Gadarene
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Everything posted by Gadarene
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I'll bow out of this thread and this discussion; I just find it depressing. -
Good post. Though I'm not talking about them detracting from the dining scene; I'm literally talking about leaving work at 18th and I and not being able to find a place I'd like to have dinner within easy walking distance for love or money. Hyperbole, but only just.
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DC will never be a great food city until there are more than a scant handful of interesting and thoughtful dining choices in the long stretch downtown from Foggy Bottom to Metro Center (and, say, from M Street down to the Mall)
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I saw Kwame doing a TV commercial for Patron tequila during this week's episode of Top Chef, so I'm pretty sure he'll be fine regardless.
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How much are cocktails?
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I've eaten here twice, and it's really great. Looking forward to going back.
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Another place more concerned with expansion than quality. Par for the course.
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Say hi next time! (We were part of the private party in the bar area)
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Man, that marinara pizza when you were there is still one of my all-time DC dishes. So freaking good.
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Laura Hayes shares Sietsema's opinion about the portion sizes. And the service issues she mentions are pretty inexcusable at that price point.
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franch, out of curiosity: were the cocktails included? If not, how much did they cost?
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I'm going to need to go here soon. Trying to figure out whether they're open on Sundays. Their bare-bones website suggests no, but the Washington Post article from two days ago suggests yes. Does anyone happen to know?
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Glad you liked it. It doesn't sound like it's for me.
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Gotta go to the brick and mortar location on SE Ankeny! Longer hours, and then you can go to the Rum Club afterwards for amazing cocktails.
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Among the places that have hit that bar for me are Dill in Reykjavik, Ko before it changed locations, Disfrutar in Barcelona, Central in Lima, Volt in its heyday, and Sushi Taro's omakase counter, as well as many other, much cheaper destinations. If you can't hit that bar, you shouldn't be charging $185 before tax, tip, and beverages. Gotta keep up the maintenance on those waterproof Icelandic sheepskin chairs.
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Let me know if you want recommendations for Portland; I can provide a ton. :-) As someone in that target audience, the actual quality of the food damn sure doesn't become less and less of the story for me.
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I don't think so. Good food is good food. But I'm going to expect more out of a $25 entree from a well-regarded restaurant than if I got that same dish for $14 at a random hole in the wall. And I really, really did not like the coq au vin fried chicken when I had it; it would have been gloppy and mediocre at half the price. But the fact that it cost what it cost is sort of extra-galling.
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Not cheap, but really, really good. I felt Chef Spero's influence was evident. I had the best ankimo I can remember, and I'm not usually a monkfish liver kind of guy.
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But if you book your reservation same-day, then however will the sommelier have time to cater to your wine preferences?
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It looks approximately like this! (Only a lot more of it; the portions are really big here.)
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I'm eating the Boiled Fish with Mustard Greens literally right now, and I can confirm that it's fantastic. Not oily glop at all, but super-flavorful with that lovely sharp sourness from the mustard greens cutting through. I could eat a ton of this.
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Shaw Bijou has a floor of $442 for a couple if they drink only water (and if the restaurant does not charge for water). That's...still not great. And maybe I'm cynical, but I would be surprised if cocktails at Shaw Bijou cost less than $15 and if there isn't a higher-than-usual markup on all bottles of wine. Like, it's not like you're going to be able to get an $8 glass of garnaxta blanca probably, right? Or a $30 bottle of Tikves Vranec. An honest (not a smart-ass) answer: there's no such thing as the free market.
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Franch, I never said there was a mandatory wine pairing. I wondered whether it was possible to order just a single glass, considering their focus on having the sommelier call you several days beforehand to arrange a custom pairing based on your price point. Shaw Bijou is $170 for food, before tax and tip (you got me! I said "tip" instead of "tax" in my post!) P&P at the bar is &150 for food, tax, and tip all together. Food at Shaw Bijou costs significantly more than it does at two-star P&P. What part of that is misinformation?
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Pineapple and Pearls is actually one of the best damn bargains in the city, especially if you sit at the bar. $150 inclusive of tax and tips, plus whatever a la carte drinks you want. That comes to around $115 for the food (+$11 tax and $24 tip) for a guy who has more than established himself. Compare that with Shaw Bijou, which is $170 for the food alone, not counting the 20 percent mandatory gratuity and the 10 percent tip (and the mandatory wine pairing, for all I know; who knows if you can order just one glass). P&P is so much cheaper than Shaw Bijou, it's silly.
