mhberk

Would you consider Rockville/Bethesda? Silver Spring?

For future reference, Tersiguel's is BY FAR the best restaurant in Howard County! I would put if up against ALMOST any restaurant in the DC area!

What puts Palena head and shoulders above Galileo is the service.

Really? I've never had a problem with the service at Galileo.

Same here.

Perhaps the mixed perceptions of the service discussed in this thread reflect a cognitive dissonance caused by the ambiguous "feel" of Palena's back room, which I think straddles the fence between casual and formal. Those who see the room as "formal" might have different expectations about the kind of service offered there than those who see it as more "casual" and therefore have no problem with a more "leisurely" approach. My guess is that Palena itself does not see its back room as formal dining in the strict sense of the term, and I think the overall approach of the waitstaff there reflects that. Customers who don't share that view may therefore be unpleasantly surprised.

I guess it IS all perception. But I am not willing to pay $60-$80 per person (before wine/tip/tax/etc) to suffer through lackadaisical service. When I'm paying that kind of price, I expect attentive service! What do you think separates Palena from places like Restaurant Eve, Nectar, Galileo, etc? They are/were right around the same price. When you spend an evening at Restaurant Eve and at Palena, there are very discernable differences between the quality of care and service. They both provide very creative and memorable food and they are both very similar in pricing. What puts Eve head and shoulders above Palena is the service!

It's been a consistent, albiet low-level, criticism.  It's showed up on the Sietsema chat, with Tom more or less seconding the notion that there's a gap between the quality of the food and the quality of the service, and it's showed up on the eGullet Palena thread, as well.

I don't know what it is about that place! There is a HUUUUGE gap between the service and the food! So I don't have to post it again, here is my original post on EG (I'm not sure if linking to EG is allowed here. I'm sorry if it isn't).

I would like to add to that post that I called last week to get a gift certificate for my mother in law so that she could try the chicken that I've been raving about. They took down my information and cc number and said they would send it out immediately. Well, yesterday I noticed that they never charged my cc and I never recieved my GC. The ditsy manager that I spoke with said that they have had trouble in the past with people receiving mailing from them (nice excuse, but they never charged my CC so this leads me to believe that they dropped the ball again and just forgot about it). Other than the food, can't they get anything right!??

Am I the only one that consistantly gets poor service at Palena?

Pasta Plus is all you need to know in Laurel.

Ditto

You beat me to it!

If all goes according to plan, I should be scarfing down a Palena chicken tonight. Perhaps I should bring my Acme DetectoSpice to help with decoding this recipe.

Well? Did you get any more insight?

Well, the report is not very conclusive for The Project as I wasn't trying to recreate Palena, but I did want to get my feet wet a little before I go all out and join this party.

I think the next step for us should be to get together and do this "America's Test Kitchen" style!

When roasting those half chickens, did you simply have them sitting on your bed of carrot, onion, celery chunks?  Or did you place them on a rack? 

I'm wondering what might happen if I put the rack in upside down and leaned each half of the chicken on each side of it.

Well? Please report!

Al,

How'd you make your brussell sprouts? They look great!!

Here's Cafe Atlanitco's RW menu:

Restaurant Week , Prix-Fixe Dinner Menu

Choice of Appetizer, Entrée & Dessert

Lunch $20.06/Diner $30.06

ENTRADAS

Guacamole

A Mexican classic prepared table-side and served with flour tortillas 10

Not included on restaurant week menu.

