Husband

As a regular lurker, and occasional commenter, I wanted to let the community know that I have recently acquire the building that held the Alexandria Location that shuttered about 18 months ago. We are in the process of finishing design and starting demo and construction. We are going to put two restaurants in the space. The major piece will be Ginny's, a southern bistro with a seasonal menu. The second will be the Esquire Dog, a take-out focused business that will feature artisanal hot dogs and seasonal sausages in the afternoon and evenings and coffee and beignets and coffee in the morning. The building is going to require a great deal of overhaul, from its age and condition, and modification, as we are going to hopefully create a better dining room and kitchen and a substantial outdoor dining space. Our goal is summer of next year. But as with all construction and restaurant opening, we are trying not to be overly optimistic as to create any false hopes (in us or our future guests). We look forward to seeing you and your comments in the near future.

Brasserie Beck is likely my favorite place to go. While it has its defects, I can get there way more often then some of the more fine dining places, and it is always true to what it is--Belgian Brasserie. But, I have to say the wine is actually one of the things I respect about it. It received this year a Wine Spectator "Award of Excellence." Now that is there lowest tier, but this means they are carrying at least 100 labels and have made a serious economic commitment... It still speaks to their level of commitment and effort. I think its one of hidden gems about the place. I truly appreciate the effort they put into all facets of the restaurant, and one that is really a high end Brasserie.

The Grandparents were in town and we decided to have lunch there last Friday. They were very accommodating to our little guys (who are very good restaurant diners). Service was otherwise good as well. However, the food was just disappointing. We hit the a plethora of the burgers (chicken, shrimp, regular) and most, if not all, disappointed. There was simply something wrong, and almost wonder if there wasn't a defect in a common ingredients. Perhaps it was just overripe tomato or a commons sauce, but all had an odd aftertaste or flavor. And at the $20, price tag there seems little excuse for it. Another issue, the french fries were all over cooked. To the point that they just felt greasy, hollow, transparent. It lacked any character other than the oil. I longed to to be up the street at Brasserie Beck. The only thing that people thought was universally good was the recently added shrimp salad with the mango and passion fruit vinaigrette. It had a touch of frisee for crunch. If the price point wasn't so high, I might say it was an acceptable meal. But, you pay for excellence at $40-50 a person. It just wasn't good and really disappointing.

Bourbon Steak.

The burgers I have had there have been okay... but the reckoning will come when people stop buying those criminal french fries. I just can't abide short, broken, pathetic fries. They are literally an abomination. Every time I've gone (3) I've gotten what I can only describe as the dregs of a batch. If you can't do it right, don't serve it... go to chips or something. I'm certainly not running back to the hill any time soon until he does.

Because its just down the street from us, I just ate there this week. And its a very good neighborhood joint. But, I'm not sure they use the oven to its maximum potential. Having eaten at both, I don't see much difference. And there isn't blistering or crispness or any pronounced 'wood' flavor you might expect as well. So, while still nice, not particularly special.

My guess is no. The floors are carpeted and when the building was constructed the only real provision for it was preserving the historic character of the exteriors. They pretty much took them to the studs. So they could have run the tap lines above the room even if the floor had some character. My thought is that there likely isn't space for it, might not be basement below them. The tasting room is a single building that is likely about 1500-2000 sq./ft. The main room is really just an open room, and appears to occupy its whole footprint. If Kimpton (the owners of the hotel) wasn't concerned about having some sense of design, the room would look very basic hotel. In fact, when you compare it to Jackson 20 down the street, opened about a year ago and owned by Kimpton as well, its not quite the same level of finish as that property. I suspect in the end, there is no place for it if you want to have the amount of dining space they needed.

My fathers, sister, wife and I ate the main room last night. The food was beautiful and well executed. There were a couple issues with speed of things coming out of the kitchen and a couple wines not being available. Nothing that I don't chalk up to first weekend quarks. Between the four of us we hit about 50% of the menu. My wife had the best dishes with the cod-pork belly dish for starter and the Turbot w/gnocchi main. Definitely jealous of hers both times. My father and sister had both red meat options (fillet and a ribeye), but very good. The ribeye was very flavorful but overcooked (medium rare but served medium well), likely a result of some other dish holding it up. The other starters were a very delicious and large pair of scallops with enoki mushrooms, a rich earthy, mushroomy, fois gras ravioli, and goat cheese terrine. The terrine was a little boring compared to the others, but the other two were very good. Finally, I got the skate wing and ordered a side of frites... just because I wanted it. The desserts were okay. The only standout was the waffle which was remarkable. The waitstaff was actually trying very hard and the few issues were definitely addressed quickly. The price point was actually high, but about what I paid at Evening Star a couple weeks ago. The decor was nice, but nothing particularly remarkable given its very high profile from the exterior. Only thing I was disappointed with was the beer menu. While I understand it's not Beck, I was expecting it. Didn't get it until I saw a person drinking a Delirium Tremens midway through the meal and asked about it. It was all the expected high end Belgian players plus a number of gauze and similar sour styles... all appeared to be by the bottle. Definitely a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Planning to visit the tasting room this week with my little guy and wife for the more casual option.

