daveha

Vermilion Restaurant & Chef Anthony Chittum are seeking a Sous Chef. Vermilion was named to the Top 100 Restaurants by the Washingtonian and was listed in Tom Sietsma’s fall dining guide. Vermilion and Chef Chittum have won Rammys the past two years for Best Upscale Casual Restaurant (2010) & Rising Culinary Star (2009) Vermilion was also named an all-around-super-duper-place-to-work by the guy writing this ad. Experience with fine dining required please. Ideal candidate is highly motivated, has great attention to detail, is passionate about cuisine and has an interest in growing their skills while learning new ones. We offer competitive wages and great opportunity for advancement within our restaurant group. See our website for more information on us. Resumes are accepted by fax (703.684.9614) or by reply to this ad. www.vermilionrestaurant.com

We are currently looking to hire a great full time server. Part time is a possibility but you must have availability beyond nights and weekends. Previous experience in upscale casual or fine dining is required. Applicants must have a professional appearance and work ethic while maintaining their friendly personality. Applications may be filled out in person 9:00-10:30 & 2:30-4:30 daily. Resumes may be faxed (703.684.9614) or emailed to: dhammond@vermilionrestaurant.com Random thoughts on the application process: ~Please do not apply in person at 8:00 on a Friday night. ~Please have more than Wednesday – Saturday night availability. ~Please do not email me a head shot. ~You should have some idea of who we are and what we do before you apply – hint: we don’t offer extreme nachos. ~Please realize that $3000/week is not a realistic goal for income here. ~Please do not apply in person wearing cut off jeans and a tank top – if you do, management (me) reserves the right to make fun of you. www.vermilionrestaurant.com

That’s really odd, I eat there several times a week and I always find the service to be fantastic…it might be because I am the General Manager. Or it could be my imaginary good looks. Yeah, its probably the GM thing. Thank you very much for the feedback, I was very happy to hear about half of it. The other half sucks and couldn’t possibly have happened in our restaurant. Alright fine, it may have Joking aside, I am sorry to hear that the Raviolo didn’t live up to your expectations. I do wish we could have rectified it while you were still in the restaurant. Both the server and the manager mentioned that they checked in and that nothing but positives were mentioned. I understand completely not wanting to complain, I am exactly the same way. Having said that, we know we are not perfect and would always appreciate the opportunity to rectify any missteps before reviews are written. The oysters are listed as “Crispy Dragon Creek Oysters” on the menu. We just prefer the sound of “Crispy” to “Fried.” I am sorry if this caused confusion. I wasn’t sure who the server in question was so I fired half the staff. Just to make sure, I went next door to Bistro Lafayette and fired half their staff. That didn’t go over as smoothly Again joking aside, your server Stenise has been with us for almost four years and while she is one of our best, she is not above making mistakes. I can see her coming across as formal but her personality typically shines through. Brightly. And if the random hugs she gets from guests are any indication, she usually makes a connection. Just to make sure though, I fired her twice. We do try to make every effort to ensure that guests return. In doing so, we are willing to take every reasonable step to that end. If a guest is not happy with an item, it is removed from their bill without hesitation. Even if is just not what they expected. My point here is that we really do try to take the extra steps to make sure that when you leave, you can’t wait to return. You mentioned several things that would play a part in bringing you back and I hope that they do. I am confident that when you return you will have the greatest dining experience known to mankind. That’s what I get every time I come in…because of my imaginary good looks. Cheers -Dave Note: No servers were fired during the writing of this post.

Looking now to fill two positions: Vermilion Restaurant & Chef Anthony Chittum are seeking Sous Chefs. Openings are available for both lead and junior Sous positions. Lead Sous Chef candidates should have a proven track record and at least two years experience as a Sous Chef in a fine dining environment. Junior Sous Chef candidates should have experience comparable to lead line cook in a fine dining environment. Initial hours and workload will replace experience for these candidates. Ideal candidates for both positions are highly motivated, have great attention to detail, are passionate about cuisine and have an interest in growing their skills while learning new ones. Candidates should expect to work 25 hour days, 8 days a week in a kitchen similar to a Japanese game show. During service small monkeys will hurl nuts at your face without warning. Every 20-30 minutes an alarm will sound giving you exactly two seconds to hide before angry armadillos are set loose. If any food products under your care are less than perfect during these events we will unleash the wasps. Vermilion was named to the Top 100 Restaurants by the Washingtonian and listed as one of Tom Sietsma’s top 50 in his 2007 dining guide. Vermilion and Chef Chittum were nominated for two Rammys this year: Best Upscale Casual Restaurant & Rising Culinary Star. Vermilion was also named an all-around-super-duper-place-to-work by the guy writing this ad. We offer highly competitive wages and great opportunity for advancement within our restaurant group. See our website for more information on us. Resumes are accepted in person 2:00-5:00 daily, by fax (703.684.9614) or by email. www.vermilionrestaurant.com

