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Josh Radigan

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Posts posted by Josh Radigan

    SER - Spanish Comfort Food Contest-Winning Restaurant in Ballston

    in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining

    Posted

    Being in this business I truly wish success on anyone who tries to make a go of it. That being said I do believe that the contest was somewhat vague in all of its rules as well layout. 7 out of the 8 contestants did multiple dishes, only one team did one dish. We were also led to believe that the entering contestant would be making the dishes if not individually as a whole team. Not everyone followed by those rules. I think the vagueness within the rules as well the end result left a sour taste in many peoples mouths.

    I wish them all the best of luck.

    Misha's Coffeehouse and Roasters - Owners Andrea Seward and Misha Von Elmendorf on S. Patrick and King St in Old Town

    in Coffee Shops and Roasters

    Posted

    I also found the crema to be of a different consistency in Spain than back home in the US.

    Grape and Bean started as coffee and expanded its role with wine. Bot sides of the coin are solid. David does a lot of coffee research.

    Killer ESP in Old Town is decent.

    Swings pour over is good, but I like a darker cup.

    There is going to be a new coffee shop on Hume Avenue in DelRay. Right across the street from the drive through at Suntrust Bank. Wait and see.

    Looking For A $50 Red Wine At Le Diplomate

    in Help Needed

    Posted

    My two choices would be the Laffont Madiran, primarily Tannant I believe with Cab and Cab Franc blended in, or The Chateau Coupe Rose Minervois, a Syrah, Grenache, Carignan blend but medium bodied. good spice and length. If you go up a notch past the $50 range spend $67 on the Faury St. Joseph. A beautiful Northern Rhone wine that has more feminine style than the Masculine Roties and Cornas' usually bring forth. You still get that salty-ness but the fruit is a bit more upfront.

    • Like 2

    Drinking in Clarendon

    in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining

    Posted

    My two cents on the matter. When Tallula and EatBar opened back in 2004 there was a flood of customers who wanted something other than 'Meet-Markets' and 'Half priced Burgers.' (Nothing against Whitlows at all in those regards) Tallula was something different and not just what people saw on their plates but in their wine glasses. An opening staff that stayed together for 3 years, that included FOH and BOH staff. Tallula wasn't about being on the front of Washingtonian Magazine, we wanted to be chatted on Donrockwell and chowhound (early years) We were about building a relationship with customers.

    The later years were hard on Tallula and in some cases I think the evolution of the dinning scene in Clarendon with places such as Liberty, Lyon and Eventide took bites out of Tallula's customer basis. One thing I will say on a final note is this, Tallula was more of a seasonal restaurant for me. Fall and Winter seemed to make Tallula home, whereas the days of Spring and Summer seemed to make Tallula seem even darker. I don't know but some restaurants just have that feel or embrace to the season. I love going to Martin's Tavern in the late Fall/early Winter, not so much during the bright days of Summer.

    Being a 3rd generation Arlingtonian what I can say is that Arlington overall will go through another change, places like Rosslyn will flourish and quite possibly Ballston. It isn't the Arlington that I grew up with at all. That is why I live in the City of Alexandria.

    • Like 1
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    Tallula, Washington Blvd in South Clarendon - Chef Rob Rubba Replaces Nate Waugaman, GM Michael Williams Replaces Matt Molaski - Closed

    in Washington DC Restaurants and Dining

    Posted

    Don't know where to begin but I will start at the beginning of my time at 2761 Washington Blvd. I was young, 15 years old, and I had snuck into the back through a door left propped open by a dishwasher. It smelled of smoke and stale beer but it was awesome. Whitey's was named after the original owner who in fact had a long white beard. My father eventually became the second owners lawyer, a guy named Calvin Seville who went by the nickname of Fuzzy. That's not the whole story of my experience. Life's not that short. I had my first real bar experience at Whitey's which included a stale domestic beer served in a frosted mug, Onion Rings doused with Blue Cheese dressing and a celebratory cigarette while playing darts in the back room. The years went by and Whitey's became less of what it originally started out as, a bar. Calvin did everything to bring in business but there were no takers. He installed a $200K kitchen to cook $7 hamburgers. Times were not kind to Calvin and Whitey's in its last years, the building just felt empty because it was in fact empty. The good times of listening to Bill Kirchen and other local musicians quickly faded to large TV's, game boards and lousy food. Something that I always remembered about Whiteys in the early days was the fact that the food was always good, even in a dive. Whitey's used to have lines wrapped around the corner to get in, but no more in its final days. The neighborhood rallied around to get the liquor license revoked by the County board because too many times mailboxes were smashed or lawns were pissed on. Guess what? They won and the dagger went right to the heart of Whitey's. They closed the doors and the Eat sign went dark.