I couldn't agree with Don more about the quality of what they are doing. It is a place I've had one of my best meals since moving here, and it sort of amazes me that it doesn't come up more on people's radar. I can't figure out if it's a location issue or something else. I've not been there in a while, but only because I've a small child now, so I've not eaten much finer dining over the last 18 months.

I was on the Hill for other things earlier. Drove by to see. There was a line out the door... mostly younger staffers and interns from the look. So, they were busy for their first lunch.

You'll never get a tomato on a burger from me that is out of season. I think its a crime to do otherwise. Most of the time a raw tomato out of season is pretty close to a spongy, barely acidic, mess that adds nothing. So, I'm with Palena for 8 months a year.

The wife, the son and I all went tonight. We were there early and so no problems about finding a place to sit. Well, the boy had a little trouble. Being 15 months old and sized like a 15 month old, he needed a high chair. Unfortunately, didn't have any. But the staff ran down to the old place and got us one. Good thing, because by the time we left, parents with two children were eyeing ours jealously. I suspect Ray's is going to need a number of these chairs and soon. The reason they are going to need so many highchairs is the burger is great. Juicy, perfectly seasoned, and well cooked. I mean spot on well cooked. I love burgers and my wife is not so passionate, but she was the first one to dole out the compliments. It was likely the best burger I've had in DC for sure and potentially ever. And quite frankly, its the kind of place that will be busy with family guys like me. It's a step up, it's quick, it's reasonable for high quality product. I can see it being like the Two Amy's for burgers. Might make some of you single people annoyed. There were a couple tiny snafus though. First, the corn was uncooked, but we loved that we got corn and watermelon with our burgers. Second, they goofed the delivery on the burgers. Wife had guerye on hers. I had aged cheddar on mine. Both white and look a like when melted. They then got the wrong fixings. But I think those two things are understandable errors, especially early on your second day. Kudos to you guys over there. I suspect you are going to be very busy for a while.

StephenB, I'm not sure if I'm reading this right. I really hope that you aren't as angry as you appear. First, the price and menu on the website are not the definitive menu at most places. Furthermore, given Cathal's commitment to local and seasonal principals, that menu changes extremely regularly. He's active in espousing the values of those principals down to even encouraging people on the website to find fine local purveyor. Second, I have empathy with your difficulty in moving, but I really think its rather absurd the statements. At worst, it was a person not realizing you need accommodation. As a person who doesn't suffer from a similar situation, I'm fairly confident that this is likely a person trying to show you some respect. It is a touchy situation for many because they don't always know what you want. There are plenty of situations where people in your situation are embarrassed by the inquiry. The goal is to meet the guests needs, and you assuming that a person who has only a few moments to calculate your situation can do so, without your help, is a bit presumptive. I'm not associated with the restaurant, but I do feel a bit of sympathy for them. There job is too exceed your needs and desires, but they can only do so with help from the customer. Ask anyone whose worked in hospitality, they will tell you the most upsetting guest is the one that is non-responsive. Even the angry or upset one, can give you a chance to make it up by doing the extra something. It's why at the higher end places like Eve, it's not uncommon for captains, and others to spend a few minutes trying to figure out why you are there. They know that it's a 95% chance you are there for something special. If you don't engage, you won't get the best of them. At places like Eve, they want you happy and you should not assume they can do that without you.

I'm looking for a good butcher. I need to place an order for some pork belly, fat back and duck fat... and a few other items that are not your typical supermarket fair. Yet, I don't have a good person for this. If you folks have good suggestions, then it would be very much appreciated. I'm a VA side person so in DC or in VA is better. Thanks!

DinerGirl, I love the concept and have been by regularly to see your progress. I agree with BillRus the no short cuts when it comes to the recipes there. But maybe its just me, but that book has more great techniques hiddben between the lines then any other book I own. Though I don't have many cook books that don't focus on technques. Also, I've played a little with the powders. I've had success and one of the things I found is that he might be wrong about the timing. I know this is sacreligious to some, but I think there is support for my thoughts. If you read the part in front of the powder recipes, the microwave method is an adaptive technique. It's not actually the one he uses. One of the things I tried and had some success was actually working and pausing for period. The goal is to remove moisture while keeping structural integrity of the substance. So the way the microwave works is that it aggitates the water molecules and causes steam which breaks down the cells and effectively cooks from within. I actually tried and had success by breaking the cooking times into segments. For example, cook for 15 min and then let rest to come to room temperature before microwaving again. I usually had to add an extra segment on, but my thought was to preserve as much of the inter cell structure and slow the removal of the water. Another thought is just trying a warm oven on a lazy sunday and see what happens. Anyway, good luck. I really love the project.