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PJASchultz

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Adrian Dantley

Adrian Dantley (5/123)

  1. Run, do not walk, to Restaurant Kolumbia! Treznor and I went for dinner last night, and my comment halfway through the meal was that this dinner had been on par with Vidalia to me as the best overall dining experience I have ever had in DC. (Disclaimer: We have not yet been to Citronelle or CityZen). The food was EXCELLENT, the service was great, ambience/atmosphere great, and Jamie and Carolyn are accomodating and friendly. It makes me wonder where all the people are (the restaurant was not even close to capacity while we were there). People are definitely missing out on this gem! We decided to order the tasting menu, which I have never done in any restaurant before, but I felt ready to take the risk, in the very capable hands of Chef Jamie. On to the food... Soup duo of Lobster Bisque/Mussel Veloute The soup was excellent, creamy and delicious, but not too rich and overpowering as a first course. The whole mussels layered at the bottom of the soup were delicious and worked well with the lobster flavors as well. Soup was served with a sparkling wine that paired well (I don't think either of us really quite caught what the names of the wines were). Fish terrine I was served the fish terrine (treznor got the fois gras/rabbit) and I was very pleased with the dish. I prefered the fish terrine to the rabbit, as it had a much thicker, more substantial texture, with a stronger taste. It was my first terrine, and I was definitely satisfied. Served with a bean salad it was the perfect compliment. The wine pairing was a blush, not great, but it did pair well. Seared tuna This extra course sent to us to share while we waited on our third/appetizer course, this possibly was the best dish of the evening. The tuna was lightly seared on the outside, with a rub of smoked paprika and I assume some salt and garlic. Treznor described it a bit, so I won't say much more. But it was excellent. Crab cake made with scallop mousse This was not your normal crab cake, it was very creamy (blended with scallop mousse) and very rich in taste. In fact, I would say it probably had a stronger taste of scallop than crab, but it worked very well. It was served with homemade, waffle cut potato ships, which surprisingly enough went excellent with the crab cake. I cut off a couple bites and ate them with the chips, as if i were dipping my chip in crab cake, and both tastes went together well with the kind of awesome food synergy that you only dream of. The chardonnay that came with it was a very butter, low-oak chardonnay that, again, went well. Pancetta-wrapped pheasant I was a little leary of this dish, as I had even remarked to treznor before the meal that I was not exactly excited about possibly eating some of the gamier meats (duck, pheasant). I'm usually not a fan. But this pheasant was wrapped in pancetto, not much, but enough that it gave it a little more flavor and that fatty texture that kind of binds the other flavors together. The pheasant was served over a bed of lentils and a sauce that was very earthy and rich, which i remarked had a very cocoa-like scent/flavor. Again, I am not a fan of anything really in the beans/lentils family, but this was a very new flavor to me and it was quite a treat. The wine served with this dish was a red blend that was my favorite wine of the night. Chocholate hazelnut cake For the dessert course, I was served two triangles of a chocolate/hazelnut cake, that almost had the texture of a cheesecake. Not very dry and cakey, but softer, and mousse-like. The cocoa flavors were rich and delicious, and then there would be a crunch of the hazelnut which was very fun. It was served with a small side of vanilla ice cream and was the perfect finish to a truly incredible meal. I thought treznor's caramal apple cake was better, but only marginally. Everything was excellent. In summary, this was the best meal I have had in quite some time and definitely either the top or second best meal I have EVER had in DC. I think that we have found a new "tried and true favorite" for all those nights that we know we just want to go out to eat someplace we have been before, that we know is great, and can just enjoy a delicious dinner. (Up until now on those kinds of nights, we usually end up at RTS.) And, like I said, in terms of total dining experience, worth every penny you would spend, someplace I can easily recommend to anyone without hesitation, Restaurant Kolumbia tops the list (with Vidalia and Ray's the Steaks). Sure there are plenty of excellent restaurants out there, that have great food, but it's so rare that I find a place where I just love every dish, have great service the whole time, and leave the restauarant so satisfied that I spend the whole car ride home saying "wow" repeatedly. Bravo, Jamie and Carolyn!