    Years later a young restaurant group tinkered with the idea of a wine bar that served a little bit of everything from Shortribs to Baby Burgers. Small plates meeting for the first time grown up food. But where? The paper went up in the windows, the old bar ripped out, walls came down, and the old often never used $200K kitchen was cleaned up, over and over again. Whitey's was getting a facelift, but no longer Whitey's, yet Tallula. The neighborhood of course was nervous that the old habits of young adults pried with the right amount of booze would soon be back to smashing mailboxes and peeing on lawns. The owners assured them something different was about to happen and it was in the form of wine. This wasn't going to be a place to pound shots of Jager, or crush 24 ounce Miller Lites, but instead a place to sip a glass of Viognier, or enjoy a bottle of Gigondas. This was an adult restaurant where adult behavior would be the norm, and the chugging history of Whitey's past was long gone.

    The day before Thanksgiving in 2004 Tallula opened its doors, albeit 4 months behind schedule. Maybe a sign of its future would be on that same very night the restaurant lost power. Guess what, only half of it did because the building is supplied by two power sources. The left side, restaurant, is powered by a grid that sits next to Mr. Days. The right side, the original Whitey's, is powered from behind the building. So on that night the restaurant closed halfway through, but the bar stayed opened. How do I know? I was behind the bar that evening as I was so fortunate to be a part of the opening team at Tallula.

    Over the year I left the bar and became the GM and Wine Director, something that to this day I take great pride in and realize how incredibly lucky I was to be in that position. I worked with some fantastic people and talent. When I think back to Tallula during the early years I fondly remember the place being packed on any given night, the hum of the kitchen under Nathan Anda's control, the clinking of Wine Bottles left and right, and a building that once again was breathing life after years of dormancy and neglect. I left Tallula in May of 2007 for a decision that sometimes I regret, but because of a greater influence, my family and the hopes of an easier life. Kids will do that to you.

    Tallula ushered in new blood, not just in my place but everywhere. The kitchen was turned over while Nate created his new passion with Red Apron, congrats Nate, job well done if I never told you that before. Some fantastic chefs came through the door including Andrew Market, Barry Koslow and now Robert Rubba. Matt Moleski took over the reins and seemed to be the leader for the FOH and from my interaction did a great job.

    The years passed by Tallula much like Whitey's as people change and grow older, sometimes the place they used to frequent becomes a distant memory. Tallula never stopped caring.

    I, along with 5 others last night, sat in the dining room talking about days past at Tallula. I stared at the fountain in the middle of the restaurant remembering the days of having to scrub the tiles and cursing at it. The six of us ordered food and from what I can remember it was just as Tallula had delivered on its first day of business, solid. The six of us all met at Tallula, and as one could imagine with the boys on one side and the girls on the other side we were perfectly matched up with our wives. You see I met my wife at Tallula. Granted we did not have a romantic involvement while we worked together at Tallula, that was way down the road, we initially met there as she worked as a cocktailer, and I as the GM. to be honest we didn't really get along that well with each other when we did work together. The guy I share an office with today, who has worked with me side by side for the last 10 years, also met his wife while working at Tallula. She was a waitress, and he a Bartender. The other couple met there as well and had their first date at Tallula. You know the phrase, small world.

    We laughed into the night but I couldn't stop thinking about Tallula. Where did it go wrong? I may never know that answer but I do hope that while we see the last week bring this version of Tallula to an end that some of you find it in your heart to give that old building one last send off. The 'Eat' sign will again go dark, but the memories for the six of us, who remain best of friends, will always be very clear to what Tallula means to us and hopefully to many others who enjoyed its passion over the years.

