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DaRiv18

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  1. DaRiv18
    There's a roasted corn and summer melon gazpacho on the menu right now that is just amazing. Tomatoes, watermelon, and cantaloupe blended into an incredibly balanced gazpacho. But there are oversized croutons that give it a buttery crunch, and the roasted corn kernels give it a sweet crunch as well, it's a great texture play. Topped with sherry vinegar and olive oil. [btw, Mary Kate Wrzesniewski has been the GM for awhile now]
  2. DaRiv18
    I actually thought of this and agree with you in theory. But a plumber services one customer at a time, whereas a server takes on say 5 tables simultaneously. Tables are going to get grumpy if a server spends more time at one table than another, it won't be a very relaxed atmosphere which hurts the diner. Also, are we going to keep stopwatches going? Are we going to agree on the stop/end time? Is it fair that I pay more for a medium steak rather than a rare steak? I agree that it is more fair under your model, but I think that would really ruin an experience to be so cognizant of the time spent on food delivery and how much time we are taking up at a table.
  3. DaRiv18
    That's a reasonable alternative, but that still invites confusion as to why there is no tipping, and endless conversation from well-meaning concerned diners of the "are you sure?" variety. And I am not a fan of short statements or manifestos when I go out to eat, a bit pretentious. A service charge, especially with the 18% specificity, is the most transparent and concise way to communicate that no tips are necessary.
  4. DaRiv18
    I don't get you guys. Do you make this stink when a plumber has a "Labor" line-item on the invoice? If they didn't have a service charge line item on the receipt, it would probably lead to a lot of confusion and endless explaining to diners that they don't need to leave an "extra tip". Or people actually leaving an "extra tip" without knowing that it wasn't necessary. Why are you jumping to the least favorable conclusion? I did see the language that Rieux saw one night, and agree it is unfortunate. But to make the leap that the owners must be hiding something is just unfounded.
  5. DaRiv18
    Wife and I shared the red snapper tartare here (Union Market) and the stand-by crab cake today. The red snapper was excellent, with a muted yet effective acidity that I much prefer to the ceviche we shared last week at Ocopa. The crab cake was actually a bit meh, not from quality of ingredients but we felt could have spent a few more minutes frying in the pan for texture. Still, a great spot that has stayed remarkably consistent.
  6. DaRiv18
    My wife and I tried Ocopa for the first time yesterday, and were immediately struck by the skeleton crew: one chef (Delgado?) and another at the ceviche station. There were probably 15 other diners on the premises. I ordered a 3 Stars beer and it took around 10 minutes for it to arrive (perhaps I was behind a queue of pisco sours). The Clasico (halibut ceviche $19) was a refreshing textbook starter. We agreed that the assertive sauce really shone to the detriment of the underlying fish, although its texture was really nice. I have no reason to believe it wasn't prepared expertly, we just couldn't taste the halibut. The Ensalada de Tomate ($13) was beautiful but a bit of a disappointment, as the heirloom tomatoes were chilled and its flavor muted, and the mozzerrella wasn't really anything distinctive. Probably should have gone with brussel sprouts or potatoes. We both loved Corazon Anticuchos ($11), about two ounces of beef heart grilled and in really nice aji amarillo. The charcoal oven is really cool, and defintely adds a nice character to the grilled meats. We were interested in getting a Peruvian chicken but didn't see it on the menu. We were comfortable in our seats and sitting adjacent to each other like at a bar counter on the floor. Timing was definitely slow and we probably ate faster than we wanted to once our plates began arriving. Still, it made for a very nice light dinner and we will make it back.
