DaRiv18

Mark Dedrick recommend that I check this place out, and so I stopped in for round on St. Patty's Day afternoon.  It was fairly packed at 5pm, with young professionals, but a very relaxed and chill vibe.  They may have the broadest selection of interesting spirits on H Street NE right now, based on a cursory scan of their shelves.  I ordered a neat rum, and later turned it into an old-fashioned.  A side of Gordy's pickled okra to snack and cleanse my earlier fried meals. 

It is nicely designed and a cool spot.  I can tell they are going to be very successful and are catering to a more sophisticated crowd.  Of the non-cheesy establishments on H Street that I have liked over the years, this one though lacks that H Street NE grit that I kinda dig, though.  Even Maketto is fun and hipster urban, whereas Hill Prince doesn't feel like it is "representin'" any particular community.  That said, all of their snack and beverage offerings look fantastic, service was friendly and efficient, and my drink was well made.  I am not sure if I would run into neighbors here, if I was still in the neighborhood, but I would go fairly often. 

I never knew this place had an upstairs bar.

And that's where I sat.  Ordered a Dark 'N Stormy variant as well as a basket of fried oysters.  Pleasant, nothing fancy, which is exactly what I want sometimes.  I ate more of the fries than I had previously authorized myself to eat, they seemed fried in peanut oil.  I will be back when I'm in the mood.

Closed as I walked by.  Also, Micho's on 5th (similar concept, I understand Micho used to be part of the Shawfel team) has been closed since Thanksgiving. 

This was closed when I walked by yesterday. Maybe for over a year?

Well, this is awkward.

I walked by Kitty's Saloon yesterday, only to see it had closed, and just now found out it closed back in September.  A friend of mine liked the place to get a burger and watch a game, so while it wasn't my first choice, it certainly wasn't my last choice, either.  It was a four year run.

They called themselves "contemporary redneck" but I can't for the life of me recall any memorable dishes.  Ah, whiskey. 

It was a clean and comfortable space, a bit rustic.  I understand there were some code issues, but they were not apparent to me. 

Definitely closed, as Mark indicated.

After meeting Mark Dedrick for corndogs (as in, National Corndog Day!) and college hoops at the local watering hole, I decided to check out some new places on the strip of my old hood.  Some fried oysters at Po Boy Slim.  A rum old-fashioned and some pickled okra at Hill Prince.  And finally, dinner at SMN.

Started of with fried oysters, which were delicious.  Next, grilled duck liver over a leaf salad, with macerated cherries.  Duck livers seem to be twice as big as chicken livers.  Again, delicious.  Main course was a pillowy potato gnocchi in pork headcheese sauce, topped with microplaned Parmesan.  Incredibly light, this was like eating pork cotton candy.  Finally, had an apple crisp with vanilla ice cream.  I probably had no business eating all of that, but hey, it's been a tough month!

This is my favorite spot on H Street NE proper, still. 

Sounds like a private room situation. I was at Penn Commons private room, it was $500 minimum. Happy Hour and quiet are strange bedfellows. 

What neighborhood are you in, AA?  Bread Furst and Little Red Fox are right up your alley. 

I must have just missed you, I met a guy at closing who said he had passed out portions of his steak because he really wasn’t allowed to eat red meat. 

My steak last week was really good, although I don’t recall it being really seasoned/salted at all. But there was some decent wood and a nice sear on it, and everything was really delicious. 

Bullfrog Bagel and peregrine form the backbone of the Dupont Circle Shop Made in DC space, where other concepts pop-up there for a week or so. 

Bullfrog is also featured at Little Red Fox, too. 

2 Amy’s may have the best steak (36 oz dry aged Tuscan steak, served with a big bowl of beans and a big bowl of steamed baby spinach, $55) in DC north of Dupont Circle, it is a push with Buck’s 18oz prime steak served with fries ($39). Both are wood fired, both are delicious.

