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BehaviorQueen

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  1. Greetings, After hearing a lot of positive buzz about the Mussel Bar in Bethesda, we went there for lunch today. What a disappointment! We ordered two items...the Berkshire Pork sandwich (touted as similar to a Doner Kabab) and a specialty seafood pizza (lobster, mussels and oysters on a tomato base). The sandwich came dripping with grease...I mean so much grease that there was a pool of it on the plate! In addition, the bottom third of the sandwich was empty, just a wrap. Before I ordered it, the server had said that the pork was braised and then put on a vertical spit and sliced very thin, like a gyro. In fact, there was a big lump of meat in the top of the sandwich and then empty below. The pizza turned out to be unbelievably spicy. It wasn't described that way and the server said that she didn't realize it was spicy. I asked the server to bring the pool of grease to the chef and manager's attention, and let them know that the pizza description wasn't adequate. The manager apparently responded to the server by saying that the grease was due to some rub that they used (that makes no sense) and just dismissed our complaint. The manager and/or chef never came to the table nor made further inquiry. It was apparent that they just didn't care. If you are expecting to actually eat something at the Mussel Bar, think twice. BehaviorQueen
  2. I had such good and friendly experiences there, I thought it was worth the mention. So often people are overly critical that positive experiences get overlooked. By the way, I had the name of the Maitre de wrong...his first name is Carmen. I'm not sure of his last name. Sorry for that error....I try to make it a point to find out the names of the people who are cooking for me and often ask to meet them. Being a chef is a very hard job...physically taxing and with very long hours. When a chef and his/her staff are doing things right, I like to let it be known. Good work deserves praise.
  3. I've now eaten at Assaggi twice, once on Sunday mid-afternoon and the other time for lunch today with a friend. Both times I had excellent experiences, both due to the food and the attentive and welcoming staff. On Sunday, the only chef on duty there was Giovanni Carlo, who formerly was with Roberto Donna in Galileo Laboratorio. He is a young chef and thus far has not been noted in any of the reviews. He has, however, great imagination and skill in the kitchen. On my second visit, I met Domenico Cornacchia, the chef/owner, formerly of Cafe Milano. He was very warm and welcoming. Golnaz Feiz, the MaƮtre de, is kind and attentive. You feel that you have entered the home of a friend. Although the restaurant is largely unchanged from Centro, the staff has added some softening touches which has made the restaurant quieter, with a more relaxed feeling. On Sunday, we started with a delicious Bellini which was accompanied by a selection of cheeses from the Mozzarella Bar and the marinated condiments. The cheeses were delicious and were drizzled with some fruity olive oil which enhanced their flavor. The burrata was made with cow's milk and was from California. You could tell how fresh it was. The rustic bread, was also excellent. My husband had their lunch special plate which consists of a small pasta portion, a small salad and a protein. In this case, the protein was skewers of fish, monkfish and salmon, and they were cooked perfectly. The pasta was a penne (done al dente) with peas and proscuitto. I enjoyed the veal ragu which was served over a hand made gamelli pasta which was made with flour and wine. It too was al dente and served in a generous portion. The ragu was a proper ragu, and even though the weather was hot, I found it totally delicious. We tried two desserts, the ricotta cheese cake and the hazelnut chocolate cake. Both were absolutely fantastic. They were served warm and had both a light and tender textures with deep flavors, served with delicious sauces and a scoop of ice cream. Today for lunch, I started with a mixed green salad which was dressed perfectly with a balsamic vineragrette. There were crisp tender vegetables with the greens, such as baby zucchini, radishes and green beans. My friend had the gazpacho soup and declared it to be delicious. This was followed by a small appetizer of a grilled fish (which we split) with thyme and a dab of an olive tapenade. Sitting on top of the fish were fried tomato skins. I had never seen this either as a decoration or an accent, but added a lovely element to the dish. My friend had the lunch plate of salmon with a serving of salad. Her salmon appeared to be properly cooked, not overdone. I tried the lunch special which was a linguine with seafood in a white wine sauce and some fresh tomatoes. The seafood was perfectly done. It's easy to overcook calamari, but this calamari was tender and delicious. I'll confess that I sopped up each last bit of the sauce with the delicious rustic bread. The bread, by the way, was accompanied by a compound butter which was delicious. Although we were sated, we couldn't resist a delicious dessert of a multi-layered "cookie" (I'm not sure what to call it) which had cream in between the layers. There was some semi-freddo on the plate as well as a wonderful rum ice cream with cracked caramel throughout. Just to end it with perfection, we shared a tasting of three types of chocolate, each with a different level of cocoa. Frankly, Domenico Cornacchia, Giovanni Carlo and Golnaz Feiz are adding something quite wonderful to the Bethesda dining scene. I can't wait to go back and continue to explore their most interesting menu. There is a chef's table (for 6) which can be reserved for a tasting menu. It shouldn't be hard to find 5 friends to share what I would expect would be a wonderful meal!
  4. Fabio is a brilliant chef and has added a much to the fine dining scene in the Washington area. Going to Maestro has always been a wonderful treat. The food light, delicious, precise and innovative. He will be greatly missed. He has been generous with his time, availability, and in hosting special events to celebrate various anniversaries of Maestro. His cookbook is a wonderful combination of interesting recipes from Marche and personal reminiscences. His cooking classes were special treats to all who had the opportunity to attend. Let us only hope that he will return to the DC area in a few years. Judy
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