  7. DaRiv18
    Not surprised that not everyone loves SMN. I agree with jca76, carbs few and far between on the menu: no pasta or certainly bread baskets. The menu is unpredictable, the portions are modest except for dessert, and the atmosphere is about as unpretentious as you can imagine. And automatic gratuity. And there is no hype, hardly. To me, SMN is focused on taste: the best product and meticulous mise en place. It's not a place where you go to impress others, it's a place to impress yourself. Poor Don recommends the snap-peas in mint goat butter, and I haven't seen it on the menu since! So hard to come here and claim any bragging rights to a specific dish, nor do I get the sense they design a dish with a "What would this look like on Instagram?" urgency. Someone argued to me the other month that basically every restaurant is doing the exact same thing as everybody else. I'm not sure that I buy it, but it is clear that SMN approaches their program fundamentally differently. I think it is excitingly chaotic in a non-shitshow sort of way. If you have any interest in food (real interest, and not just a trophy bucket-list attitude with aspirations to establish a first-name basis with a celebrity chef), then I think you have to check out SMN before it morphs into something else. I see that they will be offering a prix fixe menu next Monday, I wonder if that is harbringer of things to come.
  8. DaRiv18
    My repeated sightings of Morimoto and Andres upstairs also tells me something, as well as countless other industry people who invariably show up there. I don't think izakayas are on people's radars for Sunday brunches, and they don't do an endless mimosa special to boot, but the menu there is actually very good. The french toast places well among the city's best.
  9. DaRiv18
    You should go, they put your name on the list and text you when it's ready, so you can walk around. Upstairs brunch is very good too, rarely a wait there. 2 people at 1pm will probably be 30-45 minutes.
  10. DaRiv18
    How many is we? 1 person can be immediately to 20 minutes. It only gets longer the more there are in your party. Especially with that cool Natl Building Museum thing going on.
  11. DaRiv18
    I understand they have a private upstairs room that will accommodate a party of nine or so. I agree with Tujague that downstairs has more of a diner feel than something more upscale. Although the ornate platesware and colorful linens bring color to the scene. EDIT: Think of the downstairs 2 Amy's for feel, quality of food, and no reservation policy.
  12. DaRiv18
    My wife and I stopped by last night to this bright, airy restaurant after spending 6 hours on I-95. It was our first time and we were really in the mood for some comfort food. We know Carlos and Erin from their time at Boundary Road, and we were overdue to say hi. Erin was behind the Passenger stick in its closing year, and the Bamboo cocktail ($10) I ordered was a very nice version, served with an olive. The glassware there is stylish, from the coupes to the 3 Stars snifter that contained my 3 Stars Farmhouse Ale. I closed with a glass of Touriga Nacionale rose, I haven't had one in a long time. For starters, we split a small Chef's Board ($16), featuring gigante beans, eggplant, marinated olives, house-made ricotta, and two other cheeses and two other meats I can't recall right now. Straightforward and delicious. We split a bowl of house-made pappardelle with pork sugo, parmesan and preserved lemon and moderately spicy ($15) along with a side of cauliflower ($6) and blistered shishito peppers ($7). The pasta was paper thin, delicate, and absolutely delicious -- exactly the comfort food we were looking for. I prefer this dish to the pasta that I've had at the Red Hen. My wife loved the cauliflower, and I FINALLY, after ordering the shishito peppers at a variety of places around town (I've had about 80 of them), ate a pepper that was actually spicy! For dessert, we split a pistachio custard topped with whipped cream and served with a chocolate-chocolate chip cookie. Nicely done! For folks who live in Brookland, Woodbridge, or Hyattsville, I can't imagine having a better local option. Atmosphere is unpretentious and cheerful, and looks to be family friendly. Downstairs is additional seating and another bar, for a quieter, more atmospheric couples night. Next time we will come with some friends and split the Tuscan-Style bone-in steak!
