ad.mich
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Everything posted by ad.mich
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Agreed. There's always been a real Je Ne Sais WTF about the place. Not sure it would be the same if you weren't totally sure it wasn't a house of horror.
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- Dupont Circle
- North Dupont
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I can't speak to the business plan here or how often MM plans to be onsite, but... I can speak to the Chicago location mentioned in Shahin's article above. He is there in name only - it's a Todd English situation. Early reviews were harsh and my one visit gave me no reason to feel contrarian. Maybe it will be different in Old Town but be wary folks.
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Thank you Franch for the detailed review. I'm not a wine expert, but I do drink a little bit of the brown. if a taste of that Col. Taylor Tornado Survivor was included as part of the drink pairing, that was probably the most expensive pour of the night. It's damn good stuff and goes for pretty obscene prices on the secondary market.
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At this point I'm fascinated with this place - not from a food perspective but from a PR one. I can't help but wonder what the point is of doubling down (tripling? quadrupling?) on the attitude and pretension in the months leading up to opening. Is this somehow the only restaurant in DC without overbearing PR representation? There were some real obvious steps that could have stopped the bleeding - one humble interview where the principles say "sorry if we rubbed anyone the wrong way, we hear you, please judge us on the final product" probably would have been enough for most. At this point they're basically Ted Dibiase running shtick with the media. That's an easy way to get press because flame gets eyeballs. I have a hard time believing it's an effective way to book a restaurant though. A look at the number of openings on their website seems to back that up. I still travel to DC with some regularity and have a nice dining budget/expense account available. In other words - I'm the kind of person who should be excited to see what comes from this new opening. Frankly, even if Sietsema pees his pants over the food there are too many other places to visit.
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- Shaw
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I was in KC to judge a BBQ competition, and to a person the other judges all pointed to either Jack Stack or Q39 as the two places putting out the best BBQ in KC at the moment.
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Here's another very interesting article about the sourcing work done in advance of their expansion to Chicago. Chicago should be a home run expansion market for them too. For all the hundreds of thousands working in the loop, the only 'healthy' options are basically Protein Bar, Roti, and some one offs. Their only competition in the salad game comes from a (surprisingly well put together but inferior) vending machine. They've already announced two more locations opening here and I won't be surprised if that doubles again.
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Yes - went to the Freight House location (walked there from The President). Got there around 7 on Saturday and they quoted an hour+ wait for the two of us... and it is a large restaurant. Fortunately, around the back of the building is a separate entrance for takeout orders. We had a massive order ready in 15 minutes and ate in a nearby park. Your mileage may vary but I don't need much for atmosphere when it comes to smoked meats. Majestic looks good but I will point out that we had beers at Anton's, which is kind of in between the Power & Light district and where Jack Stack's Freight House location is. Reminded me a lot of The Partisan - it's a fully working butcher shop with some really nice dry aging going on and a super tempting looking cooler case that made me wished I'd packed a cooler bag for the trip home. The other half of the building is a tap room with a full steakhouse style menu serving most of the same stuff from the case. No jazz, and not the traditional steakhouse menu/atmosphere, but if you like local beer and steak this looked like a very valid option.
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Oddly enough I was just there last weekend. I ate a LOT of BBQ while in town. I had a similar strong memory of AB's on Brooklyn, and I hate to say it but the thrill is gone. Still a great location, still and awesome paprika-y sauce that you should grab a bottle of, but the meat itself was a shadow of its former glory. I wanted Arthur Bryant's to be my favorite of the weekend but it came in last. They were chopping up rib tips off the rack to order though, and that was cool. You'll be better served at Joe's and WAY better off at Jack Stack. Jack Stack had some perfectly cooked lamb ribs (very hard to pull off), a badass 2 inch thick short rib, and the best burnt ends I ate all weekend. Only miss there was the pork ribs - Joe's won there. To be honest, the thing I'm remembering most from all the BBQ were the pit beans, smothered in drippings and pieces of meat. Joe's and Jack Stack are doing amazing beans, simultaneously hearty with meat/fat and ethereal from super tender legumes. I'm not saying you should make a meal out of just those, but I'm definitely saying you could. Did a nice more upscale meal at Rieger Hotel - solid cocktails and good midwestern fancy(ish) food. Pork soup (!) and an overgrown relish platter were both very well done, and the cocktails were more than reasonably priced and well executed. Uber ain't great there, but if you have a car and a lunch to spare, definitely consider Kitty's Cafe. It ain't that pretty but the triple decker pork tenderloin sandwich, thin cut in a katsu-ish batter and smothered in hot sauce, is a goddamn treasure.
