jdl

I hear people say the same about brett in Rhones and Burgundys.

Which reminds me of the time a friend took a deep whiff of 83 Beaucastel CDP and said: "Mmmmmmm, poop."

(We haven't done a Rhone tasting with him since, needless to say.)

I'm like an addict, fiending for a taste.

Going to Al Tiramisu tonight to see what Luigi Diotaiuti can do. Wondering who else in The District is using them in the kitchen at the moment. (How are they this season, anyway?)

Easy availability of the best DC has to offer is a different discussion and the one I was following.

You know, that's an interesting point. Maybe I'm looking for the wrong things at the markets. What are some of the in-season stars at the moment?

And yeah, California olives -- feh. There's a damn good reason most of them wind up in cans.

I've sat in Gary Danko and overheard the person next to me say that the last time they were at Danko it was excellent.  But not quite as good as what they had in Washington at Michel Richard's place.

Restaurant Gary Danko has never excited me, so this comparison doesn't mean much to me. Now, if you can find me a better meal here than the white-truffle dinner I had in early December in El Dorado Hills, Calif., where the ex-Valentino executive chef Angelo Auriana is working his magic in the kitchen at Masque -- well, you win the prize. But it ain't gonna happen.

That's not even the point, though. I'm not trying to make this a here-versus-there iron cage death match in which restaurants, wine lists, maitre'ds, servers, dishware, sconces, banquettes, carpets, etc, are pitted against each other. My comments about the ingredients lacking at CityZen vis-a-vis French Laundry were just that: Comments about the ingredients lacking at CityZen vis-a-vis French Laundry. OK, so they included an accompanying whine about me not loving the produce here. But no need to defend the DC dining scene! Really. I do like it here. (Mostly.) What's not to love about living within crawling distance of Corduroy, which has quickly become a fave for me?

Say it ain't so, Joe!  You'll be thrilled to know that you don't have to drive to Hell and back to find that stonefruit or tomato.  They'll deliver it right to Courthouse on Saturdays, Dupont on Sundays, DOT on Tuesdays, Penn Quarter on Thursdays, USDA on Fridays (which Ziebold could probably make it to in about 8 minutes walk from the Mandarin, or about 24 minutes if he chose to do it on all fours just to see if he could!).

Ah, but it IS so!

I've been to the Dupont and Penn Quarter farmer's markets, as well as various grocery stores recommended on this and other boards, and I've bought countless pounds of countless producethingys from countless growers/sources. And I consistently find myself saying, "There's no place like home." (Actually, what I usually say is: "Damn, this doesn't even come close." But same difference.) I did find some great bi-color corn, and I'm loving the apples. Especially the W.Va honey krisps. But the summer produce? Bzzzzzzt. And unfortunately, I'm one of those summer-produce people. (Alas, I wouldn't know/care about the cheese comparisons, as I'm not a Dear Dairy kinda guy. Go figure.)

I don't agree with your assertation that "this area ain't exactly the cradle of agriculture."  Have you ever been to the Eastern Shore of Maryland?  Have you ever seen the operation at Westmoreland Farms in the Rapahannock Valley, have you ever been to the orchards in the shadow of the Blue Ridge?  Sure, things around here are more seasonal for the simple reason that we have seasons.  Zeibold just needs to look harder, good stuff is there.  Sourcing great local produce occupies a great deal of time for chefs like Cathal Armstrong.  If you want to see some stuff, you should head out to the Lankford farm this weekend with Camille-Beau and her crew.

Eastern Shore? Nope. Westmoreland Farms? Nope. Shadow of the Blue Ridge? Nope. All I know is that a guy who should have access to the best stuff available says he's been disappointed by what he's found so far, at least vis-a-vis what was available to him in Califorina. And I've been badly disappointed by the produce that's available to me, Joe Consumer, who dosn't really have the time/wherewithal to drive forever just to find a nice piece of summer stonefruit or the perfect heirloom tomato. Overstatement on my part? Yeah, maybe. But hey, Hyperbolic is my middle name.* (* or so I'm saying for the purposes of this post.)

Let's look at this another way: If you can get the very, very, very best seasonal produce that's available locally, where will your meals be better -- here, or in Northern California?

Worst part about dining at CityZen? Trying to get a damn cab to take you home!! The Mandarin Oriental is squarely in the heart of D.C.'s No-Man's Land. Even if the restaurant calls for a cab on your behalf, it can still take forever for a taxi to show up. (On the other hand: That little butter roll box they bring to the table ... wow.)

Qualitatively speaking, the thing that I found most disappointing about CityZen was that the quality of the ingredients wasn't quite what I'd hope for/expect from a Thomas Keller disciple. At French Laundry, it seems like just about everything on the plate has a Best of Breed-ness about it, from the rabbits and fish and foie and butter to, of course, the produce, which is consistently, breathtakingly great. At CityZen, none of the ingredients jumped out; they were good, for sure, but not great.

But, then, Eric Zeibold isn't wholly to blame on that front. As a recent transplant from the West Coast myself, I have to say that the hardest thing about moving to this area is realizing that this ain't exactly the cradle of agriculture. Eric pretty much said the same thing when he came out to chat at the end of our meal. He talked at length, in fact, about the difficulty in foraging great produce around here. (He'd just sent back an entire shipment of peaches, if I recall correctly, explaining to the supplier that they weren't even close to the ripeness and quality he was looking for.) I do hope he can land some great sources, because the guy can clearly cook.