  13. DaRiv18
    My wife and I finally made it to dim sum brunch on Saturday and were generally really really impressed with our meal. In honor of hmmboy, I made it a point to order chive dumplings. There are actually two such dumplings: the "Crystal Chive dumplings" with kurobuta pork and maryland crab, and the "Vegetarian Chive dumplings" with barley and potato starch dough. The Crystal Chive dumplings were outstanding, and were what I think hmmboy was referring to (they were round) and in a spicy mayo-like sauce. The other (crescent-shaped) dumplings had a great texture, but I found the bitter taste a bit off-putting. Wok fired shrimp dumplings in XO sauce and blackened chili were probably our favorite, very rich. Shanghai Noodles (with braised oxtail) were also a hit, as was the Wok Blistered Gai Lan. I would order these three dishes everytime. Short Rib and Brisket wontons were also delicious, although my wife felt the hot pot broth could have been hotter (I think the taste was great). Turnip cakes were really good, although a bit heavy, as they were deep fried (reminded me of an Agedashi tofu), and we also enjoyed Shrimp & sea scallop sui mai in a curried lobster emulsion. A big miss was General Tso's Wings with roasted bird chilis. Tasteless, and the chicken was really watery. There are several American-style dishes on the dim sum menu, and I am inclined to skip them all based on this experience, although I concede that isn't much of a basis. Food came to $43 and was plenty for the two of us. I must say, dim sum here is much more rich than at other places in the area, usually we can share up to 13 dishes no problem. I can't believe this is the first time I've been here for dim sum, we shall return.
  14. DaRiv18
    Ha, I started to ramble. I hadn't considered spillage, that makes sense why you'd have accuracy issues. I hope you continue to have fun exploring cocktails, cheers!
  15. DaRiv18
    Like JoshNE, I am a big fan of equal part cocktails, especially when I was starting out. Your Corpse Reviver 2 is basically an equal parts too. Since you don't like sweetness, I would suggest matching the cordial pour to your citrus. EG, usually daquiris are 2/.75/.5 ratio for rum, simple, and lime. But you might try 2/.5/.5 or 2/.75/.75 Going back to ice, let me get on my soapbox. I am not a fan of icemaker ice. The cubes (at least in my machine) tend to be hollow, small, and fragile, and shatter when you shake. Overdilution. I got some of those old-school ice cube trays like my grandma used to keep. Those produce dense, large, cubes that retain their form when you shake. High end cocktail bars saw off their own dense cubes from these massive ice blocks that are delivered to them, that is what you are trying to replicate. For mixers, I fill it with as much ice as i can. For shakers, I fill it at 90% of capacity. Shake cocktails that use citrus or milk or egg whites. Stir cocktails that are just plain booze. Stir the Remember the Maine, another equal parts cocktail, counterclockwise to replicate how that ship sank.
  16. DaRiv18
    I am curious, why do you say it is a measuring accuracy thing? Even if you are using a inaccurate shot glass, wouldn't you still be getting the ratios right? What recipes are you not satisfied with? Personally, I think accuracy is overrated, especially when it comes to the base spirit. For gin, rum, whiskey, tequila, etc., I have found it is not fatal to pour between 1.5oz and 2 oz for any given cocktail. Where accuracy does become important is in the ratio of sweet:sour. DeGroff generally has a 3:2 ratio, but others use a 1:1. Your choice. For especially strong cordials, or bitters/amaros, I do find precise measurements are needed. Of course you are using pristine clean equipment, but I just want to address that to the general audience. That of course can affect taste. Washing garnishes, like oranges before using the peel, is also important. Finally, you can't go wrong using as much (clean) ice as possible when shaking/stirring drinks. Using not enough ice can raise the water content of the cocktail which I am not a fan of. I know some are dilution proponents, but I respectfully disagree. Similarly, chilling your cocktail coupe, or preheating your toddy glass, is akin to using preheated plateware. But I also use the Oxo angled 2 oz-er.
  17. DaRiv18
    We tried the omakase here over the weekend. Strong value, but there were some misses and I continue to find the menu unbalanced. For a $160 meal inclusive for two (including just one $19 glass of sparkling sake), the only veggies we had were miniscule garnishes of grated ginger, some green onions, and the wasabi (some of which were applied a bit too liberally on my nigiri). The uni tasted a bit metallic and sour to me, as well. All the tunas and the majority of the other fish were of excellent quality. Again, I think we got $160 worth of fish, and this is purely my personal preferences talking, but I left with a sense of want. I have not been impressed with veggies on the appetizer list. We ended up heading to Sally's Middle Name just to order snap-peas and dessert, which worked out well but is a bit ridiculous.
