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Josh Radigan

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Everything posted by Josh Radigan

  1. Josh Radigan
    Truly the last country you wanted to piss off they did, and by doing so Russia will continue to light them up all day and night. Parking lot city!
  2. Josh Radigan
    as well at those wine prices it pays to get a bottle. I believe one of my former bartenders at Tallula as well a bartender at Liberty Tavern is manning the stick back there, Blair.
  3. Josh Radigan
    So a longtime ago there was this urban myth that Red Nectar had some marijuana buds added to the brewing process. Not sure what that would have done with such large scale production but again an urban myth.
  4. Josh Radigan
    Not saying it wont grow, but its identity is somewhat mixed. Even people that I know who grew up in NoVA seem to always say "Mosaic?? oh that area where the movie theaters used to be." Gotta get over that stigma.
  5. Josh Radigan
    I can still remember walking into The Evening Star Café back in 1998 and saying that this was truly a neighborhood place. It reminded me so much of what I used to see living in Richmond, small places (no more than 40-50 seats) an active crowd late, and typically run by the servers and bartenders, no money for managers. Over the years ESC grew outside of the neighborhood as the company itself started to purchase other properties. To this day I think and believe it has gone back to being more of a neighborhood place that I think gets lost in the shuffle of NRG's empire and I do believe that to be a good thing.
  6. Josh Radigan
    I still believe that part of the issue with Mosaic is where it is located. Growing up in Arlington County we always seemed to have an 'identity' of location. Mosaic to me doesn't seem to have a sense of community whereas places like Clarendon, Rosslyn and even Fairfax City have a sense of community. People grew up there, people came back or moved close by and still haunt their old neighborhoods.
  7. Josh Radigan
    Schlotski's deli prior to Bistro Bistro. I know that because I worked at that Bistro Bistro. The staff then divided up into two restaurants. Some went to Argia's, the others came with me to open Bistro Bis
  8. Josh Radigan
    If The Mets play 500 ball we have to play 6 over 500 ball. It can happen, and I have faith in the Nats.
  9. Josh Radigan
    Forest Inn
  10. Josh Radigan
    To give an idea of underwhelming food we started with a cheese course, the pieces truly were cut into perfect triangles, almost like Cracker cuts you see in the store. The cheese and not typically a big problem was below cold, not frozen but cold. I personally like cheese at certain temp and one of them is not cold. It came with a chipollini marmalade of sorts that was cloyingly sweet. Not enough acid. Again my take. They served and again my personal issue wines in glassware that was 'industrial.' The Flute my wife had her sparkling served in we use for Banquets at The Club, thick rimmed and short. My Rose was served in a stemless (Hey I don't care since we kinda pushed them when we opened Tallula back in the day) but I have a set of these at home that I use soda water. I even made the comment "Hey, I know this glassware!" We laughed and its ok but again a really solid beverage program touches on all aspects of the program from product, serving temp and glassware. Now that I think of it there were more issues than once imagined. So our salads were meh? My wife got the little gem salad that had very 'little' gem salad yet a lot of Frisee and Radicchio. So the salad was rather bitter which again another issue for me and as well my wife. I had the romaine salad with fried capers, good, over dressed but good. So when I ordered the wine (white) out it came, chilled (not overly thank goodness), no ice bath, and stemless glasses while I saw everyone else around us had stemmed glasses. Back to the wine temp. I like whites around 55 degrees, I know its weird but hey its me. That being said of there is no wine bucket nearby and we are not chugging the wine the temp on the wine will come up rather quickly and thus warm white wine, not hot, but warm. We asked for stemmed glasses and that was cool. Entrees. My wife had the pasta with mushroom and rosemary oil, rigatoni. Pasta was hard, not al dente but much more form than that and the mushroom was supposed to be a ragout but was a large cut than that, again..... I had the bronzino over a bed of snap peas. The bronzino was good but because the salad underneath was actually cold with a touch of citrus to cut the sweetness of the salad my fish on the backside turned cold. Had the fish IMHO been hot pan-seared so that the fish had skin side crust then maybe the cold salad would have had less effect on the fish. Again. As I said before it was underwhelming for me. I have pretty simple food taste, maximum wine taste. Neither one was a homerun, but more like a seeing eye single.
  11. Josh Radigan
    So the unfortunate part of this business is when a good place on the plate and soul shutters its doors. Knowing through a colleague of mine Gypsy Soul closed its doors last night. To those who enjoyed it remember that last bite you had there as it probably was most memorable.