Soup of the Day

Sopa de Higado de Pato con Maiz y Hongos

Foie Gras soup with a floating island of corn and chanterelles

Ensalada de Arugula con Maiz, Cabrales y Frambuesa

Jicama and arugula salad with cabrales cheese, corn & raspberry

Callos de Mar con Arroz de Coco Crujiente

Scallops with coconut rice, crispy rice, ginger, squid and squid ink oil

Fritura de Lambi como la hacen en Santo Domingo

Dominican Conch Fritters with a liquid center, jicama-avocado raviolis and mango oil

Salmon Ventresca envuelto en Piña

Seared Salmon belly with pineapple, avocado scallion sauce, frisse and crispy quinoa

Atun en Ceviche al Coco con Aguacate

Tuna and coconut ceviche with avocado

Camarones con pure de Auyama y aceite de Vainilla

Shrimp with candied pumpkin seeds, pumpkin puree, lime air and vanilla oil

PLATOS FUERTES

Hongos con Huitlacoche al Queso Blanco y Remolacha

Roasted Portobello Mushroom with huitlacoche corn mushroom, latin cheese,

roasted beets and beet oil

Salmon con Quinoa y Cous-Cous de Coliflor

Seared Salmon, cauliflower-quinoa “cous-cous,” buttery papaya,

avocado mash and papaya-vanilla oil

Veracruz con Aguacate

Daily special with a sauce of tomatoes, olives, onions, capers, and fresh lime with avocado

Pato con Espinacas y Pepitas de Calabaza

Duck Confit with sautéed baby spinach, pumpkin seeds, raisins and passion fruit oil

Chicken Ceasar Salad

Cornish Hen, grilled breast and confit leg with our organized “Ceasar Salad”

Faisán con Mole y Sandía

Baby Pheasant wrapped in bacon, served with deconstructed mole and seared watermelon

Churrasco de Res con Pure de Platano, Hongos y Salsa de Cabrales

Flank steak with a plantain puree, plantain chips, mushrooms and cabrales cheese demi-glace

Feijao Tropeiro

Grilled Chicken breast with black beans and pork, white rice, farofa,

oranges and sautéed collard greens with garlic

My personal review can be found here

Here's their RW menu:

ENTRADAS

Guacamole

A Mexican classic prepared table-side and served with flour tortillas 10

Not included on restaurant week menu.

Soup of the Day

This was a roasted tomato soup drizzled with olive oil and coconut milk. My friend REALLY enjoyed it!!

Sopa de Higado de Pato con Maiz y Hongos

Foie Gras soup with a floating island of corn and chanterelles

Ensalada de Arugula con Maiz, Cabrales y Frambuesa

Jicama and arugula salad with cabrales cheese, corn & raspberry

Callos de Mar con Arroz de Coco Crujiente

Scallops with coconut rice, crispy rice, ginger, squid and squid ink oil

Our other friend got this one and she gave me a bite. The scallops were perfectly seared and sat on a mound of coconut rice. The slight sweetness of the coconut was a great compliment to the other ingredients and the crispy rice added a surprisingly nice texture.

Fritura de Lambi como la hacen en Santo Domingo

Dominican Conch Fritters with a liquid center, jicama-avocado raviolis and mango oil

Salmon Ventresca envuelto en Piña

Seared Salmon belly with pineapple, avocado scallion sauce, frisse and crispy quinoa

Atun en Ceviche al Coco con Aguacate

Tuna and coconut ceviche with avocado

My wife got this one. Although the flavors were right on, I felt that there was a little bit too much avocado that took away from the flavor of the tuna

Camarones con pure de Auyama y aceite de Vainilla

Shrimp with candied pumpkin seeds, pumpkin puree, lime air and vanilla oil

This was the one that I got. Very nice flavors. The shrimp were prepared well and the other ingredients provided a nice contrast. My only complaint is that the ingredients together weren't as appealing as they would've been separately.

PLATOS FUERTES

Hongos con Huitlacoche al Queso Blanco y Remolacha

Roasted Portobello Mushroom with huitlacoche corn mushroom, latin cheese,

roasted beets and beet oil

One of our friends got this one and she seemed to enjoy it. The presentation looked nice, but I can't provide anything else about this dish other than that.

Salmon con Quinoa y Cous-Cous de Coliflor

Seared Salmon, cauliflower-quinoa “cous-cous,” buttery papaya,

avocado mash and papaya-vanilla oil

Our other friend got this one and she seemed to be in ecstasy with every bite.

