Jacques Gastreaux

There is, to my mind, absolutely nothing wrong with a critic have ties--close ties--to the community about which he writes. In my opinion, it is preferable from a standpoint of providing the best possible coverage.

Welcome to DR.com, Gourmetgrazer. GREAT 1st post; certain to generate constructive controversey. Keep up the good work.

wolverine said:

$20 worth of free alcohol with the purchase of a $35 cigar anyone?

That would be creative. But if I were in charge of auditing their claim of an exemption, I would call "bullshit" on such a maneuver. Is that reallly what they do?

Ok, I'll take the bait: when is Hook scheduled to open?

I would look at the tax returns, both income and employement. They are likely to be more "accurate" than the books they are showing you. If there are differences between the books and the returns, ask for an explanation.

WWZ said:

Ah, now I see what you meant by your earlier comment. Well Ozio must do quite well with their sale of cigars then.

Either that or they have creative books and records.

The Safeway near Quaker/Braddock/King in Alexandria appears to be giving those who use their Safeway card 15% off all "eligible purchases" between now and the end of April. Why? "As a thank-you to our customers."

What constitutes "eligible purchases", who is eligible for this benefit and if this is happening at all stores, is not exactly clear, but it might be worth looking into. Especially if you want to stock up on King Arthur bread flour!

Just to be clear:

Tobacco Sales + humidor rental revenue > 10% --> exempt tobacco bar

Tobacco Sales + humidor rental revenue < 10% --> covered by smoking ban

Establishments that do not have humidor rental revenue will have a harder time getting over the 10% threshold because they have to rely solely on tobacco sales. Ozio, because it does not have humidors, will have a harder time than Shelley's in meeting the 10% test. Also, the mayor has discretion to grant an exemption.

if someone came up to me on the street and asked if i knew where there was a good bistro, i would not send them to citronelle. however, assuming that they were interested strictly in the food, i could tell them that i have heard that the cheeseburger and some other things at central are really good and that this is a really hot restaurant so they may have to sit at the bar. or i could just as well recommend other bistro-ish places where i had better food. i would tell them that i only ate at central once and the food was okay, but to order carefully to avoid running up a big tab and too much food.

Hell, I'd "prefer" to eat at Citronelle too, who wouldn't. I'd also "prefer" to dine at some of the other 4-star places like CityZen and Maestro. However, Citronelle a smaller restaurant, you have to book a table far in advance and the price level is not conducive to once-a-week visits. Central is a much larger establishment, you can get a table on short notice and the price level conducive to more frequent visits. To say that you "prefer" one over the other, in this circumstance, does not convey much useful information.

Not being sure what "Muscadet" was and thinking it probably was a type of grape, I Googled it. Muscadet is a type of dry white French wine from the Loire valley. It is made from the "melon de bourgone" grape. More of it is made than any other type of wine in the Loire valley . Hre is what Wikipedia says about its flavor profile:

In terms of tastes Muscadet tends toward bright minerally and citrusy notes with green apple, white flower and salty iodic nuances. It is traditionally drunk [as am I]with seafood and shellfish. Muscadet, along with another locally grown wine, Gros-Plant du Pays Nantais, are classic pairings for oysters on the half shell.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw some of the most unruly children ever in a downtown dining room. They alternated between climbing ON TOP OF their own table, trying to pull down the wall decorations, running laps between the unused tables, climbing into the unused boothes, moving glasses at all the tables, and screaming. The parents did not seem to notice at all. So odd.

"My apologies, ma'am. Slight negligence in his upbringing."

John Wayne, apologizing for the behavior of his teenage son in some western or other.

This is true, however it does not make them equal.

I did not mean to imply that they were equal as they most certainly are not. The mushroom cigars available at the Citronelle lounge and not available at Central are more Cintroelle-esque than they are Central-esque bistro fare. That is why Bilrus's post above is apt. Try to eat at the Citronelle for what you can get out of of Central for. The comparisons fail on any number of levels.

I wonder how Frank got such a high profile food job? I was unaware that he had to prior food industry jobs; even Tom worked his way up to the top job.

The food is good not great at Central, I would take the food served at Citronelle Lounge over Central any day. Central is what it is: Good bistro food.

Cedric and Dawn both worked at Citronelle paying their dues. I would hardly call any of them talentless cousins!!

I'm sure nobody would suggest that Keller and Richard leave the kitchen in the hands of talentless cousins!

I think the analogy to Keller is off base. Citronelle and Central are in the same town as are the two Ray's establishments. Richard can be seen regularly running the show at Central. I don't know how often Landrum don's the bloody apron any more.

I think the issue had to do more with how they were treated:

""If you don't have a reservation, there's no way," we were told. When I tried to explain that I had just spoken to someone on the phone and was told to come on by, the door was shut in my face without further comment."

Granted, this is just one side of the story, but I would surely be upset if that had happened to me. There is no charm in rudeness.

It sort of seemed like PX was the punching bag on yesterday's chat. Someone apparantly was sour grapes because they couldn't get in. That bit about being left out in the cold was over the top. If they don't have room to let you "inside," that means they have to leave you "outside," regardless of the weather. And just because they have space when you call, does not mean that there will be space when you get there 20-minutes later. A couple of parties of 4 will fill that place up in a hurry. And my understanding is that they do not like to have standees in there. They consider the place full when all of the seats are taken or reserved.

How pricey is it for lunch? Are there any deals? Are we talking + or - $20 for lunch?

And I tried the new lamb and potato stew. They use the lamb from the lamb shank and combine it with some potatoes and sauce. It comes studded with these crunchy wafer things that add a texture contrast. Very good and appears designed to ward off the cold weather; the design is effective.

And I disagree with the post a couple of notches up. Central provides Michel Richard's twist on classic bistro fare and it's not appropriate to compare it to Citronelle. You get Michel Richard regardless which of his establishments you visit (in my view).

Not sure of the exact number of folks that can be seated, but it is easier for 2 than 4.

I went back and looked at the news report again, and it is not as bad as it has been made to appear. They are moving the bar upstairs and putting more tables in the area that now is the bar. It just makes sense to me to not allow kids in the bar. In some places, it's illegal to allow children in bars.