  18. DaRiv18
    The french toast here (brunch menu only, obviously) is my favorite in the city, consistency and the taste of a toasted marshmallow. Just one of those random things you find here. eatruneat, you make it sound like you consider it a neighborhood spot, but boy I think it of it as a worthy destination. Maybe I have bistro-fatigue and am less tolerant of many other venues, and admittedly I haven't experienced any inevitable "tired cooking" here yet, but generally I find the food here to be excellent. A new personal favorite is the spicy beef tongue ($4). Drinks here are also vast and varied.
  19. DaRiv18
    Boy, if they can't make you a gin fizz, I retract everything I just said about them. I love gin fizzes! I hope you are comfortable on this super-hot day, soapy.
  20. DaRiv18
    Cocktails at Copycat are best in show for H Street right now, IMO. They just devote more resources to their bar, including a dedicated ice program, range of glassware, and range of garnishes (used to be you could tell if a bar program was legit if it had Ango or orange bitters on the shelf; now, I look to see whether they use grapefruit peels). The ambiance does approach a sort of relaxed pretentiousness that is not my everyday choice, and may be even more hipster than your regular speakeasy that also attracts a mix of professionals. I have, though, met some fine random people bellying up to the bar in my two visits. Beyond H St, I still think Copycat holds their own against many cocktail programs in the metro area. It strikes a nice balance of classics, contemporary, and their own recipes. I've tried a Left Hand, a Zombie, a Trinidad Sour and others there and all have been cleanly delivered recipes.
  21. DaRiv18
    Opening Day! Fresh, clean, fairly simple dishes. From what I can tell there was very little overlap with yesterdays menu and either the popup I attended earlier or the soft opening on Monday that I missed. The menu is not (yet?) paper-based, but instead is written on the white tile walls. We ordered over 2/3rds of the menu, including: Holy Grail Oysters with green tomato cocktail (GF, DF) ($3 each) new bay chicken thigh in Green Goddess (GF) ($6.50) Two orders of lemon brined chicken breast in shiitake jus (GF) ($13 each) Porchetta, chorizo spice, cranberry beans (GF, DF) ($12) snap pea salad, herbs, parm (GF) $6 Grilled squash, baby bok choi, spicy oil (GF, DF) $5 spinach, miso butter, pickled rhubarb (GF) $5 tiny carrots, radishes, carrot top sauce (GF, DF) $4 baby swiss chard salad, shallot confit (GF, DF) $5 Olive oil cake ($6) Strawberry panna cotta ($6) mint and cookies&cream ice cream ($4 each) (GF and DF are gluten-free and dairy free) With some soft drinks, plus tax and tip included, $140. Stuffed. Let's get the crowd pleasers out of the way. The porchetta served over the beans is pretty ridiculous and one of the more substantive plates on the menu. All the desserts are fairly massive actually by today's standards for a reputable restaurant. The olive oil cake is simple and tasty but today the panna cotta won out, perfect silken texture punctuated by some crunchy candied nut topping. My boy started causing a scene when I tried to taste his cookies and cream . . . My wife and I thought the fave veggies were the grilled squash and a spicy bok choy, finished with a sweetish walnut oil. Being a bitter cocktail fan, I also enjoyed the baby swiss chard salad with shallot confit. The menu was a bit advanced for our kids, but they were good with the lemon chicken, the sugar snap peas, and the tiny carrots (radishes, not so much). Liquor license is still on its way, but I enjoyed a couple of Blueberry shrubs ($4 each). I have heard that Brendan has moved away, so while I think he still designed the cocktail menu, I don't think he will be there for operations. I am happy to see Evan Colondres there as GM, I enjoyed his cooking at Komi and Little Serow. Seating/walkways is a bit tight, service was extremely friendly towards our family, and you may ask for extra plates to share dishes. I look forward to seeing this place evolve! Already it is a very enjoyable, and culinarily distinctive, experience.
