christopherc

Does anybody know if they keep a waiting list?

They do. I had requested a reservation several months ago. I couldn't get one but asked to be put on the waiting list. The morning of the day I wanted the reservation for they called with a cancellation and asked if I still wanted a reservation.

Does anyone go here anymore? I was there a few years ago and I am thinking it might be agood place for a group (10). Any thoughts on recent meals?

Alternatively, do you think Marvin could handle 10 people at once? My U St. pal insists it is too zoo-like for a big group.

We were in Marvin about six weeks ago at about 5:00-5:30. There was a line waiting to get in. Shortly after we sat at the bar a party of about 20 came in and were seated immediately. I assumed they had a reservation. They seemed to be well taken care of. The place was full (at least downstairs) by the time we were halfway through our meal. Didn't appear to be any problems handling the crowd.

Sighting -- Mikhail Baryshnikov dining in the Bistro at Restaurant Eve Saturday evening. Mr. Baryshnikov must have enjoyed the meal Cathal prepared Friday evening for the inaugural gala at the Workhouse Arts Center at Lorton after his performance.

I *think* the menu is the same as DC. I just took a look at in on Saturday. Mr. MV and I will be checking it out soon. I wanted to wait a few weeks to let them settle in a bit.

I hope they are successful in getting a "go to" restaurant to thrive in that location. It's close to the Majestic, so they're in good company.

Heads up: Cathal Armstrong will serve as the Chef at Market at Dupont Circle this Sunday at around 11 AM. Copies of recipes will be handed out along with samples.

I was in Rome in May 2006 and had an amazing time. The food, at times, was amazing, but there was a good deal of disappointment too. My main suggestion....just stay aware from any restaurants close to a tourist attraction. I know, it sounds obvious, but I can say that those places almost always suck. High prices, Americanized food, just plain awful.

My two suggestions for Rome include La Tartaruga and Antonio's (sometimes referred to as Antonio al Pantheon). They are completely different, but both are great. La Tartaruga is small, quaint but elegant, amazing food and great service. It is hard to find, but well worth it. Trust me, I have sent numerous people there and they all adore it. Antonio's is bigger and busy, crazy waiters running all over the place, but it has a big family feel. Bigger portions than most places we went to in Rome, very seasonal. A guy came in and sang for 20 minutes and everyone sang along, so you have to be in that type of mood.

Thanks for your help.

Or is the NRG opening another resto? But what will the elderly gentleman who hawks outside do now?

Has anyone heard what Vermilion plans to do with the Fish Market when they take over, leave as is, change menu, format, etc?

Five weeks from today I am going to be in Rome and was wondering if anyone had been to Paris. No, it is not French food, but from what I understand uncompromising Jewish Roman food.

​Dewey

We are thinking of trying Venus on the Half Shell this year in Dewy. We have heard good and bad can anyone expand on that?

Saturday at Hank's we shared the Cesar Salad with an addition of the white anchovies. We almost licked our plates (I didn’t care for the oyster crackers that served as croutons), it was so good we wished we had not shared. We also shared jumbo shrimp which were excellent. The Oyster Poor Boy was good but the breading was falling off the oysters which made me think they were cooked in oil that wasn't hot enough. Although I don't usually care for Popcorn Shrimp, my significant other had the Popcorn Shrimp and Calamari appetizer, I couldn't keep my fingers out of the bucket it was served in. Neither had the same problem as the oysters in my Poor Boy. Service was excellent.

Stopped in the bar around 5:00 Saturday. We had the hanger steak and fish and chips appetizers along with two nice glasses of wine. The hanger steak was excellent. Cooked rare the way I requested. The steak was a good deal for the price with a large serving of greens and fries that were delicious. The fish and chips were good but if it were up to me we would do a double of the hanger steak the next time. Our bartender was attentive, helpful, and and very pleasant.

One more thing...I am not a regular at any restaurant. I figure that there are thousands of places to eat in the metro area, so I am going to try to get to them all. And, when I am in a restaurant that has a lot of regulars, like A La Lucia did, I am often turned off by how they treat these regulars. This was not the case with A La Lucia, let me make that clear, but it is the case with a lot of other places. If they get some free food or some free drinks, that is fine, but I cannot stand it when groups are seated out of turn because they are regulars. Christopher, I don't think that was the case with you the other night, but if it was, it really does stink for the rest of us. Not that I wouldn't take advantage of it, but it really sucks for others waiting when that stuff happens, and I see it happen a hell of a lot.

After dinner at Bastille Saturday night six of us walked up to A la Lucia for an after dinner drink. We went into the bar area and there was standing room only with one large empty table. We were just about to leave thinking we could never get a drink when Michael walked in spoke to one person in our party (recognized them from their various dinners at Lucia) and the next thing we knew we were told to be seated even if it was only drinks! We had a great waitress who didn't rush us at all. Michael and his waitress showed a lot of class and has six customers who will return for dinner.

Congrats to Cathal for his RAMMY for Chef of the Year and for Restaurant Eve's win for Wine and Beverage Program (way to go Todd). More thanks to Restaurant Eve's staff for all the wonderful meals and evenings we have spent with you. And, to all of the winners congraulations! Some of whom we have had the pleasure of dining with and others on our list to try.

Christopher-

Please accept mine and the entire staff's apologies for your experience last Sunday at Vermilion. Clearly we fell short of our goal and your expectations.

I am happy to hear that your server was pleasant and the comments you overheard from other guest more closely resemble the typical feedback we receive.

We definitely underestimated the response to our recent review. We staffed the restaurant based on the number of reservations we had and expected a corresponding number of "walk in" guests. We opened our doors early as there were a fair amount of guests waiting and it had started to rain. Before our well meaning host staff realized it, we had seated roughly a third of the restaurant before we were technically open. Our entire staff did a great job handling this early crowd but it did seem that we were a step behind the rest of the service.

