brian

Apparently "wild boar" is a blanket term for boar, as "boar" can also refer to a male pig. Most wild boar consumed in restaurants is farmed, though it might be stretch to call them domesticated as they're still feral (and fairly dangerous) animals. Interestingly enough, the entire UK population of wild boar in the wild consists of animals which have escaped from farms and their offspring.

Oddly enough, there is such a thing as "farmed wild boar"

I had a superb meal there during Restaurant Week last year. The service was very gracious the entire meal and when I tipped on what the normal bill amount would have been our server actually came back to the table to thank me. They've also got a very reasonably priced happy hour bar menu (though not as adventurous as the regular menu). Jeff Ramsey, Signatures' previous sushi chef / creator, has wrapped up his stint at minibar and is back at Signatures.

That's 335 guys!

Caveats about multiple visits apply, but he may be giving us a hint.

That's what I'm saying! I swear, those tables are built for meeting of mortal enemies.

Palette - interesting drink menu, a few good seats for a date, but don't get stuck sitting across from each other at one of those Texas-sized bar tables Ritz Carlton Georgetown - sit in the lobby - quiter, piano, great atmosphere The International at the Washington Plaza - almost always empty, great design, service ranges from inobtrusive to unavailable

Shout out to the legion of DC hotel restaurants with $20+ entrees that may as well not exist as far as critical attention is concerned (deserved or undeserved): 14K The Federalist Lafayette Twigs Panevino 1919 Grill Regatta Raw Bar 1331 Café on M (and that's just the beginning)

I've been twice now, once for drinks and a couple appetizers and again yesterday for brunch. The brunch experiment won't be repeated, though the service was much better than on the first visit. A " Tempura Chili Relleno Stuffed w/ Spicy Goat Cheese & 3 Beans" did fine except for the filling, which was unfortunately 75% of the volume of the dish. The goat cheese wasn't at all spicy, which I guess is a good thing as there was so much of it that it was overwhelming even without any flavor. And I hadn't realized that the "3 beans" description on the menu referred not to the number of varieties of beans, but to the actual number of beans. They were undersoaked, resulting in a texture closer to peanuts. HOWEVER, on my first visit as I was having my slushy pisco sour (try Rumba Café instead) I pushed the oily chips aside and ordered the "Diver Sea Scallop Tiradito w/ Sour Orange Vinaigrette" - and it was amazing. A ceviche of large rounds of scallop thinly sliced, it would have been a standout dish at Black Salt or Ceiba. The scallop itself was perfect and the vinaigrette was just enough to coat the surface and firm up the scallop. I hadn't written about it until now as I suspected something that good was a fluke (but not fluke), so I'll be heading back to try it again and see if lighting can strike twice. If so, in the future I'll be sitting at the bar with a couple orders of that and a bottle of water.

I was there in April and did the 7-course tasting. It was my second time there but I felt that both times the red meat dishes were the least impressive part of the meal. Maybe it's because the last time was probably the single best meal of my life and the preceding courses were simply unbelievable, but I think next time I go I'd be happy requesting a 5-course that substituted an additional fish or pasta course for the meat. I'm still puzzled as to how they managed to get the chunks of octopus in the pea soup with mint foam to assume the taste and texture of ham.

I think there's a pretty good amount of garlic in with the peppers & onions.

I stopped by a couple weeks after it opened and found the service then to be every bit as bad as described in the review. But the spaetzle were excellent, the coffee was great, and the meat plate was worthwhile (except for the nightmare olives). Endive salad, eh. Didn't have time for dessert, unfortunately. I'm at the design stores in Cady's Alley quite a bit (job related) and it certainly is a good place to stop in and take a break rather than heading up to M St. Next time I go I'll sit at the (very expensive but not right for the space) bar stools and hope for decent service, which would make this a great place to go. As it stands, it's a place with some very good and somewhat unusual items on the menu, a nice light setting away from the crowds of Georgetown, and a handful of $3000 chairs. Even with bad service, as long as the food gets to my table it's worth a star.

from the Washington Post Dining Guide's rating guide: "* (1 star) Satisfactory : Restaurants that are useful to know about if you are nearby; they may have only a few dishes or a single quality, such as a view or scene, to distinguish them. " Seems pretty much like a summation of his review of Leopold's.

I don't think it's ridiculous to expect a server to be familiar with what's on the menu - if I'm at Waffle House and the server can't remember my options as far as smothering, covering, and chunking my hash browns, they're not doing what they should even at $2.45.

As a loose rule, expect most of the high end restaurants you find there to be comparable in food quality, larger in size, and priced about 25% higher than their east coast equivalents.

The best meal I had there last year was at craftsteak in the MGM Grand. There's no featured tasting menu, but when I inquired they whipped one up for $80/pp and it was superb, though I think we ended up with enough to feed six. I can't say I expected the best scallops I've ever had to be in Nevada.

Kendrick's? Kaven't keard of it.

Based on the quality of everything on the plate last week, it may be one of those dishes it's better to eat first and Google later - I may have hesitated if I'd known what I was eating.

According to an interview with owner Constantine Stavropoulis, it will be called The Third Place and will be similar to Tryst.

Last night I stopped by the brand new somewhat Hemmingway-themed Bar Pilar on 14th St between S and T. The small space that used to be El Camino Real has been completely renovated and is now dominated by a huge and gorgeous antique bar, with a few east coast beers on tap (including the superb Clipper City Small Craft Warning Pils and Dogfish Head Indian Brown) and a full kitchen. I had the Tacos Pilar, which were more like a couple of small bias cut chimichangas, and they were a bit on the sweet side but very good. Service was spotty, which I think had more to do with the server than the kitchen or bar. About a dozen other bar food mexican type interpolations showed up on the menu along with side dishes like mac & cheese and tater tots. The great news is that, according to owner Mike Benson, the kitchen will be open from 6pm-1am daily. In the meantime, related bar/restaurant Saint-Ex a few doors down has a new chef, Barton Seaver (disclosure: I DJ at Saint-Ex once a month, but I'm there more often just as a patron). The menu is a bit more fishy now (pescocentric?) and I had a house cured salmon, chevre, tomato, and greens sandwich which was generous with the salmon and tasty aside from the bland roll. It looks like they're narrowing down the scope of the menu while putting a bit more thought & prep into each of the remaining & new dishes. They've also added Coniston Bluebird on draft, to my knowledge the first place in the city to carry it.

Obviously the wheat bread is what makes it so healthy.

Not in town, but all locations of Bennigan's make a KICK ASS Monte Christo. For serious.

Possible new winner of Trend Combination, Drink Category: Big Apple Mojito Martini Bacardi Big Apple, sour mix, Sprite $10, Heritage India Dupont Aside from the cringe-inducing name, this drink manages to further condemn itself with a lack of thoughtful mixers and little resemblance to either a mojito or an apple martini. I haven't been brave enough to order one, but a simple peer review process of the ingredients has led to a unanimous condemnation of the entire specialty drink list.

hmm... a 300-capacity luxurious restaurant in a 4,000 square foot venue strikes me as a bit odd, considering that Charlie Palmer seats 240 and is at least twice that size. Unless, that is, they're planning on applying for a permit as a standing room venue rather than a dining venue...

Tom was pretty harsh on Old Homestead in the normally boosterish Weekly Dish - looks like they may need to hire some more paparazzi. It certainly didn't read as if it's even going to warrant a full review anytime soon.