hmmboy

new branch opening in Bethesda across from American Tap Room in a couple of weeks/months. Sign went up this week

Actually preopening party is next Tuesday and grand opening a few days later. Yippee!!

And the pot au feu was freaking my own personal religion in a bowl.

I could travel the world over and not have a more satisfying dinner than that shared with my wife on the patio at Palena last night. We consumed a beautiful heirloom tomato salad, a mind blowing bowl of the pot au feu, a plate of absurdly delicious corn ravioli (topped with crab), and, of course, the greatest roast chicken on the planet. Accompanied by a 2001 Rochioli East Block Pinot it was utter perfection. Two notes - first, the pot au feu is a spectacular summerized version of the amazing winter/spring consomme that sometimes adorns the Cafe menu. Second, 3 years ago I had Andrew Carmellini's corn ravioli at A Voce - it was the highlight of that particular dinner by one of NYC's greatest chefs. Chef Ruta's are better.

There are about a dozen seats or so at the bar, but this is a pretty small place.

The whole place is only 2800 sf but there are actually 19 bolted seats at the booze bar and an unstooled high top for 2 or 3 more.

Might be taking my first trip to Cafe Milano...I know, I know. Anything decent here?

The veal milanese has always been my go to dish here.

Just made a quick call and the answering machine is on. I don't know what that means but at least there is hope.

Rob

I was there Friday night - not a soul in the place but fantastic Miso Ramen - please say it ain't so. MK

We had reservations for tonight, and got a call letting us know that they'd closed, so it's officially official.

If this is true I am very very sad. Kudos to the 3 Johns and all involved in this effort - you created an exceptional restaurant that got better with every visit. I am really going to miss it.

Go INOX!!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/dining-guide-tom-sietsema-spring-2010.html

My Gawd....get thee to PassionFish. At its best, Kinkead's was never what PassionFish is. This is our seafood temple, and Jeff Tunks 'gets it'....

I've been in Washington for some three decades. Originally I had to go to Crisfield's to get good seafood. Then there was Vincenzo, near Adams Morgan, with its unique dishing of Italian seafood. Then there was Kinkaid's with all of Bob's surliness, but the run was relatively brief. The staff adds absolutely nothing to the experience. Nothing now compares to PassionFish and we are fortunate to be in its presence. You would even be hard-pressed to find better sushi, let alone seafood.

I've also been here for 3 decades and have eaten at all those places (can recall many a night at the bar at the original Crisfield's woofing down raw oysters and fried seafood). I have great respect for both Kinkeads and Passion Fish, but for me Blacksalt is the best seafood restaurant this city has ever seen. And my son is too old to play with Jeff Black's kids.

When I am feeling flush, Kay and I will be back for a sushi/sashimi blowout and we will be prepared to drop $200/300 or more and I bet it will be well worth it. I hope that my grill experience was just a fluke. I would hake to see them flounder on this part of the menu. As Ahnold would say.... "Eel be Bach!"

Chef and I dined here Wednesday night - we sampled extensively from every part of the menu, spent about double what Dean did, and left in no position to eat a sub (very impressed with that!).

I generally agree with Dean's evaluation. The nigri was superb - among the best I have ever had in DC. I would order the kushiyaki pork belly again, ant the duck leg robata, a healthy leg for $9, was a relative bargain. I suspect I will find myself here quite often - mostly for the sushi and sashimi.

My first Taylor Gourmet experience was thir Tony Lukes' knockoff, the Patterson. Verdict, not Tony Lukes. The bread is really good so I will go back to try another less iconic set of toppings.

Tony Lukes or not, I had one for lunch Thursday and it was yummy - I will return for the very same iconic toppings.

I had the Louisiana poached eggs and they were wonderful, spicy and rich

Great stuff - the best eggy brunch dish I've had in DC

Mark, I am glad to see you are beginning to expand your dating range upwards.

Yes Michael - you should try it occasionally too!!