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There is now a spinoff of Chicago's beloved Publican in O'Hare. Publican Tavern has a menu that splits between Publican standbys (pork rinds, charcuterie, their killer roast chicken) and standbys from their next door sandwich shop Publican Quality Meats (their awesome Ribollita soup and a variety of sandwiches made on their great bread). They've only been open about a month but my first visit was a fantastic way to kill time. If you have a delay and/or layover in O'Hare this is your new spot. ORD
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The meal I had at Rogue 24 with you cooking alongside John Currence (ahead of schedule of doctor's orders after your surgery) was one of the best meals I've ever had, and one of the few I always think back on when I think of my time in DC. Thank you for the great food (and always underrated cocktails) chef, and best of luck to you.
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- Mount Vernon Square
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Since no one else has mentioned it, I'll point out a tiki-related update. Paul McGee has left 3 Dots and a Dash (and the LEYE group entirely) to join the Land & Sea restaurant group (Longman and Eagle people). He now runs a new tiki joint in the Logan Square neighborhood called Lost Lake. 3 Dots remains very very good and is easier for any downtown staying tourist. Lost Lake is newer, buzzier, and the drinks are better (but we're talking 9.5 vs 9.2). Lost Lake also has an adjacent food spot slinging stylized American Chinese food (hipster general tso, dumplings, etc). As someone who never really got down with the half baked Trader Vic's style food at 3 dots, this is major upgrade.
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MD is better than VA. DC is a waste of your time unless you want to pay the super premium markups. Most everything in the district border won't ever see a shelf and goes directly to VIP customers (for every special release really).
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Bowtruss is good. Metropolis is what we have at home right now because they do a great job of getting freshly roasted product out and in grocery stores (typically roasted same week, last bag I bought was 2 days old). All things being equal I'm still partial to Dark Matter though. Re: Stan's & Glazed & Chicago donuts in general... The thing that Stan's and Do-Rite do well are big towering yeast donuts with a super rich chocolate glaze. That's not for everyone, but if that's your thing, you'll be hard pressed to do better. Stan's also makes a big, crispy, yeasty west coast apple fritter (they are originally from California) the type of which can be hard to find done well. Glazed is more of a stunt show with lots of flavor experiments. They can be hit or miss (creme bruelee is a shadow of DC's Astro for example) but the hits are strong. Co-sign on that PB&J. Donut Vault is pretty much all about old fashioneds, which are just not my platonic ideal of a fried dough situation. Donuts and coffee are really strong here.
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WARNING: You must be brave to have this dish $29 Can't argue with the content of the warning but I can't imagine a lot of people are ordering it with no additional information.
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Underberg is magical when you are overstuffed. MAGICAL.
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The slow play of the closure was a work of art... This might be the only 'temporary closure due to repairs' in a long long time that people actually bought.
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I did Alinea this summer. The food portion of the meal absolutely lived up to the hype. Damn good and easily one of the best 2 or 3 meals of my life so far. The service is weird. Super formal, overly rehearsed, and any attempt to ask questions and/or get them 'off script' was met with general confusion. I know it's really expensive so formality is expected, but the level of stiffness (not just from one individual but all staff interactions - including the big finish with the man himself at dessert) wasn't our particular cup of tea. The food though... it's killer.