Regarding the famous old town chef and his family, there is something quite humbling in falling short before your peer group. However, as you might imagine, they were very understanding of the situation. Restaurants are not perfect and one of the ways they are to be measured is how they respond to missteps. We made every effort to make their experience an enjoyable one, and in conversations after the fact we were assured that this indeed happened.

The cold Frittata is a bit of a mystery. They are baked as service begins and served as they are ordered. It should not have been cold and Tony has already spoken to his staff to ensure that this is not repeated. My apologies that yours was not prepared correctly.

I hope that the positive points in your experience will warrant giving us another try and I would like the opportunity to make it up to you. I would like to compensate you for your poor experience and I have sent details in a personal message.

Thank you very much for joining us and for sharing your experience. I very much look forward to exceeding your expectations in the future.

Cheers - Dave Hammond

Anyone good in Virginia (Old Town is ok) doing soft shells aside from the usual Viet and Thai suspects? I'm dying to drag the husband out for crabs this weekend and I have a hankering for the first softshells of the season.

My in laws are partial to the Warehouse in Old Town, but if it's just husband and I going, I think we'll try someplace a little more interesting.

Frittatas are usually served at room temp, but they can be served warm

If the Alexandria Crime Report is correct Majestic Cafe is the most recent victim of the roof top burglars.

Dinner Saturday night at Majestic was very pleasant and the food so good I can't wait to go again. I haven't left a restaurant in a long time feeling stuffed but I am afraid I left Majestic that way. I just could not stop eating. I had the Fried Green Tomatoes and loved every bite. The sauces made them even better. The Asparagus soup with a very fine spray of beets was out of this world. Between the two of us we were scraping the bowl. I had the Soft Shells which were more than up to the ones I have had at several restaurants this year and almost but not quite as good as Restaurant Eve. Ken had the Seared Salmon. Cooked to a perfect medium rare along with a small portion of shellfish risotto. Again we were scraping our plates. For desert we shared the Ice Box Cake. Chocolate Mint Chip ice cream with a wonderful chocolate mouse. My French 76 was very light and refreshing and the Big Ken's Sidecar sweet but not too were a nice start. We only managed a class of cab and Chardonnay with our meal. Deborah the bartender did an outstanding job. Hasn't started yet but they mention a "Nana's Sunday Dinner" beginning soon. Right now the menu says that the price will be $68 for two to four (total not individually) With four it should be plenty and with two you can take leftovers home. The dinner will consist of a whole chicken, potatoes, two vegetables, and a whole pie. Sounds like a good family dinner one Fall evening.

Sunday brunch at Vermillion left us wondering if we did or did not enjoy it. Things started out well. We showed up without a reservation but after a minute to check to make sure a table upstairs was ready we were seated. Almost immediately our server showed up and asked us if we wanted a drink. She showed us where to find the wines by the glass and left. She returned in a couple of minutes and took our order for wine. After serving the wine she took our brunch order. I ordered the trout our waitress told me then that she just served the last order. While I looked over the menu again my finance ordered the Three Pork Scrapple. I decided on the Frittata. While we were waiting I noticed a popular and famous Old Town chef and his family at a table across from us. They seemed to be waiting to be served also.

Our food arrived in about fifteen minutes. I usually do not order Frittatas so I am unsure if I should complain or not. The taste was very good but it was cold, very cold. Is this the way a Frittata is usually served. The Three Pork Scrapple was delicious. Turns out Three Pork Scrapple (also new to me) is actually the shoulder, leg, I don't remember the third part of the pig but none of the usual scraps are used that makes up some scrapples. After we ate we waited twenty minutes before I was able to get our server's attention. We had wanted coffee and possibly desert but at this point just asked for the check.

While waiting for our server to return I observed that the Old Town chef and family had not been served except for wine. A young man came to their table and seemed to be apologizing. Just before we left their food arrived. I should add that thier children were extremely well behaved in particular after having to wait so long to eat. Our server was pleasant and we overheard one table that had departed earlier compliment her on her excellent service so I am not sure what the problem was. I did note that the upstairs dining room was not extremely busy and at least twice during our stay no one other than customers were in the dining room. Empty dirty plates stayed on tables too long, even when desert was served at one table. All in all we liked the food and will go back. Hopefully someone can advise me as to how a Frittata is served, cold or hot? Thanks

Had great Classic Margaritas Saturday afternoon along with some very good chips and sala. A group of police officers in town from Connecticut had just finished eating before we arrived and were singing the foods praises. We ended up at Central but will go back to Oyamel.

While downtown Saturday we decided to see if we could get a seat at the bar to have a glass of wine. Got lucky, only two other people were at the bar. Although our bartender told us that the bar doesn't usually get busy on the weekend until later. While drinking our wine, Twenty Bench cab for me and Summers Elite chardonanny for my other half, both very nice, we browsed the menu. From reading your reviews we tried the Gougeres. I hate to admit it but we won't order again. They weren't hot, and mostly tasted like fried bread with a touch of cheese. We shared an order of mussels, large, plump and more than enough for two to share, the sauce was on the bland side. We then shared the Lobster Burger. Didn't like the bread so we removed the top half of the roll. The lobster was good and cooked just right. For desert we shared the Kit Kat and decided it is among the best deserts we have had. The small portion of ice cream served with it was delicious. Some friends and I are having dinner there Thursday. I hope to try different things but will repeat the Kit Kat if I can convince them to share.

Eve did have them. I had an appetizer three weeks ago and a friend had a double order of the apt as an entree.

Found in What's New in Alexandria: "Bookbinders Seafood Restaurant, 109 S. Saint Asaph Street - Summer 2007"

Is this old news that still remains on their site?