Spiral Stairs
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Everything posted by Spiral Stairs
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Just read your entertaining review. We were there two days before you and ordered almost identical menus. I agree with you about the escolar: mind-blowing. I enjoyed the lobster creme brulee more than you though. (Did you get the "special instructions from the chef" about eating it? (Combining all three components onto every forkful?)) (And don't worry too much about the MPRE! The curve is, indeed, generous. But if anxiety about the MPRE got you into the Eve Tasting Room, then be glad it didn't seem easy!) -
In context, I think that's exactly what happened, and Tom misconstrued the question. (Not to say there isn't a lot of restaurant snobbery emanating from former Bay Area-ers.) Having misconstrued it the way he did, I can't believe Tom actually published a question he believed to be asking simply "Do you know of any good restaurants in DC?"
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I had dinner at Oya during the last Restaurant Week. It was a little too club-like for my taste -- the music was loud and techno-y. I don't remember what I had (I do recall that the RW menu was quite limited), except that it was fish and it was pretty good. Although I'm no oenophile, the wine list seemed overpriced -- we got stuck with an overpriced $80 bottle because they were out of the overpriced $40 bottle we wanted. And the cocktails came with epic price tags, but were quite good. There were a couple service mishaps, but damned if I can remember exactly what they were. I think my wife received the wrong first course, and there was some confused to-do about it. Then they served three entrees but left our fourth diner to sit with his hands in his lap for 5 minutes. A very slick, attractive space though. No doubt.
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I don't understand why Kliman "wouldn't even think" of asking at a "top" restaurant that the server not pour more wine. Would it be humiliating to say, "No thank you, I'm fine"? Or, "No, thank you, I justed wanted a glass"? Or, "No, thank you, and I really don't need to tell you a reason"? It sounds like he clams up at nice restaurants, like it's not his place to rock the boat. I feel freer to make specific service-related requests at "top" restaurants generally. I figure I'm paying for it.
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I just happen to have eaten lunch at Oyamel today, my first visit. For two, we had: (1) mussels; (2) fried potatoes with mole; (3) duck confit tacos; (4) some kind of chicken tacos; (5) pork and beef meatballs; and (6) spiced lamb in some kind of leaf. I derived some enjoyment from the whole lot, but like the duck confit tacos and the meatballs the best. The mussels were in a pretty tasty spicy sauce, but the sauce was a little watery and difficult to merge with bites of mussel. The duck confit taco tacos had an interesting sweet-and-salty thing going on, with pineapple on top. I would not have minded a bit more spice/heat dialed into almost everything, including the sauces that came with the chips. The lamb, in particular, needed something -- I didn't taste much of the spices that permit it to be called "spiced." Having missed out on its earlier days, I guess I'm not qualified to say whether it's really gone into the dumper. I enjoyed this lunch, though. Service was pretty good (the place was near-empty, though). The waitress did give us a full-on class on the various menu items, after we told her it was our first time, and she took us slightly for fools. (After we ordered the potatoes with mole, she said, "Do you know what mole is?") It was a little pricy (the items above, plus two sodas, amounted to about $55 with tip). Still, it's a welcome change from heat lamp-melted cheese and refried beans.
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The current Washingtonian, which I was just flipping through at a bookstore, has a blind comparison between Vidalia's mac and cheese and Oohs and Aahs'. (They purchased both dishes, replated them identically, and then had various people taste and compare them.) O&A won handily.
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That deal is good enough that I might have to try it, despite what Sietsema said about the place a couple years ago: "The Ritz-Carlton took a gamble with its design here, and it paid off, handsomely. But the hotel seems to have forgotten that people might want more than window dressing for dinner." For that deal, I might be willing to see if things have changed.
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Comfort Dishes, Guilty Pleasures, and Old Favorites
Spiral Stairs replied to DaveBVI's topic in Shopping and Cooking
Tunnicliff's in Capitol Hill offers a chili omelette for breakfast/brunch. I find chili wrapped in eggs to be highly comforting. -
Can anyone recommend a good, thorough wine tasting class? My wine knowledge is woefully limited, and I would love to bone up. Ideally, I'd like a multi-class course, because I think only so much could be imparted in one evening. Based on some internet research, it looks like l'Academie de Cuisine offered one earlier this Fall, but no beginner's course is on their schedule coming up. I also saw a reference to the Washington Wine Academy hosting courses like this, but their website doesn't mention any now. If I have to wait 'til next year, so be it. But I thought I'd see if anyone has any advice. Thanks!