Vermilion Restaurant & Chef Anthony Chittum are seeking a Sous Chef. Vermilion was named to the Top 100 Restaurants by the Washingtonian and listed as one of Tom Sietsma’s top 50 in his 2007 dining guide. Vermilion and Chef Chittum were nominated for two Rammys this year: Best Upscale Casual Restaurant & Rising Culinary Star. Vermilion was also named an all-around-super-duper-place-to-work by the guy writing this ad. Ideal candidate is highly motivated, has great attention to detail, is passionate about cuisine and has an interest in growing their skills while learning new ones. We offer highly competitive wages and great opportunity for advancement within our restaurant group. See our website for more information on us. Resumes are accepted in person 2:00-5:00 daily, by fax (703.684.9614) or by email. www.vermilionrestaurant.com

Vermilion restaurant is looking for one great line cook Chef Anthony Chittum’s kitchen is: professional, well run, light hearted and of course, always focused on creating great food. Ideal candidate is highly motivated, has great attention to detail, is passionate about cuisine and has an interest in growing their skills while learning new ones. We offer highly competitive wages and great opportunity for advancement within our restaurant group. See our website for more information on us. Applications may be filled out in person 2:00-5:00 daily. Resumes may be faxed (703.684.9614) or emailed. www.vermilionrestaurant.com

I can assure you that Vermilion has no plans for moving in the foreseeable future. I can likewise assure you that an Old Town institution like The Fish Market would surely draw interest from several individuals & groups...like...say...Neighborhood Restaurant Group... If anything does happen with The Fish Market, I will post here directly and make sure that Rockwelians are among the first to know. Dave Hammond Generally Managing Vermilion

The great Commonwealth has quite a few 'antiquated' laws regarding the sale of alcohol.

Years ago, I had heard of a charming little tex-mex place in Del Ray. I took a girl there on a first date - because I am classy This place was small and we were right on top of every other table in the place. There was also an out of place harp taking up space in the corner. I mentioned to my date what an odd decoration this was for a tex-mex place...why is that man stepping behind it? Is he going to play th....yup...he is playing the harp. After the first oddly uncomfortable number, a second gentleman joined him. I wonder what his role is..."Did you ever know that you were my hero..." Yup...he is singing Wind Beneath My Wings. I swear the guy was singing directly to me which was made all the worse because my date had her back to him and she was cracking up. Bonus sight gag for the night: at one point my date reached across the table and moved some beans out of the way to reveal writing on the plate: "International House of Pancakes"

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

Nope. We discussed that option but decided against it as our lounge menu is offered as soon as lunch service ends. Thanks for the thought though shaggy. And TedE wins the Cracker Jack prize (free cocktail) for being the first to point out that line. Tony has a fantastic sense of humor and that is a good thing as today I feel like I hit the "free joke for life" lottery.

Beginning Monday, June 11, Vermilion will no longer allow smoking before 10:00 PM. We will allow smoking in the bar and lounge area from 10:00 PM until close. We have discussed this topic at length over the past several months and we fully understand the strong feelings people have on both sides. Our hope is to allow guests who have an aversion to smoke to enjoy their meals without concern. Equally, this will allow guests who have enjoyed smoking in our bar and lounge to continue to do so. Feel free to contact the restaurant or myself with any questions, concerns or winning lottery numbers. Cheers- Dave Hammond www.vermilionrestaurant.com 703.684.9669

First and foremost let me apologize for your previous experience at Vermilion. Second, thank you for giving us a try. My name is David Hammond, I am the general manager at Vermilion. Smoke had been an issue in our downstairs dining area in the past. I am pleased to let you know that we have remedied the situation. We have installed a filtration system that is extremely effective. While we are not a smoke free restaurant and unfortunately I'm not in a position to pay you to return , I would love the opportunity to make it up to you. I can assure you that your experience last September is not typical of our establishment and in no way indicative of our goal. Please feel free to contact me either here at the restaurant (703.684.9669) or through our website (vermilionrestaurant.com). Cheers -David