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brian

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Everything posted by brian

  1. brian
    "The bar is sunny and pleasant, with a huge picture window looking out onto the street, and with only 10 high-backed stools at the polished wooden counter, it's intimate, especially when diners are waiting for tables on weekends."
  2. brian
    Even though DC retail rents are high (and Conn. Ave. around Dupont has some of the highest), Manhattan retail rents are typically 2-4 times higher. And Krispy Kreme seems to be doing fine selling for less than $4 right across the street...
  3. brian
    Could be nothing having to do with its growing popularity - I've eaten there three times in the past two months and had one meal I raved about, one that was just bad and one that was perfectly fine but nowhere close to the best one. Since I can relate to the posts singing its praises and the ones that walk away scratching their heads I think it's just inconsistent.
  4. brian
    Even law firms with big kitchens aren't set up with the kind of equipment needed to bake bread. The upswing is that anyone opening a bakery that catered breakfasts and lunches around there would make a mint off those firms. The numbers being discussed here are a bit inflated - you could open a space the size of Breadline in Penn Quarter for about $15k a month in rent, $10k or even lower if it were set up more as a commercial operation on a 2nd floor or basement.
  5. brian
    They've got pretty great specialty cocktails for $5.95 - check the bar review tab on the Post page: click
  6. brian
    I didn't care for the sidebar piece on the couple visiting CityZen - it seemed to be more related to a journalist's perspective than a diner's by emphasizing what details they could remember about the meal instead of how much they enjoyed the experience.
  7. brian
    As two top spacing gets tighter and you can often be closer to the person next to you than across from you (Sonoma, Cashion's, Nooshi, everywhere in NYC), sometimes eating at a normal banquette can feel like a communal table. Last year at a dinner at mas farmhouse I'm pretty sure the people at the communal table (including myself) were spaced farther away from other couples than those at the regular two tops.
  8. brian
    All that AND Tom Brown heading up the cocktail program... this place should be a gem.
  9. brian
    There's a great interview with Il Fornaio president Mike Beatrice in this month's Pizza Today (#1 magazine of the pizza industry!) that includes the following... I think it's also fair to note that the awards received by Il Fornaio by Wine Spectator are their "Award of Excellence", also held by all Morton's and Ruth's Chris steakhouses and awarded without a site visit. They haven't received any accolades from the New Yorker - they were only mentioned in a fascinating Malcolm Gladwell article on an industrial food r&d company.
  10. brian
    I'd second the Ritz Georgetown, but I'd suggest sitting in the lobby rather than the bar - the room is nicer, there's a piano, a fieplace, and you still get full drink service. Off The Record at the Hay Adams is still killer - much more spacious than Round Robin at the Willard.
  11. brian
    Though it's my favorite bar in DC, I feel compelled to mention that its 'historic character' is less than two years old. And even though I'm worried about the changes I think it's a bit hasty to assume it will be turned into a 'completely faceless and terrible, terrible bar'.
  12. brian
    I ran into Dan last night at Saint-Ex and he said they'll continue to have the rye selection... until they run out. There's a little more (incredibly depressing) information here.
  13. brian
    I'd imagine the W will put the restaurant on the ground floor - that rooftop space is far more valuble as a bar or suites than it is for dining. Even so, that view across the street to the Treasury isn't so shabby.
  14. brian
    They had it at Bell two days ago.
  15. brian
    My understanding is that, in Virginia, you need to serve food to serve alcohol. Good luck finding a helpful person at the ABC - you'll get much more valuble information by talking to an attorney that works in licensing in that area.
  16. brian
    Coincidentally, I picked up dinner at the Dupont Circle branch on my way home tonight and it was the best I've had there recently. Though the bread was somewhat underdone, it remained pliant instead of being dry and brittle by the time it got to me, and the rice held up well even without the benefit of the usual pat of butter. The kubideh was truly a standout this evening - instead of being tasty but overcooked as usual, it was juicy throughout. I didn't recognize anyone there but service and prep times seemed to be faster than usual - perhaps some of McLean's top squad was filling in
  17. brian
    Another fire at Alberto's this morning - let's hope they're not closed for 6 months this time around. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...nav=hcmoduletmv
  18. brian
    from Linda Roth's monthly The Latest Dish...
  19. brian
  20. brian
    They get points for consistency though - the website unfortunately features the same mind-numbingly bad smooth jazz as the restaurant itself.
  21. brian
    And that's why, in Maestro's case, the Ritz-Carlton at Tyson's operates a steak house in the hotel in addition to Maestro.
  22. brian
    Should we refer to him as Owner Richard instead of Chef Richard? (as an aside, I've always hated the "Chef So-and-so" construction - we don't refer to "Sommelier Slater" or "Server Jones". Even worse is the use of "Chef" as a name rather than a noun or adjective. "Chef has prepared..." sounds so much more precious and pompous than "The chef has prepared...". You'd certainly never say "Let me go get Manager".)
  23. brian
    Campari & soda. I've been making myself a summery drink lately of Aperol on the rocks with 1/2oz almond syrup and 1/4oz lemon juice.
  24. brian
    So, Agraria's applied for a license at the new IMF building (Penn Ave bet. 19th & 20th)...
  25. brian
    I wonder how adventurous the typical customer orders were during OPENING WEEKEND at 2 Amy's?
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