I had both the spinach raviolini, morel mushroom, and poached egg consomme and the house cured ham with asparagus and goat cheese last night, as well as the baby artichoke w/cheese tart and the roast chicken (I was hungry). Everything was spectacular but that damn consomme brought tears to my eyes and a chorus of "oh my gods" from my dining companion - at least 20, as well as an "I could bathe in this stuff". If there is a better consomme on the planet I have yet to taste it. God bless Frank Ruta and Palena.

Proof will be open tonite - Kitchen will close at 8:30 - 9. I think Palena is also opening. Have fun!

$124 (after tip) for 2 beers, 2 bowls of noodles, fried calamari, and 3 small pieces of pork belly. Call me cheap, call me a whiner, call me whatever. That is around $50 more than what we should have paid for our meal today. The food was good enough that I'm sure I'll be back, but it will either be on my company or to have a more reasonably priced item like sandwich or a salad.

Say what you will David (and you already said that the chow fun w/copious amounts of jumbo shrimp was the best you ever had - and I could not agree more), but in my opinion those 2 noodle dishes are among the best on the planet and are worth every penny!

Since the closing of Le Paradou, I've nervously had The Source ranked over Rasika in the Dining Guide as the best restaurant in Penn Quarter. After tonight, I'm no longer all that nervous.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Next time say hello

Sadly, my experience on Saturday left a little to be desired in terms of service -- which I can't believe I'm saying, because the service at Proof has always been wonderful. It just seemed like our server forgot we were there and didn't really have any interest in us -- we didn't see him for a good ten minutes after being seated, and while I appreciated the time with the cocktail menu and wine list, I really wanted a glass of water. In the high-backed booths it can be hard to see someone to flag them down, and it wasn't a desperate situation, so at a little after seven on a Saturday night of a holiday-ish weekend, I didn't really want to ascribe too much to it. Sadly it was a theme throughout the night; it really just felt like we had fallen off his radar when we couldn't find him to get another drink, or to get the check. (To be fair, at the end of the meal my friend was Googling a movie on her cell phone for after dinner, so perhaps we looked as though we weren't ready to leave; but I had my eye out for the server and I couldn't find him, even after all plates, glasses, and tableware had been cleared.)

My friend was also mildly upset that, after noting on the reservation and twice when we arrived that it was my birthday, there was no acknowledgement of that. Personally, I don't really need a candle on my dessert (see below), but she came in from New Mexico (via NYC) to celebrate with me and I think she wanted it on my behalf.

All in all, the meal was exactly what I had hoped for a birthday dinner, with the (not bad, just oddly inattentive) service being the only slight blip on the radar.

I apologize for our service missteps on Saturday, and for not acknowledging your birthday. Our policy is not to do anything, candle or otherwise, unless a request is expressly made in advance (simply noting it is a birthday does not translate to a candle request per my instructions). I reviewed the record and there was no such request indicated, but if it was in fact made I also apologize for our failure to properly execute.

I have identified the server and plan to speak to him this evening. He is a fine and trusted server who has been with us since day 1 - this is the first complaint i have fielded about him in 2 1/2 years so I am prone to view this as an aberration. Regardless of his unblemished history or what he has to say, the bottom line is that his shortcomings Saturday night adversely affected your experience. For that i am very sorry.

I truly appreciate the post and the detailed feedback on your evening. I know it was not made for the purpose of currying a freebe but I hope you will let me know when you next visit so i can buy you a glass of champagne as a small token of our contrition. Yours, Mark Kuller

I don't think you are going out on a limb - I know that there was chatter on this site some time ago when Todd Kliman said that the Chinese cooking at the Source was the best in DC. I cannot claim to have eaten in every great Chinese restaurant in the area. But the noodle dishes prepared by Chef Drewno, particularly the chow fun with jumbo prawns and the noodles with kobe beef short ribs, are certainly among the best, if not the best, noodle dishes I have ever tasted. They are addictive.

