food.fiend

Thanks for the ideas! As well as for a a confirmation for my gut reaction that the qutoed price is almost absurdly unrealistic. Especially if drinks are included, as I am most assured that they are.... I tried the Trios suggestion... but they won't take advance reservations... They might be amenable to setting aside space the morning of, but that wouldn't be enough advance notice, I am thinking! As for the VA suggestions, although I personally find nothing wrong about heading out there (as I used to live in Courthouse and loved it), everyone is staying in DC, and they are reluctant to travel too far, unfortunately... And, jm chen, the Lauriol suggestion actually might be a good bet for these girls, especially as they take reservations for brunch... And, since I personally will be out of town for this adventure, I won't mind suggesting it!

My old DC roommate's college friend has sent me an email request for help finding a brunch location for the roommate's Bachelorette weekend... And her "requests" for the restaurant are just causing me to completely blank on any possibilities... Especially as I tend to always go to the same one restaurant for brunch (Bar Pilar), b/c I am lazy and don't like to walk far in the mornings. I've copied the message below, and hopefully someone has a suggestion or two! Thanks so much in advance... K "For the brunch, the idea is to host a brunch for her friends in DC and those who are coming in for the weekend (our college roomies, some high school friends...) In our heads we are thinking roughly around 20 ppl, but need to confirm a list in the next week or so. As far as atmosphere, we are thinking casual - nothing too fancy by any means, 1 - b/c we will most likely be slightly hung over from bachlorette-ing the night before and 2 - keep the price tag in check. In my mind, ideally no more than 10-15 per person. I'd love to have something comfy, but a little quirky, just like her!"

I have to admit, that I just assumed it was an actual blog (even going so far as to hunt around on numerous DC area ones).... and it hadn't really even considered that it was someone on here? I am dying of curiousity, though, I must say...

So full still from this weekend's eating that I don't even know where to start... It was the boyfriend's law school graduation, and his oh so nice family was in town... no way I can detail it all, so I will just do highlights from each... Red Rocks - Thursday night, just with the younger brother, and i LOVE the margherita pizza with roasted garlic... Le Paradou - Friday night, whole family, and the food was excellent. My favorite part was my appetizer, a salmon tartare with caviar and creme fraiche on brioche. Also, a fantastic white burgundy. And, no, I can't recall which one. Paolo's - Saturday Lunch, again whole family. Pizza was meh, but my pasta pomodoro really hit the spot. It was amazingly garlicky, which I loved. Citronelle - Saturday Dinner, whole family, my first time at the restaurant. And it was fantastic. The service, presentation, everything. If I had to pick a favorite item, it would have to be the "egg creation" appetizer (or some such name, again, blanking). That, or, the veal sweatbreads with a morel sauce. Central - Sunday Dinner, just the boyfriend and I. Very fun to compare that against the previous evening at Citronelle. The asparagus appetizer was by far my favorite item. Lightly poached, then sprinkled with sea salt and parsely, with a tarragon vinaigrette sauce on the side. Amazing food weekend, but I don't think I will be eating for a week. Well, until MY family shows up on Thursday, at least!

Oh, Fantastic! I was hoping you would! He really was great!

Made it to Dino last night after a slightly disasterous dining adventure beforehand. Luckily for us, it was a gorgeous night and there were empty tables outside... That, along with a campari and soda, wine, burrata, and some wild Boar pasta were just what were needed to unwind (and fill our half-full stomachs from the previous meal)... All was delicious, and it was great to just sit there and enjoy ourselves... only gripe was that it seemed that our waiter was MIA much of the time... which was actually fine in the end, though, as we had a most delightful busser bring us bread, water, olive oil, and all those other things that had been left out... Definitely will be back to enjoy more nice nights sitting outside with such good food...

Still really enjoying Bar Pilar's Sunday brunch... and seem to make it there every week these days. Oh, for good coffee, a nice dimly lit table, sausage biscuits and gravy, and the NY Times.... Oh, wait, can I forget the bacon bloody mary? Also, the sweetbreads, olives, and oh, I forget what else for dinner a few weeks back were delicious, as were Adam's cocktails that I finally got to try! Yum....

