JeffAlex

Bethesda's Winter Restaurant Week will be January 24th through 30th.

3 courses 30 bucks, you know the deal

Any news on restaurants that are extending the deal past the 30th? I know that Grapeseed will offer their BCC RW menu through Saturday the 5th.

JeffAlex

I saw a notice that Black's is re-opening on June 19. As stated on another Web site:

Black's Bar & Kitchen -- This Bethesda fine and fun dining mainstay reopens June 19 after a $2.5 million floor-to-ceiling makeover. Expect an innovative, funky, contemporary decor and Executive Chef Mallory Buford's Modern American menu rich with local flavor. There are lots of new design, menu and décor features. One in particular deserving of mention is the glass-enclosed, temperature controlled wine room holding up to 1,500 bottles in stainless steel racks with a total stock of 5,000+ bottles available. (7750 Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD; 301.652.6278)

That whole block is being renovated (new condo building will go up on the corner of Woodmont & Old Georgetown Road). I'll try and slink by for a look-see next week.

JA

Age discrimination is a serious issue in the news biz.

Plenty of examples, from Ron Fimrite, who was rehired by Sports Illustrated after filing an age discrimination lawsuit against the magazine, to Christine Craft, who lost her case.

I don't doubt this, and if Kliman were some newbie kid hired off the street, Head would have a good case. But Kliman clearly has the chops to be on the masthead, so I imagine that the net effect of this is to generate some lawyers' fees and possibly expose some of the "intrigue" in the leadership of Washingtonian. (Yawn).

JA

I work in downtown Bethesda & didn't know about this until I visited this thread. Even called Tragara to confirm their participation [was on the BCC webpage] & they didn't know about it [the GM was off yesterday & hadn't told the other Mgrs. yet]. Still some room for marketing these.

Don't see Grapeseed or Persimmon on the list, sigh.

Updated to note that Grapeseed IS on the list--it's just not a BCC Chamber of Commerce member.

The full list can be found at:

BCC Restaurant Week Ad

And you can also see a really cool geographic mapping tool showing the restaurants at:

DowntownBethesda.com

JA

I agree about the pic--very enigmatic. And thanks also, Don, for the comments on Restaurant Week--very helpful.

JA

....though im not sure which restaurants other than ours is participating....

Yeah, the last one was very poorly marketed. I work in Bethesda and keep up with all the local events, and didn't hear about it until it was over. Maybe they should try to get the Bethesda Urban Partnership involved as well.

BTW, I went to your restaurant for the first time last month with some clients, and had a very good lunch. Great place!

JA

So is the "Oregon Kobe" beef I saw tonight at Zengo worth "$10 an ounce, three-ounce minimum?" If it will help you answer the question, I will add that it's cooked on a hot stone.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Can't help you with the value of Zengo's Kobe beef, but my Japanese co-workers and I today were joking about the "Kobe beef" at Ye Olde Not-to-be-Named-Here Steakhouse and I can say that most Japanese expats in the DC area don't put any faith in any beef here that's marketed as "Kobe beef." Doesn't stop them from enjoying some nice Wagyu shabu-shabu, tho'.

JA

OK, speaking of omissions, here's one from another angle...

Why are there NO restaurants in the guide which are located in Bethesda?

I know he can't necessarily spread his reviews by geography, and he's trying to get the base of reviews to expand beyond the immediate Metro Washington area. I get it. But here is a neighborhood with one of the highest concentrations of restaurants in our region, which is frequented by many many people, and he can't give at least ONE recommendation of someplace that people may want to try there? I'm not saying that Bethesda deserves more coverage due to its location--but if people go there to eat, it stands to reason that at least one or two are worth pointing out as places to go for SOME kind of function (party, romance, whatever).

Unless Tom is trying to diss the entire neighborhood, which IS justifiable (too crowded, too mass-market, too many chains, etc.)--but in that case, just SAY it, right?

IMHO, of course.

JeffAlex

Okay, let me get this straight:  seventeen people got seated in the Lab, the chef came in on what was most likely her night off, the food ranged from decent to great, the service was lavish and impeccable, and everything was 50% off.

Sounds pretty awesome to me!

I'd have to agree, that's pretty much the sum total on the subject!

JeffAlex

Excuse me, but did you leave knowing that they had mistakenly not charged you for your wine?  Regardless of what you thought about the prices, IMO, that is not OK, ever.  I think if you ordered it and drank it, you should have paid for it.  Geesh - am I out on a limb here?