  12. Josh Radigan
    I feel like I missed this place on the night my wife and I went since everyone seems to have really good experiences. Food was ok, not great. Service when it showed up was good, but to the servers credit he seemed to be inside and out on a relatively slow but enough to be busy Sunday Night. Wine was great, Pouilly-Fume from Vineyard Brands portfolio, but the server wasn't doing the selecting. Underwhelming would be my feeling and quite frankly I rarely ever use that term unless its referring to the Nationals play of late.
  13. Josh Radigan
    Well its true that I don't get out often especially with both boys in tow. Went for Brunch and have to say it was a great welcome to my surprise. We ate upstairs with two of my closest friends. I agree on the earlier post about price point but have to tell you that sometimes quality of product is worth the extra $$$ than hoping someone can take mass produced, over ripe, and poorly stored veggies and fruit and make it something special. Veggie Hash was flavorful, the crepes my youngest had were perfect in size and good flavor throughout, my eldest had pancakes that were not over the top nor naked to the eye. Meat items I will leave for my friends to discuss. Service was solid, not overly aggressive and as well there when need be, but most importantly the place is a good spot for the kids. Pretty place (ate upstairs) and although the dinner menu is 'meat-centric' I will go back for brunch anytime.
  14. Josh Radigan
    We actually served Bird Brain here at The Club. So the story is this, Bird Brain is owned by some guys who own Lost Dog franchises, I believe Columbia Pike and Route 1 in Parker Gray. Really nice guys who are looking to expand operations down the road with the Brewery.
  15. Josh Radigan
    One of the biggest issues that has taken place over the last 5 years within the Food and Bev industry, a lack of industry people to go around especially with so much growth in Food and beverage. Not just so many new restaurants but off-shoots within the industry. More bakeries, more boutique grocery stores, more coffee shops, and so on. The pool of talent is smaller and smaller as this industry gets bigger and bigger. I agree that management should know better by placing un-trained staff on the floor but it could also be the long arm of the home office saying "Hey, get open ASAP, we are paying rent on that space with no revenue coming in the door."
  16. Josh Radigan
    Typically Croaker is a fish best served smoked so that the bones have dissolved and therefore easier to eat. As well deep fried croaker is a common dish served down in the Northern Neck where this fish is a plentiful. Give Brine time to make the needed adjustments as I have found they, the company, are good listeners to both good and bad reports.
  17. Josh Radigan
    Red Hen Quarterdeck (since its July, outside with over priced crabs and pitchers of beer) Woodward Table Osteria Morini Pupatella Southern Efficiency Rappahannock Oyster Bar
  18. Josh Radigan
    Galaxy hut
  19. Josh Radigan
    Dive bar=forest inn over at Westover off Washington blvd
  20. Josh Radigan
    Understand this point about mark-ups, a bottle on every table is less man power than glasses on the table. So why not have a wine program that allows the customer the opportunity to buy wine by the bottle, feel good about it, and in the end continue to support your business because they don't feel like they are being taken to the cleaners. Back in the day several restaurants had a great policy of wine mark-up, retail pricing plus $10. Not bad. That $10 paid for glassware, washing it, ice buckets and ice. So wine lists had great options for customers to try and many people used to tell me "hey, I think this is a typo." and point to a price on the list that seemed way too low. Who knows, maybe that will become a reality again for some of us if we happen to open our own place.
  21. Josh Radigan
    at school cafeteria
  22. Josh Radigan
    Congrats to them on a great review and much success.
  23. Josh Radigan
    GAR had a simple formula that made them money at the time and still does, Mahi-Mahi and Mashed Potatoes. They made it seem like the greatest thing on a plate. A 'tropical' sounding fish that at the time was not a common household name and paired it with something everyone most likely knows and loves, mashed potatoes. They made a killing off it. They originally placed restaurants in neighborhoods that were on the fringe, half way between really decent to sketchville. And by doing so they made those with money feel like they had this little oasis right around the corner that could easily be situated in downtown DC. Smart thinking, smart planning and an audience that was and still is willing to pack the place. A recipe for $$$$$. Congrats to them on their business model because in fact most people who are in this business know how hard it is to make money. I for one still root for the little guy who makes enough to pay his bills, and put food on the table for his family and puts out a product that they labor over and can say "That's good eats."
  24. Josh Radigan
    I remember riding my bike from my parents house in Arlington past the old Heidelberg location, which is now Randolphs, to school at St. Agnes. The smells coming from that bakery always made me stop for a pastry.
  25. Josh Radigan
    As well they are celebrating their 40th year of being in business I believe this week. Congrats!
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