Unfortunately, I have to agree with some of the above comments. The pizza we ordered last night (slices of the sausage/mushroom, and the carmelized onions/roasted peppers) were a bit bland. They definitely needed salt, a tastier sauce (not just a tomato puree), and more time in the oven. I realize we were eating reheated slices from already made pies, but when they were brough to us they weren't even luke warm, and we had to send them back. Now, if they had been busy and were just overwhelmed with having just opened, I might not have minded so much, but we were 2 of maybe 5 customers in the whole place at 6:30 or so. Also ordered the antipasto appetizer, which was also overly bland. Four different mini preparations, and each one was flavorless. If I remember correctly, we had roasted peppers with carmelized garlic cloves (and you did not taste garlic at all, even when eating the cloves), white beans (the best of the lot), broccolini coated with a few specs of quinoa (random) and grilled asparagus... Also slightly annoying, and funny too, was that they attempted to deliver our food before we'd even sat down. We were followed around the restaurant by one of the workers with our antipasto appetizer as we got our napkins, silverware and drinks, and then she promptly plopped the food on a table, choosing it for us... ha.... Then, of course, the luke-warm pizza arrived as we were putting our napkins on our laps. That all I would chalk up to them just opening, and maybe needing to work out some kinks, so I wouldn't really hold against them. But the food itself also needs some work. Hopefully they improve soon! Actually, we were still hungry, so we ended up heading to Dino for more food, and to unwind. The whirlwind adventure of Pete's had taken a maximum of 15 minutes, and we were sort of wanting a bit longer dinner...

Had a great meal at Cork this weekend... The smoked trout salad was delicious as always, as was the chicken mirabella... and the speck, oh, and the carmelized sunchokes, and... oops. Too much more. But, the best part? We were seated within 5 minutes, on a Saturday, at 7:30 pm. And we hadn't even called ahead. Somehow, not quite sure, but we hit it just right! So nice... Also, never wrote about it, but hte wine tasting a few weeks ago was great fun on a Saturday afternoon. Hope they have more soon!

Ditto. Well said!

Or, is this ridiculous? That I now, after hearing all these comments, want to go to see how bad it can actually be for myself?

Went to Mio last night with a friend to catch-up. We had planned to just stop in for drinks at the bar, which we did, but of course ended up getting a table after that as well! Neither of us were that hungry, so we just split a first course, and a middle course, or some such labeling. The first course was a delicious burrata cheese, with blanched asparagus, preserved truffles, and a drizzle of olive oil... delicious. My friend had *gasp* never had burrata before, and was in heaven. Next, we just split their rabbit dish. If I recall correctly, it was rabbit-filled wontons, along with slices of perfectly cooked roasted rabbit rack and loin on the side, with some sort of rabbit stock reduction... and I loved it. It was nice to have all different cuts/methods of prep of the rabbit in one dish, and the sauce was so falvorful that I was using the bread to sop it all up. I left feeling like I couldn't wait to get back, and just wish it had been more busy! I think the whole time we were there (bar and time at the table combined), there were only 3-4 tables full. Total. Not just continuously, but over the course of 2.5 hours. With such good food, I can't help but wonder why. I hadn't been since the fall, before the change in the kitchen, and while I thoroughly enjoyed it then, it is much, much better now!

PS7s - cocktails and appetizers on the patio... which was practically empty, and thus entirely shocking as the weather was gorgeous... red rocks - great pizza, basic margherita, but with roasted garlic added on top, and a yummy burrata appetizer served simply on a bed of lightly dressed arugula... only bummer, the patio was on a long wait! (do we see a theme with outdoor dining here?) bar pilar - brunch on Sunday... great sausage biscuits and gravy, and steak and eggs... and reasonably priced... I love how dark and cozy it is there in the morning.... can wake up with some of their good food and coffee without having to actually see any daylight...

No,. a good guess, and most likely accurate, or at least somewhat along those lines... I was really just wondering if they had always been taht way, or if it was a newer restriction... I bet the boyfriend is now regretting the invitation of his brothers and sister-in-law, however, as he was looking forward to returning...

Yes, no question. But to not be able to accomodate 7? I hadn't thought it was that small... sigh. Some other time I guess.