Seriously, since all I drank was one glass of the Pinot Grigio, I think that the missing $4.50 wasn't a big enough deal for me to wait for them to re-run my ticket. I made sure to tip more than the appropriate amount (thanks for all the guidance on that ), and I'd rather have that $ go to the wait staff than to the bar tab. Plus, the markup on what I paid at the bar before the meal was also hefty enough from my point of view.

And yes, for the $130 or so I ended paying for dinner for two, I would have expected better. Like I said, I paid less and got a much more satisfying meal at Grapeseed. I'm well aware of how much good service costs, and for what Galileo normally charges, I'm simply saying that they could have done better. (And note, I DID say I was nit-picking...)

jeffalex

As someone who was there last nite, I can see exactly what you mean.

I'm probably a bit jaded, so I'm gonna pick the nits. I'll preface by saying that the food and presentation were, in general very very good...the presentation much more so than the food, however.

Nit #1: The service. OK, so we were in the Laboratorio. The restaurant was not THAT crowded, at least when I peeked in on the way to the restroom. Can someone explain to me why it took nearly FOUR hours to serve three courses plus dessert? I know that they have to present each course in unison, but we didn't get the appetizer for quite some time after we placed our orders. My wife noticed that this had the advantage (for the restaurant) that anyone who ordered a bottle of wine pretty much had finished by the time the second course was served, and so had to order a second bottle to go with the main course.

Plus, my second course came perilously close to being sent back to the kitchen before it was served to me, and my wife's dessert sat on the serving table for a good 15 minutes before they figured out that it was meant for her. Hmmm.

Nit #2: Portion size. I do have to say that the portions were a manageable size. However, something was not very clear about the menu. Most of us ordered the "tasting menu," where you can select X number of courses (3, 4 or 5) plus dessert for a fixed price. What was NOT on the menu is that when you order the tasting menu, each course served is about a half-portion or smaller. The few who ordered a la carte got MUCH more food than the rest of us--probably too much. Again, I got enough food to be satisfying, but it felt a bit strange to see the person across from me get twice as much pasta even though it was exactly the same order. Note that if I had ordered the exact same courses a la carte, I probably would have gotten twice the food for about $15 more (menu prices, NOT discounted prices).

Nit #3: Consistency. Some of the dishes seemed very good. My wife's filet was not only too small, it was also somewhat overdone. My own main course (the swordfish) was a bit dry. Folks who ordered things like the veal seemed to fare a lot better than we did. Plus, as someone else posted, my courses appeared to have spent too much time under the heat lamp--or not under it, as the case may be.

Again, the quality of food overall was very good, and the company was of course excellent. If I had paid double for the food, I would have been pretty severely disappointed. I didn't feel too bad about the fact that they failed to charge me for my wine. That's OK--they made that up in profit in other areas.

As a basis of comparison, we had dinner tonight at Grapeseed Bistro in Bethesda (which I'll post about later) for almost exactly the same cost--but with much more food, and to be honest better quality as well. Comparing Galileo to Grapeseed is a bit like comparing grapes to raisins--they are very different establishments--but the point remains the same.

Glad to have the chance to meet some of the folks on this forum--look forward to future outings.

JeffAlex

I completely agree, they start making the natto roll when I walk in

Natto roll? Blech. Please warn me not to be there when you walk in.

JA

Looks like Bethesda-Chevy Chase wants in on the RW game. The Washington Business Journal flash today notes that BCC's RW is the week after next July 18-24 and that:

"Participating restaurants include: Brasserie Monte Carlo, Café Europa, La Miche, Clyde's of Chevy Chase, ...

(snip)

I got a note that Clyde's has reopened, with a new upstairs bar...anyone hear anything more about their "new" building?

Hey guys, posting again about this date place.  Went to Mon Ami Gaby in Bethesda on a real first date.  Service was quick and responsive, I ordered mussles with white wine sauce and the cheese plate, she the steak and frites.  2002 Bordeaux to match her steak since I couldn't agree on a Burgundy.  The place is huge inside and we didn't feel rushed through the meal.  Great decision after some input from friends.

Glad you had a good experience. I went there for a weekday lunch and had a really terrible crepe and only mediocre service. But that was about a year ago, so maybe they've shaped up since then.

I had lunch today at Daruma, the Japanese market/lunch counter in Bethesda. They offer a variety of udon, ramen and rice dishes as well as Japanese curries and a small assortment of sushi. Many of the dishes come with traditional Japanese sides such as pickled vegetables. They also have a hamburger and fries served on rice.

I have to say that my favorite for inexpensive sushi is still Hinata on St. Elmo, near Old Georgetown. The sushi chef and owner used to be the sushi chef for Tako Grill among other jobs. It's more of a straight Japanese market (carries mainly foodstuffs) with a small sushi bar and a couple of tables.