Tuscan Steak Night seems to be settling on Saturdays, although it has appeared all over the place. 

We ate at Brothers and Sisters this past Thursday, it was quite good and the space was really amazing. It is a tad expensive but what new place isn’t, especially a hotel-based spot. 

It is on the lobby level of the hotel and Spike’s joint is the upstairs venue, at least that’s where we ate. It did not really have a club feel there, but I was told Friday and Saturday is pretty stoopid, and I would avoid going then (at this stage of my life). Everyone was dressed very smart, though, it definitely had a buzz. Service was gracious, and made us feel like we belonged. But I definitely saw the “goons” on the outdoor steps, had I not been with my better half perhaps I would have not made it in either. 

The Astro Glide and the blurry impossibility of $55.80 were the two elements that made me pick the HaHa emoji over the Sad or Trophy emoji.

A early visit shows that they are still getting their sea legs when it comes to service. The food also has a way to go before it reaches the quality we expect at the Union Market outpost. That said, it seems like a comfortable space and they were plenty busy for a Wednesday night. I think I would have rather made my own pasta at home, or taken the fam to Sfoglina, than had our meal here this day. But the meat pastas were a hit at our table, whereas the app, secondi  and desserts were all minor misses. But eventually they will do very well here. 

My only beef with his #1 choice of the Cracker Barrel is that they are a highway destination place.  I like the food, but it is the last thing I want to eat on a long road trip.  

PoPville reports it will be closing December 22. 

Our family went for the first time to Range, and my experience echos much of what has been already written above.  The least serious issue (for us, but certainly not for the restaurant) was the lack of other diners.  It feels like a mausoleum, save for the kind and attentive servers.

Temperature of the dishes were still tepid. 

Biggest disappointment was the charcuterie plate.  Meats were ok.  Some of my cheeses actually had a sour aftertaste.  Not a high volume item?  I was intrigued by coming back for a happy hour and order the seafood tower, but the charcuterie really spooked me.

Went to 2 Amy's the next day, and my six year old observed how much better the pie was vs what he had the night before at Range.  Sniff, they grow up so fast . . .

I would say put in a Little Red Fox type place, but P&C Market is just right there.  Timber Pizza would be another decent model for those neighborhood type places. 

That is really interesting, I like it.  I'm not really sure if I agree with your exponential spacing, that going from a 9 to a 10 is worth spending as much as going from a 0 to a 7.  But I recognize your calculus might be realistic.  

You'd hate Bubba Gump's.  

My bill at Bubba Gump's was more than what I usually spend at Clydes.  

Excellent point.  I guess it should be a place for a table of 4 adults where people just want to catch up and not necessarily be caught up in the food.  IE, shouldn't be distractingly great or awful.   I realize this is a very open ended question, but it threw us for a loop.  But at some point, you can't throw around "it's kinda expensive for what it is" without having a base reference point. 

Also, I recently went to some chain restaurant (Bubba Gump) the other week and was shocked at the (high) prices for beer and food, and the quality met my lower expectations.  I have been pretty good at avoiding chains, and would have paid an extra $5 for another meal that didn't scream "commodity", but I am just wondering what kind of benchmarks are out there in terms of what the general American public feels like is a decent deal.  

In a conversation with a friend, we realized that we disagreed on what what we consider cheap eats or expensive fare, in terms of what we feel the baseline case should be. He thinks it is the Silver Diner, I think it is Clyde’s.

I’m sure others would name Applebee’s, or even the Cracker Barrel, or 2 Amy’s, Matchbox, or even the Capitol Grille. 

Any place you think sets the standard for what is a reasonable eat, of a reasonable quality and cost?

"How To Stop The Predators Who Aren't Famous" by Sarah Leonard on nytimes.com

23 hours ago, Mark Dedrick said:

My one negative comment is that the wine list is an absolute disgrace. It's as if they shopped for the list at a local Safeway. 

Hey, at least they shopped local for them, they can check that box.