy to forget Ray's when I'm thinking about dining out for special occasions or to take out-of-town guests, even though I've liked it in the past. I hope this is a move that helps to sustain the business.
  16. Tujague
    To my Aunt Irk (Irma Ruth K.), the youngest of my mother's sisters, the last in my family of her generation, a tiny woman who brought more than her weight in magic whereever she went, and an amazing cartoonist/illustrator. Thank you for loving your nieces and nephews so well. Oh, and Fuck Cancer.
  17. Tujague
    Brunch at Rural Society strikes me as a pretty good deal: $25 for two courses, plus a decent basket of Argentinian pastries and choice of OJ, tea, or coffee. For firsts, Bob had the "panqueques," essentially two crepes with dulce de leche, blackberry jam, and wood-roasted pecans; a bit sweet for my tastes, but good. I opted for the empanadas with swiss chard, melted onions, and sardo cheese--probably the best dish of our visit, nice and gooey but with a good, flaky crust, and great to share (there's two in the order). Bob's omelet with Serrano ham and crispy potatoes was maybe the main disappointment: the omelet itself was well-made but plain, seasoned only with onion, and buried under finely shredded fried potatoes. Taken as a whole, it maybe was okay but the parts were underwhelming. The bistec with eggs is a better deal; even if the steak itself is a bit puny, it had nice flavor, the merkén-spiced potatoes were fine and over-easy eggs perfectly cooked, and a small but well-dressed salad rounded it out. (I don't recall any chimichurri on my plate, as the menu states). Coffee was very good also. A solid B or above for the food overall. My only real complaint is the general atmosphere of the meal: set in the front room of the restaurant, I had the feeling of being in a fancily dressed diner. Tables were set fairly close together, the music was set so low that it added no ambiance, our server was efficient but she didn't really rise above the level of a competent diner waitress. (And her failure to clear our first-course dishes rankled.) Maybe it was just the experience of being in the midst of hungover New Years' revelers, but there was something dis-spiriting about the whole experience--zilch energy or vibe to the room. It was just . . . weird. We were also a bit surprised that they automatically added a 20% gratuity to our bill. We probably would have done that ourselves, given our usual tipping habits, but this is the first I recall that it's been added to a table for two. There's enough here that's appealing that I can recommend it (and some of the other dishes looked very good), but I would hope that the other meals bring more zip.
  18. Tujague
    Stoic and Genuine is a worthy addition to chef Jennifer Jasinski's mini-restaurant empire in Denver, located in a smallish, narrow space at the newly refurbished Union Station. The idea of going to a seafood and oyster bar in Denver on Christmas Eve seems like an iffy prospect, but they acquitted themselves quite well, even if they didn't knock it out of the park. Drinks are often granita-focused. Go for the truly terrific Ginger Crane, which features a mix of Bulleit Bourbon, lemon juice, ginger liqueur, and Pimms over a cranberry-apple granita--one of the best drinks I've had in recent memory. Fried surf clams are a nice appetizer, strongly flavored with a good lemony aioli. We shared a salad of Comice pear, fennel, and roasted sunchokes with gorgonzola and candied nuts--nothing remarkable but well executed. Sister opted for the lobster roll, and the accomodating waiter switched it up so that the aioli was the binder rather than the sour cream/yogurt standard. Very good, and a hefty portion. I went for the deconstructed paella "moderna"--nicely seared salmon, shrimp, baby octopus, and mussels in a paprika-tomato broth and crispy rice cakes. Delicious, but the seafood itself wasn't exceptional (or at least the shellfish). We shared a strawberry-and-cream pie-in-a-jar for dessert--another good shareable dish. I forget what our wine was, but it partnered with all our dishes well, and very drinkable on its own. I haven't been to her Euclid Hall yet, but I think this is better than Bistro Vendome, if not up to Rioja's standard. Worth checking out if you're on that side of downtown Denver.
  19. Tujague
    To Eric Garner. I'm sorry; you deserved so much better.
  20. Tujague
    To Steve Cymrot, proprietor of Riverby Books, one of the greatest used bookstores in the Mid-Atlantic region, both on Capitol Hill and its original store in Fredericksburg, Virginia. What a horribly sad loss.
  21. Tujague
    To Cleo and Mary--otherwise known as Dad and Mom--proud veterans.
  22. Tujague
    Three small, but distinctive pleasures of Le Diplomate: 1. The lighting. While the overall design of the place has been the most remarked-upon quality of the interior, I think that it's really the lighting that is the miracle here: amazing evenness, no apparent glare or hot spots, warm and soft but still bright enough to make the menus readable. Plus, I think it helps to reduce the sense of din or crowdedness. You get the feeling that whoever planned the lighting here sat in every last seat and made it just right. If only more restaurateurs would pay attention to that sort of detail, and not either leave diners eating in the dark or shading their eyes from ill-placed spotlights. 2. The radish crudités. So simple, so delicious. For $7.50, a rustic-but-luxurious-feeling bargain. 3. The lemony mayonnaise (or is an aioli?) that comes with the frites. How rare it is to get this just-right sort of tang to it! The food, noise, and atmosphere here will surely continue to polarize diners. But it's still an amazingly consistent place that has not lost a drop of its celebratory ambience. I don't think the food is as good as Central was at its peak (another place whose success is in part due to its joie de vivre)--as someone notes above, the gruyere gougeres (an anniversary gratis) are cold and not nearly as good as Michel Richard's--but it really does do a lot of things well, and often exemplarily.
  23. Tujague
    Thanks again, both of you. The Coupe Roses turned out to be a very nice wine--one of the better I've ordered in that price range. As you say, Don, it maybe was a bit young, and might have developed more body/depth over time, but as Josh said, it had a nice spice to it that you don't always find at the lower end of the spectrum. And it paired nicely with both bouillabaisse and steak frites, so I can recommend it to anyone who wants a decent bottle there that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
  24. Tujague
    Thanks, Josh--that Coupe Rose was one that caught my eye. Don--I probably prefer the earthier type of wine, though I don't know what either of us will be ordering tonight, and I can't speak for Bob's preferences. If you have additional suggestions, please send them on!
  25. Tujague
    Headed to Le Diplomate for anniversary dinner tonight (16 years!) and wondering if anyone with more wine knowledge than myself can direct me to any decent wine values there--preferably red, preferably under or close to $50. Or should we stick to by the glass? LD_wine.pdf
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