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On our 5-course evening, we came in it just under 3 hours -- probably 2.75 hours. (I have to estimate because, by that time, the combination of food-based euphoria and wine pairing-induced lethargy had really kicked in.) And, while I didn't feel like we were hurrying, I didn't feel like we were taking our sweet time either. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, they seem to base the timing of the courses at least in part on your own timing. After the first couple courses, we realized we were wolfing them down like animals and we tried to slow down. It is really hard to slow down when it tastes so fricking good though.
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My wife and I celebrated our second anniversary in the tasting room last night. What an experience. In lieu of a blow-by-blow, here are some assorted thoughts: 1. We arrived 45 minutes early with the expectation of sitting at the bar. However, the bar was packed and our table happened to be available, so we sat immediately and had cocktails at the table. The Yin and Tonic was more than I thought a gin and tonic could be. So good. 2. Todd Thrasher is a force of nature. He is a virtuoso with wine selection. (I, though not my pint-sized wife, had wine pairings.) While we were waiting for our cheese course to arrive, I heard him ask our waitress what cheeses we had ordered. She told him, and he knew exactly what bottle to go for. Presenting it to me, he explained in detail how the wine complemented the (highly pungent) cheeses I'd chosen. Just as impressively, Thrasher was as likely as anyone else to be the one to clear the plates from our table. He's friendly and unstuffy, and totally refreshing. 3. Same goes for the entire service experience. There were no missed beats. Timing was perfect. Early on, I thought they were, perhaps, going too fast in moving us from course to course. I soon realized, though, that their pace was dictated by ours, and it was really difficult to slow down when everything tasted so damned good. 4. My hot courses were lobster creme brulee; escolar; and tripe. (We each did the 5-course.) The lobster creme brulee and tripe were new experiences for me. Call me boring, but the escolar was my favorite. It was so tender that the merest pressure of my fork broke it to pieces. 5. Each course looks small on the plate, but it's a bunch of food when aggregated. Early on, I wondered whether it would be enough. By the end, though, we were saying "No mas! No mas!", and we had them box up our petits-fours. I remember someone in one of the recent restaurant chats complained about the huge size of portions at Eve. I certainly wouldn't complain, but I also agree that they add up. 6. As anniversary presents, we got a little bag of ground coffee and a bag of scone mix. I half-expected the coffee based on others' experiences, but the scone mix was a surprise. Now I have to get my wife to make the scones, because I would do them no justice, I'm sure. Truly memorable.
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I was in Austin, Texas over the weekend and ate lunch at a (supposedly) cajun place called Jazz. The place was pretty blah in most ways, including culinarily. But the service was on a different planet: A terrible, horrific planet. At every turn, the waitress made no effort to hide the fact that she was hung over and really irritated that we were even there. (Only two or three tables were occupied.) The worst was when she dropped off our food and drinks and asked if we needed anything else. We asked for water. She quite openly scoffed and rolled her eyes before walking off to fulfill our cheeky, aggressive request. I am a REALLY low-maintenance guy, service-wise. But open scoffing from a waitress exceeds even my liberal bounds.
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Several people have expressed in this thread and elsewhere a preference for medium rare burgers. I have been taught that it is dangerous to serve rare ground beef, as the grinding process can stir evil little bacteria into the middle of the burger. Is that not a valid concern? Or are the medium rare eaters just throwing caution to the wind in the name of tastiness? On those rare ( ) occasions when I'm asked how I want my burger cooked, I usually say medium.
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I vote for Capitol Hill, not that it would be in my self-interest or anything. But Capitol Hill does need a good bakery. There's a Firehook, and there's the one inside Eastern Market, neither of which is particularly impressive. Pennsylvania Avenue and/or 8th Street are currently screaming for such an establishment. (Some Cap Hill locals were holding out hope for a vacant space across 7th Street from Eastern Market, formerly occupied by an antique store. However, it appears that that space will now be occupied by "Port City Java," a coffee shop chain that will find itself positioned a block from Murky Coffee and two blocks from Starbucks. Oh good. More coffee.)
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I visited the Tysons Corner Five Guys a couple weeks after it opened. There were nineteen employees working in the small space behind the counter. (Who knows if there were more in non-visible space?) I had plenty of time to count them, as the line was long even at 11:30 am. It was apparent that they were still in a training phase, so that accounts for some of the overpopulation. It was funny, though, watching them fight each other for breathing space. Is Five Guys the best burger I've ever had? Nope. Is it the best $5 burger I've ever had? Nope. Is it nevertheless a very good burger for $5? Yes. Is it a good burger compared to other equally convenient fast food locations? Yes.