  22. DaRiv18
    So pretty much you have to try the Darkside.
  23. DaRiv18
    I don't think of it as groundbreaking, just cool. Certainly there are plenty of restaurants that already sell limited retail, mostly their own branded gear like baseball caps and t-shirts. We ate dinner at Busboys and Poets the other day, they have retail up front in a form of a bookstore. And basically every major big retail spot already does this model on the inverse scale, offering a cafe/diner/cafeteria in a small footprint of their giant retail space (think Target, Walmart, Ikea, Nordstrom's, etc.). Did B. Smith ever hawk her own line of goods at her restaurant, I certainly saw it all the time at Bed Bath and Beyond. And which cafe restaurant hasn't also doubled as an art gallery, with prices and artist contact info below each wall-mounted piece. Maketto is doing more of the Urban Outfitter's type of thing, but the vending machine also offers some ironic/industry items like Sharpies, condoms, and Japanese toy stuff. It's like a hipster's Cracker Barrel, without the folksy knick-knacks. Also, instead of bringing your car, have you considered walking, or hailing a bicycle taxi?
  24. DaRiv18
    You are right, it is what it is. Before we move on, please clarify this point for me. In your original post, you would actually prefer Maketto to use disposable for everything? That would minimize unnecessary waste? I don't have the international living abroad experience that you do, so it doesn't quite register with me how this leads to a less littered DC. If we are going to make Maketto the poster child for the wrongs of restaurant waste, we should at least clarify whether they are using too much disposable products, or not enough.
  25. DaRiv18
    I see you are doubling down. You are a cornerstone member of this DonRockwell community, and I don't take that lightly. Still, I find your review here Yelpish and unfair, and I just want to defend an emerging business and this website's standards. You ordered 2 dishes. On one hand, you say the donuts are bland. On the other hand, you say the pork bao are annoyingly on the spicier side. Perhaps you would have preferred your donuts spicer, say with cinnamon sugar, and your bao more bland. I would have yawned with this alternative. You present a very narrow range for an acceptable taste profile here. Moreover, these flavors reflect fairly the Asian presentation of those items. You do say your donuts were heavy and greasy, I would not have found that acceptable if my order (as pictured in post #49) had been presented that way. You ask "How hard is it to buy real napkins?" Then you criticize the "manager type" for being less than polite. See a disconnect here? Speaking of napkins. Clearly we are talking about clean, paper-based amenities. Last night, I dined at Hill Country, where they keep rolls of paper towels on the table as napkins, the same type used to clean countertops, windows, and yes bathrooms. Countless other BBQ joints do the same thing, as well as wharf venues. Have never heard these places criticized for their napkins. I get that your personal preference is otherwise, but is this really fair game to criticize? Implicit in your posts is that there isn't value. We are talking about a $4 Chinese donuts and soy milk (two donuts and about an 8 ounce pour of soy milk), and a $6 pair of pork bao. I have a picture of this breakfast at post #49 in this thread, with the napkin. A $10 breakfast for 2, aplenty. I don't think you can buy breakfast meals at McDonalds for less than $10 for two. Recently there was a DonRockwell challenge to name a $150 dinner for two, all-in, including $25 for corkage. Not a lot of contenders. Finally, I don't recall any individual restaurant being criticized for their carbon footprint or whatever on this website. I agree that this is an important issue, but I would take on the entire industry instead of criticizing Maketto on their opening week. I live nearby, and consider Maketto and their staff my neighbors. While I think they are fair game for criticism and that people should vote with their dollars, I don't think they should be subject to higher standards than those that other similar restaurants, especially in their infancy, are evaluated on.
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