    • Like 13

    The Ballston BID "Restaurant Challenge" - A Business Decision Disguised As A Public Event

    in News and Media

    Posted

    I can explain what happened and no bitter pill here to swallow. My team at The Bottlehouse spent over $5K in logo design, menus, banner, food, t-shirts, payroll, patenting our name, and lastly renting a commercial kitchen. From day 1 our operation chose to never utilize, purchase or even have one ounce of product cooked, cleaned, prepped, wrapped at our current place of employment. After all was said and done, 2 days of pure exhaustion working 12 hour days at one job and prepping and cooking at night through the morning.

    I would do it again in a heartbeat. Did our food fail? Yes. We were asked at 315PM to have dishes prepared for the judges, which after 3 hours of cooking and running around made it difficult.(All contestants had the same criteria so again the guy who complained that his food wasn't as fresh, all of us had the same issue) But no different than a Food Trucks operation, or a busy restaurant on any given night. We reached with our items because we did not feel that with our concept one dish signified what our concept was going into the competition. 2/3's of our operation were null and void from the start. We couldn't sell or showcase our wine and beer knowledge. So instead we braised our pork in beer and our short ribs in red wine. (get it) Interestingly enough only two teams did not get a call from the reporter, Bottlehouse and The Ballston Chophouse. Look, do I think it would have been great had the judges seen our booth, looked at our logos and menus, talked with us in action, sure. But everyone who was in the competition got the same treatment. Its not like Victor and Christiana had the judges in their booth and they side tracked the rest of us. Yes, I think our logo is pretty cool. Yes, our menus looked awesome. But in the end no restaurant got extra treatment from the judges. Do Victor and David Guas know each closely, yes. Same with Mike Isabella, of course. And in fairness that is to his advantage just like any restaurant owner that has a large social following can attract the masses before opening his or her doors without serving one plate of food. see Spike Mendelhson.

    The criteria for the competition was clearly laid out for 'anyone' to enter, experienced or not. Plenty of other restaurant owners could have participated but chose not to and we knew that from day 1

    In the end this is a business decision for Brookfield and the property owners. Some might not like, some will understand but in the end for me, I had a blast.

    • Like 2

    The Ballston BID "Restaurant Challenge" - A Business Decision Disguised As A Public Event

    in News and Media

    Posted

    Don't forget that I worked in the original location of death, what is now Willow, used to be 4 other restaurants prior. I worked at one of them, Bistro Bistro, from 1997-98. Yikes. We actually plan on being open day and night, with the concept still growing of possibly being open for coffee service M-Friday early.

    People can vote for fan favorite but the two that move to the final round are judged by the BID and the owners of the building. As well there is an interview process that counts and as well concept that all play a part.

    The Ballston BID "Restaurant Challenge" - A Business Decision Disguised As A Public Event

    in News and Media

    Posted

    Hmmm, The BottleHouse, does look interesting <_< . Anyone who would like details just email me. For anyone who has been to Tria in Philadelphia, think along those lines in terms of no hard spirits, as well a focus on food that pairs with wine and beer. And when we say beer, no Miller Lite, No Bud Light. There are plenty of places in Ballston that serve those items. Wines that are acid based, food based, and affordable. Nothing above the $80 line for a bottle, most likely not over $70. Our focus isn't just on food as you might notice we are the only contestants that are not solely chef driven. Three equal parts sharing the same stage. Blue Jeans fine, Suits, sure, but an establishment that will take our product seriously. My time behind the wine pages, almost 20 years, one partner with 10 behind the suds boards, and another whose talents showcase a wide variety of culinary twists and turns. Price point on menu $20 and below. Think simple entrees, protein focused with a small side portion, not always veg, not always starch. Something I took away from spending time here and there in Philly was that establishments of all different make up welcome all different walks. Sitting at The Standard Tap bar one time I was dressed in an old Millie's T-shirt from back in the day, while this rather well to do couple dressed to the nines sat drinking pints of beer talking about the Opera. Pretty cool if you ask me. So go ahead, ask away.

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