  2. I knew I'd get this response ... I'm not expecting flawless, just good. Or, as I said, even a brief apology from the server, or some acknowledgement from the manager, that shows they are interested in fixing whatever problems may arise. I am upset because I did not see even that much. I am interested in hearing other people's experiences with service and wait staff, especially in the bar area.
  3. I hate that his has to be my first real post on DR. Treznor is posting his thoughts on the food, which was pretty good, and I will post about the rest of the experience. Last night, treznor and I went to Bebo with a couple friends. We were excited to try it out, and were looking for a nice restaurant that was casual enough that we didn't have to go home and change our clothes after a long afternoon. Bebo definitely seemed to fit the bill on that one. We walked in at about 7:45pm and the hostess offered a 30-minute wait. So we made our way to the bar to enjoy some drinks. Our two friends were first in line at the bar to order, and were paying for their drinks as the hostess came up and told us our table was ready. Perfect! I almost felt bad for my friends that they went through the trouble of ordering a drink at the bar, only to be immediately sat at a table. Oh well, afterall a fast table is always a delight. We sat down, and received our menus and the GM? who sat us walked away. We started perusing the menu again (which we had already been looking at while at the bar) and we were taking a closer look at the wine list. One of the food runners sat down a basket of bread for us to enjoy while we decided on our entrees. We asked ourselves if there was supposed to be some oil with this bread (Bread was very dry and crusty) and if we would ever get some. We noticed throughout the night that other tables had gotten oil, but no one ever came to our table. The server stopped by a few minutes later and we told him we were ready to order. We put in appetizers, entrees, and treznor and I ordered a bottle of wine (our friends still had their drinks from the bar). Tick tock.... about 10 more minutes go by after that and we still have not received water service, or our bottle of wine. Considering I am 2 pieces of bread in, I am really looking for some water. Our service comes by in another 5 minutes or so and asks if we have received our appetizers, and then apologizes for the delay. (Weird, we thought, since it had really only been a short time since we put in the order). Instead we ask for some water and our wine. Another 5-10 minutes pass, and by now I am dying of thirst. So i stood up to go to the bar for a glass of water. (Our server has been totally absent this whole experience). While I am gone my tablemates had grabbed the server to ask for some water). I sat down with my glass from the bar and shortly thereafter the food runner came with our appetizer. Still no server, still no wine. The food runner who brought our appetizer seemed to be calling the dishes by inappropriate/incorrect names and he reversed the names on the two bowls of soups our friend ordered. So he sat down the dishes one at a time as we were left trying to determine what they were and whose they were. (Any good service should know which seat at the table ordered which dish, as now I felt completely embarassed that I really didn't know what I ordered because the dishes had Italian names and I didn't know how to recognize something like the "lardo" dish. Poor form on their part, I say.) It also appeared that our guests who ordered soup did not receive spoons. The server walked by shortly after we received the appetizers and told us as he walked by that he would bring back spoons. Tick tock ticko tock. No spoons yet. Our server has now walked past our table, back and forth, at least a half dozen times. We finally grab him and say "can we have spoons?" He says 'yes, coming right up' and then disappears for another length of time. Eventually a food runner brings us two spoons. We also notcie throughout the night, that this spoon problem seems to be occurring elsewhere. By the time we are about finished with the appetizer, the girl with a water pitcher finally came over. However, we were STILL waiting for the server to come by and find out where our wine was. We sit for about another 10-15 minutes (at this point, we had been at our table for about an hour. 15 minutes and still had no wine, minimal water, and our waiter had not visited the table since he first took orders (aside from grabbing him as he ran by). Well, treznor and I had decided that enough was enough, and that at this point we didn't want our bottle of wine because it was too late in the meal to enjoy a full bottle. Not wanting to wait another hour for our server, he decided to get up and go to the bar to get us each a glass of wine. While he was gone, the entrees arrived. My friends and I had decided it was only appropriate to wait for him to