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I had the pleasure of eating at Brennan's 2 weeks ago with 6 other people, allowing me to sample the majority of the dinner menu. Holy shit. Just go. Poaching Slade Rushing to run the spot was an inspired choice. You have a menu now with a handful of classic Brennan's items the locals would have rioted over if they were removed, a handful of signature dishes from Rushing's old spot MiLa, and a few new things. The BBQ Lobster and Amberjack Crudo were the best appetizers (but the creole octopus was solid as well - do seafood for your appetizer and meat for your main). The smoked squab and foie gras gumbo just killed the table though. Probably the best cheffy gumbo I've ever had. Pure decadence. We're not even halfway through the first month of 2015 and I doubt I'll eat anything better than that palm sugar roast duck with Vietnamese style rutabaga cake. Wells goes off in his review on how good the cake was cooked but the duck was perfectly seasoned and cooked as well. Oh, and get a side of the black eyed pea cassoulet for the table. Stupid smart idea. It's crazy how well this place is humming this early out the gate.
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Xoco is a different, more expansive concept that what is offered at Tortas Frontera. Tortas basically has tortas, open faced sandwiches and a couple breakfast options. Xoco has a more extensive sandwich menu, soups and rice bowls, churros and chocolate made to order, and a full on separate breakfast menu (killer chilaquiles, emapanadas, and breakfast tortas - some overlap with the Tortas menu there). It's a quick service format similar to G Sandwich shop. And it's awesome. You should probably go if you get the chance - especially on goat barbacoa day. Frontera Fresco is more like a cafeteria style experience but also has things on the menu that the other places don't have except for occasional specials - things like tacos and tamales. I don't know if there was a sell off like you speculated but the only time I've been was a while back and it was still very high quality for a food court, as long as your expectations are at the level of a food court. My experiences with the downtown Xoco/Frontera/Topo mothership have been uniformly great. As for the variance in Tortas locations in ORD, I've found that the Terminal 2 location is always busier but more on their game than the United terminal location. Given the choice I'll do the extra walk. No experience with the International terminal yet, but it's already 10 degrees and snowing here in Chicago. If anyone wants to donate miles to the freezing I'll happily provide a field report. ORD
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Personally I'd do dinner. I think they do savory really well and I like the fact they have such a nice mix of the old school recipes that planted their flag + the new dishes that show why they remain relevant. Don't miss that foie gras du monde whenever you go if it's available. It shouldn't work but it does.
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Fever Tree is my preferred tonic straight from a bottle, but for home consumption I've switched to my sodastream + Jack Rudy tonic syrup. It's worth checking out when spring rolls back around (or you know, now)
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That same Chicago Tribune study also found that while red light cameras decrease t-bone accidents, they cause such an increase in rear-ending accidents that the overal net is a small increase in total injury accidents. Again, you can probably trace those shortened yellow light times to the rear-end collisions. I'm with you in theory on red light cameras vs speed cameras, but the way they're operated is shady as hell and causes greater strain on a system that already needs an overhaul. From DDOT directly via a 2013 GGW article: maybe they can take some of that sweet sweet speed camera money and address the change or two that might have occurred to traffic patterns in the last 6 years?
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To clarify, you're actually crossing the streams on the Brennan Restaurant Groups. The nephew of the original Brennan family (Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group) has Red Fish Grill, Ralph's on the Park, the newly reopened Brennan's in the quarter, and some others. The new Brennan's is not affiliated with the other long standing joints you mention above. I'd go into more detail on it all but I know I'll screw it up somewhere along the way. It's a great story that someone better suited than myself should tell you. That being said, I can say that my last meal at Commander's was as vital and strong as anywhere else I ate that trip, my last meal at Palace Cafe was mediocre in both food and service, and that the early feedback I've heard on the new Brennan's has been very very positive. Given the hype surrounding that's opening that's a very good sign. By April it should be firing on all cylinders. If you want a weekend reservation for August I'd lock something down via Open Table now - you can always adjust later.
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Complaining about the lack of cooking on Food Network is like complaining about the lack of music videos on MTV*. The network brass have a need to always increase ratings, and the sameness that traditional programming brought to the numbers makes it inevitable that they lower the bar for the sake of eyeballs. Hell, "The Cooking Channel" is basically MTV2. *see also TLC, A&E, AMC, VH1, Weather Channel, Headline News, etc etc