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I find the "regular" order of fries to be almost overwhelming in quantity. It's not the size of the cup that matters; it's the fact that after putting the cup in your bag they take their scoop and dump a ton more on top. One regular order is more than adequate for two people in my experience. (And I'm a glutton!) That said, Five Guys is not the cheapest place at which you could eat. I'd argue that, as measured against its competitors (counter-service, paper-wrapped burgers), it's worth the extra dimes.
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Do you think that one maximizes one's odds of getting a question answered by submitting the question in advance, or submitting the question during the chat? It's been my limited experience that ones submitted during the chat are more likely to be answered. I suspect he sits down at the computer a minute before the chat begins, sees about 100 pre-submitted questions, says, "Oh criminy, what a bunch of losers, who have actually spent time earlier in the week drafting questions for me," and then never even reads them.
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It is, no doubt, the kind of story to which there are two sides. For instance, the Colonel says he "politely" asked for an apology. One man's politeness is another man's raving lunacy. Also, the Colonel says the waiter did ask whether she was okay. I would be curious about the words and tone he used -- they may, in fact, have been apologetic without using whatever talismanic words the Colonel was seeking. That said, I can't understand why any waiter would (i) issue anything less than a clear apology, and (ii) refuse to issue a further apology when requested. Nothing in the story suggests any fault on the part of the woman who was smote.
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Laminated table placards announcing fruity frozen drinks with cute, rhyming names are also a dead giveaway. So is decor based largely on old license plates and rusted tools suspended from the ceilings and walls.
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I happen to know the owner of Connaught Place, but did not know it was closing. The same people also operate Raaga in Falls Church and the newly opened Infusion in Tysons Corner. Raaga is a traditional Indian place. I've only been once but thought it was excellent. We had a lunch buffet -- but I couldn't tell you what was on it. Infusion is, as the name suggests, "fusion." It is way more Indian than anything else though. Again, I've only been once, and I couldn't say what I had, but I remember liking it. My wife just made an exclamation and we agreed that we're going to have to hit the Place this week, before it's gone.
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I hear the chilled corn chowder is to die for. I mean, it might actually kill you.
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You're the preacher and I'm the choir. For whatever deep-seated psychological reason, she doesn't like to do it. And for some different deep-seated psychological reason, she doesn't want me to do it for her.
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I think at least one of those tables was filled while we were there. (Of course, perhaps other tables had vacated, so there may have been no net increase in occupied tables.) Your guess is probably the right one, although one would think a restaurant as popular as Majestic would be equipped to fill the tables. (We weren't the only ones asked to wait.)
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My wife and I had a late brunch at Majestic yesterday -- my first time there, her second time. One-word review: Mmm. There was some service-related oddness. When we came in (sans reservation), I saw a bunch of open tables at the back and thought, "Oh good, no wait." But we still waited about 15 or 20 minutes. When we were finally seated, those tables were still empty. I'm sure there was a good reason for it. I just don't know what it is. It always makes me nervous when the waiter takes our order without writing things down, like the Majestic waiter did. Sure enough, two or three minutes after taking our order, he came back and basically asked us to repeat it. I had the shrimp and grits (cheese-and-garlicked up), with hushpuppies on the side. My wife had ths biscuit and gravy, with applewood-smoked bacon. The grits were deliciously creamy, slightly garlicky but not overpowering. (A wilted green onion laid across the top seemed unnecessary.) The biscuit and gravy was prodigious in size, and I got to assist my wife substantially with it. Bacon was thick and smoky. The hushpuppies were also good and plentiful. The worst part was my wife's Coke, which was so watery as to be undrinkable. Something was obviously amiss with the fountain system. She, however, hates returning things, and hates it worse when I try to do something like that for her. So it sat unconsumed. My lemonade, however, was tart, just the way I like it. Majestic has just the atmosphere for me: Quite casual, but a strong sense of quality and exactness in service (except as discussed above) and on the menu. My wife just started her new job a few blocks down on King Street -- I look forward to a convenient return trip.
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What's the cheapest possible way to try white truffles? Because I've never had them, and I ain't gonna drop $145 to taste them. What the hell are they paying those dogs who dig them up?