sit down before we started eating. In the process of waiting, the server for the booth behind us walked by and noticed that we had our food but weren't eating, so he (albeit not his job to serve us) stopped and looked around, trying to determine why we weren't eating. "I will get you an extra side plate for your clams, ma'am." Hmm, very thoughtful. Clam-girl's boyfriend says "Hey, if you by chance see the girl with the water, could you please send her our way?" We had not received any more water since the first round, and our firends who ordered their drinks at the bar, had now finished those drinks and their first round of water. So, we had entrees and no beverages. The server says 'Oh not a problem, I will bring it myself' and he immediately returns with the water pitcher. At this point, we are wondering if it is possible to leave our tip at the table next to us for this guy, who has now been more attentive than our own server. Treznor comes back with the wine, and on the way has to walk by our server. He says "You can cancel our bottle of wine, I just got some from the bar." The server followed him back to the table, looking pretty clueless, and then says "Ok, I will cancel that wine." Yeah, you think? It is of note to also mention that treznor ordered a side dish, that never showed. We decided it wasn't worth mentioning since it would probably take an hour to arrive. We enjoyed our food - the dishes were all good - but at this point I am so disgusted with the service and the experience that I am actually trying really hard not to like the food. We are just about done and the server comes by to ask if we would like anything else, perhaps dessert, and treznor cuts him off to say "Please just bring the bill." He returns with the bill, and says something about "I did not charge for the bottle of wine, since that was my fault." We all look at each other and think .... 'Umm, how about you didn't charge for the bottle of wine since you NEVER BROUGHT IT TO US'. The bill was for everything that we had consumed, and was fairly cheap (impressive for tasty food). I had been waiting the whole dinner for anyone remotely resembling a GM to stop by and say "How is everything here?' Seeing as how they have been open only two days (as our server kept reminding us, as if it is an excuse for truly abyssmal service), I thought it only appropriate for a manager to quick check on the tables, to see if there were problems that they would need to correct. But alas, just as our server had been absent, so was the manager or anyone else. We signed our check and ran out of there as fast as we could. We ran right into Cold Stone next door to enjoy dessert. (The tiramisu looked like it would have been delicious, but at that point we just wanted to leave as soon as possible, before our CASUAL dining experience hit the 3-hour mark.) Moral of the story here: Food was good, and definitely amazing for its price-point. But the service was so absolutely atrocious I am left not wanting to go back. I understand that a new restaurant has some flaws and "quirks" to work out, but this was more than quirks. And, considering that most of the staff is transplanted from Galileo, you would think that they would have some better sense of decorum. If there are communication problems involving who should fill the water glasses, or bring utensils to the table, that is understandable, but I would appreciate our server taking the 10 seconds to say "I am very sorry about that, ma'am' and I would have smiled and nodded. And, getting all of our beverage service from the bar, while having a table and a server in the restaurant, is totally unacceptable. We may go back in a few months, or possibly sit at the bar and see if it is any better. But this is a perfect example of a situation where I say 'Your food was good, but everything else was so bad, I don't want to go back. And in this kind of city where there is SO much more out there, where I can find just as enjoyable of a meal, with much better service, I see no need to return to Bebo.'
  4. Admittedly stolen from Martha Pumpkin Cupcakes Martha says: Makes 18 Pam's experience: Makes 24 Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon coarse salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice 1 cup packed light-brown sugar 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled 4 large eggs, lightly beaten 1 can pumpkin purée (15 ounces) Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside. 2. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin purée. 3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Note: Most recipes suggest cream cheese frosting. In a time crunch I used store bought. Martha did not provide me with a recipe. In lieu of effort on frosting, I spent time decorating - just simple green sugar and some good ole candy corn pumpkins, to look like a tiny little pumpkin patch.
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