Not at all - I would personally enjoy one of these stories every morning with my coffee and bagel. Can we start a series?

we (proof) were open last night - tonight is a walk in the park

I was wondering if there are any DR Board members who would be willing to help me out with something relating to Estadio. As expected, there are residents in some of the adjoining buildings who are putting up a real stink about our project - the usual concerns, noise, smells, rats, rowdies,etc. My Voluntary Agreement with the local ANC (2F) is up for formal consideration this Wednesday at their monthly meeting:

http://www.anc2f.org/

I need a few local residents to show up in support and perhaps take the floor to refute the dissenters (whom I expect to be vocal) and say a few words about why Estadio would be a welcome addition to the neighborhood. in a perfect world, I would love it to be residents of Lofts I or II, or Cooper Lewis, but any resident in ANC 2F (Logan Circle, Thomas Circle, Old City, Blagden Alley, Franklin Square, and parts of Shaw) is fine

Anyone who might be willing to assist should PM me. Thanks. Mark

Deli doesn't rhyme with Porsche.

Although I suppose tying everything together (New York, Katz's, wine), he could open Rkatzideli.

I will ignore Rocks' snide comment and respond to Daniel's post in earnest. I love Jewish deli. I rarely visit NY without a trip to Katz's. But take a look at how many delis have survived in NY, let alone the rest of the country. In my view, despite the constant outcry for a good Jewish deli here, I have big doubts that one is commercially viable in DC. It is, for the most part, a one meal restaurant, which right there presents a tough economic model. I think perhaps a great sandwich shop that included non Jewish Deli sandwiches could work, but I'm not even sure of that. I may be wrong about this, and i will surely support whomever takes this plunge and happily admit I was wrong if it flourishes.

Call me what you will. A Palena Priest. Palena Prophet. A blind Palena lover like no other. Whatever you want. It's true, or probably anyway. I love going to other restaurants. High end, low end, taco trucks, voodoo donuts, parlors of offal like Cecchino 1887, diners, shacks, delis, bistros, joints, BBQ, brasseires, and more. I love all food and I will keep eating it, all of it, everywhere, anytime and anyhow. I love it love it love it. But, to me, and perhaps only to me (and my wife), there is nothing like the experience we have when coming home, yes, that home which is Palena. It's like wandering back in to Firenze after too long a time, like wandering in to smell a freshly baked apple pie that is cooling on the counter. Palena is nothing short of my benchmark to compare all food experiences, noble and high to low and slow and all points in between -- yeah, it's my benchmark.

There are many, many places that I consider wonderful and amazing, but I am never as challenged, impressed, taken aback, surprised, delighted, and otherwise sated in such a gastronomic and friendly way as I am at Palena. From Chef Ruta's evil geniosity, his team's execution, Kelly's warm welcomes, the waitstaff's remembering just who the hell we are even if it has been too long an absence for us all adds to the experience.

Great post pool boy. And I feel compelled to echo your sentiments. This long weekend I was in NYC and on back to back nights had the prix fixe dinners at Eleven Madison Park and Blue Hill at Stone Barn. While both were outstanding (though IMO EMP much more so), I walked out of both thinking "Great, but the food at Palena is better." We are truly blessed to have one of the world's great chefs cooking his butt off six night a week in Cleveland Park. A final note on my trip, which also included stops at Minetta Tavern, Momofuku, Katz's, and The Little Owl - do not miss Andrew Carmellini's cooking at Locanda Verde (in the Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca). I had a fabulous Brunch there Saturday, after 2 spectacular dinners there the past 2 months. The service is crisp and the setting is casual but stunning.

Just back from another stellar lunch at INOX. With all respect to the burgers that garner lots of attention on this board (Palena. Central. Hellburger). as well as my own personal downtown fave (The Source), INOX's patty melt is IMO the tastiest and most decadent burger being served in the DC region. The 3 Johns were all buzzing about today and I'm looking forward to returning soon for dinner.

Consomme on the menu tonight - to say it was spectacular hardly does it justice.