Veracruz con Aguacate

Daily special with a sauce of tomatoes, olives, onions, capers, and fresh lime with avocado

I got this one. The daily special was red snapper. The fish was done perfectly. The skin was slightly crisp and the flesh was nice and tender. I did, however, feel that the other flavors of the dish were slighly over powering in contrast to the snapper. Also, I think the avocado was more of a garnish as it added nothing to flavor of the dish. The meal was extremely flavorful and I would absolutely order it again!

Pato con Espinacas y Pepitas de Calabaza

Duck Confit with sautéed baby spinach, pumpkin seeds, raisins and passion fruit oil

My wife got this one and she RAVED over it!

Chicken Ceasar Salad

Cornish Hen, grilled breast and confit leg with our organized “Ceasar Salad”

Faisán con Mole y Sandía

Baby Pheasant wrapped in bacon, served with deconstructed mole and seared watermelon

Churrasco de Res con Pure de Platano, Hongos y Salsa de Cabrales

Flank steak with a plantain puree, plantain chips, mushrooms and cabrales cheese demi-glace

Feijao Tropeiro

Grilled Chicken breast with black beans and pork, white rice, farofa,

oranges and sautéed collard greens with garlic

We also had a selection of two desserts:

Coconut Sorbet (which my wife got)

Chocolate Souffle - This was prepared on top of a chocolate sauce (with the consistency of a pudding) and a side of bannana salad (which was tossed in a simple syrup and lime juice) along with some thick whipped cream.

Oops!  Sounds like we'd better rethink the whole evening. 

Indique would be a good choice for us but our friends don't care for Indian food.

Have you thought of Cafe Atlantico? They are just a few stops down from Cleveland Park and they usually have something available even though it doesn't show up on OpenTable. That's what we did this evening when we cancelled our reservation at IndeBleu.

BTW, we had an excellent meal (and evening) at Cafe Atlantico this evening! We had a choice from 6-8 apps and 6-8 entrees with no upcharges (unless we wanted the guac and that was $10 but didn't count as one of our three meals. It was totally separate)! I got the red snapper, my wife got the duck confit (which she gave two thumbs up for), our friend got the Salmon and our other friend got the Portabello mushrooms. We were all very impressed. I asked our server if I could have a menu, but forgot to collect it when we left (sorry).

Well, it's off to Galileo on Wednesday...

I also canceled my IndeBleu reservation as I was not excited about anything on that very limited menu. I snagged weekend reservations for Tosca Ristorante and Notti Bianche which had much more appealing menus instead!

Good call! I equate their RW selection to being invited to a wedding and being forced to choose either the chicken entree, the seafood entree or the vegetable entree!

ok, i'm a little new to this restaurant, having not paid much attention to it until now.  it is my tuesday night dinner, but have been on the fence about keeping it.  what are your thoughts?????  i can still cancel... 

I would say that if you have nowhere else to go that evening, you should keep it. But I can't remember a RW restaurant that I've been to that only offered 3 apps, 3 entrees and 2 desserts. It's not much of a bargain unless you've been dying to try the dishes that I listed in my previous post.

I think it's a great restaurant, but I feel that I would be settling for a dish that I'm not crazy about if I went during RW when I could be somewhere else. Couple that with the fact that they would charge us the full price (not just a minimal up charge) of a dessert on top of the $30 just because someone in the party is lactose intolerant, and I would be more encouraging to tell you to go somewhere else. I would just rather a spend the evening somewhere that knows how to do RW!

So nobody wants my IndeBleu reservation for tonight? Eh, I don't blame you. I wouldn't take it either!

So I shouldn't bother with starting the chicken breast side down then?  The recipe you reference utilizes relatively low temp cooking, but my understanding is yours and others efforts for the Palena-like crisp skin require much higher heat (at least initially).

Well, again, that's how Patrick O'Connell does his. When I made it, I used halves. I would suggest (if you plan on making it whole) to put the oven rack in the middle to lower rack position and then make it as you would your turkey on Thanksgiving. Let the oven heat up to 450-500 degrees for 20 minutes before you stick it in and then bake it at 450-500 for the first 15-20 minutes. Then lower to the lower temp.

Just my suggestion

Just called Cafe Atlantico and they were able to get us in tonight! So, I will be cancelling my reservation at IndeBleu for tonight at 7:30 for 4 people. Does anyone want it? Please let me know by 4:00 and it's yours!

Just something to consider:

My wife is lactose intolerant. When I noticed that IndeBleu is offering only two desserts and they both have ice cream, I called IB and asked if an accomindation could be made for my wife as far as the dessert. After checking with her manager, the woman I was speaking with came back and told me that my wife would be free to order off the menu for her dessert but would have to pay the additional charge of whatever dessert she chooses. So, it looks like my wife will be getting two courses from the RW menu for $30.06 and then pay full price (ont top of the $30) for the dessert.

Not sure it's worth it!

My primary concern with roasting the chicken whole is that I typically start the chicken out on high heat, breast side down so as not to over cook the tender white meat before the legs are done.  Would that ruin the crispy skin we're looking to attain though?

Darth,

The recipe that I used was from Patrick O'Connell's Refined American Cuisine : The Inn at Little Washington . I first saw this recipe on the internet and it called for a whole chicken and it is cooked as a whole chicken. (You can find my earlier post here) When I saw his book at Borders, I noticed that he had the same recipe but this time he called for a whole turkey instead of a chicken.

I think Al has inspired me to make it again and document it with pictures this time.

I need to roast it differently in order to get more crispiness in the skin. All that sugar and honey burned the skin slightly in a few spots, so lowering the sugar content should help.

Al,

Perhaps it might help if you start out with hot oven (450-500 degrees) and then lower it after 20 minutes or so. This will sear the skin and allow it to crisp before the fat starts to roll off. It will maintain its crisp even when the temp is lowered. This has been my experience. The color of my chicken was also more consistant throughout the exterior of the skin using this method.

Also, when you say the skin burned, did it taste burnt or was it just the appearance? When I did mine, it had the appearance of being over-cooked, but it tasted fine.

BTW, what was your inspiration for your recipe?

When was your last visit?  For me, it's definitely a safe choice for when my parents are in town.  The host Chad is wonderfully charming and the menu scares no one.  But in this case, safe is usually walking hand-in-hand with boring IMO.

My last visit was during the summer for brunch. Dinner might have been during the spring.

I guess you have to consider the law of averages, but they have been consistantly great every time we've been. And again, I'm not saying that they are on the same level as Palena's chicken , Maestro's or Eve's tasting menu, Jarad's creme brulee, etc, but I've been consistanly pleased with the selection and creativity

Does anyone plan to give up either their Friday or Saturday reservation? Please let me know before you do so. Or I'd be willing to trade my IndeBleu (Friday @ 7:30 for 2 (but could try to switch to 4 if needed)) for a Vidalia, Galileo, DC Coast/Tenpenh, etc.

Thanks!

I find it interesting to read some of your posts about Ardeo. When my mother lived in Cleveland Park, we would go there all the time (especially since I ABSOLUTELY refused to go to Greenwoods!). I have NEVER had a bad meal there (or even meals of the quality that were described earlier). And I've always been impressed with the quality of food, presentation, and service. I agree that it may not be on the level of a Palena, Maestro, or Eve (all restaurants that I've been to more than a few times), but I don't think it deserves the criticisms that I've been reading (not to say that they aren't true).

Thanks for posting that. IndeBleu just called to confirm my ressie for next week. Decisions, decisions...

Are there any other RW menus posted out there?

They just called to confirm mine as well. That's when I asked them for the menu.